Day 25

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Today is the Fourth of July!  It is the day we celebrate our independence by having cook outs with family and friends and popping fireworks.  

We woke up around 9:00 a.m. again and quickly packed our things and left the hotel by 10:00 a.m.  We hit Taco Cabana for breakfast tacos on our way home.  We explained to Melinda that this was a very typical weekend breakfast for us while growing up.  Fresh, home made flour tortillas filled with eggs and bacon...Yum!  Once we were done, we were back in the car and headed for Forney.

When we got home, we unpacked and then headed to Wal-Mart to get some things for our cook out later today.  It ended up that just about everyone else in Forney had the same idea.  There were long lines and lots of empty shelves to overcome before we could get back home.  Once we were home, we ate a lite lunch and rested for a little bit before heading over to my mom and dads house.  Robert and the girls made a quick trip to the fire works stand to pick up a few things for the kids to light later in the evening.

We had invited our Hungarian friends over to celebrate the fourth with us.  We have been friends with them ever since they moved to the United States about three years ago.  They have become one of our very best friends and it is through them that we've gotten to know Melinda.  

Our friends got here around 5:30 p.m. and we started with dinner in the backyard.  Mom and dad had everything set up already and it looked amazing.  Robert had the hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and we were enjoying our dinner in no time.  We spent the afternoon in the backyard, visiting and catching up on what they've been up to.  They have been following both of our blogs, so they were very up to date on all of our adventures.  Once it began to get dark, we started some of the fireworks that Robert and the girls had bought.  Everyone had a great time!  We could hear and see other peoples fire works all evening long.  Our friends had a long drive home, so they headed out around 9:30 p.m.  Once they had gone, we helped clean up before heading home ourselves.  

Robert and my mom grilling the
hamburgers and hot dogs

Gabor pouring a special drink for us to try

Ally pulling Abigail and David around the yard

My dad helping Abigail and Ally light their fireworks

One of the many fireworks they bought

Ally and David enjoying the show

Dad, Gabor, and David holding sparklers

When our friend first asked us about hosting Melinda for the summer, we were so thrilled and overwhelmed with excitement that we took him by surprise.  What an amazing experience for all of us!  She wanted to come to the states to improve her English, but I never imagined that we would learn so much from her. She has helped me to see what is ahead in the next few years for me and my girls.  She has granted us the gift of seeing things for the first time again.  She has helped Ally open up and be just a little bit more out-going, which is a blessing that Melinda will never fully understand.  This has been one of the best experiences of my entire life.  I know the next 55 days will fly by, but until she boards her plan to go back to Hungary, we will soak up as much as we can and take advantage of the gift that we've all been given.  

Once we were home and the girls in bed, I sat down to write my blog.  Melinda and Robert were talking about different books in English for Melinda to try and read.  She is still very determined to read in English but we are still struggling to find something that interests her yet is on her level.  I think our discussion about going to college in the states really stuck with her and she is focused on improving her English even more to see if she could possibly come back for college.  I can not even imagine trying to read a book in another language.  Learning and speaking another language is just the first step in becoming completely fluent.  Reading and writing in another language is much more difficult.  Melinda is really trying and I truly hope that she is able to overcome this obstacle before she heads back to Hungary.