Sunday, September 21, 2014

September 21 2014 Weekly Letter

Australia Sunday September 21, 2014
Dear Family and Friends,
Here it is after 9 and I am just starting the letter of the week.  We just got back from delivering carrot, pecan cookies with orange icing to the other couples.  I was in the mood to bake tonight for some reason.  Actually I found this recipe a couple of weeks ago and wanted to try it.  They are really good, and we came back from Killebrew’s with brownies. 
This week has been pretty quiet at work.  Dad went through the last 4 boxes on Monday to see what we have to finish them, and one of them only had about a ¼ full of cards, so now we are down to 3 ½ boxes and will finish one box this week so we will be down to 2 boxes.  Mark wants us to have that many left when Sister Rogers comes down the middle of October.  We do have 2 boxes of rework to do from the Canon Camera that we are just going to go ahead and do.  Danny is trying to get the rework cancelled but we have the time to just get it done.  Next weekend we go to Salt Ash to speak so we are going on Saturday and stop at Martin Harvey’s house up by The Entrance, about an hour away.  He does bone carving and is going to make me a necklace and Dad wants to see his equipment and how he does it.  Then we are going to have dinner with the Finch’s who are missionaries at Salt Ash.  The Smylie’s will also be there as they are helping with a Family History Fair on Saturday.  We are going to leave after Church on Sunday and go see farm ground up in that area.  We told Mark we will be gone 2-3 days and he said fine.  We have to be back that Wednesday night as we have a dinner.
On Tuesday we were watching the grounds guy taking cones out on the grass so we knew the Plovers had put a nest in the grass right outside our window.  As he was putting the 2nd cone on the ground the daddy plover started dive bombing him so he was running away and finally just dropped the 3rd cone and ran.  He was waving his hat and the bird was still diving at him.  We thought it was pretty funny but he didn’t.  We went out to get a picture and he said don’t go too close.  It will be fun to watch them so close to our building.
We found out this week that the Killebrew’s are moving into our flat when we leave in November.  They are on the ground floor and have wanted to get away from the front door, etc.  Our flat is also larger than the one they are in, and we have a bath tub and they only have a shower.  They will have a lot of fun next to the Moore’s also.
Friday night the Barr’s had organized a bush walk at the Bidjigal Reserve, about 15 min from here.  It is home to 370 native plants, and over 140 native animals.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it but Dad went with the Barr’s, Feil’s, Smith’s, Moore’s, Archibald’s, Nolan’s and Sister Howes.  The Smith’s had pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad at their office before everyone left.  The Killebrew’s and myself stayed and cleaned everything up and then they brought me home.  The walk was a couple of hours and they had to take a torch (flashlight).  They only saw a frog and a ring tailed possum.  Dad said it was fun.
Saturday morning we went to Windsor and got some more Golliwogs.  The Killebrew’s went and got some, and so did Sister Archibald so I knew there would not be many left.  The shop keeper said she was trying to get a hold of the lady that makes them to order more.  She thanked us for sending the other missionaries in and gave me a pair of snowmen earrings, and Dad some cuff links she makes.  They were each $20.  That was nice of her.  After we left Windsor we drove towards Wiseman’s Ferry so we could find a little farm Dad had seen.  We drove in the driveway and Dad got out and talked to the farmer, a young Chinese man.  He raises Chinese vegetables and sells them at the Sydney Markets.  He sprinkles all the ground.  We then left and went to the Blacktown Sports Club to meet a couple of ladies from our ward that wanted to take us to lunch before we go home.  They are both widows and both in their mid 80’s.  We had a lot of fun eating and visiting.  We then came home and changed clothes to go to the Sydney Opera House for the production of “The King and I”.  We rode down with the Smith’s and met the others, Archibald’s, Killebrew’s, Moore’s, Feil’s, Nolan’s, and Dick’s at a restaurant at Darling Harbor and had a really good dinner, then we all got taxi’s over to the Opera House so we wouldn’t be late for it to start.  The restaurant was really slow, the original plan was to take the ferry over to the Quay’s and then walk, but we didn’t have time.  The theatre was absolutely stunningly beautiful.  There are 4 theatres in the Opera House.  The play was magnificent, we enjoyed every minute of it and it could have gone on another few hours.  We all kept saying on the way out we couldn’t believe we were really there.  We are so glad we had this opportunity and it was well worth the money spent.
We got to bed just after midnight, and our phone rang at just after 6, the Smith’s telling us that they had the BYU game on their neighbor’s TV.  They are taking care of the house and and dog sitting while they are on holiday, and the owner said to watch anything they wanted.  He has foxtail that allows him to get ESPN.  First game we have seen in 2 seasons so we all really enjoyed it.  The Feil’s came over and watched the 4th quarter.  It was a great game.  We are hoping we can watch the BYU-Utah State game.  That will be a little later as it starts at 8:30 in Utah.
The Archibald’s came down a little while ago and brought me a Kangaroo Nativity Set they had found down in Sydney and she bought it for me.  It is really cute!  She told me they have a Koala Bear one also, so now we are planning another trip down in a couple of weeks.  She wants to go back also.
It is after 10 so we need to get into bed.  Have a good week and we will talk to you tomorrow.
All our Love,
Mum and Dad




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