Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I just wanted to make sure I took the chance to update once more before the end of the year (talk about leave it to the last minute...lol). We had a wonderful Christmas season, and hope all our loved ones did too! We went to Southbank on Saturday 22nd for a traditional fireworks and Alvan and I went to a free swing dance lesson too. For those overseas, Southbank is a wonderful parklands right in the middle of the city of Bribance, complete with a man-made beach. Our family has spent many happy hours there. Where else in the world can you swim in a beach in the middle of the city 3 days before Christmas while watching fireworks? Gotta love Brisbane! Here is a link to Southbank, take a look around..www.visitsouthbank.com.au Christmas morning was spent with all the kids & grandkids who live in Qld coming over for a yummy Christmas breakfast, and opening of presents. We all had a chance to chat via web cam with Nathan, Jenny, Whitney, Marlee, Noah & Vance in Utah too. It was so much fun to see Freyr enjoying ripping open his and anyone else's presents with such gusto! He loved tearing open the paper. And he really loved the boxes that were left over... It took him a while but he finally warmed up to his tickle me elmo, and by the time they left our house he was happy to pick him up and kiss him.... very cute! We have a distinct lack of photos because our camera batteries were not recharged :( But Rick and Elly saved the day and Rick clicked away for us, I'm sure there'll be some cute shots I'll be able to post soon. After all the family had left, Alvan said "Do you want to go for a drive?", I said "where?" He said, "you'll see!" So I put on my shoes, grabbed my bag and jumped in the car, knowing full well he had a plan, but it was no use trying to get it out of him. It became obvious we were heading for Brisbane, so when Alvan suggested I have a nap while we drove in I happily obliged. I woke as we were pulling up to the Ridges Hotel. I said "What's happening at the Ridges?", assuming that as we didn't have any bags packed and we had other commitments for Christmas that night, we must be just doing an "afternoon activity". So as we head into the the foyer, I'm busy looking for posters that will show what Christmas show was happening..... Alvan walked up to the front desk and says, "We have a booking", I said "We have a booking?", and he said "for 2 nights", I said "We have a booking for 2 nights?", and he said "Merry Christmas".... sneaky sneaky. I had no idea! It was a wonderful relaxing time, we spent boxing day walking through southbank, over bridges, through the botanical gardens and a little bit of shopping thrown in. We also saw the movie National Treasure, and had a delicious dinner at a turkish restaurant. On Thursday morning, Alvan dropped me at work, and I couldn't get the smile off my face all day......Isn't my husband wonderful? I hope you all have a wonderful New Years Eve, as I type this we are still undecided what we will be doing tonight to bring in the new year, but as long as we're together, I don't care. We celebrated our 24th anniversary this year, and he still manages to make my heart melt, and bring a smile to my face whenever I think about him. For the record, I'm the luckiest woman in the world.

Busy, busy, busy

Well, I've made it through my first full week at work, it is such a big role with so much to learn, but I really am enjoying the challenge. Everyone at the practice is very nice, and have been very kind and patient with me. I am gone from home about 11.5 hours a day, as I actually catch the 6.53am train in the morning, and in the evening my train arrives in at 6pm...add the 10 minutes at each end to get to the train station and home and it makes for a long day. (Especially, if I don't get a seat on the train)! Here is the website for my work take a look around: www.heartcarepartners.com.au Alvan's work has been very busy too, with a couple call outs in the middle of the night in the last month. His working days are getting longer too, with all the "fires" (of the software kind) they have been fighting lately. We love spending quiet nights at home together now, starting to get old I guess! LOL. And Saturday's are always chocka block now trying to fit everything in that I used to have 6 days for. But we are so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who is blessing us with these opportunities. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner here last Sunday night with all the family (except Nathan & his clan and Whitney, who of course had their own thanksgiving). I cooked my very first whole turkey from scratch with home made stuffing and everything...it was yummy!

I got a job!!!

It's official miracles do happen! LOL... Heavenly Father has really blessed us by helping me get an amazing job. I start tomorrow. I will be a Telephonist/Receptionist for a Cardiologist practice called Heart Care Partners. It is a full time job, 8.30am - 5pm Monday to Friday. I will be commuting on the train back and forth each day, so I'll have to leave home at 7.15 each morning, and get home every evening around 6.15. This is the beginning of a new chapter in my life..... wish me luck!

California Pics

Time to add those long waited for photos from CA. Of course there are more to come, but I thought some is better than none. Photos are: Whitney & Freyr Whitney & Thea coming out of school Alvan & Whitney about to go paddling on Lokahi outrigger Middletown Ward's Halloween party Tara as Red Riding Hood & Freyr as Scarecrow Whitney as a washer

Alvan's missionary reunion

Alvan and I were blessed to attend the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Philippines mission, which he was one of the early missionary there. One of Alvan's favourite places there was Legaspi (which he opened), where he served with 3 other missionaries, sharing one apartment. This was the first time they had all been together since then.... It was so wonderful for them all. And great for Alvan to catch up with so many others as well. The photo is of Elders Clark, Bennett, Ormsby and Palmer.

Picture of our house

We forgot to take a photo of our new home with us to the States to show everyone, so here it is! We love our little home, and the view is priceless!

Here I go

I have found Blogging to be a great way to keep in touch with all our loved ones all over the world, so thought it was time to dive in too! Alvan and I just returned home from a wonderful 4 weeks trip to the States. We were blessed enough to spend time with family and friends, and make memories we will treasure for years to come. I've included some of the great photos from our time there. These are just a few from Utah, more will follow, including pics of Whitney from California.