4 LEAF CLOVERS

One day after school we ventured out to see if we could find 4 leaf clovers in the clover patch that we call a front lawn. Madi found the first one. I found two more and gave one to Cooper to claim as his own. He quickly put it down a drain by the garage so that "it would never get lost." I guess that makes perfect sense. Madi and I placed ours inside the Harry Potter book to press them and I told Madi that we could frame them later so that she could always have good luck. They also collected flowers - which you can see in Madi's hands - for me. How sweet!!!

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

At school Madi got to be involved in Operation Christmas Child. She was to get a shoebox and fill it will items and small gifts. The boxes will be collected and given to children in Cambodia, Vietnam, The Solomom Islands, and other countries where children don't get Christmas. Last year over 250,000 boxes were sent from Australia alone and over 8 million worldwide. It was fun to fill the box with things.

We got:
coloring book
activity pack - stickers, coloring pages, and colored pencils
crayons
jump rope
school scissors
three bouncy balls
notepad with dogs on it
two story books
underwear
hair things
and a toothbrush

The box was to be decorated with bright and fun paper and a tag placed on it to indicated whom the package should be for (i.e. boy or girl and what age). Madi then took it to school. In October/November the boxes will be placed in a container and sent to the countries mentioned above. We always try to do a "Sub for Santa" each year and this was a great way to be involved!

a looking into the life of little COOPER

Last week Cooper and Madi were coloring pictures on paper by Kev, who was on the computer. Cooper asked if he could get a pen out of the kitchen drawer and Kev told him that would be fine. A few minutes later from the living room, where I was relaxing in peace and quite, I hear "NO COOPER!!!" Apparently instead of getting a pen out of the drawer Cooper got a blue permanent marker. He had done really well to only color on the paper, but it had leaked through onto the tile floor. Kev quickly picked it up off of the floor - the whole time Cooper is repeating over and over again "I'm sorry dad!" - and places it on the table where the permanent marker continues to bleed through the paper while Cooper scrubs the floor. Remember that we are only renting both the house and the table. This is a picture of the table after being cleaned and the floor after being cleaned. It is mostly gone off of the floor, but the table is a sad site. We are curious to see what they say, and if they charge us, when they come to pick up the table. Poor Cooper, he was just trying to make a masterpiece on paper!!

Everyday now for a week and a half I have heard these exact words come out of Cooper's mouth, "Mom, I really want my trains to come. When is the boat getting here?" Yes, that is right, we still don't have our stuff. Who knew that it would take this long? It is going to be like Christmas when we finally open up all of our boxes and see the things that have been packed away for five months.

Cooper has had a hard time sleeping in since we moved into the house. We are not sure what the culprit is, but we blame it on the sun coming up earlier here and the birds singing good morning. He gets up before Kev has left for work most mornings and then is so tired by the afternoon that he is ornery. On Wednesday night Cooper had hit his limit. He lied to Kev about something, and so Kev told him that he was going to go to be without stories. You should have seen the tantrum that insued after this. I have never seen Cooper act this way. He couldn't stop crying and he was so worried about missing out on something. I even threatened to take away his Thomas trains if he didn't stop crying and just go to bed. He still continued to cry and express his concerns about "missing out on stuff". After an hour of this I finally got into bed with him and we had a "cuddle" (that is what the Aussies call it). I told him that we weren't going to talk and I would sing him a song. He said that he couldn't close his eyes they would just stay opened even when the lights went out. Within minutes he was sound asleep. Poor kid!

Also, whenever he gets into trouble these days he says "Gosh! Everybody just hates me!" Any suggestions as to what I can say to this - I really want it to stop!

"I'M A BIG KID NOW!!"

I HAVE VENTURED OUT TWICE THIS WEEK BY MYSELF - WITH RYLEE AND COOPER ACTUALLY - TO FAR AWAY LANDS (REALLY ONLY CITIES THAT ARE ABOUT A 20 MINUTE DRIVE). A FRIEND OF MINE IN THE WARD IS FROM CANADA, JACKIE, AND HAS ONLY BEEN HERE FOR SIX MONTHS. ON TUESDAY WE DECIDED TO GO TO A PLACE THAT NEITHER OF US HAD BEEN TO VISIT A FREE PETTING ZOO. I ONLY TOOK ONE WRONG TURN (OF COURSE THE GPS HELPS), I ONLY TURNED INTO THE WRONG LANE ONCE, AND I ONLY TURNED ON THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS ONCE. THIS WAS A GOOD DAY!!

THE TODAY, THURSDAY, I WENT TO PLAY DATE AT A PARK BY THE CHURCH. I HAD DRIVEN THERE ONCE BEFORE BUT IT WAS RAINING AND NOBODY WAS THERE TO PLAY SO WE CAME BACK HOME. THE FIRST TIME I WENT I GOT LOST LOTS AND MY JAW WAS KILLING ME WHEN I GOT HOME. I REALIZED THAT I HAD BEEN CLENCHING MY TEETH THE WHOLE TIME I WAS DRIVING. THIS TIME I DIDN'T GET LOST AND DIDN'T EVEN REALLY NEED SUE (THE GPS). I NEVER TURNED INTO THE WRONG LANE AND I ONLY TURNED ON MY WINDSHIELD WIPERS ONCE! FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE WONDERING ABOUT THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS - THEY ARE NOW WHERE MY BLINKER USED TO BE.

I DRIVE AROUND HOME REALLY FINE NOW. I CAN MAKE IT TO MADI'S SCHOOL AND THE SHOPPING CENTER CLOSE BY WITHOUT ANY MISTAKES (NO WINDSHIELD WIPERS GOING ON WHEN THERE IS NOT A CLOUD IN THE SKY). I DON'T SEEM TO MAKE MISTAKES UNLESS I GET LOST OR DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM GOING. IT IS EASY TO REVERT BACK TO WHAT IS NATURAL AND INGRAINED INTO MY HEAD. I STILL GET REALLY NERVOUS ON THE BUSY ROADS BECAUSE THE LANES ARE REALLY NARROW HERE. KEV SAYS THAT THIS WILL CURE MY ANXIETY.

ANYWAY, I JUST HAD TO SHARE BECAUSE I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF. "I'M A BIG KID NOW!!"

TAG YOUR IT!!!

My friend Amy tagged me so here it goes:

4 Jobs I've had:
1. Medical transcriptionist - I started this job at home when Madi was 6 months old and did this for almost three years. It was a great job allowing me to stay home, but it was also really hard at time. Kev got a raise one year that covered what I was making and that was the end of that job.
2. Receptionist at a doctors clinic for a couple of years until I had Madi.
3. Physical Therapist assistant - I did this right out of college and loved it. It is the one and only time I have worked and used my degree. I had to quit and get a new job because it was only part-time and I needed to earn more cash to help put Kev through school. Maybe someday when the kids are older I can do it again!
4. Random BYU jobs: When I first went to BYU I really needed a job and the only thing that I could find was a cleaning lady - at the time I didn't have a car so it had to be close. I had to go early in the morning and clean the Museum of Art building. I actually didn't mind this job much - except the early morning hours. My sister Wendy was my roommate at the time - and she had a car - one morning I woke up late and woke her to ask for a ride. I only asked once. She took me but made it clear that she would only do it this one time. I am a quick learner! I digress - I liked the job mostly because I got to see all of the art work as I cleaned. Also, I am a bit strange and I don't mind cleaning. However, I didn't work the job long before I found another job on campus in the Evening Classes office at the front desk. I did this job until I got accepted into the Athletic Traning program and couldn't work the hours any more. Then I worked at the Provo Craft Warehouse with my sister Wendy. I got to pull and fill orders for craft stores - the job itself wasn't that great but it paid the few bills that I had and the people I worked with were so much fun! I ended up packing up the boxes towards the end with all the fellas and not pulling stock. It was great with my schedule - since I was doing all of my training hours on top of it - and I really only worked about 12 hours a week.

4 Movies I Could Watch Over and Over:
1. Wedding Planner
2. Pride and Predjudice - the long version
3. Little Mermaid and Aladdin
4. Ever After

4 Favorite TV Shows:
1. Lost - can't see this anymore. It is not shown in Australia and we tried to watch it on the internet and you have to be in North America to do that. We will have to catch up when we get back I suppose.
2. Heroes - we are so excited because they do show this one in Australia. The season starts only one week after it does in the States.
3. American Idol - Australian Idol just isn't the same.
4. CNN - I like to know what is going on in the world.

4 Favorite Reality TV Shows:
1. Australian Idol/American Idol
2. Dancing with the Stars - they have this in Australia but I haven't really watched it.
3. They don't have any other reality TV shows here. But back home I liked to watch Survivor and
4. So You Think You Can Dance - they are actually re-running this here and since I missed it this summer I get to watch it now.

4 of My Favorite Places I Have Been:
1. The Great Wall of China
2. Disneyland - "The Happiest Place on Earth!"
3. Hawaii
4. Of course Sydney.
=I am sure that after we visit the Great Barrier Reef while we are here in Australia that will be added to my favorites list!

4 Favorite Foods:
1. Pizza - here it is chicken and BBQ sauce with onions. Delicious!!
2. fresh fruits and veggies
3. Olive Garden breadsticks and allfredo sauce!
4. Chili's baby back ribs!!! YUM!!! Can't wait to have those again!!

4 Websites I Check Daily:
1. Blogger
2. G-mail
3. KSL
4. On Monday - your Sunday - I like to check BYU football to see the results of the game!!

4 Hobbies:
1. Scrapbooking - digital and traditional
2. Gardening
3. Reading
4. My blog - this has become my new hobby and I love it!!

4 Family and Friends I Would Like to Tag:
1. Jules
2. Janae
3. Dera
4. The Jones'
Tag your it!!

more digiscrap

Here are some more digiscrap pages. I have had such a blast! These are a few of my favorites! What do you think?

NATURE

THIS IS THE LIZARD THAT LIVES IN OUR BACKYARD. COOPER HAS NAMED HIM

MR. GRUMPY

EVERYTIME I GO OUT TO HANG UP THE WASH THERE IS "HEAPS" OF MOVEMENT IN THE BUSHES AND I ALWAYS THINK IT IS A HUGE ANIMAL - NOPE JUST MR. GRUMPY. I FINALLY GOT MY CAMERA OUT TO TAKE A PICTURE.

WITHIN THE FIRST WEEK OF BEING IN AUSTRALIA I BOUGHT A BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA BOOK, SO WE COULD IDENTIFY ALL OF THE NEW BIRDS WE WERE SEEING (JUST TRYING TO BE LIKE MY MOM WITH HER UTAH BIRD BOOK). FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO LIKE THE ANIMAL PICTURES HERE ARE SOME OF THE BIRDS THAT WE HAVE SEEN:

THE KOOKABURRA

THE WHITE IBIS - INTERESTING LOOKING BIRD, LIKES TO EAT GARBAGE AND FOOD OFF THE GROUND.

THE RAINBOW LORIKEET

SILVER GULL - OF COURSE WE HAVE SEEN THESE BEFORE, BUT THEY ARE MUCH CLEANER HERE.

EMU - WE SAW THIS AT THE ZOO, THEY AREN'T ACTUALLY WALKING AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

NOW LET ME SHOW YOU PICTURES OF OUR GRASS.
THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE GRASS IN THE FRONT YARD - IT IS REALLY JUST A PATCH OF CLOVERS THAT WE MOW OVER.

THIS IS WHAT THE GRASS LOOKS LIKE IN THE BACKYARD. I AM NOT REALLY SURE WHAT TYPE OF GRASS IT IS - BUT IT IS PROBABLLY DROUGHT TOLERANT SINCE AUSSIES ARE REALLY GOOD AT THAT KIND-OF THING. THE ONLY THING THAT I KNOW IS THAT IT IS NOT SOFT AND HURTS YOUR BARE FEET TO WALK ON IT.

OH HOW WE MISS NICE SOFT KENTUCKY BLUE GRASS.

Madi's Troubles!

For this story I have share with you a picture of what our house looks like. I had to create this so we could ask our landlord things like, "Can we put a TV jack here?" or "Can we hang a picture here?" You know, one of the disadvantages of renting!


You can't see it on the drawing of our house plan but there is an opening in the wall between the kitchen and the room that goes out towards the back of the house (top right), which has been turned into the kids play room.


Yesterday I was in the kitchen and Madi and Cooper were playing in the playroom. Madz said, "Dad, reach over and get my sucker stick and throw it away!" Of course I replied and said, "You have legs -- do it yourself." Remember, she would only have to walk about 15 feet around to the kitchen. She replied, "I am so tired of you making us do all this walking!"


It made me laugh at how quickly she reverted back to her old ways and forgot the time when we had to walk everywhere when we lived in the city. Sorry to make you use your legs Madz!

GOING DIGITAL

I have been wondering how I was going to scrapbook in Australia - there is no way that I can give it up for 3-4 years. I have looked around and the supplies are sparse and "so last year" (or several years actually). So I have been doing some research and joined an LDS digiscrap group on Yahoo to ask really stupid questions. I think that it will be the best solution for me! It should also save me money since you can reuse the supplies over and over and over again. This is my first attempt. What do you think?

P.S. Isn't she adorable?

OLD SCHOOL

We have to go old school around here. The dryer is so small that I can't dry everything in it or it would take all week just to get the laundry done, and I have better things to do with my time. So if it is not underwear, socks, or Kev's work shirts (he doesn't like to iron and they are wrinkle free) they get hung out to dry. I am not very good at this and I am sure there are quicker ways to get it done, but I am learning. (If anyone has any advise on the best way to put your laundry on the clothes line let me know.) I am not sure if I like this. I always worry about bugs climbing in the pockets of the pants or birds pooping on the clothes. Plus they aren't always as soft and wrinkle free as they would be if done in a dryer. However, I keep reminding myself that I am helping out the environment and they do come in smelling of flowers from the backyard!

The other thing that we don't have is a dishwasher. The owner of the house said that we can install one if we want and then take it when we go. We haven't decided if it is worth it or not. We had to get some more important items like a fridge and washing machine (I am not washing clothes by hand that is for sure). So for now Kevin and I are the dishwashers. It hasn't been so bad for now. I wash the dishes in the morning and Kev usually does them after dinner.

Old school isn't so bad. It helps us to remember how spoiled we actually are. A little humility never hurt anybody, right?

Check out my Slide Show!

Since I don't have my stuff yet and the laundry is done, Rylee is asleep, the kids are watching cartoons, and the floors have been cleaned I have spent a little time using photoshop to make some of my favorite Aussie pictures black and white and then put them into a slide show.
What do you think?

A Tale of Three Rings

Once upon a time -- in the not so distant past -- two people were married and a ring was given! This picture (not the real ring in case you were wondering) represents that first wedding ring that was give from Stacy Dawn Cooper to Kevin Sharp Hutchinson to show her undieing love for the man she was about to spend the rest of eternity with!

Little did they know that only a couple of years later an unfortunate event would prevail that would render the ring LOST ... forever. For those of you that don't know the story Kevin was taking the young men biking in Yellow Stone and the group stopped at the 'Fire Hole' to go swimming. One of the young men wasn't going swimming so Kevin asked him to hold his ring so it didn't slip off his finger in the water to be drowned to the depths there of.

Well, needless to say, the ring got lost anyway. The young man, who was about to go on his mission offered to pay for it out of his mission savings account. Of course I took the money!!!! Just kidding, Kevin just told him that he was OK with it but he had to break the news to Stacy!!! (You should have seen the look on his face.)

Needing a ring, and being a little short on funds, Kevin and Stacy ventured to the 'West Valley' mall, where they ended up buying this lovely CTR ring to show Kevin's devotion to the fact that he 'Chose The Right' woman to marry! (Plus it was in the budget!)

The problem that Kevin soon had after moving to Sydney was one that couldn't have been avoided. Since the temporary residence that they were residing in had a swimming pool on the top floor they had to visit the pool often. One fair night, as the family was swimming, Kevin and Stacy noticed that the water seemed a little funny and that a weird film was covering them as they got out. It didn't matter that both of the children developed rashes, what really mattered was that Kevin's 'ring of love' -- however tattered it had become -- was now purple! (The picture does not do it justice!)

Was the newly tarnished ring destined to be a sign of the love that existed between Kevin and Stacy? But alas! Of course it was not to be such a sign ... for as they were walking a couple of days later down the busy streets of Sydney what should appear before their very eyes? A ring shop you may ask! But no! It was .... a 'Souvenir shop' that the suffering couple had wondered into (you know the kind that sell cuddly kangaroos and boomerangs that actually work!).

In the shop the couple came upon a certain turning rack that brandished all sorts of amazingly ornate jewelry! The kind that is supposed to last forever!?! ON THAT VERY RACK, AT THAT VERY MOMENT, THEY KNEW IT WAS MEANT TO BE! But what should appear before their very eyes but a new ring that seemed to call out Kevin's name as it said, 'Buy me!'

That was all it took! A few unspoken words from a FINE piece of jewelry that was actually the right size and it was his. Even to this day the new ring sits on his finger as he types this wonderful story! The best part is that within one week of buying this new ring he had the best of a complement thrown at him as there had ever been. A friend of his said, "That is coolest wedding ring I have ever seen!" And all that coolness for just $8.95 AUD!!!!

MOM AND DAD MOVING

My parents are moving from West Valley to West Jordan soon from the only house that I remember (I was 3 or 4 I think when we moved there). There are so many memories and good times in that house, many tears (mostly from laughing really hard, right Jules?!), and much, much laughter. Julie put it so well on her blog that I have copied it onto mine:

Well, I just thought I should share a little story. Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess and... oh wait not that kind of story. This one is a true story, one of laughter, tears crisis and a lot of joy. It all started when my parents moved into a new house 28 years ago. Joey was two and Travis and I were not yet in the world. It was a beautiful new house and it was theirs and was ready to be worn in. There were children that ran away, and always seemed to come back. Stacy in a tree and falling on Robert, Stacy I understand did not see Robert and that he appeared out of no where, but Robert says for sure she saw him before she jumped. Boys being boys and trying out a pully system on the swing set, which ended in a huge bucket full of sand and rocks to fall on the head of Joey. The boys digging large holes in the sand box and telling little me to get in the hole, after getting in the hole covering it with a board that was to heavy for me to push off. Stacy laughing so hard at almost every meal that she would just get "the look" from my Dad and went straight to her room where she had to stay until she could stop laughing, which took a few trips up and down the stairs. Cars totaled, dishes washed, beds made, laundry done, games played, high school dances, graduation, college moves and many more great things. Many things broken and then fixed and then broken again. Chores to do, at crazy hours, and beans, strawberries and many other garden items picked and canned, weeds pulled and flowers planted. Two wedding receptions, seven children married to 7 amazing spouses and 18 grandchildren later we come to the end of a house that I have always known. My parents will be moving into a house that will be better to live in as my parents get older and there family gets bigger and bigger. A place that will have just as many memories as the old house plus some. .....So we are all excited about the changes that are about to happen a lot of moving is a good thing. CHANGE IS A GOOD THING!!!!! Congratulations Mom and Dad on the new house!!!

I am so excited to see it when we get back. I have heard that it is a nice house that will fit their needs now and in the future! Congrats mom and dad!!

NEW APPLIANCES

Saturday we went out and bought all of our appliances. After talking to Jessy and Kelli we tried to find a second hand shop where they send the rented furniture to buy - but people didn't seem to know what we were talking about. We had spent a couple of Saturdays going around to garage sales (Sue, the GPS, has come in very handy) to see if we could find anything without any luck. Saturday there was one that said they had a fridge, washing machine, and microwave. The sale started at 8am so we got there shortly after that and they were already gone. Apparently, when the lady opened up the garage at 6am people were already there to wheel and deal - the appliances got snatched up fast. We did find a $10 vacuum at another house though - we were very happy about that. It is old, but it will do the job, and if not it was only$10!!

While we were out winding our way through the streets of Epping, with Sue as our guide, I heard an advertisement for a store called Good Guys and they were having a huge sale. People had already told us that we should try Good Guys because they barter a bit and the more you buy the lower they will go. So we typed in the address and off we went. We did find all that we were looking for and stayed below our budget (remember work has given us money to buy "white goods") so I got a new mixer.

I wasn't expecting to get one of these so I was very excited. I had been wondering how I was going to make cookies with a hand mixer.

We christened the machine later that night by making chocolate chip cookies (YUMMY!!)We had to look up on the Internet for a conversion to know how high to cook them and to convert the butter over from g to cups - but they turned out so good!! The cookies (biscuits) that I have had here are not the same as back home, they are a little hard. I don't have my recipes yet either, so Kev looked up one for me to make sure I knew what I was doing. I was excited to know that I have the recipe memorized -

apparently I make too many cookies! They are my favorite, especially the dough!!

HAIR CUT

So here is my new hair cut. I had a really bad one in the city so when we moved I had to get it fixed and therefore had to get a bit cut off. The lady in the city didn't cut it by layers - like you usually do - she just combed it all straight and cut away. She then proceeded to add a few layers but didn't do any in the front. So the back was all layered. What ever she did to it made it flipped out no matter what I did, and then the front and sides did nothing and just hung there. She then decided, for some strange reason, to layer my bangs (fringe). She didn't speak much english (that is always a bad sign) so I couldn't say anything and I kept thinking that maybe they cut hair different in Australia. Anyway, I was very unhappy so I got it fixed and now it is much better. The biggest downfall is that I was trying to grow it out. Oh well!

Our Car!

Contrary to what Stacy wanted to name our car ('Tighty Whitey') it has been deemed 'Kooky' by Madi (Full name: 'Kooky Kookaburra Hutchinson'). Personally I am glad that no one agreed with Stace's idea. I don't know about you but I wouldn't ever want to feel like I was riding around in a used pair of underwear! It's just not something that I want to picture every time I climb into my car. In her defense she said that she liked that name because there have been a number of times when we have been packed to the roof driving home with the stuff we have had to buy. Not to mention the first day we moved from the hotel to our house (we were sardines!).


Stace mentioned that I should tell you about my experience making the big purchase so here goes. Well, the first thing I can say is that it is really hard to buy a car when you don't have one to go and look at cars! It makes things a little tricky.


After contemplating both of the options (personal sellers vs. dealers) I decided to try the dealers, simply because I wouldn't have to try and get to a number of personal sellers and spend my time in transit. Plus, I had a friend tell me of a road here that they have nick named 'Auto Ally' because of all the used car dealers on the road (kind of like State Street back home).



I looked into our payment options to see what the interest rate was on a loan, in case we wanted to go that route but you can't get a loan for anything unless you have three months of history or want a very large interest rate. So we went with the paying cash option.

After finding a dealer that said they had a lot of 'people movers' I decided to start there. I walked in and of course the sales person asked me about the price range I was looking for. I told him what our price range was he showed me a row of Toyota Taragos that were in our price range. Every one of the cars had about 300,000 km (186,000 miles). I asked if he had anything with less miles and he said he did but I had to go up to about the $18,000 AUD price range and those cars all had 220,000 km (136,000 miles). Needless to say I was a little discouraged. I didn't want to buy something that was going to die in a month! Oh, and I can't forget to mention that they were all made in like 1992 or 1994.


I continued on down the road hitting all of the dealers. I had a hard time finding dealers with people movers. Apparently they aren't that popular in Australia. I found one more that tried to sell me his people mover (I forget what it was) that ran on diesel fuel and wouldn't start for over one minute of trying and he wanted $18,000 AUD for it as well.


I finally thought I was going to have to go the personal seller route
but then found our car. It is a Mazda (pronounced Maaaaaazda, like you are a sheep saying baaa!) MPV. It is a 2000 and had 136,000 km (84,000 miles). The nice thing about it is that all of the five seats in the back are bucket seats that can be removed. This has really come in useful while we have been buying things and transporting them home. The list price was $18,000 but the manager must have been feeling good that day because we got a real good deal on it (or so I believe). He also had it serviced, comes with the one year warranty, replaced a broken tail light, did an alignment, paid for the initial inspection and told me that he would fix what every was wrong with it (both the front and rear brakes needed to be replaced). It worked for us and, most of all, it just felt like it was the car for us. It always helps to have a little assistance when making big purchases like this!!!!

Our New Ward!

This is a picture of our new ward house (Normanhurst Ward). We have now been there 4 times. Everyone is really nice and they have all done a good job at making us feel accepted.

We heard our first swear word over the pulpit today from the Bishop's daughter. The funny thing is that "Hell" and "Dam" aren't swear words hear so I guess it technically isn't swearing, right!?!

Stacy also got sustained in her new calling. She is now the 2nd counselor in the Primary. We were joking today that she must not have learned what she was supposed to because this was the exact same calling she just had in our last ward. I guess you can't run away from a calling huh!

Today a member of the high council pulled me into a room to talk to me. He said he just needed to get to know when and what my work schedule was like. Then I found out that the Elder's quorum president just left. We will see what happens.

MADI IS IN SCHOOL!!!

First, for all of you who have asked Madi if she got her presents yet she wanted me to tell you that they came!!! Besides a few more Pet Shops (which are called Littlest Pets here) from Cooper and some computer games for 1st graders she got a new Barbie and some walkie talkies. She was in heaven!!

Now about school. After more paperwork, visiting three different schools to talk about our concerns about her being behind when we get back to the states, and paying the international student fee of $4,610.00 (good thing that work covers that one or we would have home schooled children in Australia) Madi is finally in school!! We decided just to send her to the school whose boundaries we are in. They actually have a K/1 split class so which they put her in ( it is called composite here). I was really worried about her going back into Kindy. The principal said that she hadn't ever heard of a way to get around the age rule, but she would check (Madi barely misses their b-day deadline). They are going to assess her at the end of the year and see if she should move up to 2nd or go to 1st (if they can get around the age thing). It has been a little bit stressful for me - I just want to do what is best for her future - and I broke down and cried to Kev one night and told him that I just wanted to go home where everything was easier. Since then I have decided that things will work out for the best. The 3rd term is almost over anyway (there is only two weeks) and then there is only one term left before the new school year starts at the first of the year.

She seems to be adjusting fine - although I feel bad for her being the "new girl". The first couple of days all of the kids gave her tons of attention since she was novel. It isn't the same anymore and I think that Madi doesn't know how to handle that - she seemed to relish in all of the attention. I talked to her teacher (she actually has two teachers, they split up the week) today and she said that Madi is doing fine and that the kids all seem to like her. I am sure that in time she will have lots of friends to do things with. For our very outgoing little girl I have been suprised at how shy she can be in new situations with lots of people around. She has found a boy in her class that she thinks is cute and told us that she is going to marry him. We had to have some talks about not dating until you are 16 and temple marriage - who's daughter is that anyway? She went to his house to play Friday after school which was fun for her.

She does get to wear a uniform which is interesting. The girls all wear dresses - it seems a bit old fashioned to me. She also has to have a hat, or she can't go outside (the ozone is thinner down here or so I have heard :) She did get an award this week, and got to go up on stage, for "settling in so well her first week of school". She was very excited about that!! The other thing that is different is that she has tea time in the morning. It is basically a snack at recess. Madi told me that she told a girl in her class that we don't drink tea because it is bad for us. They also have scripture study once a week for a half an hour, for now I have decided not to send her since we are neither Catholic or Protestant, but they didn't realize that this week so she went. Kev thinks that we could send her anyway because all they do is tell Bible stories to the kids. I am going to ask around at Church and see what people say. If she doesn't go she just gets half an hour of free time to do something else.

FAREWELL TO APARTMENT LIFE....

On Saturday Sept. 1, 2007 we moved out of the city and headed to the suburb of Epping. We were so excited to leave and get some room to spread our wings. Kev picked up the people mover (van) the night before [I will tell you the story later! I am sure you are excited! :) -- From now on if you see comments in [ ] you will know that this is Kevin interjecting his wonder knowledge on the subject at hand. Or as I like to call it, the 'W.A.K' -- World According to Kevin] and squished into the underground parking garage of the apartment - it was so tight that a few times he had to do a five-point-turn to get around corners. [It reminded me of the garage that Carl and Cynde had in Hong Kong. But I have to be honest that it seemed even smaller than that! But, that could be because I was the one driving this time!] He got all the way down to the bottom and they told him that there were no spots, but because we had been there for so long they said that he could park in the handicapped parking [I know that some of you are thinking this is probably normal for me!] just for the night. It turned out that there was one spot which he was able to park in. They usually charge $30 per night to park at the building, but again because we had been there for so long they let us park for free!! We got up Saturday morning and packed the last few items and began moving them down to the van. Kev borrowed the trolley and it took three trips to get everything down [Just remember that these trips also included little kids swinging from the top of the rack while I tried to push it to the car -- oh sorry, people mover]. We were packed to the hilt with stuff everywhere - including on laps and under feet. The kids could barely put on their seat belts and were a little grumpy [A LITTLE?] about it. We told them it would only be for a little while and they would be okay - we didn't want to take two trips.



THINGS WE WILL NOT MISS:
1. The lovely smoke smell [Not from Stacy's cooking but from the people in the rooms next to us!]
2. The dirty carpets - black feet and socks [Where's the Kirby carpet cleaner when you need it?]
3. The crowds of people on the streets [starring at us because we have three kids!]
4. Cramped quarters [Amen!]
5. Walking everywhere with whining kids [How many times do I have to say NO! I will not give you a piggy back ride because my feet hurt TOO!]

6. "Housekeeping, can we come in?" And that was if you could understand them. [They always came at different times so Stace couldn't plan around them. Guess who that bothered?]



THINGS WE WILL MISS:
1. Walks to Hyde Park and around Darling Harbor
2. Kev's short commute (15 minute walk)
3. Housekeeping (no cleaning toilets!!!) [No making the bed! -- Stace just said, 'You never do anyway!']
4. The swimming pool
5. The gym
6. Easy access to so many fun and interesting places
7. The view - Cooper watching cars to go to sleep
8. Picnics with Kev at lunch time
9. Not paying for petrol (gasoline)




We headed out of town -not really knowing where we were going [That's for sure!]. We went through a tunnel and saw a flashing board that told us a number to call in order to pay the toll. We had to call within 48 hours to pay or get a fine. [I had to call from church on Sunday from the clerks office to pay the toll. Is that considered buying something on the sabbath?] We managed to make it to the house in one piece and then had to wait for the rental company (for our meager furniture and supplies for one month) and our air shipment to arrive. The phone and Internet were supposed to be hooked up, but they were not. We had to wait two and a half weeks before they could even come to the house (they actually had a cancellation and came early). We were without any means of communication until Thursday when we went to get our mobiles (cell phones) - more on that later [Oh and it is a good story, trust me!].

After the stuff came we went out for a few grocery supplies to last until at least Monday and crashed that night in bed. Sunday we got up late and celebrated another Father's Day for Kev [Yippeeee!]. I told him that he has to choose to either celebrate American or Australian Father's Day - not fair if he celebrates both since Mother's Day is the same [I don't see a problem with it and I can't figure out why she does!]. We bought him a T-shirt and an upside down map with Australia at the top (for those of you who don't know Kev loves maps) [Now I know where Australia is!].

We decided that Kev would navigate while I drove to church - my first time. We made it in one piece, although I almost hit a curb and pole [The pole just happened to be on Kev's side. I saw my life flash before my eyes as I was screaming 'Look out for the pole'. All Stace could say was 'I didn't even see a pole. I was watching the road.' I don't know what kind of an excuse that was because the roads aren't very big and should be able to see a pole that is right on the side of it here!] at a tricky intersection [tricky? I can't stop laughing - and it is out loud. Just for the record, Stace is laughing too and now she is starting to cry. I am not sure if that is because I am laughing so much or because she thought it really was tricky!?!]. Now, I have anxiety [Now, I do too!] anyway while driving and down here it is much worse. I have to concentrate on so many things - mostly which side am I supposed to drive on and where is the blinker (no it is not where the windshield wipers are). The lanes are skinnier and the roads are not straight - it is like driving in the mountains. I miss Utah's grid system - nice and organized for me.

One day I was driving back from the shopping center and came out of parking at a different place. I had to put the map on my lap and try and figure out where I was going while driving. After that Kev went out and bought me a GPS system [You better believe it!]. It is really great!! There is a lady's voice that directs us and the kids named her Sue (in memory of the person who took us around when we first got here, and helped us rent our house - the kids really liked her). So while driving you can hear from the peanut gallery - "Thanks Sue!!" or "We're working on it Sue." It is a hoot!! I have figured out how to get to the shopping center close to us all by myself [I will refrain from commenting on this one!] and have made it successfully several times. It is right across the street from the temple -which is only about 10 minutes from our house!! [We live closer to the temple here than we did at home.]

The stores around here all close at 6:00 or so - except the major grocery stores which are opened until about 11:00 - every night except Thursday when they are opened until 9:00. So the Thursday after we moved in we headed out to get mobile phones (cell phones). After talking to Jessy and Kelli we decided to get prepaid phones where we could call each other for free. We checked out a few companies and found one with the best plan for us and headed to there store in the shopping center after Kev got home from work. We met a very interesting man there who asked us what state we were from and when we told him Utah he got this really weird look on his face and said "I have heard that there are a lot of those weird Mormons that live there." [Just so you know this is the standard response we get when we say we are from Utah. Usually there are two questions that follow -- if the person is brave enough, but you can tell everyone wants to ask them. 1st - Did you know that there are a lot of Mormons in Utah? As if we had no idea we usually just smile and say, 'Yea, we've heard that before.' 2ND - 'Are you Mormons?' They have to be really brave to ask us the second one.] We told him that we were Mormons and he said that we looked normal and he never would have known, according to him they usually look "shady." [I think I shaved that day!] He told us that he had met the missionaries and they gave him a book, which he read a little bit of and thought it was interesting, but he had lost it. We told him that we could get him another book if he liked and that he should read it. Apparently he had been to church a few times and hung out with the missionaries, but had lost contact when one of them went home a few years ago.

He told us that one day he was heading out on a date and the florist was closed, he had gone to church that day and the talk was on how the Lord provides, so he cut flowers on the temple grounds to give to his date. (Side note: according to him the temple has a pure gold statue on it [I had a person at work tell me the same thing. He also said it cost the church 22 Million dollars just to make the statue.]) He said that he still feels bad about it (although I am not sure how sorry he felt about it, as he was laughing the whole time he told us the story) and wanted to know how he would know if the Lord had forgiven him (the missionary had told him that he would be forgiven). We told him to pray about it and ask and he would know. To which he replied, with a funny face, that nobody gets their prayers answered. We told him that He does and that He has answered ours before and gave him a few examples. He was a talker and we were in the store for an hour and a half (Kevin mostly, I left to go look at a few other stores). It was an interesting experience - one I am sure that we will have more of while here.

Other than that we have just been getting things settled and buying a few things that we know are not in our sea shipment - which arrives on 9-15-07, but then had to go through customs and will probably be quarantined. We have found IKEA twice - once by train and once we navigated our way there in the car (before we got the GPS). It is a fun place - the best part is the free hour the kids get to play in the play land!!


[At this point you need to know about the STUPID grocery carts! We can not believe that they haven't figured out how good we have it back in the states (I say that jokingly of course!). In the states the wheels on the front of the cart pivot so that you can turn and the ones in the back are stationary and don't move so you can turn the cart, right! Well, not here. The back wheels pivot just like the front ones. The cart has a mind of it's own most of the time. Especially when you have a Cooper or a Madi with their hand on the cart and looking at who knows what, trying to walk with you. I can't tell you how many times we have hit the aisles and people. The only trick that I have figured out is that if you want to turn you need to stop completely, spin, and then start walking. Otherwise you just keep going the way you were and can't stop. Stace just said it sounds like a 'grocery store dance', which is very true. The problem is that the cart will never let you lead!!!!!!!]


The kids took some empty boxes and made a "secret club" in the backyard. They have been collecting sticks and flowers to put in it. Cooper and I have also seen three lizards of varying sizes in the backyard. I asked Kev if there were any poisonous lizards in Australia to which he just laughed [Like I am going to tell her!]. I love to open the door and listen to all of the birds [What? You don't need to open the door! You can hear them from the bed! At 4AM! Every morning! Did I say 4AM? Yes, 4AM!] - we have finally heard our first kookaburra and seen one in the trees on our street!! It also smells so nice [When I just read this I thought she meant that the kookaburra smells! Wow Stace! You have a good smeller!] in the yard because of all of the flowers and such around (it is nice that things are in bloom even in winter!).


[I just have to interject here and let you all know that I am a little loopy right now and running on little sleep. I am glad it is Friday night! WAK out!]


I may, or may not, let Kev interject his thoughts (WAK). What do you think?