Kazuki....part 4! The final chapter!

Friday night Kazuki wanted to make tempura for us! I was super excited since I LOVE tempura. His recipe called for 6-8 large prawns that we would have to cut the heads off of and clean out the insides! YIKES! I couldn't find any of those (dang it) so I just bought some already headless frozen ones at the store! Phew! 

 de-legging and washing the shrimp

He's quite the chef!

Yummm!

It was seriously so good! He brought some sauce from Japan to put on it and it was delish! I'll definitely be making it again sometime now that I know how.

After dinner we went for sno-cones. I'm pretty sure he thinks we're obsessed with sno-cones and icee's since almost everywhere we went we would stop for one! OK, maybe I am a little obsessed with them but he loved them too so it's a win win really!

After sno-cones, the kids were begging to go to trafalga. I was hoping we could play laser tag but it ended up being super busy! (surprise surprise) So, we just played some games and rode a couple of kid rides!

This was Meegies first time riding "hopper".

The next morning we had tickets to Timp Cave. My mom watched the girls (thank heaven) so it was just the 4 of us. Kazuki was in front and while we were dying in the back, he acted like he was out for a Saturday morning stroll. I always forget how steep it can get in places. They give you an hour and a half to get up there before your scheduled tour but with Kazuki leading us, we made it up in 40 minutes. Luckily we were able to get in on an earlier tour so we didn't have to wait an hour!

 

I love how Kayston has to do everything Kazuki did. He thinks he's pretty cool! 

We made it!!! 

 

He thought it was pretty neat!

On our way home... This was the only time he fell asleep in the car!

That night we took him to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. We had asked him what he wanted to eat for his last dinner here and he said steak!!

The girls were being so cute and kept asking me to take their picture!

I may or may not have told them it was his Birthday! Haha! He was such a great sport and went right along with it!

After dinner we asked him what else he wanted to do and he said play basketball with Kayston. So, that's what they did!

I love that he loved playing sports and hanging out with Kayston and the kids. I was so worried he would get annoyed with them since they like to fight so much and they are SO loud! But, he never acted annoyed and was always so good with them!

Here are a few more random pictures of him just playing with the kids. These are some of our favorite moments with him!

I made them matching "brother" paracord bracelets.

A couple of cute pictures Preston got on his phone while we were in the mountains!

Saying goodbye...

We had to take him to the school early Sunday morning so they could catch their flight. I was an emotional wreck the minute I woke up. I was crying in the car and couldn't even talk because I was such a hot mess! 

We got to the school and had a little bit of time before the bus got there. We took a few last pictures and quietly waited for the bus. Every time I would try to talk to him I would just start crying again so I would hurry and turn away so he didn't see. I could tell he was sad to be leaving but I'm sure not as sad as I was. 

Notice the wad of tissue in my hand...

Besides family, I have never seen Kenley love somebody so much! She is CRAZY about him! To this day, if you ask her who her best buddy is she says "Kazuki". She asks everyday when he is coming back and gets so sad when I tell her he isn't.

I think he kind of liked her, too!  =)

The bus pulled up and my heart sunk! You always want to hope that you'll see these kids again but really the chances are slim. 

Preston and the kids all gave him a hug and that's when I saw the tears...not from Preston or the kids but from Kazuki. That's when I knew that he really did like us! =) I was of course bawling and gave him a bug hug! I didn't want to let go! A few minutes later they started loading up the bus. The teacher hosts had us all sing "you are my sunshine" before they got on. We all gave him one more hug and then he got on the bus. We stayed until the bus drove off waving and crying. I was pretty emotional the rest of the day and even broke down crying in Church. I love having these students stay with us but the goodbyes are SO hard! Have I mentioned that I get attached to things/people way too easily?? I've even been labeled as having an "attachment disorder". Whatever that means! =)
I hope so so much that someday we will see Takahito and Kazuki again. We love them so much and consider them part of our family!

If you have ever considered being a host family for a foreign exchange student DO IT!! The friendships and memories we have made make every second worth it! We plan on doing it every year and will probably even start doing it for the whole school year. 2 weeks just isn't enough for me! =)

私たち一樹に滞在していただきありがとうございます。私たちの家族はあなたを愛し、いつもあなたを覚えているでしょう。あなたと崇は今や私たちの家族のメンバーです。連絡を取り合うしてください。私はあなたが去ってから、私たちはあなたから聞いていないことを悲しく思います。

{I hope that made sense! :)}