Our Church building

Did I ever show you a picture of where we meet for church? Well here it is. This is Ed going in the door.

And this is how we get to church! We take a golf cart. The Jing Shan (where we live!)Management provides a golf cart service where they will drive you where you need to go within Jing Shan.

If you come to China, you can ride a golf cart to church with us! Doesn't it sound like fun? Especially when its raining!

Lori at Walmart!

OK... so you may have had to have been there, but when Lori was here she saw these great clothes for her mop. The guy in the picture is holding it. It was a really great price. But then she realized that she could get an even better deal by buying the mop because it came with 2 clothes. She was so excited that we started to take the mop apart to make sure that it would fit in the suit case and sure enough it did! So she went home with a mop from Walmart or as the Chinese would say Walmar. I'm sure the guy thought that we were crazy because we wanted to take his picture. One thing about shopping at Walmart is that they have sales people all over the store trying to show you the products and trying to tell you what you want to buy. On any one aisle you may have as many as 5 sales people, all wanting to sell you their product. And of course it is all in Chinese! I just smile and shake my head. See what you are missing!

Our trip to Xi'an in October

In October, our friends, Lori and Justin Broadbent came to China to visit us. Ed and I were able to make a quick trip to Xi'an with them. Here are a few pictures.

This is the Muslim Quarters it is a great place to shop! This street was so crowded! It took Lori and I over 20 minutes to walk down the street, and we weren't even shopping!

This is a picture of Lori, Ed, and I. We are on top of the old city wall. The young guy in the picture is a collage student that we met. We had a great time talking to him about America and China.

When we were walking on the old city wall, we looked over the edge and saw what looked like piles of clothes and stuff. But what it really was, was a yard sale. So even here in China they have yard sales! From where we were it looked like they had piles of shoes, and coats, and such.

Here we are at the Terra Cotta Worriers. This is what they looked like when they found them. I cant imagine sifting through the dirt and trying to put all the pieces together.

As you can see in this picture there are tons of people! We were there on a Chinese Holiday, and they said that there had been over 50,000 people the day before! It was CRAZY packed!

It was so cool to see them up close! We paid a few extra bucks so we could go down a little closer and get a better look.

Before we went to Xi'an I didn't realize how big the 'pit' was! It was HUGE! This was such a great trip and never in my life time did I think I would have this opportunity!

These last 2 pictures are at a noodle restaurant that we went to. The guy making the noodles, makes them so thin that they are about the thickness of a strand of hair! AMAZING!

Look at all the fun you could have! Come visit us, it looks like we may be here for a while still!

Update on Noelle

I should probably tell people Noelle is fine. She came home from the hospital 2 days ago and is totally fine. Just minus an appendix =]]

Thanks for all the well wishes!

Andrea

Noelle

So for those of you who didn't hear, Noelle has/had appendicitis. She was taken to the hospital in Hong Kong on Friday night (our Friday morning). I know she had been throwing up and feeling yucky. I would assume that her appendix has been taken out by now, but I'm not sure. Camille was the one who called me, and she was relaying what my mom was saying on the other line. So it was a little garbled. But that's the gist of it.

So if you could all keep her in your prayers that'd be awesome. I'll keep people posted through the blog.

Thanks and lots of love!

Andrea

Camille's Graduation!

Sorry everyone that we haven't been posting for quite a while! We found some pictures of Camille's graduation back in June, and wanted to show them and tell you about it.

Camille graduated from 5th grade on June 10th, 2008 from Shekou International School (SIS).

Here I am, waiting for my name to be called to get my Diploma!

Here I am wearing the hat I made, showing you my Diploma.

My class mates and I are standing in lines waiting for group pictures to be taken.

Next to me on my left, is my friend Jessica from Canada. And to the right, is my friend Ellen from Denmark/China, waiting for more group pictures to be taken.

Yay! Now I'm a 6th grader in Middle School, and get to be at the new Bayside campus.






Camille Busath

China Happenings!

So we have only been back to China since the first of August and I am now just posting, Sorry... but I really don't know how to do it so... I'm sending it to Andrea and she is posting it for me till I learn and who knows when that will be!

Things are going fine here. We still don't know when we will move back to the states. The company is happy with us being here and for the most part we are happy to be here too. Ed is poking around to see what else is out there, so who know what will happen.

Ben had a birthday in August and turned 14!! Where has the time gone? He was also ordained a Teacher and he wanted a new suit, so we went shopping last week when school was canceled because of a typhoon. He picked out the fabric and we had it made. It turned out great! I was very pleased.

Here he is! He is such a great kid!

Ben is also getting ready to go to Lijiang for the 8th grade trip in November. It is a backpacking trip for a week. Noelle did it in 8th grade and it is not an easy hike. So to get ready he is hiking the mountain behind the house 2 time a week to get in shape. The mountain has over 2000 steps to the top. I told him that I would walk to where the step start if he wanted to do it every day. He hasn't taken me up on that yet.

And look who just turned 47! It's Mary.

This one is with my sister Susan and my Brother Tom. We were such cute kids if I say so myself!

Ed and I are off to Xian tomorrow to see the Tarra Cotta Warriors. We will be meeting our friend there. I will post some pictures when we return.

Noelle tried out for the varsity vollyball team and she made it!! Way to go Noelle!!

Our little Camille is not that little any more! She started middle school. She is loving it!

We miss our Andrea! The house is a little bit quieter with her gone. I love having her around. She always let me know what was going on. But she is having a great time at BYU. She will come to visit us at Christmas for a few week. We are planning to go somewhere but not sure where as of yet!

Keep up the blogging everyone! I love to hear how you all are doing.

Hugs all around Mary

My Blog

So I did decide to go ahead and make my own blog. I am going to set it to private so that I can post more, but for now it is open. So go leave a comment or email me if you want to be added to the list.

The URL is mybyucollegelife.blogspot.com
So come check it out. It doesn't have much on it, and won't until it goes private, but go check it out!!

Andrea

PS: you can email me at eskimo_girl33@sbcglobal.net if you want to be added to the list.

Post-Summer

So I suppose a post-summer post is due.

Dad left for China in the middle of July and has been back there since then.

The family returned from Utah to California at the end of July so that Noelle (and Mom) could attend girl's camp. During that week that they were at Girls' Camp, Camielle stayed with me at the house I was staying at, and so not only did I watch Camille, I watched the 3 kids I was nannying because their parents went on vacation for the week. So I had 4 kids for a week. We even made it to church! It was difficult but we had a lot of fun (and help from grandma!)

The family then left California for China on August 4 at 1 AM and I left California for Utah on August 5. OOOOOH!! Totally forgot the best three events ever.

So August 1st was my............18TH BIRTHDAY!!! Yup. I'm 18 years old. Crazyness. As well on the 1st first I got my permit!! I took the written test, passed, and was issued a permit. Since I was over 18, I didn't have to take drivers training, so I was able to drive right away from the DMV, and that was really neat. So I drove around all weekend, and then on Monday, I took my driving test!! Yes, only 3 days inbetween, but I knew I could do it! My Aunt Kathy was kind enough to take me to the test and let me borrow her car for the test =] AND I PASSED!!! That's right. I am a licenced, California driver! It is so exciting! I just recieved the actual licence, but I still have yet to actually drive by myself. Oh well, one day =]

So the family has been back in China now for 3 weeks or so. The kids started school this past week. Noelle is in 10th grade, Ben in 8th and Camille in 6th. Which means there are no more kids in elementry school. How sad. But it sounds like they are all doing well and enjoying school. Ben also turned 14 on the 10th of August. So thats pretty neat.

I start BYU on Sep 2, and I move in a week from tomorrow! Super crazyness! I am so excited though! I am hoping that I can get together with my roomate tomorrow, so we'll see! I am also hoping that I can get a job this week. I want to work with my friend making pasteries in the Wilk center, so we'll see. Hopefully I can get hired on the spot and help out this week because it is education week at BYU and they are super busy. But we'll see!

We hope everyone is doing well! I am going to see if I can get my mom to write a post a week and just email it to me and I'd post it for everyone, since she knows more about whats going on in China then I do, and maybe I'll start my own blog if I can ger her to do that consistantly =]


Love you all!

The Busaths!

Opps!

Well, hello family and friends. Sorry for the delay in posts, but it has come to my attention that I never posted that we all made it to the good old US of A safe and sound. Except my poor dad has already had to leave to go back to China.

I arrived in here on June 7th just in time to see cousin Steve leave for his mission. So that was lots of fun getting to see all the family who had come in for that. I have been staying with the family that I used to babysit for when we lived here. So that has been lots of fun.

The rest of my family arrived on June 27th. They stayed in California for a week, and then moved on to Utah a week ago. My dad unfortunately have to go back to China for work already, so he left last Saturday.

There aren't too many big plans, just seeing everyone. My family will be in Utah for another week, and then they will come back to California so that Noelle and Mom can go to Girls Camp. I will be babysitting Camille and the kids of the family I'm staying with while their parents go to Hawaii. Wish me luck!

We hope to see as many people as we can while were here! We miss you all and if we are unable to see you we wish we could have and we think of you often!

Lots of love,
The Busath's

Graduation!!!! *edited with pictures!*

As of 8 PM China time, I am officially a high school graduate!

We had a really nice and pleasent commencement ceremony. Our homeroom teacher, Mr. Astbury, gave a great speech about us, and his speech was followed by the Senior speech, given by one of the seniors, Margaretha. After that we were given gifts and flowers from the school and Student Counsel. They gave us commemorative scrapbooks filled with pictures and notes from other students. It was really neat! Then came the big moment...diploma time! I of course was the first one to get my diploma because my last name came first =]] But it was all ok! And since I leave tomorrow, I won't be there for the awards assembly, but they told me that I was awarded the Grade 12 Citizenship award. The recipant of this award is chosen by their classmates and teachers, so it was a real honor to get the award. Oh and before gifts, the choir sang a song, of which all the senior girls were a part of. It was really nice.

Surprisingly though, I thought I would have cried, but I didn't, at least not until the ceremony was over =]] Then the tears came as I was saying goodbye to all my good friends. It will be hard to leave them, but I can't wait to get back to California!


Now for pictures!!

Senior Photo

Me walking into the auditorium to my place on the stage.

Waiting to be seated

Best picture I have of all the seniors on the stage

Senior Girls and High School choir singing "Dare to Dream"

Me singing "Dare to Dream"

After we were given our flowers and albums

Recieving my diploma from Mr. Dunseth

So we threw our hats in the air...but Hao Kun's didn't come back down =]
So were all looking at it like "ooooh"

Me and my Parents after Graduation

Hope I can see many of you soon!!!

Love, Andrea

Three Days of Mourning *Edited*

As most of you know, there was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Sichuan Province in China last Monday, May 12th. This distructive earthquake has killed over 30,000 people, injured over 200,000, and left 4.5 million people homeless. Because of the one-child law in China, families have lost their only children, and in some cases, entire families have been killed. In light of this, the Chinese government has issued Three Days of Mourning. During this three days, all overseas "entertainment" programs have been suspended (no American Idol for us =[[[[[[ ) as well as the internet is supposed to have been shut down as well (obviously that has not happened yet). But here is the absolutely amazing thing.

Yesterday, Monday, at 2:28 PM, which was the exact time the earthquake hit, one week prior, the Government issued 3 minutes of silence. Now, after 9-11, Americans held a moment of silence as well, but never did we get the entire nation to stand at one point and all bow our heads. But being the govenrment that they are, and being a united country that China is, at 2:28 yesterday, nearly all of China, thats 1 billion people, stood facing the direction of Sichuan, and bowed their heads for 3 minutes of silence. But here is the interesting thing. During this three minutes of silence, the only silence was that no one was talking. Outside though, horns were blaring. People were told to honk their car horns, and to blow ship horns. The reason for all the horns was to symbolize the chaos that took place immediately following the earthquake. It was really amazing for me to see the unitedness of this Communist country and to see the respect that they have. I know in the States, if something like his happened, you would have had moments of silence, but it would never be like it was here. At 2:28, people stopped their cars if they were driving, right in the middle of the street, and they got out of their cars to pay their respects.

This is a video that someone compiled of clips of this even happening. It is noisey, so you don't need the sound up very loud, but you can see what I mean about how united China is as a country and how much respect that they have for those who died. http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/k4oQH2K_Wig/

**At the end they are shouting "jia you" which means rebuild, and they might add on "zhong guo" or "si chuan" which are China and Si Chuan (the province hit).**

I just wanted to give you all a little taste of the patriotism going on in China during this time of mourning. They may have a different government system then the US, and they may have different ways of handling things, but one thing is for sure: they are united as a country.

We were at a rehersal yesterday in school at 2:28 when we were to stand, so most of the school was all located in one area, and it was really neat for me to look around and see all these people of so many nationalities, stand and pay respect for our host country. I was grateful to be an American at that time, but grateful that I was able to be a part of something so big.


-Andrea

We're Fine!

Hi All,
I know you have read about the huge earthquake in China, but we are fine. We didn't even feel the earthquake, though reports said that the earthquake was felt in Hong Kong, which is right next to us. In our neighborhood there are lots of shakes because they are blowing up parts of the mountian behind us, and so it might have just gone un-noticed to us because we feel tremors every day. So yes, we are all just fine! As for the rest of China though, thats another story =[

I will still get a post in about whats been going on! I have my last AP test today and then I will devote some time to updating you all on our lives in China!!

Love,
The Busath's

BYU wierdness!!!!!

So this past week I got to pick my housing for BYU. I really wanted to live in Heritage (apartment style, has a kitchen and bathroom in the apartment) and I didn't want to do Freshman Academy (FA) (have a set of classes you have to take, go to class and live with the same people). So my housing date was the second night. And of course, there were NOOOOO ROOMS LEFT!!!! I was so upset that I wasn't going to get a room. Because they tore down Deseret Towers, the amount of housing for freshman is significantly less. So I began to look at my options. The most plausible was to join FA, even though I really didn't want to, but this would secure me some classes and most importantly...a room. So I start looking at my options within FA, but because I was signing up so late, I had very few options. There were not FA communities that had rooms available in Heritage, and there was only one left that had room in Helamen. So I took it. Unfortunately for me, I will be taking Biology for a THIRD year, because that was the only "envelope" of classes that had housing I wanted. Luckily though, that meant that I would not need to take the AP Biology test today. Which was kind of sad since I had worked really hard in that class all year. But even if I got the AP credit for the class, I would still have to take it next year if I wanted to still live in my room. So that was a +/- situation. Next comes my roomate. So I just pick a room because I didn't want them to run out. I go serach Facebook for my roomate in hopes that I would get to meet her, but no such luck. Oh well. I go back to look at the rooms and see that there are more rooms in my FA community that are open. Knowing now that I can't loose my room, I look at the other girls' room preference survey, and I find that there is a girl who would better suit me based on the survey. So I switch into her room.

This is where it gets rediculously weird.

So I found her on Facebook and she adds me. So I start looking at her profile and notice she was just here in China last month! I think, wow, how weird is that?? Thats not even the beginning of it. So turns out her and I are practically twins. We love all the same things: photography, reading, same type of music, she plays the violin (I used to if you didn't know that). So I'm like, wow, its a good thing I switched rooms because I can tell that this is really going to be good. Oh, and she was born and raised till the age of 8 in JAPAN! I know...I was really getting weirded out now.

Now here is the extremely crazy weirdness.

She emails me and says that her dad recognizes our last name. I think, thats weird, because my dad recognized their last name too. She knows were from San Jose, and she said in the email that her grandparents lived there up till 1993. I'm thinking...hmmm. Then she asks if my dad grew up in San Jose...in the San Jose South Stake....

I completely lost it here!!

So this would be why our fathers recognized each other's last names. Because they grew up in the same stake!!! How weird is that!!! Oh their last name is Doying...ring a bell to anyone???

So we have both decided that Heavenly Father wanted us to be roomates. Looking back on all the things I wanted to have happen that didn't, I realize this is why. We were supposed to be roomates.


I'll do another post later about recent happenings but I just had to post that!!

Love, Andrea

Random China Happenings

So I haven't blogged about what we have been up to lately, so here it goes =]

Last Friday was Prom. Noelle and I both went. It turned out really good, and I'll even post a picture for you! My friend Angela and I were in charge of it...FYI: Do not say you will plan Prom when you have 3 online classes and 3 AP Classes, especially right before AP tests => too much stress...


Yesterday was our school's track meet. Noelle was the third fastest runner for the Girls' 50 meter dash. Impressive. She will probably be competing in the All-China track meet that our school is holding on May 17th.

Tomorrow (May 1), Noelle, Ben and I leave for Shanghai for an All-China Youth Conference. It should be really fun, and they are expecting about 120 youth from all over China! That's what I'm really excited about!! Oh, and we have a may holiday (some Chinese Holiday) so we are not missing any school. Mom, Dad and Camille will find something to do, since Dad doesn't have to work.

After we get back from Shanghai, I have my first of three AP tests. At the end of AP tests is the track meet, of which I am being a photographer for, with my brand new Canon Digital Rebel XTi! I am so excited to get it and cannot wait to test it out on the track meet!!! Our friend who is coming on business next week is bringing it to me, so I will start (maybe =] ) posting more pictures!!

After the track meet comes my school trip...to Malaysia! That was another reason why I decided to get the camera now verses waiting till summer. So I can have it for Malaysia. The trip is with grades 11 & 12, so it is going to be a lot of fun!

The day after I get back from Malaysia the YM/YW of our branch are (hopefully) going to Hong Kong to go Junk Boating with the youth in Hong Kong. I have become really good friends with one of the guys over there, who just happens to be going to BYU in the fall as well, and so they invited us to come with them Junk Boating. Still not exactly sure what it is, but it should be fun!

Then the following weekend is...GRADUATION!! Thats right. On June 6th at 7 PM (I think) I will be a High School Graduate!!! I can't believe it, but its true. I cannot wait and am so excited!!

And then...the following day I leave to come back to the US! Just me. All by my self. But I wanted to come back early (the other kids don't even get out of school till June 13th). My cousin is hopefully having his mission farewell on the 8th, and I wanted to be there for it. And my friends back home all graduate on the 11th, which I also wanted to attend. As much as I love China, I cannot wait to come home!

The rest of the family leaves China on June 27 for California, where they will be for a week or so, then to Utah for 2 weeks (Dad leaves to come back to China on July 13th or something) then back to California so Noelle can go to Girls Camp. It's going to be really weird for me to not be going to Girls' Camp this year, as that is something that I have looked forward to every year for the past 6 years. It will probably be hard not going.

Then on August 1st, I turn...18! Wow. I can't believe I'll be 18 either! Ben will turn 14 on August 10th, and he cannot wait because then he can go to dances! Oh and Camille turned 11 this month, which was neat.

The family will return to China on August 5 or something, and I will go to Utah when, or right before, they leave.

We are all excited to be coming home to visit and stay (me!), and we can't wait to see hopefully a lot of people!

Ok. I have now detailed the rest of the summer, so you can't say you don't know what's going on when I don't post till August...just kidding. Like I said, hopefully I will post a lot more once I get my new camera =]

Now for a few pictures:

This is the Senior Class. The picture actually turned out really nice.

Noelle and I

Everyone who went to prom!

Granted this isn't the best picture of Noelle, it is the only one I have of her from the track meet. They were looking back because their friend who was running complete did a face plant trip.

Ok, I know this isn't anyone from our family in the picture, but I still love it. Here we have my friend Angela, in the green shorts, and Margaretha in the black. They were just completing the "100 m" dash (really it was only 80 m). As they were crossing the finish line, something happened with Angela. She tripped...and this is the beginning of a beautiful fall. Unfortuantely none of you know Angela in real life, but Angela is a gymnist...and she falls a lot. And every time she does, she makes into a beautiful fall by doing a tumbling act instead and ending up in the gymnist "Y" position. So here she is, going super fast, she falls, does a summersault, and jumps into the "Y" ending position. Beautiful...but too bad I didn't have it on film =[ And Margaretha...we weren't sure what she was doing. It looks like she was doing hurdles, but really she was just jumping across the finish line =]

Again, I didn't get a very good one of Ben, but here he is, running the 50 m dash. He is in the back in the brown and white stripped shirt.

Now you can't say I don't post pictures =]

Hope everyone is doing well! We all miss you!

Love,
The Busath's

On the Radio Again

Well, I did it again. I was on KFOX this morning. It was awesome!! I will try and post the recording here but it might take me a few days!! Thanks again to Lisa Wilson for hooking me up with the radio station! The Pioneer band sounded great by the way!



Andrea

On the Radio...AGAIN!

Well, it hasn't happened yet, and it isn't for sure, but I will probably be on KFOX (in San Jose) tomorrow (Thursday) morning sometime between 7-9 AM. The reason you ask? Well, Pioneer High School's Jazz Band won the KFOX School of Rock Contests and they will be on tomorrow morning. The DJ asked if anyone had friends/family who lived far away and our friend Lisa Wilson thought of me! So the DJ/Band teacher has my phone number and hopefully they will call me!!! (And hopefully they will tell me they are calling me =] ) This will be radio call number #2! So for all you in San Jose, you should listen to 98.5 KFOX tomorow morning between 7-9 AM and hopefully you will hear me!! And for those who are not in San Jose, you can listen online at www.kfox.com

-Andrea

Senior Class Picture

Hi Everyone,

Not much has been going on. Its (finally!) almost the end of the school year, which means picture time! I haven't had my senior portriats done yet, but we did have our class photo taken today. We took about 40 different pictures, and while we haven't officially decided yet, this is hopefully going to be our class photo. Yes, there are really only 7 of us, and yes, we are on a playground =] That's the kids in us! We were supposed to have a professional photographer take them, but we haven't ever gotten around to it, so we used one of my cameras, and my friend Natalie took them. This is color edited in photoshop, but it is a great picture. We all look like professionals. I just wanted to share it with you all so you could see my senior class =]

When I get my portaits done, I will definitely post them here. As well as graduation pictures. We were going to take some in caps and gowns today, but our counselor left at lunch and we didn't get them before she left. It was fine though.

-Andrea

Responses

Well. I didn't get the responses I was hoping for, but

APRIL FOOL'S!!!

And I know I'm late saying it too, but I was waiting for people to respond!

Thing is though, I really recieved a "Harvard Acceptance Letter", except, it was an April Fool's joke played on me. And I didn't know it.

I filled out all the paperwork to apply to Harvard, and was going to apply, as a joke, but decided it wasn't worth it to pay the fee to a school I knew I wouldn't get accepted to. So, when I got this email, I thought it was legit...almost. The only thing I was skepticl (sp???) about was that is was from a gmail account.

And then my friend, who is a senior, got one too. (I forgot it was April Fools') She figured it was just fake, I was still semi-convinced. And being the person I am, I had to email Harvard and ask them if this was legit or not (which of course...it wasn't). But then my other friend, who is a Junior, comes by and my friend Tessa and I tell her we got "accepted" to Harvard, and she is like...Me too! Then we know something is going on, and she proceeds to tell us that it was an April Fools' joke. Oh man did I feel stupid then. Remember, I had already emailed Harvard. Not the email address that sent me the "letter" but the REAL Harvard. Yeah. I was feeling pretty stupid. So I proceed to read to the VERY END of the letter, where it states: PS: Happy April Fools' Day!

Oh man was I mad. When I found out who it was, I was gonna do something to them!

Tessa then goes around, telling the ENTIRE school, that me, Andrea Busath, fell for the Harvard joke. Oh man did I want to curl up into a shell and hide for the rest of the day!

The best part was though, that night, I told my dad I got into Harvard, and he totally believed me!!! It was sooooooo funny. He couldn't believe that he fell for it.

So to Julie, you were right, this wasn't real.

But to Jenny! APRIL FOOL's!!!


-Andrea

I GOT INTO HARVARD!!!

I found out today that I was accepted to Harvard. I thought it was an April Fool's joke, but I remembered that a lot of the big colleges send out their acceptance/rejection letters on April 1st. I kind of applied as a joke, but it turned out big!



Here is my acceptance email!



"HARVARD COLLEGE
OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID
Byerly Hall, 8 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138


Dear Ms. Busath,


I am very pleased to inform you that the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid has voted to offer you a place in the Harvard College. You have every reason to feel proud of our offer of admission. I know that Harvard would be an even richer and more vital place for your being here.

In evaluating candidates for admission to Harvard College, the Admissions Committee seeks to identify students whose academic achievements, diverse talents, and strength of character will honor this long history of distinguished scholarship – and of friendship. In special instances, we recruit high school students who have demonstrated exceptional performance even if they have not completed secondary education, thorough our Selective Student Search Service (SSSS). The Committee is convinced that you will make important contributions during your college years and beyond.

Our faculty and students extend a special invitation for you to visit Cambridge over the next few weeks. If you feel a visit would be helpful in making your final college choice, we hope you will take advantage of this opportunity.

We need to know by May 1 whether or not you plan to accept our offer of admission. If you accept admission for this coming September, further information will be sent to you over the summer by the Freshman Dean's Office. Each year, some admitted students choose to defer entrance for a year and find their many and varied experiences extremely rewarding. If you'd like to defer, please tell us about your alternative plans.

I am thrilled, both for you and for the College, at the prospect of your joining next fall. Whatever your decision may be, you have my best wishes for every future success.


Sincerely,
Mary Z. Stehman
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid"



I am sooo excited! Though I will probably stick with BYU...its cheaper!!

News, News and more News

So, like usual, its been awhile since I've updated. Not too much has gone on, but what has is big! Last weekend was district conference up in Guangzhou, which is 2 hours north of us. It was here that my dad recieved a new calling...that of a district counselor. Now, if you think like me, you might think he is a new counselor in the district presidency. No, that position went to our Branch President. My dad is a the equivalent of a Stake High Counselmen, but since we don't have a Stake, he is called a District Counselor. Now, what does this mean?? Since this isn't a calling that they would extend to him, or that he would accept, for only 4 months, this mean, with about 90% surety, that my family will be remaining in China for another year. At least. There have been speculations by people, and my family, that they would be returning after all in the summer, contrary to what was stated in our Christmas letter. My parents had been diligantly looking at houses in Utah (though they always do that), and my dad had applied for a new job. Nothing came from the house hunting, nor the job, and once my dad was asked to be a district counselor, they decided that was why nothing was happening with moving back. Because they weren't supposed to. So, as long as the company my dad is with wants to keep them, which we are pretty sure they do, the Busath family, minus me, will be staying in China for another year, which gives all you another year to come visit them! Oh and if you're wondering what a district counselor does, he will be getting to travel...I think, to different Branches in China, which is way cool.

Another big news, and this is more church wide, is that there are now two districts in China, which is amazing. There used to be one district that covered all of China, which was the China International District. Well, they decided there needed to be a Shanghai International District because the number of member expatriats in Shanghai and the immediate surrounding area is rapidly growing, and they felt they needed a centrally located District Presidency. Therefore, there are now two districts, the Beijing-China International District and the Shanghai-China International District. We are part of the Beijing-China International District...even though Beijing is a 3 1/2 hour plane ride away. Its all good. We also got a new Branch presidency, because, as I mentioned, our Branch President was called as a councelor in the District presidency. Lots of reoganization!!

Well. We have spring break this week, but decided not to go anywhere. Well, I decieded I wanted to stay here. We have friends coming tomorrow (For those who were in the Parkview ward, Darren and Stacy Ybarra are coming with their family...actually they're moving here! For two months) and so we wanted to be here to see them and their son, Zach, who is my age, will only be here for a week (since he has to graduate back home) and I wanted to be able to hang out with him. So we are just chilling around for the week, which will be really nice.

I hope everyone else is doing really well! We miss you all, but can't wait to see you in the summer, which is rapidly decending upon us!!!

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!!

Love, the Busaths

OK OK OK !!!!!

So, at the request of people (JILL!) I decided I had better blog about the Philippines (the correct spelling!). I am a busy student (sometimes, but not right now!) but I guess I can give up 10 minutes to write a post to please my people.

So we went to the Philippines for Chinese New Year, since pretty much all of China shuts down. We went with two other families from the Branch and we had a grand time. We went to an island called Mindora. The resort we stayed at had about only 10 rooms, so our group occupied 4 of them! At first we were pretty much the only people, which was nice. We had lots of little kids in our group and so they ruled the play pool. The beach was really rocky, and not much sand, but the water was beautiful. We did lots of snorkling.

On Sunday we had a little church meeting and then went into Puerto Galera to shop and eat dinner. It was soo hot and all the little kids were getting really hot, so I helped and was carrying them while we were walking around town. The food was really good; we ate at a pizzeria place.

The rest of the week we just hang out on the beach, played games at night (adults and me!) and got tan! (sort of) It was just a really nice and relaxing week. The food was surprisingly pretty good (except for a few meals =[ ) but over all it was good. We really enjoyed hanging out with people from the branch, and it made it much more enjoyable. I don't have too many pictures (crazy I know!) but I'll post what I have.

Oh and the night before we left, my parents, me, and one of the families went into the other town to eat and walk around. That was really neat too.

PICTURES!

This was the sunrise on the morning we left (we never woke up early enough to see it before then!) Also you can see how far out the tide goes.

Yes. They have McDonalds in the Philippines. Complete with drive through and everything! Though we didn't eat it at all because they didn't have it on the island.

They had these little motercycles with seats attached to them and we even got to ride in them. (They are made to ride in, though not this particular one!)

The people would pile high on cars.

For all you San Joseans. There was a city in Philippines called San Jose. You can barely see it, but it is a sign pointing the way to San Jose!

These cars are their replacements for busses. They are called Jeepny's. We rode in one to the city.

This was our beach. I don't have any pictures of the actual resort, but when I exchange pictures with the other people, I'll post some of those.

Happy people???!

Haha. I'll maybe post about New Zealand eventually.

Love, The Busaths

So I'm A Bad Blogger!!!!

Ok. So I never updated about the rest of our trip to New Zealand, but I will...while were in the Philippines this week!

Yes we are going to the Philippines for Chinese New Year...tomorrow in fact!

That would tell you how bad of a blogger I am. I should teach my mom how to do this, you know, since I'm such a bad blogger. Mostly its just that I'm a busy student...but I have enough time to check everyone else's blogs. Oh well. Maybe that should be my month-late New years resolution...I am working on getting this program that my cousin mentioned on his blog that makes it easier to blog. Then maybe I will be a better blogger.

But I will write out all we did when we were in New Zealand, complete with pictures, and post it when we get back.

Heck, I'll even write out what we are doing in the Philippines, so it doesn't have to wait till the next vacation.


Hope everyone is doing well!

Oh...and its been record cold here! Not as cold as some places, but for our climate, its close to freezing! Today when I went to school, it was 7 degrees C, which sounds cold but is only around 45, but with humidity, it chills to the bone!


Now off to humid, wet, HOT weather! On a beach...how fun.



Love,
The Busaths

New Zealand continued

Hi everyone!


Sorry its been a while. We haven't have any internet, or the time! We have been busy travelers.





So we left Queenstown after a fun time there and we went to stay on a farm! We had a lot of fun with the host family. It was husband and wife, Ken and Fiona, and they had a working farm with lots and lots of sheep and some cows. We were there for one night, and then off to a boat! We went on an overnight cruise on a 80 passenger boat down Doubtful Sound, and out to the Tasman Sea. In the river, there were bottle nose dolphins, so we got to see those! That was really neat. We also went kayaking! That was an adventure. Everyone, except mom, went. Camille was tied to the back of dad's kayak because she wasn't too sure what she was doing. Then when we were coming back the next day, it was raining a lot, and there were so many waterfalls! It was awesome to see all the many waterfalls. And it is incredible how close the captain could get the boat to the waterfall. We even got so close that the "nature lady" got some waterfall water so we could taste it. It was so fresh. So we got off the boat and headed for a small town called Wanaka. It was just a sleeping stop on our way to Franz Josef, which has a glacier. So the next day, New Years Eve Day, we drove the long way to Franz Josef. It was something like 5 hours! In a small car! Oh and I should mention we ended up getting a van, but it didn't have a lot of space. But it worked. So we ended up in Franz Josef around 5 PM that night, and we were able to make it on a 6 PM helicopter ride up to the glacier. It was really nice up there. And we all kept falling throught the snow! On the helicopter ride back, there was a river that had suddenly swelled and trapped a few people on an island. So the heli dropped us off and then went back to get them because there was no way to get them back, but we then heard on the radio that the river had gone back down! Crazy how things can change. That night we were staying in a super small "resort" in the middle of no-where, surrounded by cows...for New Years Eve. Needless to say we didn't do much. We all stayed up till midnight, but there was no dropping of the ball or anything. Oh well. The next day we had to drive to the train station in Greymouth to go to Christchurch. The drive was 2-3 hours, and the train ride was 4-4 1/2. We got to Christchurch last night and were there less than 12 hours. We walked around the city, ate Mexican food and went to bed early because we had to get up at 5 to make it to the airport by 6 to come to Rotorua, which is where we are now. So today we arrived at around 9 and went to a sheep sheerin show, a farm tour, and then went Zorbing! We have been waiting for a while now to go Zorbing!! It was lots of fun! Camille got a little scared, but eventually was ok with it. Basically what it is is sitting inside of a rubber ball which is inside a bigger rubber ball. In the tube is water, so you don't go in circles. I went with Camille and Ben and Noelle went together. Tonight we ate at a steak house, which was quite good! Tomorrow Dad wants to go to Kaorao, which is part of where he served his mission. We want to go horseback riding and fishing. Who knows what we will do!





I will post a few teaser pictures, but you will have to wait for the majority till I get home...since I don't know where my camera cord is!

This was the lake at Queenstown.

This was the resort in Franz Josef that we stayed at on New Years Eve.

This was the sunset at Franz Josef. Beautiful.

More to come!

Love, The Busath's