How to make a s'more

Liam very patiently explaining to Kurt "How to make a s'more" and other s'more details! I am not sure why the quality is so bad ... will keep trying with the video thing!

The Year is Dying.... Let him Die. Ring out the Old; Ring in the New.

Christmas Eve feast - boerewors, salami, cheese, crackers, bread, Monis. Life just doesn't get better that this!

Smarties ...

I made these bags .... I know - who would have thought ... Sylvia sewing;)

Jellie tots and smarties ... hours of entertainment and they taste good!

Looking forward to 2011.

“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.”
Benjamin Franklin

Christmas has come and Christmas has gone - have I become more like Christ?

At this time of year one cannot help but be grateful

for family and friendships like yours that make our lives full :

full of adventure, full of excitement and full of love.



A favourite blog that I follow is here:The Soaring impulse- I love this post the Challenge of Christmas. Maithri focusses on the pure meaning of Christmas and the real Christ. The true example that He set for us.

This year I have learned we are each responsible for discovering our life's purpose. Finding meaning in the joy, as well as in the suffering. This year I have discovered that love is the essence of our existence. That although our brains are incredibly intricate and enable us to achieve amazing things ... our heart is where the real power lies.

(Julia took this pic - this picture of Jesus was given to Mila at her baptism)

Christmas Time, Mistle toe and Wine

Mila was an angel in our ward nativity

Freeing the tree

Ok so maybe not so much wine for me... But the holiday spirit is alive and well: with nativities and Christmas parties. Carols and Christmas trees. I am not even homesick this year. (although I must say that the week after my brother and sister left I did hit a low realising so clearly what we miss out on being far away from family).

This year we got a gorgeous real Christmas tree. It is tempting to do this every year since we were first introduced to fresh real trees by wonderful friends in Oregon. Kurt brought it home on the 1st of December per tradition. It smells lovely - I enjoy vacuuming up the pine needles that fall and filling my head with the scent.

This year will be another quiet family Christmas... staying in pajamas with nothing to do but open presents, eat and play. Our first little nuclear family Christmas I remember was the Christmas after Mila was born. She got sick on Christmas Eve and stopped breathing. We were at my parents house. It was the beginning of a long battle with whooping cough that brought us all to our knees. After being in the hospital on Christmas Eve we went home and Kurt roasted us our very own chicken for Christmas lunch. He is still wonderful like that. That was the first of many Christmas's that we have spent with remote access to family around the world.

Some day my children will know what it is like to be bombarded by cousins from every direction!!

In the meantime I will enjoy the peace afforded by being together - our little family- celebrating love.

The love we have for each other, the love demonstrated each day by our Heavenly Father, the love of Christ.

Mila's Baptism

Mila and Bishop Christiansen

Homemade Cinnamon buns doubled as a cake

Stoneys, cheese and crackers and Cinnamon buns .. what more could you want? Yes - family... got that too:)

Mila turned 8 and was baptised on her birthday- November 21st. It would have been a special, sacred day regardless, but was extra special because her Aunt and Uncle were here for it. What a fantastic weekend. An interesting tidbit for those not there ... she is a quick change. She was so excited after her baptism she shot out of the water and was changed and seated before one song was sung in her absence. She was grinning from ear to ear the whole time and said she wanted to do it all over again.

Happy Birthday ME!!

I had an amazing birthday this year. One that deserves its own (albeit late) entry ... Not only did Kurt suprise me by printing out a book of my blog... which turned out quite beautifully. But my sister, Lilian, came from the UK to stay for a week ... and that made it impossible for my brother, Des, to stay away. So, after 14 YEARS the "sparrow club" was reunited.

I had forgotten that was what our club was called. We had a club house and walkie-talkies and minutes and did serious bird research;). Sometimes we would hide in the dog house and peek through the gaps in the wood so as not to scare away the birds. Other times we would hide in trees or bushes. Lilian was the secretary. Des was the chairman (read boss). And I co-operated just enough to not get kicked out of the club altogether.

Heavenly Hawaii

For those of you who were not in the loop - Kurt and I went to Hawaii last week on some work incentive/ recognition trip that Kurt earned through many nights and weekends of work last year! Yes, HAWAII !! We went to Maui and the experience was superb. In true Kurt style we attempted to do everything possible in 4 days. Jetlag assisted us in our endeavers by ensuring we were awake bright and early at 330am most mornings. I am sure we failed miserably in the "do EVERYTHING category" but had some outstanding experiences. A few highlights....

Off the coast of Hana

A red sand beach (Hana)

Up on the volcanoe Mt Haleakala

On the beach outside Mama's Fish House

Happy Mother's Day

I slept my way into Mother's Day with Ambien induced memory loss. On Saturday night at 905 pm, Kurt and I left Hawaii with heavy hearts and empty stomachs for an overnight flight home. We had planned to get food at the airport, but that did not work out. After hours of wriggling in my seat every which way, I realised I was not going to get a second of sleep. Nauseous from hunger, I ate the only food I had - half a chocolate bar- and washed it down with 10 mg of Ambien in a panic. The effect was astounding. Not only did I sleep, but I cannot recall but small blurry snippets of when I was "awake". Kurt tells me I did get off the plane in Los Angeles, and back on another. Apparently I promptly lay across someone elses' chair and went back to sleep. The confused gentleman whose chair I was occupying walked back and forth contemplating his next move. Kurt pretended he did not know me and thought the guy might just sit somewhere else. I am afraid I have to tell you Kurt's version... because I simply do not have one. When we arrived in Dallas I woke up wondering if we were in LA!

I could not wait to see my babies, who showered me with the kind of stuff that Mother's Day is made of... cards and pictures, smiles and kisses... hugs and happiness. Then we all took a nap. That may have been the best mothers day ever;) Great to be home.

Taste BUGS!!

Julia - who says she isn't right?


A month or so ago I had warned the kids to wait for their food to cool so they didn't burn their taste buds. This led to a brief discussion on what and where taste buds are. Then, last week, when we got back from picking up our co-op organic produce (this makes me quite happy!), Julia noticed a number of bugs on the lettuce.



It warms my heart to find bugs on my lettuce. Growing up I really disliked washing bugs from lettuce... but then we moved to America and suddenly there were NO bugs on lettuce ... and I began to detest the fact that now I was eating lettuce spayed with chemicals etc. Lets just say I missed the bugs! Now I quite enjoy washing away the happy little bugs on organic produce. How things have changed!



Well, Julia's face lit up after studying the bug for a few seconds. It's a TASTE BUG! she exclaimed." I could feel her excitement.

"What is a tast bug doing on the lettuce?" I had to ask.

" It is trying to get in our mouths. It knows we are going to eat the lettuce!"

What a discovery.

"What is it going to do when it gets in our mouths?"

"Taste food, " she shrugged, "and maybe eat it"

September 15th 2004

Tonight I was going through some files on the computer and deleting those that were blatantly redundant when I came across this. I did not have a journal at the time and just typed it on the computer to remember.

Nostalgia

"There are some moments I would like to hold onto and recreate time and again. Days push past each other and the evasive pen escapes my hand. I attempt to crush these surreal, fleeting instances into my already overcrowded memory but know I will not fully recall the quality and depth that penetrated my soul if I do not record it.

Time has already dulled the elated feeling of being deeply understood and cared for that I felt on our 4th wedding anniversary last month. On the 11th of August I left for work feeling burdened by an untidy home, guilty for my shortfalls in housekeeping. In my mind I postponed our anniversary till the weekend, hoping we would have more success celebrating the thrill of being “us”. This anniversary came at an inopportune time. Kurt was writing an exam and I would be sleeping, and then going back to work.

I walked home on the quiet summer morning aware of my fragile emotions and dreading the walk through a lounge scattered with toys, clothes and miscellaneous clutter to get into bed.

I had left my keys at home and Kurt had phoned after midnight to wish me a happy anniversary and let me know he would leave the back door unlocked. As I stumbled inside, tears welled in my eyes at the sight before me: no clutter, no toys, no clothes. Despite the pressure of exams Kurt managed to give me the greatest gift that he could have that day.

As I walked towards bed I then saw a large bowl of fruit, a dozen red roses and yellow chrysanthemums. I do not know if I have ever been touched deeper by a gift. Kurt is simply everything I ever wished for and dreamed of. "

SNOW Days

Snowball fight preparations

Kurt was deserted in the duty of Snowman building while everyone else just had to play!

Snow Angels

Julia and Liam played outside for hours while Mila and neighbours were at school.

Wonderland back yard

I did not expect, on moving to Dallas, that I would experience my first genuine White Christmas. I did not expect much white anything, actually. We were quite delighted when it snowed just a month after we first arrived here .. and everyone seemed surprised .. like this was very rare! This year, however we have had rather a LOT of snow. Since sometime last week we have been threatened with more snow today. But it just never came and I see somehow it is now no longer expected. Must have found an alternate route. I must say I am relieved. Just 2 weeks ago we had 12 inches!! That was what I heard - it snowed for 2 days - but it was not very cold outside and there was a constant melting. The children (yes, Kurt included) made snowmen and had snowball fights. Julia and Liam played outside for hours and hours. They ate a LOT of snow and ended up with diarrheoa. I guess I should not have allowed that:( !

Mardi Gras and the Bucket List

Zulu parade - French Quarter

Smooks in Wonderland with Alice

Right at home with the Zulus

Parades in Metarie

Back at the hotel we tried to put on the necklaces that Mila had accumulated - got to heavy to stand up.

Liam and the singing, dancing bunny he was thrown.

Liam was entranced by the horses and desperately wanted to touch them ... so I took him up and we were kindly allowed. It was worth it for the excitement Liam displayed.

This was us looking for alligators on a "swamp walk" unfortunately we only saw what Kurt dubbed a swamp rat!


We took a drive (ok, we kicked the children out the car and let them walk for some exercise!) through a cemetry. It was very enjoyable and beautiful. The children were quite in awe ... and so were we!

Back at the parades... Mila collected as many beads as possible - Julia was more discerning, only accepting "little" beads!

An extra special Mardi Gras this year as New Orleans was also celebrating their Super Bowl victory. A lot of patriotic WHO DATS ... (this is apparently what they call themselves down there - what they lack in refinement they make up in character!) That is Peyton Manning on the front!

Liam refused to wear beads - although they were thrown at him constantly - he happily accepted this pair of glasses though ... and a bunny ... and a number of balls!

This Lady is dressed up as the Super Bowl Trophy!! Go WHO DATS!!

Kurt manipulated me into taking the kids on a 9 hour car trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. He told me it was on his bucket list ! How do you say "no" when someone says they want to do something on their buckt list? So we took Mila out of school ... and despite the fact that Julia and Liam both had diarrhoea... we set off for New Orleans. We seem to have a family tradition of sorts that every time we travel, the children make the journey extra special by coming down with something that induces vomiting or diarrhoea. You would think this would keep us pretty close to home. But unfortunately neither Kurt or I inherited those "stay close to home" genes. So we keep exploring - despite the fact that sometimes it makes the stomach queezy and the eyes droopy (with three kids along for the ride) - because that is what we do.

Is it always worth it? Absolutely.... after a few weeks!

Sunday Mornings

Church is in the afternoon now - at 1pm. This allows for a lazy morning and I embrace it. This morning I sent the children upstairs to play after breakfast. I was enjoying listening to their game, which eventually evolved into getting their stuffed toys ready for church. Julia was the "mother" and hurried everyone into the "car" saying "come- on we're going to be late!". Then their happy journey was brought to a grinding halt "uooh noooo!" Julia exclaimed "I have run into that person. The police are coming, quickly run, lets hide in the church!"

Last week the kids came downstairs dressed as ROBBERS: