The Ormsbys down under

We walked the bridge

2010-05-16T19:16:00.012+10:00

Kidnapped & Chocolate = Love

2010-05-15T18:17:00.014+10:00

So last Monday night I was kidnapped by my girls who took me to ......... Max Brenner. It is soooo delicious, the waffles were soooo good...the chocolate was sooo thick, rich & creamy.... we all ended up with chocolate comas, but what a way to go! Can you believe after all that we still had room for some maccas.... LOL... something small to balance out all that sweetness. :)

Thanks girls, for a truly memorable Mothers Day.

Oh, and how exciting was the ride there? Jaime was driving at a standard 110 km per hour on a busy freeway, when the tyre blew out!! We called RACQ, and my darling husband came to the rescue. Once Alvan arrived we swapped cars and left him to wait for help to arrive, isn't he amazing? Tara bought him some very expensive but equally delicious Max Brenner chocolates as a thank you.

Whitney loves Max

He's the bald man who makes chocolate... I love him too!

Tara & Whitney

Elly & I sharing the love (of all things chocolate!)

Yep, she's gonna eat it!!

Waffles

Strawberry & cookies crepe

THE most amazing souffle!

Who doesn't love Fondue??

Women Who Inspire Me

2010-05-07T18:59:00.005+10:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about the women who have inspired me throughout my life. Each has a special place in my heart. There are too many to name them all here; I hope each of you know who you are even if you are not mentioned. I have watched and learned so much from them, their actions and words, I think I learned the most from them when they didn't even know I was watching. I feel so blessed to have crossed paths with them in some form or another.

Nevertheless, I'm going to attempt a list:

Evelyn (My Mother), Pat, Jane, Kerrie, Zandra, Lesley, Kim, Jan, Pam, Sarah, Ana, Gina, Kathleen, Colleen, Denise, Sonya, Myra, Frances, Sheri, Marjorie, Gladys, Tiffany, Deeann, Mary, Virginia, Carolyn, Margaret, Jen, Stephanie, Naomi, Avis, Traci, Nadine, Heather, Mary-Ellen, Tara, Elly, Jaime & Whitney.

Most of these women I've been blessed to know personally; some I've only admired from afar. One woman who has inspired me in the last couple of years, I have never met. She does not even know I exist. I have followed her blog for a couple of years now, she reminds me of all that is good in my life, she reminds me to be grateful for my life and everything it involves... good & bad. It really is perspective!

Meet Stephanie, or NieNie as she is known. I wanted to upload this video for you all to watch, but my computer doesn't want to...so please take a moment to follow the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHDvxPjsm8E

Isn't she amazing? I wonder if she knows how many people she must inspire? My daughter Whitney inspires many for the same sort of reason. She really gets it ... she is not defined by her hair, or lack of it. It empowers many to realize we are not our bodies, thanks to all the women who have helped me learn that. You are all different in age, race, size, knowledge, experience, but you are all important! And because I know this about you, I know I am important too!

Bananas.........

2010-03-07T06:02:00.007+10:00

Our Bananas have finally ripened!! They are without a doubt the sweetest, yummiest bananas we have ever tasted! This is how they looked on Thursday when they were cut off the tree, this morning (Sunday) they are all completely ripe, they loveliest yellow bananas in the world.

Backyard memories

2010-01-15T05:56:00.013+10:00

Here are a few pics from just everyday hanging out times.....more to come later.

Alvan & Tama loved just sitting and cuddling together... I LOVE this pic! Van is reaching out to touch the rain as if drips from the top of the patio

Tama & Aunty Elly

Whitney told me afterwards, that as Alvan & I just sat and talked all the kids were scrambling inside to find a camera "quick" to get this shot. I love the time Alvan & I spend out on our patio.

Noah crashes for an afternoon nap with Jen

Marlee watches on..

This is a funny memory. Our bananas just don't seem to be ripening, so we thought maybe if we put a "fresh" banana in with them they might get the idea! Rick was happy to oblige. :)

New Years Eve at Southbank

2010-01-10T16:23:00.011+10:00

The Ormsbys love Southbank, and couldn't wait to take the "Utah" grandkids/nephews & niece/cousins there! We arrived early in the afternoon of New Years Eve, and spent hours playing in the "beach" and rockpools. Karen's sister Kerrie and her family from Melbourne were also there. We staked out our acreage early to have prime position seating for the fireworks display. It was a wonderful afternoon/evening. Thanks to Kerrie & Frank for the glowsticks that kept the kids amused in the dark while waiting for the show to begin.

Jai had a blue slurpee!

Tara read!

Elly played with Noah

Van enjoyed an orange

Noah loved his glowstick

Freyr loved the water

Jenn & Nate enjoyed having another photo taken

Marlee

Elijah

Christmas Day

2010-01-10T16:12:00.006+10:00

Everyone arrived bright and early to open presents, lots of surprises, smiles and laughter prevailed.

A quick trip to the beach before lunch, pretty great way to spend time together hey?

Ormsbys Summer begins...

2010-01-10T15:54:00.014+10:00

Well, it's gonna take a few posts to get everything up. But the journey begins with the first step right? Nathan, Jenny, Marlee, Noah, Vance & Elijah arrived December 23rd.

Elly & Rick waiting at the airport

Alvan & Karen anxiously waiting

Whitney too!

Freyr (aka spiderman) waits to meet his cousins!

They're here!!!!!

Enjoying some time on the back patio, before bedtime

Van enjoying one of his freddo frogs

Noah playing with Freyr's toolkit

High School Graduate

2009-12-15T05:00:00.011+10:00

So, two days after formal Whitney graduated High School.

She was a bit eager!! (first one there...)

Receiving her diploma... and hugs!

Her sisters waiting at the side to present her with her lolly leis!!

Here she is heading back to her seat fully "lei-ed"

The class receives applause

Whitney & Emily

Whitney with Mum & Dad, hard to say who was happier! No more parent-teacher interviews ever!!

It seems no photo op is complete without the sisters mandatory silly faces pic

Family shot!

Whitney's formal

2009-12-13T19:33:00.010+10:00

Whitney's school formal was held early November, she looked absolutely gorgeous!!

She got ready at her friend Emily's house, and in her own quirky style stole the show with her choice of footwear.

Xeni, Emily & Whitney

Mum, Whitney & Dad

Whitney sitting on grass

Another photo? Really?

I call this her beauty shot, blow it up and see the beautiful make up Elly did for her!

All her friend were jealous of her shoes!

Masterchef watch out!

2009-10-11T13:39:00.006+10:00

We had LOTS of carrots in the fridge this week. so Whitney decided to make a carrot cake.. her first homemade cake without any supervision! It was delicious!

Singing in the rain

2009-10-11T13:29:00.008+10:00

Singing in the rain!

It hadn't rained for a couple of months when we had a sudden thunder storm during this past week. We love thunder storms in the tropics. Whitney especially!

running in the rain

did you see that lightening?

just enjoying being wet

splash!

Perks of the job!

2009-10-11T13:26:00.003+10:00

Whitney really really loves that her dad works for Cadburys!

Making Caramel Popcorn

2009-10-11T13:21:00.004+10:00

CeNedra & Linda spent 3 days with us during the school holidays. We had lots of fun and enjoyed spending time with them. They are growing up fast, and becoming beautiful young women. Making Caramel Popcorn was sticky, fun and YUMMY!

fun times!

sticky as...

finger lickin' good!

First church outing

2009-10-11T13:17:00.002+10:00

That night Whitney went to her first church dance...which was also the first place where she knew people. She's a natural poser!!

It's a new day for Whitney... and we joined her!

2009-10-11T13:03:00.011+10:00

September 25th 2009, the day the scarves & hats came off for the last time! Whitney decided she's ready to be liberated, and just be who she is! As a sign of support Tara shaved her head and I cut off my long hair (work wouldn't allow me to shave). We are so proud of Whitney. She's an amazing young woman, with a complete understanding of true beauty... she inspires so many.

Mum & Whitney the night before

Tara in the hairdresser's seat, moments before it was all gone!

A midway shot... it's amazing how fast her hair came off

All gone!

Sisters united

Freyr kept pointing at his mum's hair on the floor and saying "mum, mum!"

Mum's turn.... first to go.. the pony tail!

It's very short!

Whitney & Mum straight after.

All three together

We went to Harbourtown afterwards for her first outing... and lunched at fasta pasta

Dust Storm

2009-09-24T17:27:00.006+10:00

Yesterday's weather was a unbelievable!! Over 7 million tons of top soil blew in from the outback of Australia. This was the view from our dining room ....

Ward Trivia Night

2009-09-24T17:15:00.011+10:00

Last Saturday night our Ward held it's annual trivia night... and in Ormsby style we went all out in our table theme. We were called "It's not heart surgery!" and we won the award for best team theme... It was such a fun night!

Dad & Tara or is that Dr & Patient?

Whitney & Mum

Rick enjoys his sample intraveneously!

Sisters! Tara & Elly

Whitney enjoying our "Blood Fountain" (white choc with red food colouring)

Just don't think about what you're drinking Elly!

Grandma was having a really good time! This picture just cracks me up!

Mum & Tara

We're growing bananas!

2009-09-19T08:35:00.016+10:00

A few weeks ago, we discovered the banana tree in our backyard was finally bearing fruit!! We are so excited; this is the first time we have ever grown food...and it's bananas!!! How cool is that? We've tried to take pictures regularly in anticipation of this blog entry, it's been very exciting watching the progress.... every morning it looks different. Now all the hands are out, we just have to wait about 2 months for them to ripen.... Enjoy the pics:

The flower first arrives

Then its starts to open

Here they come!

This is the tree as we see it from out patio without the zoom lens

I walked underneath it one day...and this is what it looked like...isn't beautiful?

Then the layers of hands started showing

and more layers....

now they are all out, just got to ripen!

close up of our yummy bananas!

Winter on the Gold Coast

2009-08-30T16:45:00.010+10:00

Saturday morning at Greenmount Beach, first the park, then the sand, then the surf and ended with a leisurely stroll along the beach! Why would you live anywhere else?

Freyr loved this "new" play equipment almost as much as the swings.

Funny boy, drew circles around his legs every time he stopped on the beach.

Then we walked to the rocks... can you say "1,2, 33333333"

Mother & Son (Alvan and his mum)

We "heart" the beach!

What a beautiful day!

Grandkids = Love

2009-08-29T07:54:00.003+10:00

Doesn't this just say it all? We love our grandkids so much.... can't wait for summer!!

Family gathers

2009-08-29T07:33:00.010+10:00

Alvan's parents and his brother Rob have been visiting Australia for the last couple of weeks. They are staying on the Gold Coast, but they come and stay with us on the weekends. We had the opportunity to use our patio as it was intended last weekend when all the girls (and rick & rob) joined us for a family bbq, there was lots of love and food to go around. Here are some of the pics:

catch up .... again!!

2009-08-09T18:23:00.004+10:00

Whitney had her Priests & Laurels Ball last month... July 10th to be exact!! She looked gorgeous as you can see in the pics above. Her date was a friend she's known since they were both 9 years old.. Ammon Gordon. Whitney and Ammon were both interviewed and filmed for a new DVD the church is making for a presentation on the strength of the youth around the world. They were interviewed seperately in their own homes... we even had our home staged ie: pictures and candles in background (so professional). Then they filmed Ammon coming to pick up Whitney (with chocolates!), and followed them all night at the dance too, they even interviewed some of their friends! We don't know when the DVD will be finished (or how much will actually make it in the final cut, if any)...but we are just really pleased that she was chosen for such an honour.

Bathtime!!!

2009-06-28T17:23:00.000+10:00

Freyr has been sick: But we have been keeping him happy singing songs (videos on youtube soon!) and having baths. He loves it.

Beating myself up...

2009-06-07T18:56:00.003+10:00

Mum fell down 8 stairs at work on Thursday... she has bruised her knee, her hand and hip, also strained her shoulder. :(

How can it be April already?

2009-04-05T19:05:00.022+10:00

So much has happened that I haven't blogged about... Highlights from the last two months:
February:
Alvan turned 60!! We had the family come over for a surprise birthday breakfast. I love this man, he is a wonderful, loving husband, father, brother, son, friend and companion. I wish we had been in a better financial situation to do something more special to commemorate this big day. Alvan said he didn't want a big fuss, but I can't help feel he deserved it! Love you hun. xx

Whitney's tests all turned out to be good news. Her sudden loss of eyesight has been officially diagnosed as a spasm. She will have another follow up visit with the Opthamologist this week, but she hasn't had any other "episodes" so all is well.

March:
Tara was sealed to Yustan and Freyr. It was an beautiful day....Freyr was amazing, he was so reverent and "knew" what was happening was very special. He also got a great new hair cut for the big day...which we all absolutely love!
My sister Kerrie came up from Melbourne for Tara's sealing. We had a wonderful time catching up and just spending some "down time" together. Only being 4 months apart in age we grew up best friends, our bond is very special. Thanks for coming Kerrie, I loved it. Hope it's inspired you to come up again soon.

Whitney got her partriarchal blessing!! It was a really special, personal blessing...with lots of wonderful promises for her future. Whitney had wanted her patriarchal blessing for a while now, we waited to see if her grandad would be able to give it to her (all her siblings had that wonderful opportunity), but ultimately Whitney understood who the blessing really comes from and decided she needed to not put it off any longer. Our stake patricarch is a wonderful, kind, righteous man. We are anxiously waiting for it to arrive in the mail!

March was an interesting weather month...with unprecedented rain. It seemed to rain almost every day, and when I say rain, I mean pour!! Enjoy some pictures Whitney took one afternoon of an approaching storm below. Easter is approaching very quickly!! Looking forward to spending some more quality time with family, and our traditional "Easter Feast". Workwise, Alvan is still looking...working 3 days a week as a storeman in a warehouse to keep us "treading water", and March was very demanding for my company...with very few days that were not "FULL DIARY" days. As busy and tiring as it's been, I'm ever mindful of how blessed we are for me to have this job!! It's a great company to work for, and I really do love it...if only I could do something about my commute time.

This year is almost a quarter of the way over already. How can it be April already? Before I know it, I'll be asking how can it be October already? Fasten your seat belts friends, I think this year is gonna be the fastest one yet!

Together Forever

2009-03-21T11:35:00.006+10:00

Tara and Yustan were sealed to each other and to Freyr last Saturday... 14th March. It was a beautiful day, and I've never seen Tara look so happy and radiant. I was not alone in that description; everyone made the same comment over and over all day. Enjoy some photos from the day, I'm working on getting a video uploaded soon.

Why are Whitney's eyes dilated?

2009-02-19T06:41:00.006+10:00

This has been an interesting week. Last Tuesday 11th Feb, while at school in the middle of a class Whitney suddenly lost vision in her right eye. Yes, completely black. Alvan was called and he came and collected her from school. He called the 1300 health line for guidance and they sent out an ambulance to check it out. The paramedics said she should go to hospital, she didn't want to to do that so Alvan took her to the drs. The doctor told her she had to go to hospital, so only at this stage did I get a phone call. Alvan called to let me know when I finished work (in 10 mins), to meet them at the Mater Hospital. You can image the panic I felt.... I met them about 40 mins later at the emergency room of the Mater Hospital. After a number of tests, (one of which involved dilated her pupils) from nurses, interns, registrars and the dr on duty, and because by now she was seeing light and a few moments, but nothing distinct, we were sent home and told we'd hear from the specialist tomorrow for an appointment. When she woke up the next day, she had vision albeit very blurry. I stayed home from work the next day, the specialist called in the morning to say he could only fit her in after hours about 6.30pm that day. At lunchtime I got a call from the Mater Eye Clinic saying the specialist has asked for Whitney to come in now. So we rush in (staying in the speed limit of course). Where we spend 6 hours seeing registrars and nurses and doing another round of tests. Only to be told they don't know what it is and she'll have to make an appointment to see the Opthomologist next Tuesday. Her vision stayed blurry until Friday morning, when it suddenly came right again. On Tuesday this week, Alvan took her to see Dr Pane (yes, that really is he's name) who ran some more tests, having her eyes dilated again. He said he had two ideas, the most likely was a spasm of the vein behind the eye (he sees about 10 cases a year of that), or a mini stroke. So she began another barrage of tests which lasted to the end of the day and included a exercise stress echocardiogram & bubble study, and a corotid duplex, not to mention a plethoria of blood tests. After a very long day (11 hours worth), the news is good from the results of the stress echo and duplex tests, blood tests still unknown, but looking most likely to be a spasm. She sees Dr Pane again next Tuesday for an absolute answer... we hope!! So now you know why Whitney's eyes are dilated!! Enjoy everything you see today, and be grateful for your sight.

Christmas tradition...Fireworks at Southbank

2009-01-03T17:45:00.011+10:00

On Tuesday 23rd December, as is our family tradition we all met at Southbank for a bbq dinner and swim and Christmas fireworks display. Elly and Rick were missed this year as they were visiting Rick's family. Below is a series of candid pictures from the night:

Yustan & Tara enjoy the fun atmosphere

As does Freyr...cheeky boy Rachel came all the way from Hong Kong to enjoy it with Whitney!! L to R: Rachel, Whitney, CeNedra hugging Linda, Perrin, Yustan (Tara behind) Jaime & Rob

Alvan gets a good possie!

Whitney and Tara share a quiet moment One of my favourite views from Southbank...the Temple lit up at dusk

As the time got closer to the fireworks, Freyr found himself a good seat...Nan's!!

Freyr turns 2

2009-01-03T17:14:00.011+10:00

Freyr turned two years old on December 16th! Nan & Koro gave him a train set...he is in love with it!! He couldn't wait to get it set up (Everyone else was more than happy to help too), and just loves playing with it everyday. He also got...drum roll please...his first hair cut. He wasn't too happy to sit still, so after finding a spray water bottle (which he decided he could drink from) to appease him, the hairdresser was able to complete his first haircut. Judging by the photo of Tara, Freyr was not the only unsure participant.

Alvan's boys..

2008-12-13T07:48:00.003+10:00

Last night we had our Ward Christmas Party. Alvan is the Faith in God leader for the boys, he has 20 regular attendees. Last night they sang for the ward a song Alvan and his assistant Dean have been teaching them for about a month now. Unfortunately, not all boys were able to be there, but it was still great. P.S. the boy in the bright blue shirt at the front is one of my nephew's Riley, I'm bragging :) Enjoy

Smiley night sky

2008-12-02T15:22:00.006+10:00

Last night we were treated to a special phenomenon ... Venus, Jupiter and the moon aligned to create a smiley face, pretty cool huh?

The smaller eye is venus, the big one Jupiter and the mouth is the moon.

Another shot just in case this one looks better in close up

And a final one with our street lamp in the bottom corner, and if you look hard enough a plane gong across the sky in the top right corner!!

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-02T15:11:00.008+10:00

On Sunday 30th November, we had the family over to enjoy our traditional Thanksgiving dinner together....On our newly finished patio!! It was wonderful, 20 people and still heaps of room...the breezes were wonderful and the space is amazing. The company was great too! Here are some of the pics from the night:

Nan & Freyr...he loves me!!

Yustan reading...take a peek at our great view

Rick & his brother Jesse

My girls!! L to R: Whitney, Jaime, Elly & Tara

Funny Faces

Freyr enjoys Perrin's remote control car going between his legs.

We almost have a complete patio

2008-11-23T17:40:00.010+10:00

Yesterday we made some definite progress! Our patio roof was almost complete, until it was discovered that two of the roof panels were damaged during delivery. So we have to wait for another 2 weeks until the supplier can replace the faulty panels, then they will go up followed by all the guttering. So close.. and yet so far!!

The boys are putting up the receiver channel (after the trusses in the roof were reinforced)

Drilling in the receiver channel... Supervising the drilling in of the receiver channel!! A good lengthways shot, shows the green guttering and the black posts.

The posts and beams are up!

Now adding the roof..

The boys are Ammon Taleni and Brent Whittaker (Nathan will remember him as Brent Little)

Enjoying the shady view

Now all we need is furniture to sit on!!

Isn't it lovely? Once the roof is finished, we have to start saving again so we can tile it and then screen it... giving us a lovely indoor/outdoor living area.

End of an Era!?!

2008-11-23T17:16:00.003+10:00

Last week I was released as the Ward Choir director and a Relief Society teacher and called as a Primary teacher. Although I have served in Primary and Young Women's at different times, I have served in Relief Society more than any other auxiliary a total of 15 of the last 25 years. I dearly love the Relief Society programs and the sisters I've been privileged to work with. I will miss it so much...very selfish I know. I gave my final lesson last week just after I was sustained to my new calling. I know in a few short months I'll be thoroughly in love with Primary again, but in the meantime, I need all the prayers I can get. Today I gave my first lesson in Primary, I'm teaching a combined class of 3,4 & 5 year olds. It's going to be an interesting and challenging class, but I'm grateful I can already see the sweet spirits, even in the more "boisterous"children. Afterwards I was set apart... it was the most amazing blessing. I'm so grateful for such a loving Heavenly Father, and for his comforting words. I think I'm going to be alright!! P.S. I've been asked to continue on with the Ward Choir on "assignment" until further notice... lucky Christmas is just around the corner.

Time together and with family

2008-10-15T06:03:00.012+10:00

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: For our 25th Anniversary, Alvan and I headed down the Gold Coast for 4 nights. Alvan picked me up from work on Wednesday afternoon and we headed straight to Conrads Jupiters for Wednesday and Thursday night. Just time for ourselves, it was lovely...they had chilled wine and strawberries waiting for us in our room when we checked in. It was a wonderful room... a corner suite with a kingsize bed and beautiful views from our balcony. We saw the "Merchants of Bollywood" show, and enjoyed buffet breakfast both mornings and enjoyed late night hot chocolates and cake both nights. We even checked out the gym, as well as walked alot...but I think we overindulged a little too much....still you only celebrate a silver anniversary once right?

This is the surprise management had waiting for us

These pictures don't do the view justice of course. Although there was construction between us and the beach we could still see the beach easily, and it was beautiful. These of course are photos from daytime, it looked completely different at night too FRIDAY & SATURDAY: Alvan and I headed back home to pick up Whitney after school, and headed to our second destination. Reflection tower two at Coolangatta was our destination. It's a new apartment building that was only opened earlier this year. We stayed on the 18th floor in a 2 bedroom apartment. It had spectacular views. Elly and Tara's family joined us on Saturday, (Jaime ended up too sick to visit, we missed her). We had a wonderful time again, sharing this special anniversary with family was just right...we missed Nathan and his family. But couldn't help check out possible places to stay next Christmas when they visit! We tried a new topping on pizza...prawns and banana, yummy!! We strolled on and near the beach, and through some markets too.

Whitney's the king of the world!

This was the view from our living room

And this is the view from our bedroom

This was our bedroom, the bath was very deep, there was a pop up tv in the foot of the bed as well another one mounted on the wall..Alvan loved that!

Whitney's bedroom Freyr's angel face...he's playing with CeNedra's phone, but butter wouldn't melt in his mouth! Enjoying a leisurely walk along the broadwalk of Cooloongatta beach. This was a very special time, with lots of memories to enjoy for years to come. Happy 25th Anniversary Alvan, I love you.

Silver Anniversary!

2008-10-15T06:00:00.002+10:00

This is the amazing ring Alvan got me for our silver anninversary. It was a complete surprise!! Isn't it gorgeous? I'm still in shock...and my knees still get weak when I show it to others. I absolutely love it!! Thanks honey...mwah.

Whitney the cockroach slayer!

2008-10-15T05:50:00.004+10:00

Whitney spent last Wednesday and Thursday nights home by herself while Alvan and I took some time away together to celebrate our anniversary. Thursday night was quite the night!! Poor Whitney was traumatised by "the giant cockroach". She had to summon all her courage and finally after it following her all around the house, she killed it with one vicious blow from her pencil case. I know it's not funny....but you've got to smile. I think she became a woman....all hail Whitney, the cockroach slayer. If she can face that fear, she can do anything!!!

This is how I found her pencil case when we got home....she couldn't bring herself to move it.

This is what I found underneath...ewww.

Whitney loves Fairy Bread!

2008-10-05T06:21:00.002+10:00

A chippie off the old block

2008-09-27T06:50:00.007+10:00

Last month, when Tara's family came for our regularly monthly saturday morning breakfast, Yustan came prepared to putty up our cracked ceiling. (This "crack" occurred when our insulation was laid in the roof...but that's another story..one that always makes us smile!). Anyway, Yustan is a builder by trade, and it looks like Freyr may want to take after his daddy.. here are the pics to show why.

I know, I know...he's sooo cute right?

Patio update

2008-09-27T06:26:00.015+10:00

We have been making progress... our new concrete patio has been laid, and we are currently getting final quotes for the roof. Actually it was finished about 3 weeks ago, we have enjoyed several breakfasts out there already.We hope construction of the roof will be completed by the end of October, fingers crossed council approval will not take too long.

This is the yard all levelled ready for the slab to go down, but we had to add about 60 inches of height to the ground first.

The slab is boxed out, and gravel added for foundation and height

The "Reo" (reinforcing wire thingy) is in place ready for the concrete to be poured

The truck arrives and the pump is put in place (over the top of the garage)

pouring begins

levelling as they go

our fresh new patio slab is in place

I'm pretty sure you could land a small aircraft on it

Whitney tries it out

Whitney's licence...

2008-09-26T05:49:00.003+10:00

Just a few short weeks after coming home, Whitney got her learners licence. She got the book, and studied alot, took lots of practice tests online. And nagged us to take her to get it. She passed with flying colours!! Clever girl. Now she has to wait until she's 17 for her actual driving licence, but in the meantime she'll have fun racking up her 100 hours prerequisite driving!!!

Hong Kong lights

2008-09-26T05:38:00.007+10:00

I've got a lot of catching up to do. Our second to final night in Hong Kong was spent celebrating Whitney's 16th Birthday at a wonderful restaurant called R66. A revolving restaurant that takes 66 minutes to go around once. We all enjoyed a fantastic buffet with every kind of food available, the biggest hit of the night was the chocolate fountain...mmmm! They even had the entertainment come to our table and sing happy birthday to Whitney. A wonderful night for everyone. Our final night saw us on the harbour on our way to the airport, we had to see the famous Hong Kong light show. As usual the photos don't do it justice, it was spectacular!

The round thing on the top of building in background is the revolving restaurant we went to for Whitney's 16th birthday the night before.

See the criss-cross on the middle building? That was constantly changing, as were all the colours on all the different buildings.

Looking back from our ferry to the Hong Kong harbour light show

Ocean Park

2008-08-04T20:22:00.018+10:00

Monday 28th was the hottest and most polluted day while we were in Hong Kong; it is also the day we spent at Ocean Park. A great family park, we went on a balloon ride, a sky star (chairlift) ride, walked down three levels of an indoor aquarium (atoll reef) to discover the different sealife that lives at different levels, watched an acrobatic performance by some of Hong Kong's youth, and saw some real life pandas....they were soooo cute!!! After lunch, Carolyn and I headed home to leave the husbands and the kids enjoy the rides...that's when Alvan took the Kung fu photos!!

And the winner is ...

Gotta love a panda eating bamboo

And a cute sitting panda..

And a cute girl with a panda hat!!

Whitney & Rachel at entrance of the park

Action shot

Another action shot...

Rules you don't see until you're too close to the ride to pull out!!

look at all those gondolas

look at the panda pavillion

here we go...up, up and away, in my beautiful, my beautiful balloon

look at all those stairs

Kung Fu David

Kung Fu Alvan

The Venetian

2008-08-04T19:30:00.007+10:00

Carolyn, Rachel, Whitney and I whisked off for a night of pure indulgence at the Venetian Hotel in Macau on Thursday 24th July. The Venetian is a 5 star luxury hotel, that is absolutely enormous. I think we walked at least 5 kms when we first got there, just trying to find our way around (without going through the casino). We caught the "Cotai Jet" (a hydro ferry) from Hong Kong Harbour to Macau...the seats were like airline seating..only bigger and more comfortable. Then we caught a shuttle bus from the port to the hotel, it took us a while to find the main entrance to check in at the big main lobby we'd seen on the website. Have a look for yourself: www.venetianmacao.com We stayed in a Bella Suite, Whitney & Rachel shared one bed and Carolyn and I shared the other. Swimming pools, bubble baths, luxury robes & slippers, chocolate & non-alcholic sparkling grape juice, a gondola ride which included an impromtu performance by the gondalier, the best most pampering manicure I've ever had, a full buffet breakfast, and late night girl talk....thanks girls for a wonderful time, memories to last a lifetime!!

Whitney & Rachel on the Cotai Jet

Carolyn & Rachel on the Gondola

Whitney & Rachel on "their bed"

Karen & Whitney and Isabella (the gondolier)

Above: A view of the venetian from the food court Below: The three "Mask" ateers

Hong Kong

2008-07-24T09:10:00.005+10:00

Just doing a quick update with photos for now, will add some more stories and pictures from our time in Hong Kong tomorrow.

Whitney & Rachel outside the Kindergarten they worked at.

View from the Nightingales home..isn't it gorgeous?

Who doesn't love funny chinese signs?

Alvan outside a temple

a road much travelled...on the double decker bus

Olympic mascots

Night markets

Alvan's arty shot

Karen's arty shot

common hong kong living

cute chinese homes

busy kowloon intersection

collision sign on every corner

Nathan Rd is the main road in Kowloon

I'm updating without pics at the moment, just so I won't forget what we've done so far. Pictures will have to be added later. We arrived safely at 8pm on Monday 21st, after a long and somewhat uncomfortable 9 hour flight. The plane was smaller than we expected, and we were largely ignored by the "attendants", and the inflight entertainment was frustrating, as there were no individual controls, and all the channels started their shows at the same time, so when your show finished there was nothing to watch until the longest running show finished. I know...whinge, whinge. The airport is so big we had to catch a train from our arrival gate to the customs & baggage section...actually we had no idea where we were going, we just followed the crowd!! Hong Kong is very warm and humidity is high, but mostly there is a cool gentle breeze blowing, and of course everything is air conditioned, so heat has not been an issue as long as we keep ourselves hydrated. Tuesday 22nd: Happy Birthday Nathan. We went to computer markets in Wan Chai to buy our camera. We bought a Sony cybershot...it will take a few days to work out all the features, but so far it's really easy. After the camera shopping we had our first dining out experience... the American Peking Restaurant. They opened the upstairs just for us, their service was fantastic. We had about 8 different dishes between the 6 of us (Carolyn, David, Rachel, Alvan, Whitney and me)...some of the new tastes which we absolutely loved were fried seaweed, fried beef in sesame bread, peking duck that was carved in front of us, and the best sweet and sour I've ever had (I am not usually a lover of sweet & sour). After lunch we walked to the base of "The Peak", the highest point on Hong Kong island. You catch a special tram (cable car) that pulls you slowly up(at a very steep degree)the mountain. Once you get off the tram there are still 8 escalators to ascend to get to the lookout point!! But the view is breath taking... it was fantastic to see all around the island. The sheer volume of buildings is only surpassed by their height!! We did take some photos with Whitney's "broken" camera, and Rachel took some pics on her camera too...so hopefully we will have a couple of good pics to add later. After the adventure of the peak, we caught a bus to the IFC (international finance centre) which also happens to be a shopping centre, we stopped for an Italian hot chocolate...mmmm! Whitney and Rachel could barely keep their eyes open, having pulled an all nighter on Monday night! We made our way "home", we were still so full from our lunch we didn't need dinner. We had scripture study together (except Whitney who had lost the battle to stay awake), talked a little longer and turned in for the night. Wednesday 23rd: Yesterday Whitney and Rachel had an opportunity to work at an International Kindergarten for a few hours (and earn some spending money in the process). We headed over to Kowloon for the day, while the girls were at work, Carolyn, David, Alvan and myself headed to the Jade markets to buy jewellery... and I discovered my talent for haggling..I loved it! Some lovely surprises for my girls when I get home (shh), I even got myself something, after Carolyn insisted I treat myself...very happy I did now! We picked up Rachel & Whitney and went to get lunch...just a chinese fast food restaurant. Then it was off to the "Ladies Market", which goes for about 3 blocks.. more haggling and lots of great buys later; some things include a beautiful fountain pen for dad (he has been wanting one for at least the last 20 years), some lovely silk table runners, and lots of other goodies that I can't mention or it will spoil the surprise for everyone! We had planned to see the "city light show" from on a boat on the harbour last night, but we were all so tired we decided to call it a day, and headed home for a lovely home-made salad for dinner. After scripture study, we all sat around talking again....lots of reminising, and of course lots of laughter. We love the Nightingales, and have really missed them this last year. They have decided they want us to move here!! yeah right! LOL. Today, Carolyn, Rachel, Whitney and myself are off to Macau, where we are spending the night at the Venetian hotel..can't wait. Alvan is off to a business meeting (fingers crossed it will be beneficial), and then he and David and Hugo are going to check out all the car show rooms (including ferrari, maseratti, and maybach just to name a few). Ok, time to go pinch myself! Hopefully, next post I'll have pics to add here.

Whitney's homecoming

2008-07-20T17:26:00.009+10:00

Our "baby" is home!! Whitney arrived home safe and sound from California via Auckland. She arrived at 11am Thursday 17th July. Whitney actually spotted the balloons from inside the arrivals gate, and was sure it was her family!! She just had to wait another 10 minutes to get to us.

Backyard update

2008-07-20T16:32:00.013+10:00

The three retaining walls are finished and have been filled with soil, ready for: bark & vegetable garden on the bottom level, grass on the middle level, and our the concrete slab for our new and improved patio on the top level. Freyr was out exploring the new backyard the other day, so it was a timely reminder to get some snaps to update the blog.

To give you an idea of the size of this construction...this is the top level, which is also the smallest wall by far.

Freyr and Koro playing in the dirt!

This pic shows Freyr at the top level of our newly "tiered" backyard.

This one shows Freyr playing on the flat back section that will soon have a very large concrete slab for the patio.

These two pics show where the stairs will go eventually, but they also show nicely the three levels of walls.

This is the side where there will eventually be a slide for the grandkids to go down on.

Alvan's heart check

2008-06-23T10:42:00.003+10:00

Alvan's father recently underwent some more heart procedures. He has had coronary heart disease for many years, and it is a family condition that many of his siblings have died from. So, because Alvan is now getting close to the age his dad was when he had a quadruple bypass, and considering the fact that I now work for a company that has 12 cardiologists, what better time to check out the old ticker. I spoke with Dr Cox about Alvan's family history and he was more than happy to see him. Firstly, he had a have a stress echocardiogram. A stress echocardiogram assesses the likelihood that you have significant narrowings in your heart arteries. By comparing your heart functions before and after exercise using echocardiography (ultrasound), the cardiologist can infer whether enough blood is getting to your heart or if a narrowing is restricting this supply. His also had full blood tests done, all these tests showed Alvan to be in good health. But because of the strong family history, Dr Cox wanted Alvan to have one more test, a coronary artery scoring. A cardiac calcium scoring uses a special x-ray test called a computed tomography (CT) to check for build up of calcium in plaque on the walls of the arteries of the heart. This test is used to check for heart disease in an early stage and to determine how severe it is. Alvan had a total score of 292.

A score between 101–400 means there is a moderate amount of plaque is present. You have heart disease, and plaque may be blocking an artery. Your chance of having a heart attack is moderate to high.

Dr Cox has put Alvan on a lifelong daily course of Crestor and small asprin. The Crestor is used to lower the "bad" cholesterol and raise the "good" cholesterol. He will see him again in 3 months, at which time another round of blood tests will be done, and hopefully it will show improved results.

We feel that this whole experience although a bit of a shock has been such a blessing from Heavenly Father. We are amazed at the technology that is available today, and that we were able to access it all so easily and quickly for Alvan's benefit.

Family working bee

2008-06-23T09:30:00.011+10:00

Work for our new patio began on Saturday 20th June, first we have to demolish before we can construct. So it was a family working bee...all the family came, the boys had a great time working jack hammers, (at least for the first few hours, I think the novelity worn off after that). But Alvan and I are extremely grateful for children who gave up there Saturday to help us out, we love you guys and appreciate all your help. Perrin cooked the pancakes for breakfast, and hot chippies were purchased for lunch. Work started just after 8am with the pulling down of the existing patio, and finally at about 4pm when all the boys were sufficently exhausted tools were downed. Leaving just a small (ish) slab of concrete left for Alvan to demolish on Monday.

work begins...first the patio has to come down

yus on the roof & dad "supervising"

Spiderman

two jacks are better than one...Rick and his brother Jessie

and the dust starts flying

Yustan's turn

Alvan's turn on the jack hammer....

Alvan finishing the job on Monday morning

P.S Yustan very kindly showed up around lunch time on Monday to help dad finish off the job, that last corner was a doozie! Well done everyone.

Backyard works

2008-06-22T21:32:00.018+10:00

Well we've been planning and costing things for months now, but finally the works have begun on the backyard landscaping! We are finished with week one, of a two week job and already it's looking great..starting to see the difference it will make. The first 4 pictures are before work began, and the next 4 are at the end of week one. The bottom retaining wall has been made higher, and the middle retaining wall has gone up. Note the left side has been left sloped for two reasons. 1) to allow for easy access for the lawnmower, and 2) to allow for a slide for the grandchildren (eventually!!) There will be one more smaller retaining wall at the top just behind where our new patio will go. The pegs you see in the ground on at the top of the slope are where the new patio will go out to.

Grandkids at Movieworld

2008-06-10T19:30:00.008+10:00

Jaime took Tara & the her kids to movieworld for the day. The bumper cars were fun, and Freyr loved the super heroes...no fear that boy!

Elder Joshua Bennison

2008-06-10T19:10:00.004+10:00

Alvan and I were blessed to go to Melbourne the weekend of May 23-25. It was a wonderful time, we stayed with Karen's sister Kerrie and her family. And went to the temple with Elder Joshua Bennison and his Mum, one of Karen's other sisters Liz (for their first time). It was so joyous in the Celestial room.

Our neighbourhood friends

2008-06-10T18:45:00.005+10:00

Just a few pictures taken from our yard in the last month. The kookaburras are on our side fence and the next door neighbours side fence. And the Kangaroo is in our front yard, and the girls from next door came out to feed him some bread, so he went to house too!

We've been tagged

2008-05-31T16:40:00.006+10:00

(Alvan's answers are in green, Karen's are in red) . . . A) Four places I go over and OVER, 1. Toilet Toilet 2. Bed Work 3. Work Train (to and from work) 4. Church Bed (not often enough nowadays) B) Four people who e-mail ME the most: 1.Work (that covers lots of areas) LDS Living 2. Other IT ie: Apple, Microsoft, HP etc Meridian News 3. Mum Deseret books 4. Kids Work colleagues (at work) C) Four of my favorite foods: 1. Mexican Chocolate 2. Indian Indian 3. Chocolate Thai 4. Krispy Kremes Mexican D) Four places I would rather be right now: 1. USA USA 2. In Bed Hong Kong 3. Beach In Bed 4. In a plane going anywhere(he likes flying) Beach E) Four movies I would watch over and over: 1. Surfing movies Phenomenon 2. Movies with cars in them Hair Spray 3. He says he doesn't really have any favourites The Polar Express 4. But really he'll watch almost anything over and over! The Wedding Planner Now we're tagging, the Jordans, the Nightingales, and the Kings

69 Days to go!!

2008-05-09T20:43:00.005+10:00

Yes that's how many days to go, till our baby returns home from her year in the States. Not that I'm counting or anything!! She has been so blessed to have this amazing opportunity. And her time has been jam packed full of special experiences I know she will cherish for the rest of her life. Some of the best of them are still yet to be. Whitney will be going to EFY a couple of weeks before she comes home...so chances are she won't need the plane, she'll just be able to float home! Words will never express enough how truly grateful we are to the Olson family for taking her in and loving her like their own. Whitney sent us some photos the other day, from her time so far. So time to share with everyone:

Australian Outback Spectacular

2008-04-19T07:42:00.006+10:00

Last night we went to the Australian Outback Spectacular. It's a wonderful dinner and show. The meals were delicious, and the show was fantastic. We'd highly recommend it to anyone. It's a really fun night, with sheep mustering, horsemanship, chook races, boat races, campfire stories (which included the best recitation of "The man from Snowy River" I've ever heard), and even a helicopter! Here is the link, take a look: http://outbackspectacular.myfun.com.au This night out was Alvan's birthday present to me. He also surprised me by sending 12 stunningly gorgeous long stem red roses to my work. I was once again the envy of all the women in the office. I love were I work, everyone is so nice. They bought a cake and sang Happy Birthday to me, (which we do for every birthday in our office). And one of the secretaries went even further and bought me tim tams and a slice from the bakery, just 'cause she wanted to do something extra for me....I was really touched! It's been a great week, I finally got my uniforms on Monday(very expensive and made to measure) for work, but they look good! The Phantom of the Opera on Wednesday, Lost returned to TV on Thursday (the one show I MUST watch!), Whitney got accepted into EFY at Provo in July (before she comes home...what a blessing!). Cake and goodies at work and Outback Spectacular on Friday night. Tonight the whole family is getting together at Sizzler for dinner... wow, talk about count your many blessings...what a great week!

and listen to the Music of the Night.....

2008-04-19T07:31:00.004+10:00

Well, after a couple of months anticipation, Alvan and I finally saw The Phantom of the Opera (his birthday present) on Wednesday night (April 16th). It was amazing!! We had Anthony Warlow, who is Australia's version of Michael Crawford...this guy really is "The Phantom of the Opera!" Everything about the show was breathtaking. The sets, the costumes, the music, the voices, the acting...absolutely fantastic. We loved it!! I cried (of course..) at the end, it was sad, and beautiful. The songs have been going round and round in my head ever since.

Easter weekend - Sunday

2008-03-24T11:14:00.016+10:00

Alvan and I visited Tara's ward "Karrawatha Ward" this week. It was great to spend time with her family, Tara taught a wonderful lesson in Relief Society.. she's an amazing woman, mother and wife. And Perrin gave a fantastic talk in Primary we were able to be there for too. After Church The Andersens, Elly & Rick and Jaime & Rob all came over for our traditional "Easter Feast". It's based on eating the kinds of foods that would have been consumed during Christ's time on earth. We had shaved lamb kebab meat, turkish bread (drizzled with olive oil and garlic and toasted in the oven), hommus, dried apricots, almonds, grapes, dates, and grape and apple juice to drink, yummy! Afterwards, everyone just sat around and visited, it was a lovely night... simple moments are often the special times.

Easter weekend - Friday & Saturday

2008-03-24T09:30:00.006+10:00

Alvan and I woke up to discover an absolutely beautiful sunny day so decided it was a good day to go to O'reilly's. (An area in the Lamingtong National Park that has treetop walks, and lots of native birds that you can feed.) It was a very narrow, steep, and twisty drive to get there, but we enjoyed being together, the bounties of nature, and feeding the birds. It was beautiful walking through the bush, and Alvan even climbed the ladder on the side of a tree that took him another 30 metres higher than the treetop walk. There's a fantastic tree called the Booyong tree, and giant fig trees with decayed trees inside that create a kind of lattice chimney inside the fig tree....amazing. But our favourite bit was feeding the birds...especially helping the younger kids and tourists by "giving" them the birds that landed on our hands and arms...and heads!! Our trick for getting lots of birds...sunflowers seeds bought at the supermarket! After leaving O'reillys' we headed to the Gold Coast were we checked into the Jupiters Casino Hotel for the night. We went on the Wotif website before we left home and found a bargin too good to pass up. We booked ourselves into the executive suite, which includes stunning ocean views, morning newspaper, breakfast for two in the executive lounge, and exclusive access to the executive lounge at anytime, which also included free drinks and canopies before dinner. All for less than half the normal price!! Gotta love a bargin.. :) We enjoyed a yummy buffet dinner together that night, and in the morning after our breakfast, we spoilt ourselves with a 60 minutes reflexology massage each...heaven!!

Alvan's Birthday

2008-03-01T09:06:00.002+10:00

I decided Alvan's not the only one who can come up with great surprises. I had been planning on seeing Phantom of the Opera at the end of March with a bunch of sisters from Relief Society. Alvan had asked if he could come too.... I told him no "it's a girl's thing". But secretly I pulled out of the sisters activity, and bought us new tickets for the show. Preferred seating even, we will be in the stalls about 12 rows from the front in the middle!! I kept it as a surprise (which is much harder than you'd think). We don't actually go until April 16th (that was the earliest I could get with the good seats). But the anticipation makes it even more fun I think. He also got 2 surfing lessons paid for by Elly & Rick & Jaime, which he was sooo excited about. He had the first lesson last Saturday, and now he can't wait to get back out there again. It was the best weather we've had all year, so he had a great day for it.

Valentines Day ..better late than never

2008-03-01T08:55:00.002+10:00

I just wanted to spend a few minutes catching up some pretty important days from last month. Valentines Day was great. Alvan had a absolutely gorgeous bunch of long stem red roses sent to my office. I was the envy of all the other women there. They were so beautiful, and they really smelt so amazing. Then he surprised me when he picked me up from work and took me out for dinner at a lovely restaurant. I had a delicious salmon dish, and Alvan had a fabulous chicken cordon bleu with an scrumptious mango sauce....Yummy!! What a romantic hubby I have, jealous everyone?? lol

I love where we live!

2008-02-01T06:00:00.000+10:00

Thursday morning I woke to this beautiful sunrise. I had to grab the camera, and try and capture it. Everyday I enjoy the view from our backyard, but this was just that little bit special. Thanks Heavenly Father!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2007-12-31T05:44:00.001+10:00

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

2007-12-01T05:29:00.000+10:00

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!!!

2007-11-21T11:07:00.000+10:00

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

2007-11-21T10:21:00.000+10:00

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

2007-11-21T10:09:00.000+10:00

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

2007-11-08T19:09:00.000+10:00

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

2007-11-07T11:01:00.001+10:00

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.