Sunday, February 9, 2014

February 9 2014 Weekly Letter

Australia Sunday Feb 9, 2014      
Dear Family and Friends:
We have had a very busy and really good week.  Monday night was Family Home Evening with the Tanners doing Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner with rice and noodles and all the toppings and a green salad.  The Archibald’s had the dessert, brownies and ice cream.  It was all very yummy as usual.  Sister Archibald did the program with Elder Archibald showing some pictures.  After her first husband died she went on a mission with a friend to Rochester, New York where her Brother in Law and Sister were the mission president.  They worked in the office and she absolutely loved it.  The Sacred Grove was in the mission and the President often took the missionaries there for teaching moments, so she told some of them.  They also lived in the John Young home which she gave the history of.  It was so interesting and the pictures of the Grove and that area were beautiful.  Those pictures were taken after the Archibald’s were married and went back before her sister and husband were released.  She showed us a book “The Lion and the Lamb”.  I ordered it on Amazon Tues morning, it is one we really want to read.  We really enjoyed it.
Tuesday was a day in the office before going to the Temple.  The weather this week until Friday was cloudy and in the 75-85 degree range.  We need rain so bad but we didn’t get more than sprinkles.  The grounds crew have sprinklers on the lawn trying to keep it green.  Friday it cleared up and has been close to 90 every day since.  We are not complaining though.
Wednesday we went into the office for a couple of hours, answering email to Mark and Danny about the rework that is still listed on our computer.  Then we left for Rydelmere wharf to ride to the Quays and pick up Reggie and Mary Ann Petersen, their son Spencer and daughter Jessica Wilkinson, and Jordan, age 2 and Eva age 10 months, friends from Penrose.  We ate lunch at the wharf, fish and chips, then met them and got back on the river cat to come to Carlingford.  The Moore’s met us at the wharf and brought us up to the office.  We were able to show them what we do and introduce them to the Williams.  We had not had WiFi in the office so while they were there the IT guy came into the office so I could check it for him.  Thank goodness it was fixed.  There were several things on our work computer that we need WiFi for.  We then walked over to the Temple and took pictures.  Their plane had just come in from New Zealand at 10:30, they had dropped their luggage at the Hotel, and came to meet us so they were getting hungry.   We ran across the street, we were worried about the stroller but we made it fine.  They each had a Subway sandwich, and we had a cookie from Mrs. Fields and a drink.  We then ran back across the street and went to Buckland House and introduced them to the other missionaries and then the Moore’s helped us get them back to the wharf.  What a fun day!
Thursday night as we were getting ready for bed I noticed that the carpet in the bedroom under the air conditioner was wet, really wet.  The air conditioner had been leaking since we turned it on after work.  We sopped it up with a towel and put a bowl under it.  I emailed the manager on Friday and we were telling the Williams about it and he said he would come and look at it after work.  They have had a couple of leaks in theirs.  He came and pulled the hose under it and it seems to have fixed the problem thank goodness.  The carpet was finally dry when we got home today.  Now I can email the manager tomorrow and tell him it isn’t leaking anymore.
 Saturday morning we were at Rydelmere before 9 to go the Quays for the weekend.  We took a cab to the Hotel and called Reggie and they let us put our bags in their room as ours wasn’t ready.  We then all went outside and caught a hop on, hop off double decker bus in front of the Hotel, and we rode on top in the open.  We rode it to the Quays and got off to walk to the Opera House, took pictures and then went inside to the gift shop.  They got a few things and then we walked back to the bus stop and got on another bus.  We rode to Darling Harbour and got off about 4 blocks from Paddy’s markets.  They wanted some souvenirs of Australia and we told them that was the best place.  By then it was about 2, so we first went upstairs and had lunch.  We all had Chinese in the food court.  Then we went down to the markets and agreed to meet at the door we came in, in an hour.  It is so big you can’t keep track of everyone, and it was really crowded.  We picked up a couple of things and then met them and walked back to the bus stop to go to the Hotel for an hour.  We got into our room on the 16th floor with a view of the harbor.  Dad took some pictures.  We could see the bridge as well as lots of boats, it was beautiful.  We then met them in the lobby to get back on the bus to go to the entertainment center for the basketball game.  Jessica’s husband, Gary Wilkinson plays for the New Zealand Breakers, and they played the Sydney Kings. He was a star at Utah State.  It was fun to see a basketball game in person again, but it was the worst reffed game we have seen in a long time.  The refs were from Sydney, and you could really tell.  The breakers lost by 2 but it was a really close game.  We waited until Gary came out.  We met the owner of the team and their family.  Very nice people!  We then got cabs to go back to the hotel and Jessica went with Gary and the team to go out to dinner.  By the time we got back to our room it was 11 and we were tired, but it was such a fun day.  We watched some of the Olympics and then went to sleep.  We got up and got ready for Church.  We met them in the lobby at 9:30 and walked the 5 blocks to the Church.  We went to the Harbor Ward, that is a Single Adult Ward, but they always have visitors so we were not the only non single adults there.  There are 2 sets of Sr missionaries and 3 sets of Sisters, and 6 sets of Elders assigned to the Ward.  The Assistants to the President were also there today.  The program was the 5 Elders that are being transferred Tuesday, and 1 Sister that is going home.  She is from Layton but I didn’t get her name.  Mary Ann did so she is going to send it to me.  She is the one that told me she was from Layton as she went up to talk to her after.  I was visiting with the other Sister Missionaries that we know.  It was fun being there.  We had to leave right after Sacrament Meeting because the Petersen’s had to be to the airport at 1 to go back to New Zealand.  We got a cab and went back to the Quays to catch the rivercat back to Rydelmere.  I was kind of worried about leaving the car there all night but all was well when we returned.  We came home, unpacked and watched some of the Olympics before fixing dinner. 
We hope Tami had a good Birthday, we tried to call on Friday but we couldn’t get her.  Happy Birthday to Mylie, 6 years old on Tues.  A Happy 13th Birthday to Makenna on Sat. and Jessica on Sunday.  Of course they are all a day later for all of you.
Our Prayers and Love to each of you.

Mum and Dad  

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