Lots of Lights

Andrew spent the rest of our Thanksgiving break precariously perched in our aspen tree wrapping every branch with yellow lights. I did my best with the red lights in the cherry tree, but in the end decided it was easier to saw off half of the branches and let Andrew finish the rest! Still, we managed to hang about 4,500 lights. And would you believe it, we're the slackers of the neighborhood! Three doors up is a musical light show that rivals the best that Disneyland has to offer! Our neighbors, the Pattersons, have over 10,000 lights synchronized to music. It's amazing - we'll try to post a video of it before the season is over.

Lunch with Dad

Even though Andrew can't come home for lunch every day like he used to, we still manage to meet him down at BYU for lunch once in a while. We had a great Thanksgiving, and I would have had lots of fun photos, if I had remembered to put the battery in my camera before we left! We went down to St. George for a couple of days to visit some friends and family. We had Thanksgiving dinner with my uncle and aunt, Erick and Benja. It was perfect; my cousin PJ cooked all the food, we took it over to their restaurant, and then left all of the dishes for their staff to do in the morning! All I had to make was a salad. We had a fantastic time, until Hana threw up all over the table. It wasn't anything to do with the cooking...I think Hana just had a touch of the stomach flu.

Banjo Patterson's Cottage

Today we went to Banjo Patterson's Cottage, which is where Banjo spent some of his life. It is now a very nice restaurant and we had a lovely lunch there. We were celebrating James' mum and dad's 60th birthdays. The restaurant is at Gladesville and backs onto a cove of Sydney Harbour.

Damian chills in a chair in the garden. There were a few gandparents that were quite nervous about this picture.







It was nice for James and I to go to a restaurant, it was the first time we had been out to a restaurant since Damian was born.

This is the cottage from the outside, it is a gorgeous place. It is surrounded by some pretty parkland.

Fall has fallen

After near summer weather yesterday, we woke up to a hard frost this morning. I guess winter is really on its way. Hana has a friend over, whom we call "the other Hannah." They're having a great time right now playing ring-around-the-rosies. The funny thing is, when I say "Hana - be nice!" they both stop and look at me. Lane has backed herself in a corner and is yelling at them. I think she feels left out. Hana and Hannah are having a shopping cart race in the basement. Well, my Hana just wacked the other Hannah with a board....We're good, no blood.

Hana has been exercising with Andrew every morning, and now she comes to get me out of bed so that we can "play that yoga game." She's a dedicated exercise partner and is very dissapointed whenever I take a break. We have a busy day ahead of us; I have a meeting on campus and then we are meeting some friends for dinner. So Hana's has been up and dressed since 8:00 this morning. I was researching for my vlog on RootsTV last night, and we watched some Highland dance videos together. She must think her new skirt looks like one of the kilts, because it's now her "bagpipe dress."

I hate spiders

I really hate spiders. Which is why it was a huge mistake to marry an Australian. Not because he's afraid of spiders too, but because it's not a spider to him unless it is man eating, rears up on its hind legs, and can survive under water for 48 hours. Needless to say, he is less than impressed by the house spiders that always seem to know when you are alone and just about to step into the shower.

And so, in a fit of self-preservation, I called the exterminator. Twice. Okay, more than twice. And more than one exterminator. I want the poison that the government has banned for causing cancer - as long as it causes cancer in the spiders, too. And to prevent any future shower-chilling encounters, I signed a year contract.

Finally at peace, and able to relax on my sofa without fear of arachnid interruption, I settled in to watch some documentary TV. That is when Anderson Cooper took me on a journey to the hunger-ravished nation of Niger, where nearly 3.6 million people are at risk of starvation. As I struggled to watch frail and bloated babies search their mother's faces with fearful eyes, I couldn't help but wonder what those children would think if they knew that some American woman had just spent $300 (I know) so that she wouldn't have to squish bugs.

After some careful research, I've learned that not all charities are equal. In fact, many charities, especially the ones who use telemarketing firms for fundraising, only give about 20-40% of their funds to actual programs. The rest of the money goes towards administrative salaries, fundraising galas, and glitzy ad campaigns. I found Action Against Hunger through both Charity Navigator and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance . Like other good charities, they devote 90% of their funds to actual programs.

So, I hope you don't mind, but I've added ACF's banner add to our blog. I'm not suggesting you start supporting ACF. But if you are considering supporting a charity, or if you are ever solicted for donations, I would strongly suggest doing a little research and making sure you're putting your money to good use. I've found the fastest way to get smarmy charity telemarketers off the phone is to ask them how much of their budget goes to overhead. And yes, the exterminator is still coming next month.

Disneyland Part 2

It's surprising how many rides at Disneyland are scary! After Mister Toad's Wild Ride, Hana was pretty much done with adventure. So, of course, we took her to ride Pirates of the Carribean and the Haunted Mansion. They had decorated the mansion for Halloween after the movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas." On our way out, she moaned, "I don't like that Christmas!" It's seems that we've sucessfully ruined both Disneyland and Christmas for her. Think of all the money we'll save....





I'm not sure it's worth the price of admission to ride the carousel all day, over, and over, and over, but that's what Hana was interested in. Why does she only like rides that spin around and around in circles? She had a super time on the rockets, too.







Of course, the best reason to take little kids to Disneyland is the parades! And Hana wasn't disappointed. They had acrobats on bouncy stilts, rope flyers, all of the princesses, and Mickey Mouse. The parade, combined with a ridiculously huge lollypop, were the highlights of her day.
Sometimes, I think Lane had even more fun than Hana. Between the Tiki Room and the people watching, there was plenty for her to watch. We all had a great time and were really glad we went. We may go back again, as soon as I forget how long the drive is!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween has become such an adult holiday here, I had a hard time finding costumes for Hana and Lane. But I eventually settled on making them matching clowns. I spent the last week frantically following my "Sewing for Dummies" pattern, but I must need the "Sewing for Complete Idiots" version, because I think I unpicked more seams than I stitched! Hana was a little girl clown, complete with a bouncy dress and lacy bloomers. Lane was absolutely facinated by the yellow pompon on her own clownsuit.

My dad had a conference in Salt Lake this week, and stayed over a few days to come visit Melissa, Alisha, and our family. Since our ward wasn't having a Halloween party this year, I made everyone come with us to Cornbelly's Corn Maze on Saturday. I'll be darned if I'm going to spend all week sewing those silly costumes for the girls to wear them for 15 minutes in the dark! We had a nice time pretending to be lost in the corn maze, and went for a great dinner at Goodwood's. I think we all enjoyed having my dad in town. We all bought pumpkins to carve; Melissa made a Frankenstein, Alisha did spooky eyes, Hana did a scary face, and I gave up on carving mine, and just stuck some gourds on it.

Tuesday was Halloween, and Andrew's work invited all the kids down to go trick-or-treating from office to office. Andrew took the girls out trick-or-treating later that night. Our neighborhood must give out the best treats, because we saw several unfamiliar cars unloading kids from the other side of town. In the end, Hana had a great time and would have stayed out all night if she could.