A Sad, Sad Day

Today has been a very sad day. It is the day our Hungarian folk dance visitors left. This past week has been so busy that we haven't even had time to breath . . . but it's been so worth it. For the first time, we decided to open up our home and be a host family for the international folk dance festival. That means that we accept 2 people from a foreign country into our home and be in charge of all their needs, plus showing them parts of our country. We hosted 2 girls from Budapest, Hungary. Their names were Bori and Agnes (Aggie). We thoroughly enjoyed hosting them, getting to know them, and having them in our home. All of the kids attached themselves to Bori and Aggie and just poured out their love.

This morning at 7:45 am it was time to say goodbye. We exchanged information and gifts. (Side note - I'm quite happy to say that I found them both on facebook today!) Bori is standing next to me with the brown shirt and Aggie is the taller girl with the hat.

I think this scene played out at least 5 times before they actually left . . . hugs . . . hugs . . . hugs . . . and more hugs. We had a hard time saying goodbye.

For our gifts to them we gave them a gift to remember our country, our state, and our family. For the country gift we gave them each a little flag pin that has our flag next to their flag. Our state gift was a rubber magnet of our state that shows the cities and highlights of where they visited. Then for our family gift we gave them each a Book of Mormon in Hungarian with our family picture inside and our testimonies. Athena and Samantha also wrote each of them a letter and drew them a picture.

Then, before all our new friends boarded the bus to be on their way, a bunch of us host families got together and sang "God Be With You 'til We Meet Again".

We left and started our long drive home. I heard some sniffling from the back seat and found it was Athena. She just couldn't hold it in any longer. Goodbyes aren't easy!

Then, when we got home, I again heard loud sobbing coming from the living room. I walked around the corner to find Samantha letting loose. They really did love Bori and Aggie! I held Samantha for a little while and helped her calm down.

A few minutes later, in came Nathan! He just buried his face in me and wouldn't even look up.

I feel bad that the kids have to go through feeling so sad, but at the same time I know they had a wonderful experience.

Bori and Aggie also left us with a few special gifts. For all the girls they gave handmade necklaces (that they made). They gave Nathan this little whistle. It's an ocarina with a guide on how to play it. They called it "pear music" because the ocarina is shaped like a pear. They also gave us a CD of their folk music and a pretty decorative plate that was made in Hungary.

It's hard to have great people come into your life and then just leave and you know there is a pretty good chance you will never actually see them again. We spent a lot of fun time with our visitors and feel fortunate that we were able to have this experience as a family.

I have some pictures to share of the fun things we did together and will post more in the next few days. :)