Getting Ready to Say Good-Bye

We are getting ready to leave Melbourne tomorrow morning for the Great Barrier Reef. By the time we get home we will have been gone about 2 and a half months. Of course we were unable to see all the things we wanted. It's like trying to see everything in the US in 2 months, mostly on weekends, with 2 kids. However, we've seen and done so many amazing things. I have absolutely loved this trip and if I had the chance to do it over again, I would.

So I've made a couple of small lists on the things I missed and things I loved while being here. Here you go.

Things I missed: (Of course there's the obvious of family, friends, and comforts of my own home)
Target - We stopped at a Target once and it was just awesome. I think I saved money being here because I was only able to go there once.
Cheddar Cheese - They have what they call "Tasty Cheese". Used all the time like Cheddar. However, this has a little bite to it and it took us awhile to get used to the taste.
Blue Bell Ice Cream - I lost weight by not having the temptation around.
Chicken - I don't know what it is, but there is something different about the chicken. It just tastes different. Maybe it's just a mental thing.
My vacuum cleaner - The floor just gets gross. They clean only twice a week and Kaitlyn likes to throw her food on the floor.
Driving - I miss the independence
Our Large Grocery Stores - The stores are small and the layout is horrible. Takes me forever to find anything. Maybe it's because we're in the city.

Things I've loved here:
Sightseeing- Everything we saw and did. We did a lot and it was fabulous.
Not driving - I did enjoy walking every day with the girls. Reminds me of my Chicago days. It was my form of exercise.
Maid service - Had it twice a week and they cleaned everything. So nice.
Todd home more - It was nice having him around more instead of flying everywhere.
Todd shopping - Todd did do more shopping in these 2 months than he has in our 5 years of marriage. That's what he gets for having the car.
Reading - I read 4 pretty thick books because there was no house cleaning to do during naps.
No pressures- When we went out, we could take our time and relax. I didn't need to say hurry up we're going to be late, answer any phone calls, go through any mail, do anything with a church calling, no rushing place to place. Everything was on our time. That was really nice.
Friends- Made some new friends that I hope to keep in touch with.
Family - It was great spending some really good, quality family time together.

Truth Be Told

A little while ago Abby rubbed the top of Todd's head and said, "Daddy, you don't have any hair."

Friday, coming home from work, Todd stopped off at a barbers and shaved his head. Now he really doesn't have any hair.

Vegemite Sandwich

A friend brought over lunch yesterday and I finally tried Vegemite. It's not bad, just a little salty. I guess the joke here is to spread it really thick on bread for Americans, like peanut butter, and then have them eat it. You'd gag and the Aussies get a good laugh. You're supposed to only have a little bit spread on your bread and eat it with cheese. We ate it in a roll with some cheese and the girls gobbled it up too. I thought about bringing jars home for anyone who wanted some. Any takers? A small jar can last you a good 5-6 years. MMMmmm

We also ate what they call "Party Pies". They're popular at office parties or luncheons. They're little pastries filled with minced meat and gravy. Again, not bad. And for dessert, jam filled Lamingtons. Angel food cake, sliced in half and filled with jam. Then it is dripped in chocolate and covered in coconut.

My favorite thing about eating out here is that I'm eating "energy" and not calories. I don't feel so bad when my candy bar says 504kj of energy. I'm eating energy!

Where I Be

This past weekend we headed down to Queen Victoria's Market once again. It's a large (several blocks) open market dealing everything from housewares, souvenirs, clothing, and food. We wanted to pick up some Australian souvenirs made in China before we leave. This time we knew what to expect and we moved through the stalls quickly - maybe not quick enough for Todd though.

Afterwards, we headed out to Werribee to have an African Safari in Australia. It's kind of weird that we did that, but when you have kids, you do things that catered towards them. It was a nice zoo with safari animals and they even take you on a bus ride around the grounds to get a closer look at the animals. There was one area of tall grass where they hid speakers that made lion roars. Abby was really cute hiding in the grass trying to find all the "lions" she was hearing.

Abby looking for lions

Kaitlyn steering the boat

Kaitlyn on safari

Abby looking fierce

It's Official

We're coming home October 9th. Todd is wrapping up his study and there are no new studies in the works. We have one more week in Melbourne, then we're heading up to the Great Barrier Reef for a vacation on the beach. Spoiled - nah!

I Love to See the Temple

Since we weren't in the car enough this weekend, we drove out to the temple Sunday afternoon. It was quite windy so we didn't stay too long. I just think it's so wonderful that we are around the world and able to see a temple. When I was younger, I had a goal to at least see all the temples in person. Now with more than 124 temples, 9 being built and more announced, I don't think it will happen - I've only been to 19. One can still try though.

Great Ocean Road

Great

• wonderful; first-rate; very good
• of considerable duration or length
  

This past weekend we chose to drive the Great Ocean Road. A 185 mile drive along the southwest coast of Australia driving through forest and mountains on one side, cliffs and ocean on the other. We like to refer to it as "GOR 2007".

The plan was to leave early (9:00) on Friday morning. Hit most of the sights and be at our cottage at a decent time. Saturday we were going to finish the last few sights and head up to Sovereign Hill - a place where have an old fashioned gold mining town. Sounds good until we actually got started.

We left as early as we could on Friday morning (10:00)making our first stop at Bells Beach. A place where Rip Curl (surfing company)got it's start. Abby and I stepped out of the car to get a closer look and were almost blown away by the gusts of wind and rain that started to fall. We ran back to the car and it stopped as quickly as it came. We even saw one lone surfer out there in the cold water.

Our next stop put us in a town that has kangaroos all over the golf course. Abby and I ran into the club house to grab some lunch and we ended up spending too long there. We drove further along winding roads with some cold rainy weather to our next destination, Teddy's Lookout. During this time, Abby started complaining of a stomach ache and wanting to go home. Not good for we were still at the beginning of our journey.

At Teddy's Lookout the sun came out and we started seeing rainbows. Going for a little hike seemed to rejuvenate the kids a bit. We even saw a group of large cockatoos in a tree. Up the road was the Erskine Falls that I hoped to hike down to the base. By the time we wound up the mountain to the falls, it started to rain again and the path was all muddy. Plan B - quickly look down at the top of the falls 20 steps away from the car. We jumped back into the car - we were making horrible time and started off again.

This time Abby was crying and complaining again about her tummy. Sure enough she threw up all over herself in the car. YUCK! The poor girl had had it. She left her mark on Australia, just under Teddy's lookout. We cleaned her up the best we could with wipes and settled back in for the drive. The kids finally fell asleep and we drove in peace and quiet. It was great.

One of the big sights on the road is the 12 Apostles - we were trying to catch it for the sunset and we did. However, it was FREEZING and so windy we again quickly ran out,looked, and ran back to the car to come back the next day. Todd and I decided to bag the original plan and just spend the next day on the Great Ocean Road.

After a good nights rest we started early Saturday morning hitting most of the big sights in a couple hours. The weather was chilly and rainy again however,this was not going to get us down. Seeing how it was Todd's birthday today we decided to do something big. We took a 20 minute helicopter ride over all the sights. It was AWESOME! First and probably the last time for us to ever do that. Worth it! We even have a cool little video if anyone wants to see it when we get home.

Things really started looking great after that. The sun came out, took off our jackets, and we played on a beach. We finished out the Road by finishing seeing all the big sights we wanted. The girls were in great moods, and we even got to see a koala bear on the side of the road.

We ended up taking about 400 pictures this weekend so our slide show is a little bigger than most - don't worry there are only 64 pics. Watch it if you like, I won't know if you did or didn't. Even with the few problems we had, it was a great trip and a nice way to see this beautiful country.

What Movie Is Your Love Life?

Thanks Stephanie F. for the link!

Your Love Life is Like Casablanca

"Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time." For you, love is never finished. If you've loved someone once, you'll always love them. You're an old fashioned romantic... even if your relationships don't end up as romantic as you'd like. Your love style: Traditional and understated Your Hollywood Ending Will Be: Complicated and ambiguous

What Movie Is Your Love Life Like?

Whee!

Kaitlyn loves to "climb" up the "slippery dip" and slide back down on her tummy.



Kaitlyn on the slippery dip from sassy momma on Vimeo.

Sanctuary

This past weekend we headed off to Healesville Sanctuary about an hours drive north for us in beautiful wine country. It was a really pretty drive out there. Mist coming off the hills, passing vineyard after vineyard, and driving through mini-mountains.

On our way there we passed a car dealership that decked itself out in orange banner flags. They made several large tents of these flags and draped them anywhere they could. Abby points out the window and excitedly exclaims, "Look! A party!". I tried to explain that they were trying to attract people there to buy the cars. I didn't do a good job because the next thing she said is, "Oh, I want to go to a car party!"

At the Sanctuary we were able to see many Australian animals with just a rope separating most of them from us. We were able to feed and pet the kangaroos. Abby threw fish out to the pelicans. There was another large white bird roaming around the park. This bird jumped on our picnic table and stole Abby's sandwich right out from under her. It then tried to steal the plastic bag full of the other sandwiches. At the end of our day, we watched a cool Bird's of Prey show with large buzzards, eagles, and falcons. It was a fun day at the sanctuary.

Abby's Prayer

Tonights dinner prayer as given by Abby:

"Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the food. Thank you that daddy come home. When daddy come home I say hi. I obey mommy and daddy. Bless the food. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

She's getting so dang cute with some of the things she says. Wish I had it on film. Todd was cracking up through the whole thing.

Woe is me, I've got the flu

I never see a doctor unless I'm pregnant. However, I broke down and saw one yesterday. I was feeling awful and thought that I might have strep. Fortunately it's not strep but, unfortunately it's Influenza A. Todd has been great. He stayed home one morning, came home early and is picking up the slack. He even took Abby out for ice-cream just to get her out of the apartment. My kids have turned into TV zombies being stuck inside the past 3 days. This has been the only time I've really wanted to come home. It could be worse, it could be that bug that people are getting in Utah.

Friday night while brushing Abby's teeth. A conversation between mom and Abby:
Mom: "Abby I hope you have a great immune system like your Dad. He's a rock."
Abby: "Daddy's not a rock, he's a goof-ball."
Ah kid, you make us laugh.

Sunday

We now have been in our ward for a few Sundays. The average size in Sacrament Meeting is about 110. About the size of our old Primary. Half the congregation is Chinese - Abby keeps trying to wear the translating headphones every Sunday. There are about 10 missionaries, 15 YSA, 10 Primary kids, 6 Youth, 2 Nursery kids (1 being Abby), and 2 babies (1 being Kaitlyn). I have become VERY aware of how noisy my kids are during the meeting. There aren't other young kids to help disguise their noises.

The second Sunday we were there, we were asked to speak the following week in church. Unfortunately for us, we were in Sydney that weekend. Darn! I'm sure they will get us soon enough though. We are surprised that they haven't given us a calling yet. We're not complaining though. I have actually been able to go to RS for the first time in 2 years which has been nice.

The first time we went to church we had a car, nice and easy. The second time we had to take a train. Took 45 minutes to get there, one way. Most of that was walking. I had some nice blisters by the time we got there. That helped our decision on renting a car for the next little while. I can't imagine how far some people have to travel to get to their church meetings in some of the more remote places of the world.

One thing for sure is, the church is the same wherever you go. It's so nice to go anywhere in the world and find other members and feel the same spirit that you did at home.