60 Earth Hour

Did you all join in and turn out your lights for an hour Saturday night, from 8:30 to 9:30 PM? We did!

Sydney, Australia started it all in 2007

It has moved to a movement all around the world.

All the big cities joined in.

It was really lovely to see each big cities lights go out.

We saw it all on TV tonight.(Sunday here)

It shows just what a little turning off lights and non-essential appliances can save

in electricity.

Keeping Up With Blogs

It is all I can do to keep up with my children's blogs let alone other. I get to the childrens maybe once a week sometimes more and usually don't have time to comment. When I do try to comment the computer won't let me sometimes. This computer thing drives me crazy! It is lovely when they work but when they don't .......well I can't say how I feel about it.

You could spend all day doing the blog and E-mail thing. I guess some people do.

Trip to Sydney

We just got home from Sydney and in an hour need to go to Ronald McDonald House for the night.

We had a good time in Sydney. Attended the Temple twice and went to Zone Conference on Wednesday.

Tuesday we got on the Ferry and rode down the river to Circle Quay (pronounced key) which took an hour. We then got on another ferry and rode to Manley Beach, which was another hour. It was great talking with people and standing out on the front of the ferry, wind blowing the hair every where and loving every minute of it. I talked with a young woman from Austria who spoke very good English I thought. I gave her a pass along card she said she would look up the Church on the web and read about it in her language. She is here for 5 weeks by herself walking around NSW, WOW brave. We met another man who stopped us and said I'm a member. It was fun talking with him. We get stopped like that a lot. We rode the Ferry's back and went to dinner at Elder and Sister Warbe's, they are the Public Relations Couple for all of Australia. There were four other Missionaries there also. Very good dinner and great company.

Tuesday we went on the ferry down to Circle Quay which is right down town. Which is also right by the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Bridge. We took Bus tours all day. The kind where you can get off and on where ever you want. We mostly rode them to see everything and then when we are back in town we can go see the specific things we are interested. We got off and visited some places but you just don't have the time to do it all in one day or several. We also met a return Missionary at a bus stop. She was so cute. She is from Chile but raised in Australia.
Dee talked with men each day on the ferry. I also gave a pass along card to one of the bus drivers he was very happy to get it.


I will post some pictures when I am home long enough and get the pictures on the computer.
Good night all.

Sunday A Great Day!

Yesterday was a banner Sunday for us here in Tamworth. We had two inactive members come and Robert our investigator. We have been working with all of them.

Wayne is deaf, or very hard of hearing, (where is Erin when we need her) such that communication is very hard. We found him a few weeks ago. When we invited him to church (we write most things down for him to understand us) he said he did not have a white shirt any more. Dee went out and bought him a white shirt and tie. Then we had to find someone to pick Wayne up and bring him to church on Sundays. (that was when we had a mission car and could not take anyone but missionaries in it. That is why we bought our own car).

Yesterday was also Ward Conference so there were all these Stake people there, whom we don't know. Anyway I was introducing myself to the visitors and started to look at this lady who was looking straight at me. All of a sudden I realized she was Sister Thompson who we have visited and invited out to church. She said she didn't think she would come ever. Well there she was with the biggest grin on the face. I went and gave her the biggest hug. SHE JUST MADE MY DAY. It couldn't get any better than that. I guess we are making a little difference here.

Two weeks ago Robert came with a hair cut, he really looks nice. Yesterday his shirt looked as if he had washed and ironed it. Then I heard Robert playing the piano in the Relief Society room. Wow he plays well. He has played since he was 12. Robert lives in awful circumstances. I don't go to visit at his flat and Dee does not go in. Well step by step, line upon line we all learn. He is a very nice man.

Last night we had a dinner appointment at the Thompson's, yes the same as above. We had a great time. Sister Thompson has a son Mark who is a member but not active. He is very nice and fun. She also invited a less active sister over who is her good friend. We had home made clam chowder, it was very good, rolls, green salad and apple pie, strawberry ice cream with mixed berry's on top. Now you know why I had to join Curves, so I would have some curves when I got home.

Dee and I take the sacrament, after church to two home bound ladies. That is also a nice experience.

Here is a post script. Last Sunday my primary class girls were awful in Sacrament Meeting. Running around climbing over the benches, on and on along with a 2 1/2 and a 18 month brothers. (they are all cousins or siblings) What a zoo no one could hear and we had Stake High council speakers. When we got into class the girls were up in the windows and behind the curtains. I sat them down and gave them a big lecture about how you behave in church. Then told them I would give them a reward each Sunday if they sat quietly in Church. Wow Yesterday I did not hear a noise out of them. What a change. They each got a dollar for wonderful behavior.

Well I have to go as we are off to Sydney for the week.

Lightning Ridge

These are some of the homes and places we saw out at Lightning Ridge. (Doug don't you love those bells) This is where they mine for Black Opals. This is one of the unfinished homes out there. Some people live under ground in the mines, just make their home where they work. Others throw up shacks like you would see in Mexico. They make the home out of what ever they can get their hands on.

I guess I did not get a picture of the thrown together houses. Love that blue sky and white clouds. They call this the Big Sky Country.

Graduation Cards

We will be having 4 Grandchildren Graduating from High School and Collage this year.
Problem with this is we will not be able to be there to celebrate with them. The next problem is here in Australia school just started for the year, hence no graduation cards available to send out. Graduation is in December here.

Country Music Parade

This is the way The Country Music Parade looks. It was on the last Saturday of the Music festival. Lots of semis pulled flat beds with floats on them

This is not the Rose Parade

This truck was cute

I thought you might like this one. It is the Onsite-Loo float. His pants are down around his ankles and toilet paper hanging out. He also had reading material in his hand.

See those shirts on the men? That is the standard shirt men wear for work around Australia. They are bright orange or yellow. The tummy is black and the rest front and back is the brite color. It does not seem to matter what kind of work you do, except inside office work, the men wear. The shorts go without saying, that is what they wear for work.

No raindeer

Santa's sleigh is not pulled by raindeer here. The Kangaroos have that job.

Australian Coins

The coins here are very different then American coins. They do not have pennys. The five cents is small and silver color and very lite. Ten cents is also silver color. Twenty cents is still bigger , no twenty five cents then there is the one dollar coin gold color smaller then the fifty cent. Then finally the two dollar coin which is the smallest and very heavy. It is very strange, to us anyway. We are always trying to get rid of the big coins and end up with more some how or other. I will take a picture of the paper money sometime and show you how different it is. They are very colorful and different sizes.

Beautiful Sights

Rain clouds covering the hill side Rain clouds on the hill side

Some of the rain forrest

They have very tall trees here and a great variety.

Nundle and the Sellenbachs

Sister Sellenbach and I in the old mine we toured.

Some of the machines they spin the wool yarn on. The mill does it all right from the sheep. Carting, spinning right into yarn.

We went to Nundle with the Sellenbachs to visit the Mill and the old Mine. (here is the blue again and I don't know what I do to get it and don't know how to get rid of it. Let me know if you know how it is happening and how to get out of it) Sellenbachs have now finished their Mission and are on their way home. They came for a visit to see some of NSW before they went home.

The Mean Seagull Again

Here he is again. Sending all the other birds in to the water.

Lunch with The Seagull

This is one mean seagull he chased off all the other seagulls that we were trying to feed. He ran up and down and would bite and run off the other birds. He got all the food we thru out for all of them. He was also fatter then the other birds. Although he got alot of exercise.

Dee sitting where we had lunch with the seagulls.