August 24 2014 Weekly Letter

Australia Sunday August 24, 2014             

Dear Family and Friends,      

What a wonderful, full week.  No wonder it went by so fast.  I will tell you about the weather first.  It rained most of the day Monday and Monday night it poured rain, and it sounded like hail hitting the bedroom window it was so hard.  The forecast was for 90% rain for 7 – 14 days.  It had let up a little when we left for Agquip around 7 Tues morning and then just sprinkled throughout the day.  Wednesday was cloudy but no rain, a little rain Friday, and a little Sat but mostly cloudy.  A little today but mostly sunny.  I guess we will see what this week brings.  Everything is really green now.  We needed the rain so much and need more.  One of the cards this week was a cute name, she died the 27 May 1917 at 4 months and her name is Loo Loo Irene Bell.

Monday the Smylies left around 10 to take Kailee to the airport to go the Fiji.  She was very excited.  Mark is having the records preservation couple show her around until Friday. 

We were going to leave for Agquip around 6 to beat the traffic but it was raining so hard we decided to wait until 7.  We had just light rain until almost an hour into the trip when we just got poured on.  We were thinking we were really going to be in mud all day at the show.   Then we just had light rain all the way there.  We got to Gunadaugh about 11 and found where the show was outside of town.  It was huge, about 80 acres of just equipment and tents and food booths.  There was no cost so we just walked in and started walking around.  They had the biggest equipment we have ever seen.  Dad got tons of pictures.  We found the Case IH tent and went inside and Dad talked to a couple of salesman.  All of the tractors and equipment are made in the United States and the smaller tractors in England.  I walked around the tent and looked at all the things they had to buy.  I got a couple of shirts with a big tractor on it with the Australian Flag.  They are pretty cool looking and they only charged me $5.00 a piece.  She said they want to get rid of everything so they don’t have to pack it back up.  The other lady said she would have charged me $13.00 each.  They gave me some freebies, including a couple of rain poncho’s with CaseIH on them and when we got outside it was raining a little so we opened them up and put them on.  We walked around until about 1 and then found a food booth with pulled pork sandwiches so we each got one.  I sat on a bench while Dad walked around for about an hour, then he came back and got me and we went to a large tent at the other side of the show that had clothes, jewelry and other western things in it.  It was fun to see all the things they were selling.  We started making our way back to the car past isles we hadn’t seen yet.  It started raining lightly again so we went inside a tent that had planters, so Dad talked to the salesman about onion planters for about 10 minutes and then the rain was over.  We continued walking and bought a magnum ice cream bar.  We made it back to the car around 4:30 and decided to go find our motel, it was about an hour away which was the closest I could get 3 weeks ago.  It was in a town called Coonabarabran, and it was called the Warrumbungles Mountain Motel.  We didn’t eat any dinner because we were too tired to drive the half hour back into town, but we were fine.   It was in the Warrumbungles National Forest and it was a beautiful drive.  It was pretty cool by the time we got there and when we got up in the morning it was 46 degrees.  On Tuesday the temp was in the high 50’s but we were comfortable with a sweatshirt and jacket.  I had my CaseIH sweatshirt on, they call them jumpers here, and the salesman said they are bringing shirts and jumpers with the farmall tractor on them again.  You can tell how old mine is.  Wednesday the sun was shining all day and it was just beautiful and in the high 50’s.  We left the motel around 8 and drove into town to get gasoline, and found a little café on the main street of this cute, quaint town.  We went in and ordered the special breakfast which was eggs, bacon, sausages with baked beans and grilled tomatoes.  It was sooo good, and we didn’t have to stop anywhere for lunch on the way home.  We decided to take our time coming home so we went through all the little towns, and lots of beautiful farm ground.  There were several fields of bright yellow flowers, and we found out it was canola.  They looked beautiful against the green pastures around them.  We saw lots of sheep and they all had been sheared and had new babies.  We saw lots of cows but they haven’t started calving yet.  We drove down several lanes to see the houses and get pictures of the typical farmhouses over here.  We stopped in a couple of towns to walk around and went in one country store, they sold hardware, feed, fertilizer, groceries, fresh fruit and veggies, ice cream and had a little meat shop.  They had some very quaint looking buildings in these little towns.  We got lots of pictures of course, and took the time to stop and take pictures.  It was such a fun trip.  We finally got on the freeway and got home about 5.  Mark told us to take 3 days but we need to get back to work.   We are on a deadline to get the cards done by the end of October.

When Elder Smylie came in on Thursday, he told us that Sister Smylie had been sick since we had left with the terrible cough, headache and chills that she had the week before.  She still didn’t come in on Thursday and when he went home for lunch he said she was still asleep and didn’t want to eat anything.  We had to go to the store after work, so I decided we would get the things to make a chicken soup and take to them.  As we were leaving the office Elder Killebrew called to say that Sister Smith hurt her back at the gym on Tues and was flat down so would we take dinner to them.  I said sure so when we got to the store I called Elder Smith to tell him we were bringing dinner but he said he went home early and had just fixed something.  We came home and put the soup together and took it up along with some rolls.  Elder Smylie was very grateful and said she was still asleep.  It was pretty good soup, chicken and brown rice, onions, carrots, celery and very easy to make.  She came to work on Friday and said she was feeling better, she had slept about 35 hours.  She is still coughing though.  They left around noon to go get Kailee at the airport and it rained the entire time they were gone.

Saturday morning we cleaned the flat, and packed and left for Ulldulla to speak today.  It is a little over a 3 hour drive and we decided to go through small towns on the coast that we hadn’t seen before.  A little after noon we stopped at a little bakery in Port Kambia and had a fresh meat pie and a slice of cheesecake.  They had signs in the windows that they were the best bakery for 3 years in a row, and it was really good food,  He sold lots of cakes and cheesecakes while we were eating, and most of the orders were for over $75.00.  In a lot of the towns we stopped to watch the surfers and pick up shells.  The surf was pretty high so it was fun to watch them ride the waves.   We then headed out and went over the Cliff Bridge and got to Ulladulla around 3 and checked into the motel.  We then drove and found the lighthouse and took pictures, then Dad walked down to the beach, I didn’t even try it as it was a really steep climb.  We then drove to the harbor and there was a little beach that was pretty rocky and Dad found an entire quart size bag full of shells.  They were really pretty and all sizes.  We decided not too many people come to this beach as it isn’t good for swimming or anything.  At dark we went and found a fish and chips place and got an order to go as it was getting a little chilly to eat outside.  We took it back to our room. 

This morning we left for Church about 9 for the 9:30 start.  It was just down the road at the Civic Center.  They rent a room in it.  There were 11 members there plus the 2 of us and 2 Elders.  They have 1 13yr old boy and that is the only youth.  The missionary from the Philippines played the piano, and the other one from Springville took care of the Sacrament.  What great people!!  They have Sacrament Meeting, and they are so excited when other people come and speak.  Then they have Sunday School, and then they had a luncheon for us at a members home that lives in town.  The Branch President and a couple of others live a half hour away or more.  It was a wonderful lunch with casseroles, creamed potatoes, meatballs, sausages, salad, relish tray, fruit, rolls, bread, drinks, and 4 different kinds of desserts and ice cream.  It was so fun being there and visiting.  We left around 1:30 and went through the rain forest and Kangaroo Valley.  This is the last time we will be going down South so we wanted to see that area one more time.  It is so pretty.  We have so many wonderful memories to bring home of the lovely Saints we meet in these small branches, and the beautiful country this is.

It is almost 10 so we had better close and get ready for bed, 6 comes very early in the morning.

A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Camryn on the 26^th and Amanda on the 27^th.  Amanda will be celebrating in Yuma with Kaylee and Ezra. 

We Love you All and Pray for you!

Mum and Dad

                                      Pretty big equipment at the Agquip show in Gunnadah!

                                           All of the above pictures are our trip to Ulladulla

August 17 2014 Weekly Letter

Australia Sunday August 17, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Birthday today to Danna!

It is 10:30pm so this will be a short letter.  We just finished making a potato salad for a dinner tomorrow night at the Allen’s.  Good thing I made the dressing and cooked the potatoes and eggs this morning.

We got to the office on Monday and Mark was sick and out until Wednesday, and then Elder Smylie came in and said Sister Smylie was sick, and she has been out all week except Wednesday, when she came in and coughed all day.  She should have stayed down.  I called yesterday and she is feeling better thank goodness.  Monday night was Family Home Evening, I conducted and the Killebrew’s fixed a really good chicken casserole with a spinach salad, and the Smith’s had chocolate lasagna for dessert.  It was yummy.  The Smith’s had us sit in a circle and take a piece of paper and read it and comment on it.  They were things like” what is something that you are afraid of and how have you conquered it, and how the 10-10-80 rule affects your finance’s, etc.”  It was really interesting.  Monday night and part of the day Tuesday it rained, the rest of the days have been cool but really nice.

Friday night we hadn’t been home from work long when Rashika, and Dave came to our door bearing gifts from Sri Lanka.  Dave had just come in Thursday night, and they gave Dad a shirt, and me a skirt, tunic and beads.  They are all hand woven cotton and are beautiful.

Kailee is leaving tomorrow for Fiji, she is going to visit some Family History Centers and give a couple of talks on Family History.  She is really excited, and will be back Friday afternoon.

Yesterday we decided to go to the Quays and do some shopping for us.  It is supposed to rain all week starting at noon yesterday.  We rode the river cat down and walked up to the rocks and we went in a store we had been in before and Dad bought a Didgeridoo.  He has wanted one since we got here and we decided if we are going to get one it will be one made by the Aboriginies here in Australia.  The store is mailing it home and it should be delivered to Tina’s on Thur or Fri. It had rained really hard while we were in the store.   We had fish and chips and got back on the ferry at noon as it was still looking very much like rain.  We went to the store and then came home.  We went over to the Moore’s and watched a dvd to see if we can use it for Family Home Evening in Oct.  It is about a ship wreck from Australia to the U S and is the only time loss of life of Mormon Immigrants because of a wreck.  A great book called “Divine Providence, the wreck of the Julia Ann.”

Today we went to the Oatlands Ward to be with Rashika, Dave and Devmini.  It was good to see the members again.  It is still a very small ward.  After Church we were invited to the missionary discussion at Rashika’s at 5:30.  We got home at 4:30, we had invited Kailee to come with us to eat, so we hurried and ate and went to their flat.  They live in A building so we have to take our elevator to -1 and then go to another elevator to go to their floor.  Dave had a lot of questions and the missionaries answered them perfectly.  He had never heard of the pre-existence until at Sunday School and so he said this is a very new way of thinking, but it does make sense.  After the discussion Rashika made Hoppers, a little crepe like dish with an egg cooked in the bottom, then she had lots of toppings to put on it, then you take another little shell and eat it with that.  Then she gave us one that had coconut milk and sugar cooked on it.  Then she brought out a baked Alaska that she had made, she even made the ice cream, 3 flavors.  Oh, it was so good.  The Elders left and then Dave got his guitar out and played to California Girl.  He loves the Beetles!  We were all singing and dancing, and we even got Devmini up to dance.  They told us that Devmini means “God’s Gem”.  She will be 14 in Oct and would love to have some pen pals, Lydia or Makenna?  I will send you her email address.

We are leaving Tuesday for Agquip, a big Agriculture Show that Mark wants us to see.  He always went to it when he was a boy.  It is about a 5-6 hr drive.  We think it is like the one in Tulare, California.  It will be good to get away, and then next weekend we go to Ulladulla to speak.

A little trivia for you, On the 13 of August 1982 the Sydney Temple ground breaking took place, 32 years ago.  Elder Bruch R McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve presided and offered the dedicatory prayer over the site and turned the first sod of soil.

It is after 11 so we are going to say Good Night!

We Love you all,

Mum and Dad

August 10 2014 Weekly Letter

Australia Sunday Aug 10, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been much quieter and we got a lot done at the office.  We have been on a difficult box since Wednesday and we still managed to send in 18,500 images on Friday.  This is the first Friday Patrick hasn’t been here to send the shuttle in the pouch, so Dad took it down at 2:00 like we are supposed to, and then went back down at 3:30 to make sure it was in the pouch, and Pauline said it couldn’t go because only documents can go in the pouch.  She tried to call Patrick but he didn’t answer, so they went upstairs and got Paul.  He finally convinced her that we were sending documents, just in a different format.  Good thing he went back down or it wouldn’t have gone this week.  We don’t want any more lost shuttles. 

On Tuesday we had a Devotional that was streamed in from New Zealand announcing the new 2^nd counselor on the Area Presidency, Gifford Nielsen, former quarterback of BYU and the Houston Oilers.  His wife spoke first and she introduced them and their family.  The two of them met in the 6^th grade and went through school together, but didn’t start dating until their Jr. year at Provo High.  They have 6 children and expecting their 20^th grandchild is due in 3 weeks.  They raised their family in the Houston area.  She said they are so excited to be serving in the Pacific area, and said she hasn’t stopped smiling since President Eyring ask them to come here.  She quoted her favorite scripture found in Jacob 2: 17-18 “Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.  But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.”  Elder Nielsen told of an experience he had recently with the Quorum of the Twelve where President Packer said that 80% of what he is today is because of the women in his life, Elder Oaks said he thought his was 90% and Elder Nielsen said his was 95% and thankful for Eternal Families.  He was the youngest of 5, with 4 older sisters.  His Father played basketball at the Y and was very happy to finally get a boy.  He played all ball when he was young but especially loved football.  He told of his first pro game, preseason against the world champion Dallas Cowboys.  The coach put him in for the whole game to see if he had what it takes to play pro.  He said he was scared to death and when he went up to the line of scrimmage he looked across the line to see Harvey Martin, Randy White, and Ed “too tall” Jones and they looked like they wanted going to kill him.  The first play wasn’t pretty and he really got hit.  When he finally stood up he wanted to quit, but then he said his life changed as he remembered the lessons from his father, and his priesthood leaders about taking the next step to a higher level of doing hard things, and not to fear the next level.  He decided yes he could and walked back to the huddle and played the entire game, and they won.  He said he also remembered that the Lord is in charge of all things we do.  He expressed gratitude of being able to serve the Pacific Area which is 9,000 miles East to West, and 5,000 miles North to South.  As he was deciding what to talk about he opened the scriptures in the Temple Saturday morning and turned to D&C 58:27 “Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;    28, For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves.  And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.”  He concluded his talk by telling why he asked to have the opening hymn be #85, How Firm A Foundation, verses 1-3 and 7.

“How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!  What more can he say than to you he hath said, Who unto the Savior, Who unto the Savior, Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?  In poverty’s vale or abounding in wealth, At home or abroad, on the land or the sea--- As thy days may demand, as thy day may demand, As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.   Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed, For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.  I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous, Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.  The soul, that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes; That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!

He said that was the song the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve sang in a meeting he was in and he just loved verse 7, and it has been a favorite ever since.  We really enjoyed the meeting.  After the Devotional Dad took pictures of the all the staff and missionaries to be sent to the area presidency.  We didn’t know the missionaries were going to be in it, so Dad isn’t in it.  They turned out really good.

Thursday was National Root Beer Float Day so we decided to make some for the missionaries in our building if we could get root beer in the vending machine at Buckland House.  No grocery stores carry it over here, it just is not a favorite.  We bought all 4 cans that they keep in there.  Most drinks are either $1.00 or $1.20, and the A&W root beer is $3.00 a can.  It was fun to take them around.  When we got there at Buckland House Sister Archibald had just walked in with warm cinnamon rolls for the employees, so she gave us each one.  They were yummy!

This week we got some very cute pictures from Amberlie of the kids, and look good on our board in the office.  We also got a letter from Ann and Dan, and we are so thankful Lon is doing much better.  It is always good to hear from home.

The Smylie’s left Tuesday morning for Melbourne and came back Thursday night so it was pretty quiet in the office.  Mark was also gone those 3 days.

Yesterday we decided to ride the river cat down to Sydney and go to the Maritime Museum.  We got to the Rydlemere station and as we got out of the car, the Kilebrew’s pulled up beside us.  They were also going down.   We thought we were in time for the 8:55 ferry but it didn’t come, so we sat and visited for about 10 minutes when another couple came and pushed a button on the stand and a recording said there was no ferry service on Saturday and Sunday.  Good thing they came.  We had no idea there was a button there.  We decided we would bring their car back to the garage and we would take them to Wiseman’s Ferry as they have never been.  As we got out of our cars, the Moore’s got out of the elevator, and they were going to the river cat also.  We told them we were going the Wiseman’s and they have never been there, so Elder Kilebrew said he would take the van, so we cleaned out the back and put everything in their storage unit, and put up the back seats.  We took them along the Old Northern Road that the convicts built, stopped at the lookout, and then went on one ferry and drove over to St Albans and showed them the inn, and the antique tractor.  Then we drove to Wiseman’s the back way, and stopped and petted the camel.  We got some great pictures.  We then rode the ferry over to get a hamburger and it was so good!  We then drove to Ebenezer Church going on our 3^rd ferry for the day.  We were so excited when we got there as the Church was open so we could go in and see it, and also the little store in the schoolmaster’s house.  They had a little booklet about the history of the Church, we knew it is the oldest church in Australia, and is still in use today.   It was built by 15 pioneer families in 1809.  The schoolmaster’s house was built in 1817.  The Church was first a non-conformist, then the first Presbyterian in Australia, and today is the Uniting Church.  It was also a pioneer in education in the colony, beginning a school in 1810-1886.  There is also a lot of history about the graves. We then came home, making a stop at a Hungary Jack’s to get a frozen coke and frozen raspberry and ice cream cones.  We put the ice cream in the drinks and made our own floats, it is cheaper that way.  It was such a fun day.

Today after Church we went with the Kilebrew’s over to the top of the Carlingford Parking Terrace to watch the Supermoon rise.  This is when the moon is both full and closest to earth during its orbit.  The real beauty of the supermoon is that they are much brighter than a normal moon.  We watched it come up, and then it went in the clouds, we are supposed to get rain the rest of the week starting tonight.  Dad is hoping he can see it around 6 in the morning if it isn’t cloudy.

Happy Birthday Michelle on Friday, we know your family will spoil you.

We are looking forward to being in on Rowan’s blessing tomorrow at Deven and Michelle’s.  That will be fun.

We love you all!!

Mum and Dad

                                              Looking down the canyon from Fitzroy Falls

                                                                   Kangaroo Valley

                                                                    Lookout above Nowra

                                                           Sunrise at Narooma

August 3 2014 Weekly Letter

Australia Sunday Aug 3, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

What a very busy week we have had, no wonder the time is going by so fast.  We had a box of cards that were very hard to do, they were glued on newspaper articles, taped on articles, and a lot of them on both sides.  They were hard to stack, and Dad had to straighten every card before we could copy them.  We finally finished one box on Friday and started on another easy one so we are hoping to have it done by Tuesday. The ones we finished were deaths, marriages and births.  On the back of one of the cards was a poem we got a chuckle over.

Record Keeping
Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
Had a wife and couldn’t keep her,
He kept her in his Family tree,
Forever young, forever free,
To roam around its pages thru out Eternity.

Monday we got to the office around 10:30 after leaving where we stayed overnight.  We were able to talk to some of the kids, it was too late to get Loren on.  This week hopefully we will get more of you.  The Bed and Breakfast we stayed at, she had a lovely breakfast.  There were strawberries, banana’s, yogurt, granola and milk.  Then she brought us bacon and eggs and orange juice.  It was so good.

Monday night was Family Home Evening and the Archibald’s had dinner and the Allen’s had dessert and they had Rashika cook for them.  She is the lady from Sri Lanka that the missionaries are teaching her and her daughter Devmini.  She was a chef for Marriott’s Hotel in Sri Lanka. To start the meal we had a little cup of strawberry sorbet, then basil tomato soup.  She cooked marinated pork, seasoned rice, potato curry.  For dessert she had made a carrot cake and also a chocolate cake for Sister Moore’s birthday.  It was all so good.  For the lesson the Allen’s did a lesson on marriage.  We first watched a You Tube video “Tale of two brains.”  If you get a chance watch it, it is hilarious.  They then passed out a sheet with marriage questions with 10 questions on the paper and we were to pick one and take 2 minutes to tell about it.  They had the men on one side of the room and the women on the other.  It was great fun, anything from first date, first impression, first kiss, favorite vacation, etc.  We had a lot of laughs over some of the answers.  We all cleaned up and were home around 8:30.

Tuesday morning Kailee helped us move the full boxes back to the warehouse and brought all 11 boxes we have left to our office.  It was Patrick’s last week so we thought we should get them all up.  Now we need to get a couple of boxes done a week.

Wednesday we had a sausage sizzle at noon for the retirement party for Malcolm, Patrick and LeeAnn.  Malcolm and Patrick’s wives came and we were able to have it in the courtyard al the weather turned out warm and no wind.  We had sausages, buns, sautéed onions, coleslaw, orange cake, chocolate cake, carrot cake, apple fritters, and ice cream.  They had a little program to honor the three of them, altogether they have put in 40 years to Church employment.  We are really going to miss them.  Malcolm and Helen are moving just an hour and a half away, so we plan on going up to see them in Sep and we are scheduled to go talk there in October.  Dad framed a picture of the Temple he took for each of them, and they thanked him and seemed to really like it.

Wednesday night  when we got home from work we took a picture of the Temple for Rashika over to the Moore’s as we don’t know which building she lives in.  They said she was coming down in a few minutes so they knocked on our door when she got there.  We went over and she had made us some dumplings with shrimp, broccoli, spinach, and a sweet chili sauce, and chocolate mousse with cream and strawberry.  It was all so good, especially the mousse!!  We told her she is spoiling us.  She absolutely loved the picture.  She loves the Temple.

Thursday night Mark and Melinda Kelly had invited us for dinner.  We took Kailee with us as the Smylie’s wanted to drive themselves.  Their son Jake was there and Melinda had made chicken and rice, and a peach crumble with custard for dessert.  We had a lot of fun visiting after and didn’t get home until 9:30. 

Friday night we went to the Smith’s for dinner so Dad could give them the lesson on the Mormon Battalion.  They couldn’t be to FHE when he gave it and really wanted to hear about it.  They both had ancestors in the battalion.  We had taken the books so they kept them so they could read them.  It was a fun night.

The weather this week has really been a week of opposites.  Monday and Tues were cold with wind.  Wednesday and Thursday were warm, in the 70’s and broke records for the warmest winter day in 25 years.  Then Friday and Saturday the wind came back and the high was in the 50’s.  Today we didn’t have wind and it was 62 when we left Church. 

Tonight we were invited over to the Moore’s for Rashika’s and Devmini’s missionary discussion.  The Elders are from the South Mission because we live in that mission.  One is from Lehi, and the other is Elder Barlow from Salt Lake.  Dad told him we are probably cousins.  It was fun being there, they both want to be baptized, but are waiting for Dave, the husband and papa to get back on the 14^th.  He travels for 6 weeks for work, and then comes home for 2 weeks.  He is reading the Book of Mormon but they don’t want to talk to him about it when he calls.  They want to talk to him in person.  They love going to Church in the Oatlands Ward.  We told them we went there for about 6 months and loved that Ward.

The Archibald’s brought a treat just before we left for the Moore’s, a type of cinnamon roll without yeast, more cake like, with a lot of cinnamon and walnuts.  She saw it on a cooking show this afternoon and said she just had to make it, and had all the ingredients.  She had cream on it and it was yummy!  Then we had ice cream and cookies at the Moore’s.  Any wonder why we can’t loose weight?  We love living here.  It is a good thing I don’t get in the mood to bake too often.

Yesterday morning after cleaning, we decided to go for a ride, we didn’t want to walk to far as it was cold and windy again.  We went up to the Blue Mountains and before we got to Leura, we turned off to go to the town Hawkesbury Heights, and went to the Hawkesbury Lookout.  What a magnificent view.  We could see clear to Sydney at least 40 miles away.  While we were there a couple of guys on bikes came up, we had passed them on the highway.  They were father and son and he asked me where we were from and said his oldest son is working in Boston.  I told him we had been there.  He said his son that was with him is the State rowing champion for under 16 years of age.  He is 15.  He asked what we were doing here and how many places we had been to in our travels.  When we told him he said “Good on You”.  We took their pictures.  They usually bike about 100 kilometers in a trip.  We then went down into the valley and over to Camden for lunch and a little café on the street.  Dad had a BLT sandwich with fries, and I had a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw.  We really enjoyed them.  We found another yard sale in a park and walked around.  We didn’t buy anything, I keep reminding myself anything we buy we have to get home.  As we were driving around looking at the agriculture ground in that area we saw a sign for the Burragorrang Lookout and so we turned to find it.  We never saw another sign but finally came to it at a dead end road.  It was beautiful, overlooking the dam that supplies the water to all of Sydney.  There was also a big monument to remember the coal mines that were in the region.  We then headed back home as we didn’t want to get home after dark.  We went to the grocery store for a few things and then came home.  Another great day of making memories and getting some great pictures of this beautiful land.

A thought to close is a Hymn I think of often and hope all of you are following the words each day in your lives.

Did You Think To Pray?
Ere you left your room this morning, Did you think to pray?
In the name of Christ, our savior, Did you sue for loving favor  As a shield today?
When your hear was filled with anger, Did you think to pray?
Did you plead for grace, my brother, that you might forgive another Who had crossed your way?
When sore trials came upon you, Did you think to pray?
Did you plead for grace, my brother, When your soul was full of sorrow,
Balm of Gilead did you borrow at the gates of day?
Oh, how praying rests the weary!  Prayer will change the night to day,  So, when life gets dark and dreary, Don’t forget to Pray. 

We Love you All!

Mum and Dad