Grace's Graduation Ceremony

Grace graduated from pre-school this week.

Aviary visit

We visited an avairy in Salt Lake City with lovely friends Amakasus and Howells. It was great fun.

Lunch with Prime Minister Howard

Laura and Rich were invited to a lunch with (former Australian) Prime Minister John Howard. He was a delight. Great conversationalist and funny, too. He talked to Laura and Rich about cricket, one of his passions. Mr Howard was in Utah to speak at an economic conference. While here, he saw some of the Church's historical and other sites.

Mark and Tera Mabry

Rich had lunch with Mark and Tera Mabry last week. Mark is a photographer from Mesa Arizona who has done a series called 'Reflections of Christ'. To see a slideshow of the photos, go here. The videos featuring Mark describing the process for some of the shots are also very good. You can see them at Mark's Web site.

Jane's Party

Jane had her third birthday party on Friday night (a week before her actual birthday). We had the Amakasus and Rupps over and had a fantastic evening. Tag, pass-the-parcel, fabulous food, American accent lessons, and a Dora cake. What else do you need for instant fun?

Salt Lake Cemetery

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Salt Lake cemetery to visit some of the grave-sites of LDS leaders, including Gordon B. and Marjorie Hinckley and David O. McKay. We put some flowers on their graves. It was a lovely evening.

Web 2.0 Kids

The children love visiting Polly Pocket, Barbie, Bionicle, Lego Star Wars II and some other online worlds.

Boondocks

Charlie and Rich went to Boondocks recently. They played mini-golf, water bumpa-boats and laser tag. Fun.

Such a Doll

One day Grace gave Rich a little dress and asked him to put it on Josie. Being male, he did so. When Laura came home, she shrieked, "That's the doll's dress!" Laura's nanna made the doll and the dress about thirty years ago.

Sisters

Father and Son Camp-Out

Last week Charlie and Rich went camping with a bunch of other fathers and sons from the Draper Stake. We stayed at Jordan Pines, which is nine miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon, only half an hour from home. It was pretty gorgeous up there and a little chilly overnight. They bunked in with Mark, Peter and Owen Amakasu. In the photo Rich is cooking sausages and steak for dinner. As they were later than a lot of others in arriving Friday night, everyone else had eaten, so when they were cooking they had to compete with little boys playing with the fire.

Whale Expert

An interview with Draper's number one whale expert.

Snacking at Intermission

We just got home from Gracie's performance in Beauty and the Beast. She played a bluebird. Here, the other kids are eating sultanas during intermission (in keeping with the old ballet custom). Grace had a wonderful time.

Patience

I often think that I am married to the most patient person on the face of the earth, and here's proof.

Ballet Heaven

Gracie is gearing up for her performance as a bluebird in Beauty and the Beast. This is her first ever tutu, and she is in Ballet bliss! Notice the curls! When Grace's ballet teacher anounced that they must wear their hair "curly, half up, half down," a cold chill swept over me, and I had to sit down. All my life I have considered the use of hair curlers akin to singing in public. To be avoided!! Thankfully, I have a very kind friend, Chantal, who came over and gave me a tutorial in curling hair.
Yesterday Grace had her "official" photos taken, and I was grouchy all day, I was so nervous about that hair! It turned out pretty well in the end, I guess, and Grace was so happy with it.
I love the close-up photo here. Looking into her eyes, I see my sister, Alice. Ah, how I miss her!

Sunny Sunday

Today was stake conference (a meeting held every six months with all the congregations in our stake - similar to a diocese) and we were ready in time to take a few snaps before we left home. Opportunities when we are all wearing clean, Sunday-best clothes and none of us have vegemite or sauce on our faces (Rich is the worst in this regard) need to be taken advantage of.

Pool Day

The weather is warming up and we are spending more time outdoors. Lovely.

Josie's Favourite Hat

Europe 2008

Two weeks ago Rich went to Europe for work. He also managed to see some interesting things/people, including:

• His nephew Quintal in front of Big Ben (had a nice visit)


• A Berlin motorcyclist with fluffy bunny ears stuck on his helmet


• London nachos served with fries (chips) on top

Fun Videos

Here are some of our favourite videos at the moment:

Dog steals food

Two people get stuck on escalator

Interpreter

Our kind of Maths

Sandwich stealer