1st week of school in America!

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School in a new country can be scary and exciting all at once! Charlee and Declan have absolutely aced their first week at Bethel Christian School.

We started the year with what they call family worship! I feel that every Christian school should start the year like this. Yes, we had to be there super early (a 7:30am start!) but it was so worth it. Just an hour of worship; families are free to join in, welcome each other to the new year and then pray over each other! Charlee turned to me at one point and said “This is so different to school at home!” She was right!

That certainly wasn’t where the differences ended. In fact it was only the beginning! It’s quite different at the school at the moment as the air quality here has been so bad. To give you an idea in Sydney the air quality reading right now is between 30 - 60. Here in Redding it is struggling to get under 100. Under 100 is safe for everyone (even sensitive groups like babies, asthmatics and the elderly). I have seen the readings get up to 200+! Therefore the children are playing inside before school, for lunch and snack time! 

Charlee has had a great week in her 4th grade class. There has sure been ups and downs, but hats off to her she has pushed through and finished the week well. Some highlights include getting into the dance class instead of PE, making a friend Kennidi in her class and finding out she moves between 3 different classrooms for her lessons.  There was a funny moment this week when Charlee was doing a writing piece and Mr Brown (the teacher) announced 'Make sure you remember your Capital letters and periods'! Charlee leaned over to the girl next to her and asked ' What is a period?' the girl replied "You don't know what a period is!!!!" then proceeds to point to a full stop and says "That is a period!" Charlee had a laugh and said "oh we call them full stops!" which of course the girl thought was hilarious! 

Declan has been making a friend a minute in Ms Booths class! He is in a combined 1/2 class and I think he has enjoyed being around the older boys. He loved the fact that he could wear a cap to school - all day and commented that in the mornings they all look at the American flag and 'praise it'. When asked what he meant by this, we realised they were singing the national anthem! He has also come home multiple times in the week with a hand drawn American flag! He has found it a bit tough that they can't go outside to play as of course he just wants to run around but seems to be settling in ok.


We of course have been enjoying kid free time!!!

L-R: Brad and Cheree, Julie and Tim, Us!
Giving the 7 eleven coffee a go - soon after this they all went in the bin!
It was terrible!!


We have very quickly become great mates with two other Aussie couples!!! We have explored the town together, discovered American 7 eleven coffee is not like at home and shared in each others ups and downs! I'm so glad we reached out to each other before we left Aus and that we have shared these few weeks together in Redding before school. Unfortunately none of us are going to the same Sunday services or in any of the same classes at school!

All our kids are similar ages and so have made instant friends. We even celebrated one of the boys birthday today! And confession time I couldn't help myself I baked him a cake!! (check my Instagram for photos!) It has been a really special time but both Chris and I are looking forward to school starting this coming week! 

In downtown Redding at the Cascade Theatre

This week I'm sure will be filled with many new adventures! We have had moments of missing you all, but we're absolutely loving it here and everyday it feels more and more like home (for now!).

Please continue to pray for God to provide for us and our family! Pray for us as we start school, do last preparations, start meeting our class mates and settling into the general school routine (like homework - aghhhhhhhh!!!!). 

Also prayers for Charlee and Declan to grow in this environment would be amazing too, the school has so much opportunity to grow and hear from God - we just want them to get the most out of it! 

Until next time,
Much love and Blessings,
Elle, Chris, Charlee and Declan xx

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