Pounds

Have you ever wondered why we spend a year eating anything we want, then decide to go on a diet or just watch what we eat, then we wonder or expect to loose those unwanted pounds in the first week or two of dieting or watching what we eat? I sure have the past three weeks. I decided I wanted to have my clothes fit looser so I decided to not eat anything between meals. Wal-la nothing happened for three weeks. Three weeks, 2 and a half lbs finally came off. I wanted it all off because I was so good and stuck with my goal of not eating between meals.

It is amazing how often I thought of food and eating between meals. It seemed like all the time. So far I have made the right choice by making the choice to not eat in between meals. I can do this. I eat what I want at Meals and can't hold anything over for later. So far it is great.

Well so much for what I think of at strange times or when we are driving long distances.

Thai Students and Member

Kathy is from Thailand, She teaches at the Uni (University) in Armidale.

She is writing her Masters on "Provident Living"

Staying out of debt. she said she learned first hand.

Kathy teaches Money Management.

Next year when she is finished with her Masters she will go back to Thailand.

Her husband gave up his career in Thailand so Kathy could come here for her Masters.

He now is a Cook at a Thai Restaurant and does Day care at their home.

They have been in Australia for 3 years.

Kathy and her Husband are members of the Armidale Branch.

They have been members for 8 years.

We sit with Kathy for an hour every Thursday,

when we are up in Armidale and read with her.

She wants her English to be perfect.

Also understand what all the words mean.

We think it is great Kathy is very smart.

Love those slippers.

Mind you we are in her house and look at the coat, etc. she has on.

The house is freezing, that is the way it is here!

These are the Thai students the Sisters are teaching English.

(Not the Grey haired couple in the back row)

It is fun to listen to a Sister from China teach English.

Very interesting!

These young people are so fun they laugh and laugh.

Four are coming to church and two are taking the lessons.

The young man in the front row with the camera legs, as he calls the tripod,

is really funny. Elder Doney calls him "Mr. Humble".

After explaining to him what it meant he just laughed and said right.
We love going and spending time teaching, listening and laughing with them.

This is the part that makes a Mission wonderful and worth it.

Sheep with Coats on

For those of you who have had anything to do with sheep,

Here are pictures that are hard to believe.

When I first saw them I thought I was seeing things,

so I did not say anything to Elder Doney.

After a few more trips up to Armidale.

He said that it looked as if the sheep had on blankets.

Yea! I was not seeing things!Look close it's true! Not just a few either, a whole flock!
The sheep were finally close enough to the road to get a picture.

Look at those blankets!

Can you imagine going out and catching each sheep and

putting a blanket on each one.

What a job!

This is all to keep the wool clean for market.

More Post Boxes

These are a couple of city Post (as they are called here) BoxesCountry
Like the Ears?

Douglas is printed on this one

Must of had an accident

The End for now

Until I see more I like

More Mail Boxes

More to come

Mail Boxes

I love the Mail Boxes there are more to come

Mail Boxes

I love the mail boxes around here.

Here are Three
I have more but can't find them right now.

Beer Keg

Twilight Party

Yes, I have read half of Twilight.

I thought I should beings I was invited to the party and knew nothing about the book.

I was invited because there were non-members and inactive members invited.

You know Missionary opportunity and fellow shipping.

Really they love me and wanted me there.

It was fun!

Ellen, below on the left, put the party on and went to a lot of work.

Everyone brought supper (snacks) they were so good.

Game (like pin the tail, only kiss Edward)

Pretty silly, but oh well
The glasses were marked O-neg, A-pos, B-neg, etc. etc.
You picked your own blood type
The Party Goers

Invitation, Book Mark, Badge to wear, Bag full of goodies

We each got one of each.

Fun was had by all.

FIRST TIME GREAT-GRAND PARENTS

May 19, 2009

Caden Pierce came into the World 6 weeks early.

He weight 5 lbs 9 oz, 17 inches long

All seems to be OK, all parts are working well!

They are hoping he gets to go home with Jacie on Thursday.

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

This is KAREN'S Birthday today!

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

43 Years here blessing our lives

Thanks for being a very sweet daughter!

Love Ya Lots

The Mom and Dee

Mothers Day Flowers 2009

Here I am with my Mothers Day Flowers
From my children

What a lovely surprise
The Iris and Lilies have now opened up.

They are even more lovely now.

Thank You!

Koalas and Kangaroo Mum

Koalas

How fun to be so close and pet them

They will and can sleep anywhere

Hard to believe until you see it first hand

Dee with Mom and baby


They would open their eyes once in a while,
while we were petting them.

Kangaroo Mom checking out her Joey

It is wonderful to be up close to such unusual animals,

to us anyway, not to Australians.

We had two jump out in front of us a couple weeks ago

as we were driving to Moonbi, it was quite a sight.

One jumped right across the road the other jumped down the road for a while

before crossing.

More Birds

Eagle

He cried out all the time while we were at the park.Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Australian Bush Turkey

Red-tailed Black Cockatoo and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

The story is if you see a flock of Black Cockatoos flying over it will rain soon.

More Birds

Rainbow Lorikeet

Black Swan

Birds We've Met

Monday May 4, 2009 we went to the Waterways Wild Animal Park.

Our Prep Day

This bird melts into the wood and you can hardly see him or her, which ever.

This was my favorite. A pink Cockatoo with a red and orange top not
Love those feet, wouldn't you love to have a pair like these?
They belong to the Ostrich at the bottom.
They also kick very hard.

Dee's favorite bird here in Australia.

Kookaburra
They eat meat

The Ostrich, all of him.

He kept his wings moving all the time we were there by him.
They have very big scary eyes and beak.

Mothers Day 2009

What a grand surprise to receive flowers from my children who are in the US for Mothers Day.
They are so beautiful and bring sunshine into the flat. It sure makes a person feel loved. (I will post a picture later).

Today, Mothers Day, here, Scott called. It is so nice to hear the voice of one of my children. It was fun to chat until he got a call to go to work. He is on call for the week end.

Here in Australia Mothers and Fathers wear a white chrysanthemum to honor their Mum's. It is a very nice tradition. Sister Maria Pepper brought me a bouquet of chrysanthemums because my children don't live here.

Dee Sick

Along with Bailey, Dee has been sick all week. Flu not stomach or intestinal but ache, pain, head, eyes, nose, throat, well you get the idea. I have been trying to get rid of what I had last week also. Not as bad as Dee though. Two Priesthood holders came and gave Dee a blessing when they found out he was sick. Thanks to the blessing we were able to drive to Sydney Thursday afternoon spend the night, go to the dermatologist Friday morning (for me, everything checked out OK) and drive back home that afternoon. It was a very long trip but had to do it as I could not get another appointment until Aug. I had already waited 6 weeks for this one. That was that short of time as I came with GP's recomend. It helps to have pull. This country is in great need of Doctors. A lady we know had an aneurysm in her head and had to wait 2 months to be operated on.

Our Dog Bailey

This has been a sad week for us as we had to make the decision to have our sweet dog Bailey put down. She had not eaten regular dog food in a week, only milk bones until Saturday then nothing more. She was drinking water. The Smiths took her to the Vet and he found her liver was failing. After talking with the Vet we decided her life had been long and good, while with us, she was all we could wish for in a dog. We adoped or rescued her 2 1/2 years ago. She had a face only a mother could love. Her eyes had no hair around them and none down her muzzle. She was very dirty. Poor dog first thing we did was take her right to the bathroom and put her in the tub. She just shook all over. Then I used the blow dryer on her and she really did not like that. With in a few months the hair had grown out and she looked beautiful except a long scar down her muzzle. She stayed on her pillows in the house, was crate trained, etc., etc. She was all we wanted in a dog. She let the cat TW smack her around, roll on her pillows and have her way. She loved the Grandchildren and let them do what ever they wanted with her. Bailey loved most of all to go for walks and run and then ride with us on the ATV's. She also loved to play catch with the ball. Actually I think she loved most to be near you, have your hand on her somewhere, she really loved that the most. We will miss her very much when we get home. She was our wonderful Brown Lab who met you with gusto when ever you came home.

Thank you so much to Colton and Tenille Smith who have been house, dog and cat sitting for us while we are in Australia. They learned to love Bailey and had the hard job of telling us all the bad news. Then taking Bailey to the Vets to be put down, then brought her home to be buried.
We really appreciate their love and care of our sweet Bailey.