New Foods

These are some photos of the new foods Sara has tried this month.

Quizno's Chicken Sandwich

Kim's Chicken Parmesan

Blackened (spicy) Chicken pasta

Bread Pudding

Petra's Raspberry Creme Torte

BLT - Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich

Mushroom stuffed with Shrimp in Iberian Ham - Spanish tapas

Jamie's Pancakes and bacon

James' Iberian Ham and Cheese Panini

Candied Carrots, rice, chicken, zuccini and corn on the cob

BBQ chicken, beans, boiled and fried okra and creamed cork, stewed zuccini, oven baked potatos

Meatloaf

Boiled Okra, Brussells Sprouts, zuccini, cucumbers

Rice Crispie Treats

Baked Cheese mascatti and garlic bread

Jamie's fried chicken



Chicken Burrito Bowl at Chipotle

Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 meat BBQ platter - Ribs, Sausage, Pork, Beef and Brisket, Slaw, Potato Fries and Cornbread

Mexican - Encheladas, rice, refried beans, quesadella



EXCITING WEEK!!!

Wow!!  What an exciting week of experiences.

20 Aug - Tour of the Library of Congress.  (Last Post)

Outside the US LIbrary of Congress - Jefferson Building

Sara also attend Jamie's church service with the teens.  The kids were younger than Sara and she said she enjoyed the church service with James and Kim better.

On Tuesday, the girls went to Leesburg to see some of our friends that just moved here from Germany.  While they were having lunch - EVERYTHING SHOOK for about 30 seconds. Yes, a 5.9 earthquake hit.  Everyone and everything is OK.  One glass broke at home but other than that, all is well.

On Wednesday - A group of students came to DC and we took Sara to her first baseball game.  The Washington Nationals played the Arizona Diamondbacks (a snake).  Sara met President George Washington, at her first hotdog.  Washington lost but Sara and the students had a great time.

Sisters at the stadium

With Numero Uno El Presidente George Washington

First Hotdog - very good but caliente (spicy)

Thursday - the girls went bowling with some of Jamie's friends.  Jamie won the first game but Sara finished 2nd.  In the second game, Sara finished 2nd as well and Jamie - not so good :)  That evening, Jamie and Sara made Chocolate chip cookies and a few other types - VERY GOOD.

Making Cookies

Friday - Sara and Jamie did 3 hours of volunteering at the Fair Oaks Hospital with Jamie's Girl Scout troop.  They were taken on a tour of the Emergency room afterwards.  They had fun.

Saturday - we stayed at home and rode out Hurricane Irene throughout Saturday night.  All we got was some high winds and rain.  Parts of Washington DC flooded a little and Maryland was hit really hard with flooding and power outages.  We lost power about 6 hours.  The girls slept until about 10am on Sunday so they never knew!!

Sunday - Sara and James went to a Professional Women's Basketball game.  Sara saw one of her favorite players - Diani Taurasi....  Phoenix won by 7 points.  Sara also had her first Chipotle Burrito bowl for lunch.

Sara's Room

Sara has made the room like she wants............we still owe her a good study chart for her desk :)  That is the desk she put together.

First Full Week

Well - it has been a full week for Sara!!  On last Saturday, we went to the farmer's market.  It was different than in Spain.  They don't have alot of open markets like this.  Also, you do not handle the food at the stands in Spain the way we do here. Sara also watched her first American football game with the Redskins.  She enjoyed it and asked alot of good questions.

On Sunday, we went to church.....MAN was it different!!  She had not seen anything like this before in Spain.  She liked the music but the English was alot :)

Sara also called her Favorite Spanish Mom to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY - Feliz Cumpleanos!!

She took her English test for the county and passed!  of course she did!  We knew she would :)  She is also enrolled and registered for classes at Robinson Secondary School so she is OFFICIALLY a Robinson Ram!!  She will get her schedule on 1 Sep.

The girls also went shopping one day.

We bought Sara a desk for her room.  Sara had to help put it together.  It was ALOT of fun and pieces but it is together!  She wrote her name and date on the bottom so all her follow-on brothers and sisters knows it was her's FIRST :)  Sara and Jamie also rearranged her room and it is actually alot better!!

One night we made tapas - shrimp and ham in mushrooms

Sara, Kim and Jamie spent some good quality time this week.  Sara had some new cooking experiences:
making Chocolate Chip Cookies with Jamie, creaming corn withKim, learning to light a grill, cut a cantalope.

Sara also ate a few new things this week.  What she ate:
- okra - she said the boiled okra was OK but she really liked the fried okra
- tacos
- rice crispie treats
- meat loaf
- brussels sprouts
- candied carrots
- sweet tea with ICE!!
- pancakes with chocolate

- French Toast (at Smith and Klines)

- corn on the cob - good

- Jambalaya (rice dish from New Orleans)

- bread pudding from Brions Restaurant - very very good!!

- BLT ( Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato).  In Spain they normally eat sandwiches with a knife and fork but not here baby!!  HANDS...she did well :)

We also found out that she does not like the hamburger that is on American pizza's and does not like blue cheese.  Other than that, she is doing great on trying food :)  We also found out that our sweet hija favorita Espana (favorite Spanish Daughter) is a CHOCOHOLIC!!!!!!!!!  Man does she fit right into THIS family!!

Sara also likes the America's Top Model TV show :)

She is doing a great job helping around the house, cooking, putting away dishes and everything. VERY proud of her.

Today (20 Aug) we drove into Washington, DC and went to Eastern Market.  Sara said it was much more like markets in Spain - inside.  There was also a flea market outside with jewelry, clothes, art, fruit and vegetables. We took a tour of the Library of Congress ( http://www.loc.gov/index.html )  We looked through the exhibit - Exploring the Early America's ( http://myloc.gov/exhibitions/earlyamericas/Pages/default.aspx) where Spain played a HUGE role.  There was information about Cortez and others.  Very good exhibit. We will be back with the other students.



creaming corn

Sara putting her desk together!!  Great job.

Eating a BLT with her hands!! not better or worse - just different!!

Arrival to American Family

11 Aug - Sara arrived at Dulles airport in Washington, DC and met her Favorite American Family. Sara officially entered the family when she placed the Spanish Flag on the van!  We then took her to a family tradition when we welcome our new family members - Quizno's!!

She arrived at home, unpacked and helped cook dinner.  We are excited about the upcoming year.

Welcome to the Kennedy Family!

Officially a member of the family!

Quizno's for lunch

Arrival to New York

9 Aug - Sara arrives to America at JFK Airport in New York City.  There were 75 students from her region in Spain - all on scholarship!  There were a total of 200 teenagers from all over the world.  They had an orientation and a tour of New York City.  She saw Times Square, Ellis Island and the Status of Liberty and went to the top of the Empire State Building.  It was a sunny day so they got to see very good view of the city.

Sara and the Statue of Liberty