MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009

I am slowly making headway through my to-do list. I have made myself a bit crazy this year because I didn't start everything as early as I usually do. No worries! I am almost done!!!

We just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas from sunny, hot Australia. This will probably be our last Christmas here and so we are trying to make the best of it. Of course we had hoped to be home by now - but the Lord apparently has other plans for us at this time. That has made it hard for me to get into the Christmas Spirit - but I think it is slowly leaking into my heart!

This year has been eventful for us. Mostly because of all the visitors who came so we could play tour guide. It was so much fun to have family here to show them around our "turf" and share with them some of our Aussie memories.

Madisen turned eight in August and was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She continues to amaze me each and every day with her spirit and her knowledge and love for the Savior. She also had her tonsils taken out this year and was such a trooper. Her recovery was swift and we have noticed many improvements. Her hair has gotten really long and she plans on getting it cut when we return to the States and giving it to "Locks of Love"

Cooper started and successfully finished kindy. He loved every minute of it and has made some wonderful friends. He has become an excellent reader in such a short time. I love to see him continue to grow and to learn. He is a true boy and loves computer games. Not only does he love them, but he is good at them.

Rylee and I have had a lot of quality time this year since the older kids are at school. I have treasured my time with just Rylee and feel bad that I never had this alone time with Cooper. We play Memory and read books. She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and wearing her "princess dresses."

Our family adventures this year found us in New Zealand and The Great Barrier Reef. We have also spent as much time as possible at the beach.

Although most of the time I do not miss the cold winter weather in Utah, I have to admit that for the first time a few weeks ago I actually missed the snow. I know crazy!! Not the driving in the snow bit, but the watching it fall, drinking hot chocolate, warm and cozy inside my house bit. There is something magical about a snow storm and I have missed it even though I thought I didn't.

We are interested to see what 2010 will bring us.

We hope that this holiday season finds your family healthy and happy!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happiness is...

...your first pair of "click clack" shoes!!!

We had to dip into the clothes box - hand-me-downs from Madi.

Rylee is outgrowing her shoes.

We found these and another white pair.

After a little cleaning with nail polish remover they are just like new.

She has been wearing them for days all around the house, to pick up the kids, to the store.

She even has little blisters on her feet - nothing a band-aid and socks can't fix.

Who can blame her love that click clack noise!!!

On a side note: she is wearing the clothes that Madi wore at three.

That purple dress is a 4T.

I think she is tall - what do you think?

Gone Fishin'

Saturday December 12, 2009 was a fishin' day!

I had dropped some hints to Matt (in my ward for those of you at home) after hearing all of this fun fishing stories that I wanted to go with him sometime. Lucky for me he did just that. He invited me, A.K., and A.K.'s son Sam to go fishing with him.

The four of us got up early and met at the boat ramp at 4:30 AM (Yes, I said 4:30 - that was not easy!). We took off to "Matt's spot" where he likes to go all the time, which is right next to the ocean.

Here is the crew after we shoved off and started heading out to the spot. It was a beautiful morning and I was amazed at how clear and light it was even with the new moon. Just that alone was worth getting up at 3:30, crazy as that may seem. It took us about 45 minutes or so to get them but it was a fun ride. I was glad that I threw in a long sleeve shirt because it got a little cold driving out there but it felt nice.



Before I continue on with the rest of the day I have to pause and rewind for a second. Before coming out Matt had mentioned that waves continue to hit is and so it would be a good idea to get some motion sickness pills. Thursday before the big fishin' day we went to the shops to get some supplies and Stace went into the Chemist to get me some. She came out with some "Natural" motion sickness pills and said that there were the only ones that 2>didn't make you drowsy.

Now back to the fishin trip. We started fishing and didn't get anything for a little while. A.K. pulled in the first fish of the day (below). I think it is a flat head fish but could be completely wrong on that. I can't remember what Matt called it.


The sun came up just after that time and it was a beautiful sunrise. Pictures just don't do it justice.


Here is the second fish that hooked itself on my line while I was doing something. Sam pulled it in. I have no idea what this fish is called. (Yes, I am a novice in these types of things. My fishing experience all revolves around rainbow and brown trout. The biggest fish I had ever caught was a 12 inch rainbow.)

A.K. pulled in the first "keeper" fish that is a rock cod that has poisionous quills on it's back so you have to be careful not to get pricked. Matt pulled in another one of these later as well.

Matt hooked a Moray Eel. I think we had two more of these pulled up during the trip as well. It was just cool to see the way they coiled themselves up the line to try and get the hook out of their mouth.

Sometime in here Matt made us all a gourmet breakfast. It was bacon and egg english muffin sandwiches, baked beans, and roasted tomatoes. It was great! For those of you that don't know I normally don't eat breakfast but couldn't pass this up.

Matt pulled in some sort of ray. I am not sure of the name. I thought I knew it but when I looked it up on Google to verify it was something completely different. I am sure someone will know and can leave me a comment as to what it is called.

After that I actually got a "Double Header", which until 20 minutes before this time didn't even know there was a special name for catching two fish at the same time. Not sure how I did it, well, okay it was probably all luck. I caught two spotted cod fish at one time. It was fun pulling them in. My wimpy rod looked like it was going to break and pretty much looked like a horse shoe the whole time I was pulling it in.

My next fish wasn't as impressive. What do you think?

I think it was Sam that pulled in the next and it was an octapus. Right after he got it over the edge of the boat it let go of the hook and fell on the floor. It immediately crawled into the back of the boat where we couldn't get it. Matt said, "It will come out in a while." so we just left it. I threw my line in and felt something slimy crawl over my foot. Scared me so much that I almost jumped out of the boat. At least it was good for a laugh!

A.K. also caught a Wobbegong Shark. It was pretty cool looking and it's skin felt like sand paper.

Just a little before the last couple of catches I started feeling a little woozy! I just put my pole down and tried to look at the horizon. I sat there for about 30 minutes and then decided to help the fellows out by using my breakfast as chum. I guess my lesson is that I shouldn't trust "natural" motion sickness pills and shouldn't eat breakfast when boating. Not a great combination.

After that we had to take A.K. and Sam back to the boat ramp because they had a party that they had to get to. I had to leave by 1 pm or so and had some time left. Matt and I went and fised in the bay. I ended up catching some whiting fish and one other one that I can't remember. I didn't get any pictures of those but they were about 10 inches long and looked like trout.
The other interesting thing was the bright orange jelly fish that kept swimming by the boat. They were bigger than a basketball and there were lots of them. They were really cool to just watch.

Anyway, it was a great trip, even though I did end up throwing my breakfast back to the fish! I really had a good time and I am thankful for Matt for letting me have that experience.

I almost forgot to the end this story by telling you how we ended the day. That night I took the fish home and had no idea how to clean and/or prepare cod so I had to watch a nice little youtube video that showed me how to fillet the cod. Then I found another video on an easy way to prepare and cook the cod. We had four nice size cod fillets for dinner and it was actually really good. Stacy even liked it. Rylee asked for some more "chicken" so you know that it must not have tasted too fishy. Good eating!

Are you POPPIN'?

We are!!!

It seems like all the kids at school are.

This is all Cooper talks about.

I find the kids quietly playing on the computers - yes computers. Madi gets out the old laptop so she can play on her own.

I am amazed at how well my kids know how to use a computer and the internet. Think it may be time to get some parental controls and blocks on there so they don't accidentally find something they shouldn't.

It's a good incentive to get chores done, listen, and not get into trouble.

Some good old fashion fun - for this generation at least.

C-YA IN A FEW!!!

This cousin got on an airplane yesterday to head for Johannesburg, South Africa.

He will be gone for two years.

Away from family and friends.

Away from the comforts of home.

Away, but learning more than he can ever imagine.

He will be immersed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

He will wear a black name tag to show what he stands for and whom he is representing.

He will have many hard times.

Many times where he wants to just get back on a plane and go home.

But he won't do that, because if he does I have told him he will have to deal with me!

We are so proud of you Kyle.

We wish we could have been there to wish you a safe trip and see you off.

Unfortunately we couldn't be there, but we are thinking of you and praying for you!

We will treasure our time spent with you here in the land down under!

C-ya in a few!

COOLING DOWN

Last year to cool off we used these.

I thought I was pretty clever to come up with this solution.

It has been replaced with something a little bigger. On hot days (and we have had a lot of those already this year), when the other kids are at school, this is where you can find Rylee!

Oh the joys of summer!

Oh Christmas Tree

Well our Christmas tree is up and so are the few decorations that we brought with us to Australia. Can you believe this is the third Christmas we will be celebrating in Australia - I can't. It seems strange that we are starting to count in threes. As in the previous two years I am having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. It's too hot!! I know that the temperature doesn't have anything to do with Christmas, but when you are used to it a certain way it is hard to imagine it different. We also don't have lights on our tree. We brought our pre-lit tree with us and tried to use a converted the first year we were here, but it kept blowing the fuse within seconds. We decided not to worry about the lights. It has been fine up until this year. I told Kev that I miss the magic of the Christmas tree lights. The tree just looks different with them.

Not to worry. You have to get into the spirit of Christmas with children under foot. They are so excited about it. We have our calendars out and are counting down! Each year the kids get to pick out a new ornament for the tree. The idea is that when they leave home and start their own families they get to take these ornaments with them. It is fun to get them out each year and remember why they were picked. This year I made the kids pick out a unique Aussie ornament - I know bad mom! Since this will probably be our last Christmas here I thought it only fitting. Here is what they picked - two kangaroos and a wombat.

We are also getting ready to finish up the school year. It is so busy around here. It is bad enough to have Christmas things to do and end of the school year stuff to do, but together it is CRAZY!

Madi's class had a museum open up in their classroom this week. It was all about the things they have learned this term - the human body and bugs including the butterflies life cycle. It was fun to go in and do the activities that her class had put together. Madi was so thrilled about the whole thing. They even invited the K-2 classes at school to enter their museum to check it out. What a fun project!

Let the CRAZINESS begin. I love Christmas - and can probablly even get used the heat!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT

Happy Birthday to this guy - can you guess who it is?

To a man who loves adventures and learning new things. He loves to explore the world around him and to experience all he can. Who works hard and constantly thinks about others. A man who honors his priesthood and takes care of his family. A man that we all love!

Happy Birthday Kev!