SAD NEWS...

At the beginning of this week we received some sad news. Kevin's aunt had passed away on Monday night. When I married into this family the only thing I knew of her was that she was married to my elementary school teacher whom I was scared of. I have since come to know her as a kind and caring woman full of compasion for those around her and an inner, quiet strength. Although it is a sad time it is also good to know that we will see her again and that she is freed from a body that was broken and hurting constantly. Our prayers and thoughts are with family at this time.

Gayle Allen Hutchinson 1935 ~ 2008 Gayle was born March 22, 1935 and passed away July 28, 2008. She is the daughter of Wendell G. and Oda Juanita Larsen Allen. She was a life-long member of the LDS Church and held numerous positions including Stake Sunday School Secretary, Primary President and teacher, Relief Society President and teacher, MIA Secretary and teacher and served a CES mission in Athens, Greece with her husband. She was an accomplished piano player and ward organist for many years. She loved to do crossword puzzles, sewing, reading, refinishing furniture, gardening and arranging flowers. She taught Kindergarten for 22 years. She is survived by her husband, Delbert, West Valley City: children: Bonnie Franchina (Gary), Riverton; Holly Anderson (Mike), Tampa, FL; Heidi Rasmussen (Mark), North Salt Lake; Kari Hutchinson, West Jordan; 15 grandchildren; three brothers: Terry Allen (Linda), Garth Allen (Lynn), Dwight Allen (Tais); sister, Carolyn Drown (Roger). Funeral services will be held Thursday, July 31, 2008, 11:00 a.m. at the Hunter 29th Ward, 3745 South 6400 West. A viewing will be held Wednesday, July 30, 2008, 7-8:30 p.m. at McDougal Funeral Home, 4330 South Redwood Road and Thursday at the church, 10-10:45 a.m. prior to services. Interment, Hyrum City Cemetery. Published in the Deseret News on 7/30/2008

Snow in Sydney?

So many of you have asked me about it snowing in Sydney for the first time in 100 years. I finally got a chance to look it up. On Monday a storm definately moved into the city and what looked like snow did fall in a few suburbs of Sydney to the west - not where we live unfortnately. Sleet fell in the Blue Mountains, but they say that in the cities it was actually just hail. I did find this picture of it though - I would have thought it was snow too. However, it wasn't much and I thought it was funny in one report I read that some of the roads were closed. They were warning people to be careful on icy roads. Can you imagine you have never seen snow before and you have no idea how to drive in it? CRAZY!!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? ONE YEAR HAS FLOWN BY....

We have now been living in Australia for one year. It seems like yesterday we were getting off of the airplane at 6am with our 10 suitcases and a three children, one a newborn, in tow. Now we have been here for a year. It really has just flown by. On Sunday we went back to the first place we visited on that first day in Sydney - the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Opera House. Because we took a picture on that first day of the three kids and me with the OH in the back ground so I told Kev that every year we will go back and take another picture in that same spot so we can see how much the kids have changed in a year. Here are some of the pictures we took.

One year ago...

...and now!

We only had one small incident on the way. Cooper wasn't paying attention (yes it always seems to be Cooper) and while we were boarding the train he didn't mind the gap so well. His leg went in to his upper thigh and it is a good thing he was holding Kev's hand at the time. That kid...

We walked all the way around the OH this time!! Kev got some amazing pictures too!Rylee just loves the water and was excited to lay on the top of the wall and look down.

We went to the gardens after Church and unfortunately for us a huge storm rolled in a couple of hours after we got there. I was glad we at least got our photos done and had our picnic lunch/dinner - but we had to run back to the train station through the rain.

As last night was our actual one year anniversary we had some Aussie delicacies - sausages, meat pies, ginger beer, and solo. For dessert we had a lamington cake with cream in the middle - yummy!! Can't wait to see what the next few years brings and what adventures we will have!!

Happy Pioneer Day!

On July 24, 1847 after being driven out of so many places the Utah pioneers rumbled over the mountains and were met by a desert valley. It was then proclaimed that "THIS WAS THE PLACE" for them to settle down and make a city. I can not imagine what it must have felt like for them to finally have a place to call home, yet wondering if it would be home forever or just temporary. This is a photo I found of the view now from Ensign Peak (which the spot has become known as), but this is not what it looked like to the pioneers. They were met by sagebrush and desert grass. Not much water, except a spring coming out of the mountain, and a huge body of salt water to the west. However, due to the hard work of those pioneer men and women a beautiful city has emerged - a city which I love!! Several years ago before children while we were living at Kev's parents house, while they served a mission in Melbourne, Australia, we were asked to participate in Youth Conference. We were asked to be a "ma" and "pa" of a handcart company. We chose the name Traveller to be our family name because this was the family name of some of my ancestors who travelled across the plains. Although this was not exactly how the pioneers lived and how they travelled I caught a glimpse into the hardships they faced. We had a "woman's pull" where the boys could not help us pull and push the handcart up this huge hill. I thought I would die, but what a spirit I felt about those faithful women who crossed the plains by themselves with no husbands by their side due to death or a call to fight in the war. After this experience I grew to appreciate my ancestors and the sacrifices they made for me and the song "Come, come ye saints" had new meaning to me and still brings tears to my eyes.
Although I haven't given it much thought in recent years and when the 24th of July comes along I don't always think as I should about those pioneer men and women who fought for religious freedom inside of a country that proclaims the right to choose your religion. This year however, I have been thinking about it a lot. It may be because of a conversation I had shortly after arriving here with a woman at Church. The subject was brought up about ancestors and she asked if I had pioneers in my background. I replied yes. To which she responded how amazing that was. I hadn't ever thought of those members of our Church who are new to this gospel and don't have generations going back to the pioneers. I am proud of my heritage, for people who fought for what they believed in, and who helped to bring this gospel into my life as well.

A new found love....

...Madi has found a new found love and it is a great one because it involved books! Kev keeps telling her that she is lucky because it is a book so I will buy it for her. Yes I do love books and so that is something I don't mind investing in. Plus as I told her the other day she can keep them forever and read them to her daughter someday!!A few months ago Madi came home with a few books from the library at school - she has been bringing home two new ones every week since. They are called the Rainbow Fairies. It is a series of books about fairies and some girls who are helping them. They are so cute. We are all hooked and can't wait for the next ones Madi brings home. I have since bought her the first set of seven books. There are at least 30 more in existence - no she won't be getting them all. They are divided up into sets of seven and each set completes the story. There are the weather fairies, the party fairies, and the sporty fairies just to name a few of the sets. Then each fairy has a name like Phoebe, Amber, Sophie, etc. When we bought them they were giving away a library bag and a poster with the books. Madi was delighted. She took the poster to school to show her friends and they all kept oohing and aahing over it all day. All the girls seem to love the fairy books. When we went to the Gold Coast I bought her another set to take with us. So now she has two sets and she is in heaven. She can read them herself, but has some trouble with some of the words so she gets frustrated. Instead we read a couple of chapters a night before bed. Cooper even sits there and listens intently to see what is going to happen. We are all hooked on the Rainbow Fairies!

Here's a little joke!

Thanks to my wonderful sisters for keeping us in stock of our favorite US candy! We got this package from Dera today and were so excited. We got more sour patch kids, some swedish fish, more cinnamon bears to make into chocolate covered cinammon bears, and some laffy taffys. I forgot how much fun the jokes were. Here are a few I just grabbed out of the bag:

Why do melons always have big weddings?

Because they cantaloupe!

How did the frog cross the road?

He tied himself to a chicken!

What did one autumn leaf say to another?

I'm falling for you!

How do mules open locked barns?

With don-keys!

What do you call a pig in a pawn shop?

A hamhawk!

What runs around a soccer field but never moves?

A fence!

So there you go a little joke for the day! I know they are corny, but they are Laffy Taffy jokes what can you do?! My kids laugh and think they are hillarious!

Thanks again Dera!!

New gadget!!!

So our 10 year anniversary is coming up and we have bought ourselves a gift. Originally - well 10 years ago - this anniversary was supposed to be a cruise, but that isn't going to happen this year. We are now shooting for a cruise for our 15 year anniversary -then we will have babysitters around to take the kids!! Instead we weren't sure what to buy. I really want a nice new SLR camera, but the budget can't handle that gift so I am saving as much as I can out of my budget each month to buy it myself!!! Anyway, we weren't sure what to buy and then we decided to get a Wii! We found it on sale and since Kev had been looking around for a while now we decided to buy it while we could find it and the sale price was a good one. We also got some games with it. Wii sports comes with the console and Wii Beach sports was free with the deal. They also had Mario Kart on sale so we got that one.

Seriously, we have had so much fun playing with it. We have fun racing in Mario Kart and the beach sports are so much fun bocce ball and sand volleyball. What a blast!! I already know that I want Wii Fit - but we have to save more money for that one. If anyone has any ideas of some more games we should save our money for let us know.

YOU'VE HAD A BIRTHDAY SHOUT HORRAY!!

Happy Birthday to Cooper!!!

This weekend was full of birthday celebrations for Cooper. We had a pirate party, (ARGH matey) with friends from school and Church. Cooper was thrilled and had the best time.

When in Australia do as the Aussies do - you have to play pass the parcel! This is a game where you have a present wrapped in multiple layers. Inbetween each layer is a piece of candy. Music is played while the kids pass the parcel around. If the music stops then the kid holding the present gets to unwrap one layer. If they are lucky they are the last one and unwrap the present, otherwise they just get a piece of candy.

We then went outside for some games and lunch. I was so glad for the good weather - it felt like spring and not winter. This way most of the mess stayed outside and so did the kids!! We taught our Aussie friends a new game - Red Rover. We sang, "Red Rover, Red Rover, send Pirate..... right over!" We played pirate, pirate, ship (duck, duck, goose). As well as tip (tag) but we thought it fitting to play stuck in the mud.

We also thought it was so funny when I told them to sit down on one of two blankets that the girls all chose one and the boys chose one.

Of course you can't be a pirate without a tattoo - a temporary one of course.

Then we had cake and ice cream. I made this treasure chest cake - does it look like a treasure chest? You may have to use your imagination a bit. We sang to Cooper and did the Aussie "hip, hip, hooray!" three times at the end. Then the kids all got a piece of cake and some of the "treasure" inside. They all loved picking out snakes (it was a sunken treasure), gold coins, and jewels. After cake and ice cream we headed inside and did something that is not done at most birthday parties here (at least as far as I can tell) we actually opened the birthday presents at the party. The kids all crowded around and we taught them "heavy, heavy hang over...." so they could hit Coop on the head. It was so fun to see the amazement on their faces to watch Cooper open their gifts - I always love that part!

Then last, but certainly not least, you can't have a pirate party without the treasure hunt? Kev made up maps of the house complete with pictures so they kids would know which room was which. Then I antiqued them with trusty scrapbooking stuff and we burnt the edges before tying them up with string. Then kids then had to go on a hunt to find each clue before they found the "X" in the backyard and had to dig for treasure. What was inside?! Their lollie bags of course!! They all loved it and couldn't stop talking about that part to their parents when they came to pick them up! It was really fun!

This is Kev explaining the treasure hunt to them - look at those faces they were so quiet and concentrating so hard on what was being said.

On the hunt!

"X" marks the spot!

Kev explained what they had to do to find the treasure of a tall pirate with a white and red striped shirt who buried treasure on our land long ago. Thanks to our friend, Kendall, who showed up to drop off his daughter and got put to work! Because of Kendall we actually ended up burrying the treasure instead of just setting it on the groud and attempting to cover it. Great work Kendall! The kids loved seeing the treasure actually being dug up!

We did have a family b-day dinner as well - Cooper picked tacos. Then because I didn't want to make another cake we had brownies to put the candles in. Of course we had to sing the seat belt version of Happy Birthday - it has been so ever since he sang it to Kev at his birthday! Before this we gave him the gifts from his family. Madi gave him a new Thomas train and some tracks, Rylee gave him a remote control car, Kev and I gave him a new bike (his other one was so small he was due for an upgrade!). In order for him to find his bike Kev sent him on another treasure hunt - Cooper just loves treasure hunts, sometimes Kev does treasure hunts for the kids just for fun because they like them so much.

The best gift of all was the one sent from the States from Grandpa John and Grandma Susan. Several months ago Kev found a train turn table on e-bay in the States and sent it to his dad's house. He then asked his dad if he could make a shed for it. Well he got so excited he actually made two sheds and another turn table. He then sent it in pieces through the mail and Kev put it together here. It has been sitting in the box for at least a month now and Kev finally put it together a few days ago. It is so cool. Thanks again Grandpa John - you are the best!! In no time at all both sheds had trains in them and he couldn't stop turning the turn tables!

What a joy Cooper is to have in our family. He has such a sense of humor. He loves to tell a "little joke" now and then and tells us it is good to have a little joke sometimes. He has definitely come out of his shell here in Australia and has lost most of his shyness and anxiety. He makes friends easily and loves to go to school. He is still loving his trains and makes the most amazing train tracks around the play room. We love him so much and are so happy that he is part of our family!!

LAST DAY...

We had until 11:30 when our shuttle came to take us to the airport so we got up early and got ready to spend the morning at the beach. I took the older kids while Kev and Rylee went to take the rental back. I thought it was a bit cold to get in the water but that didn't stop the rest of my family. It was a beautiful morning and we spent a couple of hours at the beach before heading back to the hotel for the last time to shower and finish packing. We got to the airport a couple of hours before our flight and soon after found out that it had been delayed about 40 minutes. What were we going to do to entertain our children in a very small airport for that long? We got some lunch, I finally got Rylee to go to sleep, and the kids had plenty of stuff in their backpacks. But we were happy to get on the airplane and fly home.

One the way home on the train we ran into some pilgrims flocking to Sydney for World Youth Day who had gotten on the wrong train - good thing Kev knows a bit about the train system and helped them to figure out where to go. Then we met Lisha again at the train station who took us home! Although we had a great trip it is always nice to get home and sleep in my bed and have all my familiar things around me. Can't wait for the next trip - wonder where that will be?