Pickles anyone?

I baked what should have been a very delicious chocolate cake yesterday to take to youth activity. A nice big dripper pan size. Used up a lot of quality ingredients. The only thing I didn't use was BAKING SODA! What the heck is wrong with me?? I go through my whole adult baking life and perhaps even as a teen never had that happen to me and now that's twice in the last couple months I have done that! I was so T.O'd at myself! Aaargh. Rick says, just take it like it is! I'm saying, no way no how. How bloody embarrassing would that be?! So the kids didn't get dessert after the sausage sizzle last night. ;( Too bad for them eh?

I started reading Twilight yesterday. I'm only on pg 70. I get so tired when I read. Does anyone else have this problem? I feel like a groupie reading this book at this particular time. I am not one who likes to follow the trends so I'm having a bit of a hard time thinking that I'm just like everyone else at this point. One of my favorite Garth Brooks songs is called "Against the Grain" I think it describes perfectly how I feel. I'm going to put it on my playlist actually as soon as I finish this post! Anyways, Twilight so far is really good. An easy read which is good for simple folk like myself. I can't handle too much thinking. haha.

Preggy wise, well, my tummy is starting to poke out and I fear there's no stopping it now! I was able to lose some fat in Fiji and came back looking thinner than when I left and not looking preggy hardly at all. But over the last week especially I've popped out a bit. Cravings? Nothing major. Nothing constant. I've craved Sushi a bit. No raw fish sushi though. I'm in love with chicken sweet chili kinds and safe tasty ones. Also, pickles seem to be high on the list right now. I think it's the vinegar. What I wouldn't give for a bass jar of peppercini's from costco right now!!! Yummmm! I think I may have to go get the Auzzie equiv today. And then eat some with a sushi roll or two. One thing I'm definetly NOT craving is sweets. Yuck. I don't want to have anything to do with sugar at this point. Very strange for me. I walked by choclate bars yesterday and didn't even feel tempted one little bit to buy one. I considered it though just because I felt like I should since it literally has been sooo long since I've bought one and eaten it myself. I bought one when Kel and Shan were here but it really didn't seem that enjoyable to me. Actually another craving I'm sure of is cold drink. Give me cold anything to drink. I really want fizzy drink for some reason. And water? Just make sure it's ice cold please.

More fiji

Margaret aka Keta. Working as usual. She really gave me a shock by losing probably 20 or 30 lbs since the last time I saw her. Also has grown her hair out quite long. I think she looks beautiful in this pic. She is a very beautiful loving soul.
Us with Keta and in the background...Prince Charles. George's long lost brother. Literally.

Us with our sea dogs. They are so gorgous. They are so trim and fit, have beautiful coats and welcomed us back like old friends. I'm wearing Angela's shirt in this pic. It was just there and I needed something to cover up the pathetic tank I wore that day. As you can see my tummy is getting slightly bigger! We didn't get really any good pics of the dogs this time. Bummer!

Us with Aunty Ella.

Beautiful Mela.

The other day I was posting the bula friends post and I ended up being disconnected from the internet without knowing it so half my post was lost and didn't have time to redo the whole thing at the time so here are some more pics that were going to be added. I met several people i had never met before who are really beautiful people. Aunty Ella was one of them. D&R you met Aunty Ella right? She has by far the nicest and cleanest house I have ever set foot in in Fiji. She was apologizing for not having it clean for us as we surprised her by stopping by. But in reality, you could eat off the floor it was so clean! She is a sweet lady and we were all really impressed by her. We met a beautiful girl named Nuimai whose father was killed by a shark off Taveuni many years ago and shortly thereafter her mother poured Kerosene all over herself and lit herself on fire. So now she is being taken care of by a member of the family. One of my favorite people this time was a young 11 year old girl named Mela. She was so beautiful. Had the most beautiful teeth and smile. Was extremely capable of doing whatever a mother would do. And only 11! She had a beautiful voice and spoke very well. I would have no problems hiring her as a nanny she was that responsible! Although I wouldn't because she's only 11 and so that would not be cool. She will grow up to be a wonderful mother.

Shannon fell in love with George. This is not a great pic but in real life George is handsome and has a great strong body. (sorry rick, hope you'll forgive me) but I'm only saying what my friend Shannon thinks!

Kelly brought Evan a colouring book and crayons. They loved them. He is a great colourer!

David. Cool sweet and hilarious. Everyone loves david. He was holding up what was going to be D&J's supper that night. Ours was already cooked by this point. The beef was very gamey. Lets just say the dogs got a lot of protein that night!

Cute little Boys. From left to Right, Larry Evan and Ernie. I think fijian kids are bee-utiful! Ernie was the funniest. He could NOT smile properly! We took about 20 pics and he just kept this forced smile on the WHOLE time. He was probly thinkin, "what is their problem? I'm smilin already would you stop takin the pictures already???"

Angie. One word. Cheeky. She is cute as but a real cheeky monkey. Doesn't do ANYTHING you want her to. Maybe it's cuz we're white folk?? I love her anyway.

Bula Friends!

I love our fijian friends and neighbours. Well, not ALL of our fijian neighbours...ahem. Me thinks Dan and Robyn will for sure know who I am talking about! Lets just say I had some very stressful moments this time b/c Rick wasn't there and I had to deal with some stuff that normally would have never fallen on my shoulders and a certain neighbour caused some of that grief. But here are some pics of some of our favorite people whom I love dearly. Its amazing. Every time I go there I just love them more and more. They are truly happy people and are so dear to my heart.

Our first day. They had just pulled the guts out of this cow as we were walking by. Bulama cow anyone? This cows fate ended up on some fijians dirty dinner plate no doubt. In honour of a death. Party on!

Beautiful Julia. Need I say more? Dicky's wife...well not really but close enough for me...

Gentle sweet Dicky. Could he BE any nicer?

Sweet Ethel. Sweet screaming Ethel. Loves to scream. Hates white girls. Cute crocs! Thank you Aunty Chel!

Foodwise, my diet consisted mainly of alot of seafood this week. Lobster, barracuda, some other kind of fried fish, some pork...Dang! Gotta go to work. Will add more pics and text lata!

My gorgeous friends and I in fiji

Coconut milk ala shell. Mother natures juice. Cheers!

We totally faced a fear this day. Jumping in the deep blue waaaaay out to sea. Shark bait!

My favorite spot to hang out while waiting for a connecting flight. Bula Raffles!

Funky seafood at the market in Nadi. Puffer fish anyoe?



A couple weeks ago Shannon & Kelly met me in Fiji and together we made our way to the farm for a week of r n'r. We had a blast and between both K & S there were over 600 pictures taken that week alone! Here are just a few of the ones of just us. We did plenty of resting, lots of walking in coconut plantations and along the beach to our neighbours homes and hardly any eating. Actually Shannon ate more than Kelly and I combined the whole week. We also drank way too much grog. As in 1 cup is 1 cup too much! Dirty sock water. Not yummy. But the fijians assured me it would make my baby's skin very soft. hah! We all came back with a parasite but Kelly was lucky enough to get rid of hers somehow and Shannon and I have been on natural meds to get rid of ours. Yummm...

We ate some weird stuff this time. Oh, theres so much to tell but I need to go out with my Ricky as I have been neglecting him for a couple weeks now so I will check in tomorrow!

They were stabbed

Many of you may have heard about the two elders serving in Sydney who were stabbed a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't heard much about it except that it had happened and then a few days ago we got an email from a couple we know who are serving in the Sydney North mission (the are from San Diego. Actually, Canada originally.) and they sent us part of a letter that their mission president sent them. They and the Elders are in the same mission. I thought it was a perfect first hand account of what happened and so I thought why not post it? I'm a bit desperate for things to post these days so am having to use all my imagination to come up with stuff. (not really) So here it is...

“On Tuesday night around 9 PM, I was working at the mission home when my mobile rang and Elder Collinsworth -- not sounding good -- said, "President, Elder Ferguson and I are at Westmead hospital. We have been stabbed. Gotta go." I took the assistants with me and drove 30 minutes to the hospital. A woman at ER admissions, seeing my name tag, said, "You here to check on your lads? I can't let you in right now they are surrounded by doctors."

At about 8:45 PM, Elders Collinsworth (out about 6 months from Mapleton, UT; BYU basketball player, 6'9", 220 lbs) and Elder Ferguson (out about 18 months from Great Falls, Montana; BYU major in Ancient Near Eastern Studies, 6'1" -- very slender), were walking on the sidewalk about 1/2 a block from their apartment. The area, Auburn, is our most urban. The missionaries refer to it as "all manner of 'ese: Chinese, Sudanese, Lebanese, etc." The Elders saw two Lebanese men, over six feet tall with mullets, walking towards them. As they approached, the Elders stepped off the sidewalk to let them pass. As soon as the men were in striking distance, they struck. Elder Collinsworth grabbed his attacker and threw him down into the street and held him to the ground. Elder Ferguson exchanged punches with his attacker with enough ferocity that the coward fled. By this time a third attacker jumped on Elder Collinsworth pulling his shirt over his head. He was knocked to the ground and kicked. He said the last thing he saw as he hit the street was Elder Ferguson running towards him. Elder Ferguson knocked the third attacker off of Elder Collinsworth. The second attacker who had run away earlier returned to join the attack.

At this time a passing Sudanese motorist stopped and honked his horn, flashed his lights and yelled. The three attackers ran away. The motorist got out and checked on the Elders -- now both on the street -- and then went to get a nearby policeman. At this point the Elders realized they had both been stabbed. Elder Collinsworth, once in the back; Elder Ferguson, thrice -- in the thigh, the upper left arm, and the left wrist. Blood was especially pouring out of the wrist wound, so Elder Collinsworth took off his tie and bound the wound. An ambulance quickly arrived and transported them two Westmead which is a very good hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital, a paramedic helped them out of the ambulance and handed them his mobile phone saying, "Elders, better call your mission president." The Lord had positioned a returned missionary who lives over an hour up the coast to be at the hospital that night. He watched over the missionaries until I arrived.

Elder Collinsworth had been stabbed on the right side of the mid-to-lower back, right by the kidney. He was the one the trauma team was most concerned about, but a ct scan and various other tests quickly relieved concern of kidney damage. He was patched up and released the next day.

Elder Ferguson required surgery so they could probe for tendon damage (there was none) and have a plastic surgeon close the wounds on the arm and wrist. The doctors did a remarkable job. The remaining scars will only be the size of the knife blade. Elder Ferguson was released Thursday morning. He went to his flat, got into his suit and he and Elder Collinsworth came to the regularly scheduled zone meeting, sore, but very happy to be there.”

Pretty amazing story eh? They will surely have something cool to tell when they get home! They sound like they were blessed immensely.

How The Fight Started

When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace expensive...so, I took her to a gas station...and that's how the fight started.....


I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Miller Light for $14.95. Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95. I told her the beer would make her look better at night that the cold cream....And that's how the fight started......


After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's license to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later. The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'. So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair. She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me' and she processed my Social Security application

When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security office. She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability too'....and that's how the fight started......

My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table. My wife asked, 'Do you know her?' 'Yes,' I sighted. She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.' 'My Gosh!' says my wife, 'Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'.....and that's how the fight started......

I rear-ended a car this morning. So, there we were alongside the road and slowly the other driver go out of his car. You know how sometimes you just get sooooo stressed and little things just seem funny? Yeah well I couldn't believe it....he was a DWARF!!! He stormed over to my car, looked up at me and shouted, 'I AM NOT HAPPY!!!' So, I looked down at him and said, 'Well, then which one are you?'.....and that's how the fight started.....


I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason, took my order first. 'I'll have the steak, medium rare, please' He said, 'Aren't you worried about the mad cow?' 'Nah, she can order for herself.'......and that's how the fight started........