A year ago today, our spicy sweet Spanish surprise exchange daughter came to live us. For years, I knew I wanted to host exchange students. When we were building this house, I knew we finally had space to host, but it was also going to be Camden’s senior year. I didn’t want to overshadow that, so we decided to wait one more year before hosting. However, a social media post about hosting for a semester caught my eye. I knew we could do that and that’s how Eva came to us. She was a semester student (due to schooling in Australia) and then we’d have the spring to focus on Cam. Candela had been living in Vernal since the start of the 2022-2023 school year with a different host family. She was friends with Eva, so she’d been to our house and we knew her a bit. Unfortunately, not every hosting situation works out as people hope, and it became necessary for Candela to switch host families. We were asked if we could take Candela when Eva left. We discussed it with Cam (because I didn’t want him to feel forgotten in his senior year) and he was immediately on board (my kids love hosting just as much as the adults do). I’m not going to lie. At first I was nervous about it. We loved Eva so much that I was worried I wouldn’t be able to love Candela the same. We were also missing Eva so much and I wasn’t sure my heart was ready. Needless to say, I worried for nothing. It’s amazing how the heart grows in its capacity to love. Within days, just like with Eva (and Nicole this year), Candela felt like part of the family and I love her just as much I love all my children. Dear Candela - Thank you for being brave and making the switch to a new family. Thank you for teaching me how easy it is to open your heart and love someone new. Thank you for filling our house with music, piles of teenagers, so much laughter, and so much love. Thank you for late night talks and adventures. Thank you for loving Maddie. Thank you for all the weird pictures and videos I have saved. Thank you for “Oh my gooseness” and teaching us how to bite as a way to show love. Thank you for being my longest Snap streak. Thank you for being the best surprise. You are a blessing and our lives are better because you are in it. Dear Candela’s family - Thank you for trusting us with your daughter after needing to switch families. Thank you for sharing her with us and letting us love her too. We love you guys! We are so grateful for our surprise and the privilege of hosting her. Love you forever! #exchangestudent #exchangefamily #asseconnect #hostfamily #utahexchangestudent #exchangeyear #usaexchange #utah #whywehost #hosting #hostfamilyusa #exchangeyearutah #whyhostingmatters - @rachelledurranthostmom