The RC Miller Clan

Oatmeal Lover Supremo

2011-01-27T07:39:00.000+10:00

One of Savannah's favorite things to eat is oatmeal and she recently decided she was going to eat ALL by herself! She does well for her 2nd time on her own don't ya think?

Distracted

2010-09-25T20:54:00.003+10:00

I had a good day today. Slept in till 740. Crazy as eh? Seeing as how I'm usually up and at em 2 hrs prior to that. Tried to go for a run. Got 3 houses up and ran into a garage sale. Picked out 6 books and wasted 15 min. Ok, time to focus on the run now. I walked quickly around the corner and then around another corner before crossing the street. Ok! Time to get motivated about my run. Whats that up ahead I see? A big yellow stuffed...bird? Oh, well he was just sitting there advertising that there is another GARAGE SALE. Yeah. Just what I was looking for. At this rate the only sweat I'm gonna break is from picking over someone elses junk. After picking out my first Aussie iron I start trying to get motivated to run. Not happening. So I decide to make a circle instead of backtracking and allowing my garage sellers to see that I'm giving up on the run. Meanwhile I'm hoping there are no more garage sales in the area I could possibly get distracted at.

Now its 9pm and I'm slightly more awake than usual. After my garage sale run I took the girls to Underwater World for a couple hours and then came home and started working on sanding and painting a little cabinet for Savannah's books. Oh, didn't I tell you? I got that at the garage sale too. Its gonna be cute. After I get the 3 coats of paint off and smooth out the wood. A batch of cookies, a double batch of muffins, a taco supper and a shower later, I'm ready for bed.

Yup, I had a good day. Even though I got distracted.

Swimming with the seals

2010-08-27T06:05:00.009+10:00

Rick's new job has perks for the whole family. It was so cool cuz while my cool as sissy Lydia and my oh so awesome mates Dennis and Kelly were here we all got to go to Underwater World (for FREEEEEEE!) and see all the cool sea creatures. Which I DON'T have piccies of really. So I will grab some from Kelly to do a post cuz she took all the photos that day. We weren't able to swim with the seals that day but after D&K were gone Lydia, Mesa and I went back and did a seal swim and went behind the scenes to hear all about how they take care of the seals, where they were found/born and so on. Lydia even was given the business card of the director of the seals because he would like her to come and work for him there! I guess that Vet Tech course she took all those years ago may come in handy once again. And then she can teach those seals how to cook and sew in between shows! hehehehe (She's gonna be a certified Home Economics teacher as of December when she graduates from the U of A).

Anyways, the seal swim was fantastic! Once in a lifetime experience really, unless your husband happens to work for UWW and if I ever get the pleasure of doing it again I will consider myself super lucky! I can't wait till Summer comes here actually and is able to partake of all the family member perks! We also got to get seal kisses which I scanned and put on here. The seal giving us these kisses is Bella and they are all really hoping she is pregnant because it will be a first for UWW to have a seal born here to one of UWW's seals! I'll try to keep you posted on that info but can't promise anything as well...I'm not the best at blogging these days as you can tell. It just takes so long! Because I love to talk and well, I frankly have alot to do so...haha excuses excuses. My Kelly manages to do it and she has 11 children so really, whats MY excuse! Well, she does have a nanny so really, she just lounges about all day eating bon bons and watching Oprah right Kel?

Lydia took her pic with her before I could scan it :(

Savannah's trying to appear composed and happy here but really?

This is how she really felt...bummed out and t.o'd that SHE couldn't join in the fun!

Mesa playing with Bella

The people down below could see us through these massive windows so Rick went down and took some cool shots

I guess I was subconsiously pretending to be a seal in this shot

Hehe..I love this shot of Lydie

Underwater group shot!

Savannah was on the other side of the glass and loved seeing me in the water but she wanted to be in there too! Too bad, she'll have to wait about 10 years.

One of my faves

2010-08-03T09:13:00.000+10:00

I came across this pic and just wanted to put it on my blog for some reason. I've been so crap at keeping up my blog I guess somethings better than nothing? Candace was 8 in this pic and it was taken in Welling when we lived at the little white house owned by Wilde Brothers. I had cropped myself out. Judging by the clothes I'm wearing I must've looked pretty silly! hehehe

Mr. Bubbles...or should I say Miss Bubbles?

2010-07-31T07:48:00.002+10:00

Savvy's trick of the day...blowing bubbles. Again, sorry for the poor picture quality. I'm going to stop taking videos in the dark cuz my house isn't bright enough in the evening for good picture quality!

Come on! Walk already!

2010-07-29T11:36:00.002+10:00

I purposely didn't encourage Savannah to start walking while we were in Canada because I didn't want Rick to miss her first steps. So I thought as soon as we got home she would go for it. Well, its been 3 wks since we got back and she still isn't walking. But last night I took some footage of us trying to get her to walk and here it is. Its a little on the dark side but enjoy!

So ya wanna be a Hutterite?

2010-07-28T02:00:00.001+10:00

While I was growing up our family had quite alot to do with the Hutterites compared to most people. They used to come and buy our tomatoes and cucumbers and we would go to them and buy chickens and a myriad of other things. Well, my parents would anyways. So because of that association I have always felt very friendly towards them and have grown to respect their way of life and think that they are quite amazing people. One of my favourite Hutterites growing up was a man named Tuffy. My brother Pete and I have memories of Tuffy and we laugh about the things that we remember and I always think fondly of our association with him and the others in the colony close by our farm.

While I was home recently I thought it would be a good idea to take mine and Pete's kids out to Deerfield Colony and show them the Hutterite way of life in hopes that they too would appreciate these different yet very smart and organized people. So off we went! The 2 girls (one of them a mother of 4) who gave us our "tour" were fabulous. I wish they were able to access the internet so they could see what I have to say about them. They were so gracious and once they found out who our family was they smiled and seemed more than happy to show us around. They happened to be the grand-daughters of Tuffy and Andy who were brothers by the way.

All in all I think we were there for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours and we were able to enjoy some of their homemade bread, buns and milk fresh from the cow which had been chilled. Oh my it was so sweet and delicious it made me want to start drinking milk all the time! But only if I could get it that tasty, which is pret-near impossible. Now we are no strangers to fresh cows milk my siblings and I, but I don't EVER remember the milk tasting THAT good. In fact I always wished we could have store bought milk instead!

Well, the Hutterites are SO extremely clean and organized! There literally was not ONE thing out of place on the whole colony that I could see! They all take turns at doing the different jobs required to run the colony from doing dishes to cooking, cleaning and helping the mothers out with their children. Even the milking barn was pret-near spotless! If you ever get a chance to, go visit a colony because you wouldn't regret it. Enjoy the piccies!

In the "preschool" building. The children had just woken up from their afternoon nap.

I couldn't resist a photo op with these 2 gorgeous kiddo's! I absolutely love the way they dress and that little girl's hair was down to the middle of her back and tightly wound up to fit under her bonnet.

Out by the milking barn. These calves were sick with something and they caught us just in time before we touched them. MAD COW DISEASE ANYONE?? hehe

I took photos of their tools because I wanted Rick to see how cool it is to be organized. Maybe he could learn a thing or two from them as well!

April Fool

2010-04-01T07:55:00.002+10:00

I took Candace to seminary this morning and on the way home heard about this guy at the beach near my house who is eating shark. Well, for a girl from the country in Canada this sounds pretty interesting right? So I put it out of my mind but imagining that I'm gonna blog about this for sure! I come home, talk to Lydia on the phone for a while which was totally fulfilling and then head back to pick up Canny and I hear more about the man eating shark. How theres blood and guts everywhere. Police have cordoned the area off and theres even a news team coming up from the Gold Coast to film. They are saying that they want people to stay away. Well, thats the perfect magnet to get people to come check it out isn't it?! Especially for the simple minded...aka...ME. So I figure I'll take a little detour and check it out so with Canny, Lehi (a friend who I was giving a ride home from seminary) and Savvy we head over and check it out. We saw the most amazing thing. Alot of water and alot alot of sand. Not too many people and definetly no man eating shark. But I'm still reeled in hook line and sinker at this point even though I see a man in a chair with a Hot 91.1 banner stuck in the sand next to him when all of a sudden it dawns on me that its April Fools Day. So I thought I'd be a good sport and go congratulate them on the best April Fools joke I've ever heard and been duped by. I end up on the radio and apparently they're gonna give me some sort of prize for loving it! hehehe

Yup, I'm the biggest April Fool on the Sunshine Coast. And proud of it.

Not what she really wanted

2010-02-26T10:13:00.002+10:00

Todays post. Conversation format.

Candace: Mom, I need you to write me a note.
Me: A note for what?
Candace: To say that I didn't go swimming on Monday because of my cold.
Me: (knowing that the cold was very minimal) Well why didn't you go swimming? You can't stop your life just because you feel a bit ill you know.
Candace: I didn't want it to get worse. And besides, Victoria would have been sitting out all by herself if I didn't sit out with her. (oh sob sob!)

So I sit down and write her a note:

Dear Teacher,

Apparently Candace thinks she needs to quit living when she feels a bit ill and so therefore did not go swimming on Monday in your class. I do not approve of her actions but am in acknowledgement of it happening.

Sincerely,

Rachel Miller

Candace: MOM!!! I'm crossing it out!
Me: Well, if you cross it out you're not getting another one written. Its that or nothing. Sorry.
Candace: But I'll get a detention!
Me: Well sorry, but I just write it like it is. I'm not going to tell the teacher that I'm approving of your actions and I'm not going to let you think so either. I guess if you get a detention then maybe you will learn not to make silly choices like that again.
Candace:(just before walking out the door to go to school) Next time you ask me to do something important for you I'm going to say no!

I think I definetly got the last laugh here cause she definetly cracked me up. Hope she learned something! And I'm wondering how many teachers have ever gotten notes like that.

USA 5 Canada 3

2010-02-22T19:57:00.004+10:00

I'm sure there are more than 30 million Americans gloating right now. And hopefully waaaaay more who are dissapointed and bummed that Canada was on the losing end of that game. One thing I know for sure is this is how I feel. (See above)I wasn't able to watch it but thanks to my sissy she kept me updated on the score throughout. Gol darn americans! Roaarrrrrrrr! Hopefully the gold medal will still go to the ones who invented the game. GO CANADA GO! GO CANADA GO!GO CANADA GO!

I for some reason cannot move these pics around in this post so they are staying put even though they are not where I want them to be.

Nature Girl

2010-01-27T16:26:00.001+10:00

Rick went for a little swim with savvy in the middle of the day. Guess you never know what kind of fun things lay in store when you come home during the day for an unexpected visit! The kids were all at school. First day back which I will post tomorrow because Candy'd first day isn't till tomorrow. So I walked by and looked outside at one point and saw bubs with this stylish new big leaf hat on. Another photo op!

The littlest things are so interesting!

I thought this was an excellent action shot! She's so much fun to watch. I never tire of her.

Nature Girl con't

2010-01-27T16:24:00.001+10:00

Rick and Savvy in the baby pool.

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

2010-01-27T16:13:00.001+10:00

Who me? Couldn't be! Then who? Savvy stole the cookie from the cookie jar...

Caught in the act

Hmmm, interesting texture...

Whadya think Mama?

Mmmmm, this is pretty good I reckon. Mental note to self. Dig in more often when mom's back is turned!

Of course I had to put the cookie back so I could take pictures of the actual thievery taking place, but I honestly had her up here and she always likes to take the lid off the cookie jar but has never actually taken a cookie out till that day. It was so funny to turn around and see her holding a peanut butter choc chip cookie. Needless to say she loved it!

New Years Eve

2010-01-16T12:04:00.000+10:00

I had this great idea to have a big New Years Party at our house complete with swimming but NY just sort of snuck up on me and then before it was too late I realized I had neglected to invite anyone to our "party" hahah. Maybe next year. During the day on NYE I took Candace and her friend Adriana to the mall to buy some pretty dresses to wear to the Stake family NYE Dance. I had the best time taking them shopping! Originally I was just going to take them to this one store and if they didn't find anything there then take them and drop them at the mall where they could shop on their own but with the strange choices they were making in the first store I realized they were going to need help from a more experienced shopper such as myself. Also, there's not too much out there in the way of modest clothing so that makes it extra challenging. So I helped them and my ultra picky daughter whom shoots down my every suggestion chose the dress that I picked out! She was so beautiful in it that the pictures seriously don't do her justice.

She wanted to wear bright red lipstick. I guess one night isn't going to kill anyone is it?

This is what Mesa and her friend Jesse did. Night swim anyone? We managed to convince Sea World to bring Shamu out for NYE.

As for Rick and I? Well, it took me till 9 to get the girls ready for the dance and then I took them to the church only to find out that most people weren't that dressed up. But I told them that if anyone was staring at them its because they look so beautiful. Then I came back home and we watched House MD on tv and I ended up falling asleep which seems to happen every year. I had every intention of going for that night swim as well but didn't make it. All in all, I'm so glad Christmas and NY is over for another year. Phew!

Christmas Morning

2010-01-16T11:50:00.000+10:00

Well Christmas came and went very uneventfully except for the fact that we were able to start swimming in our ultra cool pool at last! Because of the hugeness of that "gift" we decided to simplify our Christmas in the gift area. We each drew a name and were able to purchase a gift for that person up to $50. It was so wonderful! The kids totally didn't mind just getting one thing and in fact I said we should do it like that every year and they agreed. It takes the focus off the gifts and also allows the recipient to thoroughly enjoy their one great gift and be more thankful for it rather than being spoiled by several.

Savvy got authentic Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls from everyone.

Mesa got 3 pairs of footwear and a bag of candy (which Blaze opened and ate a few of before wrapping them for her) and a Beanie Kid from Blaze.

Blaze got a new skateboard from Pops.

And for some reason I didn't get a picture of Candace. What?! I can't believe it! But she got some itunes and a t-shirt and a bag of candy from Mesa. I got a really pretty necklace from Candace. And Rick got some cherries and 2 pairs of footwear from Me.

A Little Late

2010-01-16T11:35:00.000+10:00

I know Christmas is long long gone but I have been an extremely busy woman what can I say? As a tradition we do homemade gingerbread houses every year. These are our creations this year. Usually we do one and all help decorate it but Rick and I had a mis-communication and he ended up cutting out 4 houses instead. So we each got to decorate our own. I always have these visions of a grandios house that I've personally done but it never turns out as good as I want it to. I'm wondering if that just simply means that I'm not as creative as I would hope. Anyways, its a fun thing to do with the kids. They love it and I love doing something with them that I enjoy.

I think Mesa's turned out the best personally.

Blaze was obviously feeling religious. haha

Who's that scary woman holding MY house?!

Off to School!

2009-12-31T17:23:00.000+10:00

One day Savannah asked Mesa if she could take her to school for show and tell. So Mesa decided too try and sneak off with her in her back pack. Too bad I caught the little rascals and sent them straight back inside for a photo op! It was pretty cute.

My future gymnast

2009-12-03T07:33:00.001+10:00

Mesa has been in gymnastics now for 2 terms. She also took gymnastics for a semester or so in San Diego. She has always had a love and what I would consider a natural talent for gymnastics. She has really good form. So a few weeks ago her gymnastic squad or whatever you call it had a show where they each did every aspect of gymnastics. It was really nice. Then they all got a trophy afterwards.

So cute

On the bars

On the balance beam

Floor routine

The Jolly Happy Soul

2009-12-03T07:14:00.004+10:00

I know I am continuously posting things of Savannah but we all just love her so much and she does so many cute things all the time that we want to share! From the moment she wakes up she is the happiest little bub. In fact the kids are always fighting over who gets to go get her out of her crib. There's a mad rush to the stairs everytime someone hears her making noise in the morning. Who'd have ever thought I'd have my own personal herd of elephants? Here is some cute video footage of her in her jolly jumper. This time its not sideways either. Yay!

Here's another clip of her drinking her water. Not really super interesting but we need to keep her grandparents in the loop and let them know what they're missing out on! Notice the dress she's wearing in this one Grandma Betty Jean?

Now are a few cute photos we have taken lately. Savannah has figured out that food is what its all about. We went to the zoo the other day and I stupidly let her have a taste of my ice cream and she was very vocal about getting some more after the first try. She loves all foods.

What's this green stuff called again? It's not too bad...

My fingers really bring out the flavour of the food.

Why are you taking a picture of me eating Candace?

Blaze took this photo of her with his hat on like a little gangsta.

The girls in white

2009-11-21T13:34:00.001+10:00

I got this cute as dress for Savannah at Target of all places and it was only $20! I love good deals! So Mesa went and took all these photos except for the one of her and Savvy together. She got some good shots! I think they're gorgeous (the girls I mean) I mean to get a good shot of all 3 of them together tomorrow maybe and some of all 4 kids together as well. I'm also going to be posting about Mesa's gymnastics presentation I went to today. That'll be later though as I have the unfortunate task now of putting my kids to work in the backyard. Yippee. Not.

The little shoes were included. They even stay on her feet!

Little Watermelon Baby

2009-11-21T09:39:00.002+10:00

We are lucky. Savannah loves all foods she has tried. Especially watermelon. This was a sweet clip I managed to catch on video. Enjoy!

Happy Anniversary! 5 years and waitin for more!

2009-11-11T20:57:00.000+10:00

Rick and I celebrated 5 years of married bliss the other day. I can't hardly believe how time has flown by. It has truly been a journey thus far and the best time of my life. There are so many things that I have to be thankful for being married to Rick Miller. I am so proud to be his wife. I think he is just the best in every way and I love him to bits and pieces. We just love being together no matter what we are doing. I never tire of him. So on Saturday when we remembered that it was our 5yr anniversary, the boy that works for Rick was standing here and offered to take care of the kids while we went to Byron Bay for the rest of that day and all of Sunday. He is preparing to go on a mission and 19 and very responsible and just a really good kid. I found out later that he even had family prayer and scriptures with the kids! Wow! I am so stoked! So off we went. It was a 3 hour drive to Byron which is the most easterly point of Australia. After a few hours in Byron we decided to take a detour on the way home and so we went out to Nimbin which is not only the Hippie Capital of Australia but the Cannibis Capital of Australia as well! We were sorely tempted to purchase some of that cannibis but since it was the sabbath we decided we best be stickin to a tub of Sara Lee ice cream instead. So we bought this tub of ice cream and were gonna go sit down at a little park and eat it and Rick points down this alleyway cuz he saw a park bench or a picnic table or something down there and says "lets go down to this park" so we start down and immediately this lady who is for sure doped up starts talking to us about Savannah and I thought she jokingly said "no babies allowed back here" so we continue to walk after our friendly little conversation with her and i'm a bit ahead of Rick and this guy says to us"You guys wanna buy some dope?" I'm like thinking "no way! get away from me!" and at that point I feel like I must be walking around in a clown suit cuz it seems like everyone's staring at us thinking we're gonna come buy some dope from them. I'm pushing the stroller and Rick's carrying bubs and I initially thought "oh, we just need to get past this guy who's selling dope and then we can get to the park" hahaha that thought lasted for about 2 seconds and then I realized and said to Rick "ummm Rick I don't think this is the park we're looking for. I think we're in the wrong place" So we turned and started walking out of the alley from hell and says to the lady on the way out "we thought this was the park" she kinda laughed "nope this isn't the park honey" oh gosh what kind of parents are we? taking our 6mo old into a drug alley? ahhh! Well, we got a good laugh out of it anyways and then we went to the real park which didn't even have any grass...well, green grass anyhow and ate a whole litre of ice cream. It was delish. Savvy liked it too. But mostly she liked the milk I gave her to wash it down.

The famous Byron Bay Lighthouse. 1907

On the way up to the lighthouse you pass this beautiful sight. Postcard material right here.

This picture does not even do the countryside justice that we drove through to get to Nimbin. It was just fairy tale beautiful. Part of it was even called Happy Valley.

Stiff as a gun. Stiff as a gun.

2009-11-11T20:56:00.000+10:00

We drove past this "thing" on the road and I made Rick turn around cuz I wanted to see what it was. Yucko! But I just had to take a picture to put on the blog. The sicko that I am! Its a blue tongue lizard who's tail has been decapitated. Ewwwww

We took Savvy for a swim at the hotel that morning and she was so tuckered out from it she fell asleep in the hot shower afterwards. Awwwwe!

We bought these strawberries from a stand. They had to be the most perfect looking strawberries I have ever seen. And delish too!

2009-11-11T20:55:00.000+10:00

Us eating our strawberries. What a geek I am. Btw, I need these glasses for driving bc of my double vision. Its terrible!

Always the funny man

Not really sure if she like this or not. I think it was too sour for her.

Yup. Too sour. Pucker up girl!

Ladybug Ladybug fly away home...

2009-11-11T20:25:00.000+10:00

So when Lydia was here we went shopping and they had these cute as outfits at Big W (the Aussie version of Wal Mart) and so I had bought this ladybug one as well as a watermelon one. I didn't think about it at the time but later decided it would make the perfect halloween outfit. It came complete with the cute little hat with the antennas on it. hahaha She made an absolutely adorable ladybug!

Here she is doing her one and only first ever trick or treat. She's all ready to receive her candy!

What gorgeous eyes! She always has them so wide open!

Here comes trouble!

Here's the house we went to. Rick is their home teacher. The Appletons

The Jolly Jumper

2009-11-02T17:10:00.000+10:00

Here is a little clip of savvy in her jolly jumper. This was her first time in it. sorry for the sideways view. I should have changed it but now that it's loaded I'm not gonna bother. I have a devil of a time every single time I try to upload a video. Any tips you blogger maniacs? Nothing seems to be a nice quick easy upload. It usually takes seriously ages to upload if it does it at all. Well, enjoy

Halloween critters

2009-10-31T17:05:00.000+10:00

I can't believe it. I finally broke down after 3 years of being in Australia and let my kids celebrate halloween. I even went "all out" by making their costumes. Wow. Do I get the mother of the year award or what? And get this, I even let Candace have a Halloween party in which she invited 9 friends to. Well, maybe I don't get the mother of the year award but just the crazy mom award. 10 13y old girls for 4 hours? Yeah, you guessed it. LOTS of noise. I fared well though. They bobbed for apples, made caramel apples, had a bbq for supper, had a treasure hunt and watched Psycho. Oh and did I mention made alot of noise? I can't believe I lived to tell the tale. I decorated the house even! Yikes! I'm surprising myself just by talking about it. But Canny had fun and I had fun too actually. I can't wait till the pool's done in a few weeks and then she can have a pool party with all her little matey's.

I made the witches cape too. It was too easy. I forgot how much fun making halloween costumes can be! I used to make cute costumes for my kids every year. I miss that actually. Maybe there's hope for this halloween hating mother after all eh?

Tri Pod

2009-10-31T16:56:00.000+10:00

Savannah is growing up far too quickly! I can't believe she is 5 1/2 mos old already although that wasn't as shocking as 5 mos. The other day Rick sat her up and surprisingly she stayed that way for quite a while and showed no signs of falling over. It didn't look too comfortable though. I was thinking how big her tummy is and that it seems as though it would be the equivalent of me with a prego tummy and that pose...would NOT be comfortable! Rick started calling her tri pod though probably cuz of her cute triangular shape from a side view.

She's loving her food. So far she's had rice cereal, peas, carrotts, squash and sweet potatoes in that order. She loves her jolly jumper but only for a maximum of 30 min. Someone else told me their baby would spend hours in there. Hmmmm, child neglect? My child wouldn't stand for that and I love getting her out of it cuz it means I get to hold her again! Notice on this bottom pic that little drip of drool? Heehehe soooo cute and licious! She continues to be a bright beacon of light in my life. I'm lovin every minute of it! She brings so much joy to the whole family. Some may think Rick is crazy for having another baby at this point in his life but he says she is so refreshing and sweet to have around. She makes life so much more valuable and makes him forget about all his daily stresses. We love you Savannah Ivory Miller! xoxoxo

Ode to Candace

2009-10-24T07:05:00.002+10:00

"You should be proud to know that Candace Perry will be receiving an Academic Award at the 15th Annual Awards Night. The nature of the awards is truly prestigious, showcasing the most outstanding student achievements. You are cordially invited to attend this special occasion and celebrate, along with us, the success of your child."

This is an excerpt from a letter that I received in the mail the other day. I am so stoked that Candace is such a good girl and so bright! She is truly a gem right now. 8 months ago I had almost had it with her attitude and thought I was in for a real uphill battle for the next few years. But somethings happened and I don't know what but she has just turned into the nicest daughter to have! Verry happy most of the time. Obedient. Just an all round good girl. I know I don't have to worry about her doing naughty things either. She is a very trustworthy person. Whew! What a relief. Well, this is my ode to Candace.

This is what she USED to be like on an all too regular basis. Yuck.

Here again, not at her best. But I chuckle when I see this photo. Thanks for the entertainment :)

What a cutie! She has the most beautiful eyes! Bright blue.

2009-10-24T07:03:00.000+10:00

I love this picture of two of my gorgeous girls.

Mmmm, chocolate!

2009-10-23T11:03:00.002+10:00

Savannah had her first taste of chocolate the other day. I think she's gonna be a chocolate lover just like her Papa. She got all excited on the second time the brownie got close to her face.

Well, who could blame her anyways? I mean, they ARE the best brownie out there and made by yours truly!

The cuplrit. Looking very pleased with himself. He snuck her the brownie btw when I wasn't looking and I didn't really approve but of course couldn't pass up the opportunity to record her first ever chocolate experience.

Here's the recipe. You will NOT be dissapointed! So extremely quick and easy too you'll be amazed. The melts are just baking choc type choc chips.

Bec's Brownies

200 g of chocolate melts (1 1/2 c?)
1/2 c. butter
1 c. caster sugar
2 lightly beaten eggs
1 c. flour

Icing

100 g chocolate melts (3/4 c.?)
1/4 c. sour cream

Melt butter and choc melts in double boiler. Add to sugar. Mix. Stir in eggs very well. Add flour mix well. Bake at approx 350 for 25-30 min in square cake pan lined with baking paper. Take out of pan to cool. In the same double boiler melt remaining melts. Turn off heat. Add sour cream and spread on brownies.

We're goin' to Airlie!

2009-10-07T17:18:00.002+10:00

Well, last week Rick, Savannah and I made a trip up north to the Whitsundays or for those who have never heard of that, the Great Barrier Reef region of Australia to pick up a car from a little resort town there called Airlie Beach. It is about 1000km away from where we live so we flew up and drove the car back. I had been searching for a car for 47 long days and had several different cars that I had researched. Checked out the auction websites and seen what was out there on offer and after about 4 weeks of looking to buy a 7+ seater had a change of tune after seeing a cute as little car called the Suzuki Swift. Now, I am NOT a car girl by any means. I'd far rather be driving a big 3/4 tonne diesel around and even go so far as to have a 4 horse trailer hooked on to the back of it driving down dusty gravel roads. BUT...since I can't do that here, I saw this car and thought, "Man! That is like the CUTEST car I've seen!" and wished that I could just drive a cute little car around like that. Well, having 4 kids makes that seem like a bit of a bad choice so I put it out of my mind. But then when I went back to the dealership to show rick what they had in the way of SUV's I told him what I thought of this little car. So he says, "Why not? Why don't we fix up the surf, put an extra bench seat in the back for when we all go somewhere together as a family and then you can have your little car to boot around in and not have to worry about the price of gas because its SO fuel efficient. Then I can drive the surf to work and we'll save money there too on my fuel costs as well." Well, I sure thought that sounded swell so that started my search for the perfect little Swift for me. To make a long story short, I ended up buying a cute little "Burnt Orange" one with 36,000k's on it 2007 model. Excellent condition. Its so fun to drive and it is so cheap on gas! We only spent about $60 coming back from Airlie with this car. Wow! I think I'm in love. Here are a few pics of our trip up there. We had a good time just being together and enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery.

We also passed a few funny towns on the way back. Little Pig Creek and Gin Gin being two of them. Australian towns have the funniest names!

Rick is holding Sav under her head only. She has plenty of chub on her to act as a floatation device! Yummy yummy chub!

Yay! Swimming with the Papa!

On the ferry from Hamilton Island to Airlie Beach.

Just one of the many islands in the Whitsundays. Famous for its beauty. It was looking a bit brown to me though. I think they were starved for rain.

2009-10-07T17:17:00.002+10:00

This is the little Cabin we stayed in overnight. It was so cute and perfectly cozy and just my country style. I just hate hotel rooms unless they look like the ones in the movies like the really lush house looking kind. But well, when you can't afford the best then I'd rather have this.

If it was mine though you can bet it would have some heaps cute curtains and bedding. Not this crappy motel style fashion! Yucko!

Home at last and here we are in front of our cute lil Burnt Orange Swift. Who'd a thought I could have the cute kids AND the cute car!?

Mesa thinks she is going to take it for a drive and Savannah "bags" the front! In other words, she called "shotgun"

2009-10-07T17:15:00.001+10:00

I just love being out on the water! I definetly have sea legs which confirms to Rick why he married me. I am willing to go out to sea with Mr Sparrow any time!

Rick has the best of both worlds here. He just probably wishes he was at the helm of our very own yacht instead of a ferry. But this is better than scaling the walls of a newly framed house anyday! It was quite windy cuz of the speed of the ferry and a bit sunny for Savvy's little eyes.

Some guy from Sydney took our picture in the hot tub. The hot tub wasn't even hot! It was the temp we wished the pool had been so we were forced to stick to the tub which is why we only stayed in there for about 1/2 an hour.

Savvy's all tuckered out after our breakfast cruise and a nice swim. We took a breakfast cruise out to Daydream Island where there is absolutely nothing to do but swim and eat and spend a fortune on spa treatments if that's your thing. I could do this for a couple days but then I'd need to get the heck off Daydream and do something!

We went to the pool

2009-09-25T17:01:00.002+10:00

Today we took advantage of a beautiful day in Sunny Australia to visit the Cotton Tree Pool. It was to be Savvy's first ever real swim in a pool. All in all I'd say it was a very positive experience. Can't wait to start her in Water Babies! She was super cute and the kids all had a blast holding her in the water and swimming for the afternoon.

I just thought she looked so cute in her stroller as we were about to leave I had to take another photo

Cute even from behind! Cute little behind too!

What's up with that face? Well, at least Mesa looks cute!

The sun was just a tad too bright at this point.

2009-09-25T16:58:00.001+10:00

Wow, all 4 kids together for a photo op! Is this really the first time this has happened since birth? I am ashamed! But at least they all look cute. Do I really have 4 children?? I think its official, I've turned into my mother...

Lookin all proud of herself. xoxox

Too bad she's not looking at the camera.

I looked down before we were going to leave and couldn't resist taking a pic of these cute lil' tender tootsies poking out from under the towel. hehehe

What we do for fun

2009-09-24T06:50:00.001+10:00

Anyone who really knows Blaze knows how much he loves his computer games. So he was playing a couple days ago and was so absorbed he didn't even care what was happening to him while he was playing. The girls decided to give him a new look. Whatdya think?

These cute little girls are my friend Sole's kids. They showed up and surprised me that day.

I got my hair cut. Yay! This morning I woke up for the first time with it this short and can I tell you? I LOVE it! It is gonna be so easy to maintain. I love my hairstylist Jaime!

I miss my sis!

2009-09-18T11:17:00.002+10:00

Well its been 3 weeks since Lydia left :( I am SO sad she's not still here. I miss her so much! I am in tears just writing this. So I had come across a few pics this morning that I wanted to post.

We took this pic just before we left to go to the airport. We had both been crying a little right before this pic was taken but our natural beauty has shone right through eh lyd!? hehehe

Lydia always loves to take pics of the funny things around here. Duck crossing. Beware!

Oh! Here are some of the ducks you may see crossing the street where we live. Funny things she gets the kids to do for piccies.

Ok, she wanted a picture of her Blaze and Savvy watching Star Wars. She is such a good Auntie b/c Blaze LOVES Star Wars and she was kind enough to sit through the entire series with him while she was here. (and to be honest, she actually enjoyed it I think!) I think he still owes her a viewing of My Fair Lady isn't that right Lydia?

Savannah's First Surf...4 mos old

2009-09-18T11:08:00.000+10:00

She needed a little help standing up on the board but Rick says she has pretty good positioning. heheh

Papa and Savvy heading out

Hmmmm, I think she's not really enjoying this too much at this stage!

Time with Bubs

2009-09-18T11:02:00.000+10:00

We all have plenty of fun with Savannah every day. Everyone adores her so much and she's such a joy to have in our family! Here are some recent pics, some of which were taken just this morning.

This one was taken a few days ago. Rick was feeling her some rice cereal this night as I went out to YW to do a little presentation on Canada and he decided to give her some food. Note the messy face!

Time with Bubs Con't

2009-09-18T11:01:00.001+10:00

Here is what she looks like when I feed her. Much cleaner face!

She's getting buried in the sand. Hmmmmm, don't think she likes that too much do you?

She got attacked by a lipstick monster! I can't help myself she's just so kissable!

THE Birthday Gift

2009-09-12T14:41:00.000+10:00

Well, you know you're a bad blogger when....it takes you a month to put up a post about your son's birthday! This was probably my favorite bday of the year though despite the delay in posting about it. Why you ask? Well, for pret near a year Blaze has been talking about this Republic Attack Gunship and saying how much he wanted it and saying that if he got it then he didn't want anything else. Just the repulic attack gunship. Nothing else. Well, when its a $170 toy we're talking about then its not gonna come easily. But when all the kid talks about day after day after day for a year, then you start to realize that you MUST get him what he wants! You have to watch the video's in order because the camera ran out of memory.Notice how in the first one he goes for the big box first knowing however that its not the gunship but thinking that it's got to be lego of some sort because of the size and also due to the fact that I put some pasta in the box and it really did sound like lego! His expression after every gift of nothing is unwrapped. Then in the second video right near the end keep your ears peeled for a strange noise that came from Savannah. We all start laughing our heads off cuz it was such perfect timing on her innocent part. Right in the middle of a silent period. Beware cuz I end up acting like quite the freak too. And then to top it all off you can see the result of my eating waayyy too much of pretty much everything since I had Savannah. I'm fully aware though and just want to let you know I'm working on it!

hodgepodge

2009-09-06T17:08:00.005+10:00

All these beach pics were taken the day b4 Lyd left. I let the kids stay home from school and we played all day. It was a fun day.

Savvanah's first trip to the beach. Nice tummy!Her cute little footprint. This was more difficult to get than you'd imagine! When there's only 12lbs to push down it isn't easy to get a good firm impression.

The kids finally figured out a way to get away with murder! Incapacitate the mother...very bright!

ahhhhhh!

they buried each other and then I buried the last person

I just thought Id put up a few pics that we have taken lately. My sissy has left me. I am so sad. We had the greatest time while she was here. She got to know our family heaps better and vice versa. I miss her so much! I wish she could have stayed and finished her schooling here. But I understand her needing to go back. And she wanted to stay just as much as I wanted her to. I guess she's just as crazy as I am! I think she has definetly proven what a good auntie she is. She got several dirty looks from the kids and even one "I don't like you!" That just proves to me that she's doing a good job as an aunt. Not all fun and games but a teacher at the same time. Last night at the dinner table Blaze was dishing up his food and had his plate too far away from the pot of food and Candace says, "Blaze, I don't think Aunt Lydia would approve of that! Move your plate closer!" It was so funny.

This pic was taken at the Power Boat Club in Golden Beach. Our friend Naz (short for Nazareth) sings in a band with his Dad and brother and this was taken during a break. We thought we looked pretty cool all in black. But actually, I think lydia and I are the only cool ones. The guys are just trying to catch up to us. This is actually our new favorite thing to do is go and hear their band. They are really good and they play at clubs all over the Sunny Coast and we can watch the crazies dance after they've had a few. It won't be the same without you Lyddie!

Lydia and I climbed Mt. Coolum a couple of times before she left. Talk about a good workout! And you're rewarded up top with a gorgeous view of part of the Sunshine Coast where we live.

This is the view from up the top

On a good note, we got a package from Grandma Betty Jean in the mail. It had two adorable little outfits in there that I can't wait till Savannah fits into! Thanks so much! Also, I'm in the middle of getting Savannah's passport so that we can make our first trip overseas to come visit all our friends and family. I can't wait to board that plane and say goodbye to Australia for a few weeks and be back in my homeland. I plan on visiting family a plenty in Utah including family of mine as well as Rick's family. So ya better get ready cuz we're comin! Hoping Rick will be able to make it too. I was planning on leaving within 2 wks but a glitch has come up and its gonna be at least 4 so hopefully he can come for a couple weeks.

Savannah's new little friend Tiggy. Or should I say BIG friend! Tiggy is obviously quite taken with her don'tcha think?

I've also been working Mondays. Yuck. Mondays are now my least favorite day. Probably Rick's favorite though as he gets to stay home and play with Savvy all day. He is such a good Papa! Father's Day was just today here in Australia and we spoiled Rick with a gift bucket as opposed to a gift basket. Thought he would get some good use out of another bucket rather than a basket that would no doubt just end up kickin around and getting thrown away sooner or later. It was full of good stuff for him to enjoy.

Buderim Falls

2009-08-13T08:59:00.003+10:00

On Tuesday Lydia, Savannah and I went to Buderim Falls. It is so sweet! It takes about 15 min max to get there and then you hike down this little trail about 300m to get to the main waterfall which of course is nothing like Waterton waterfalls but is good enough for me at this point. Then from there you can hike in several different directions and follow along the falls/pools. We took a classic school days lunch with us too. It consisted of a PB&J sandwich, an apple and 2 cookies. But then I suggested we add something else as a bonus, a juice box and some chips. We've been talking about how when we were kids all we got in our lunches was a sandwich, apple and cookies and how we used to eat every single bit of our food because well, when thats all you have, you eat it all because its sure better than going hungry right? We used to NEVER throw things away, leave food in our "book bags" or bring them home and let them sit around for our mother to find! But my kids are doing that ALL the time! So I've decided that from now on, things are getting simplified and my kids are only getting a "classic school days lunch" from now on. Yesterday the kids had a day off from school. Aussies and their days off man! It's pathetic. Anything for a break from work or school. They had a day off for some sort of fair in Brisbane. So I took Blaze and Mesa and their two friends to the falls. They had a blast! Guess what I packed them for their picnic lunch? Yup, you guessed it! The Classic School days lunch. How much of it did they eat? You guessed it again! All of it! Cool, I love learning these lessons in motherhood.

Turning a new leaf

2009-08-07T08:30:00.004+10:00

Well, great news! Savannah is officially been given a clean bill of health from the pediatrician! She's been getting fortnightly blood tests and become a pro at getting her heel pricked. No crying at all usually except the last time when a new girl did it and must not have been as good. Two weeks ago her hg levels had dropped slowly to 98 and then 2 days ago had it tested again and it has gone up to 107! Which means that her red blood cell factory is now in full production! Yay! I was soooo happy yesterday when I found that out! Annnnd, also she has been gaining approximately an ounce a day and now weighs 11lb3! She's smiling a ton nowadays as well and cooing and just being downright precious. It's hard to get a good pic of her smiling because my camera is a little on the slow side and if I'm holding a camera she doesn't seem to be too interested in looking at me and smiling but would rather keep her eyes focused on this strange contraption I'm holding.

Haha what a cute little face! So funny.

The best smile I could get on my own with a camera. Lydia is going to have to help me out with this one!

How cute is she??

Ok, so Rick thought it would be fun to let Savannah try some orange a couple nights ago. Turns out, she loves O.J! I know...she's only almost 3 months old but we don't do this on a regular basis. Although she has tried a strawberry as well and loves those too. Anyways, should be fun when she starts eating for real. I have a video to post as well.

Summer finally held Savannah the night before she left. She claims she doesn't "like" babies....someone should tell her thats a no no to say to a mother with a baby...

My Crazy Dad

2009-07-27T12:55:00.005+10:00

Oops! The pictures came before the words...

My Crazy Papa before the haircut. All the men in our family decided to go bald all together one day out on the farm. The things we do for cheap entertainment!

After the haircut...turns out that's all he needed to become a sane individual! He has the kindest eyes doesn't he?

I just realized that Father's Day came and went and I never dedicated a post to my wonderful father. Now that is not an indication of how much I love him and what a great guy I think he is at all! Here are 10 things I love about my Dad.

1. He's very kind, patient and gentle.

2. He rarely ever spanked me or yelled at me when I was a child.

3. He has a great sense of humor and can hear a word, any word and come up with a song with that word or topic in it. He also is really good at telling corny jokes!

4. He got smart a few years ago after his rebellious years and cut his hair. hahaha

5. He sings and plays the geetar

6. He taught me how to say geetar

7. He is a hard worker

8. He enabled me to learn how to play the piano by labeling the keys from middle C to the octave up and then made a chart of the notes and labeled them as well. From there all I had to do was teach myself. He also listened to me play for hours and hours and hours on end and has never told me to give it a rest.

9. One time as a young teenager when I made pinapple meatballs and forgot to put the salt in and frankly I thought it tasted terrible, he told me it was great (even though I thought it wasn't...at least until he said that) I'll never forget that.

10. When I was 14 and drove the car into the ditch and knocked down 3 fence posts he never got mad but instead taught me to "get up on my feet" and try again. He let me finish driving home that day.

My Papa has always shown me that he loves me. He's always there for me when I need him. Whether it be to fix a car, do some odds and ends for me or watch the kids. He is well known and liked by everyone in Raymond and anyone else who knows him likes him too. I'm so proud to be a Christensen and to be Peter Christensen's daughter. I love you Dad!

The Photo Shoot

2009-07-27T08:24:00.001+10:00

Rick is probably so sick and tired of getting his picture taken! Since the day before Savannah was born he has been involved in 3 photo shoots. Poor guy. But the camera loves him! The latest was just a few minutes with Summer in front of the camera. He took a break from the job site and did this. I loved every single shot. He is so handsome its no wonder he has such beautiful daughters!

This is so typical. Rick saying something funny and whoever's with him laughing. I love this shot.

Is he too cool or what?

2009-07-27T08:17:00.000+10:00

When Summer was here my photographer friend took some professional photos of her at the beach. There were so many gorgeous photos to choose from! SUmmer is such a pretty girl to begin with although she doesn't think so. I hope she feels differently now! I really love the ones with her dad too. Love you Summer! My gorgeous girl!

Little Fishy

2009-07-27T07:23:00.003+10:00

Wow! That last video took 2 days of trying to load and that was so frustrating! I hope this one doesn't have the same problem. I ended up having to allow pop ups on this site and that seems to have done the trick.

This video is of Rick doing the little fishy song with Savannah. I don't know where he learnt it but it is so stinkin cute! I laugh everytime he does it. He also does this other wiggle thing sometimes when she's fussy and it kiind of makes her forget what she's fussing about. The look on her face is priceless. Mesa is always trying to be the center of attention though. She doesn't realize that everything is not all about her so I apologize for her in the vid. Sometimes she's just downright embarrassing. I tell her this but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Hope you enjoy the vid!

Baby Car Wash

2009-07-25T10:03:00.003+10:00

Blaze and Mesa wanted to give Savannah her bath today. It was a bright sunny warm morning so that made for excellent outdoor bathing conditions. I'm sure Savannah is one of the only bubs who get to enjoy their baths out of doors. As you can see, she loves them!

Sky High

2009-07-24T12:05:00.004+10:00

A couple weeks ago there was a jumping thing at the plaza so I took the kids for a 4 min jumping session and they all had a go. It was fun to watch them and Lydia joined in the fun. I was going to go back with Rick but for some reason we never ended up making it back :( I've never done anything like that before so was keen on it. I'm the type of person who loves rollercoasters and the like and will rarely turn down a scary ride. In fact never turn down a scary ride.

Blaze loved it so much he wanted to go on it again and again and again. He jumped the highest

Mesa was more scared than Blaze which surprised me quite a bit

Here she is doing a somersault

Here's Lydster

Candace aka Chicken Woman!

my sickness

2009-07-23T14:07:00.005+10:00

haha i'm such a weirdo! I was just looking through my photos and saw these. would you believe I actually PAY my kids (those who are brave enough...or should i say desperate enough?) to pinch their whiteheads? You'll be 50 cents richer if you let me inflict pain upon your nose in order to give me some sick satisfaction that I'm actually doing some clean up in this world. Lydia took these photos while I was in the hospital after having Savannah. She got some great shots eh?

Odds n' ends

2009-07-23T00:44:00.006+10:00

Here she is in the super ultra cozy blanket from Aunt Lynne

I have been taking some cute pics of Savannah and other things and thinking how this that and the other would make for some good blog entries and then I never get around to putting them on. So I'm going to try and be more dilligent at that for the next little while. In the meantime here are a bunch of those pics and this will be a bit of a random entry trying to fit in odds and ends of the latest goings on.

Nick is fascinated with Savannah. He may not admit it but I can tell. He can't even walk by her without stopping to take a look most times. Here he is getting baby fever. Haha!

Aunt Lydia loves Savannah too.

Savannah and her big chubby tummy. Complete with an "outie"
Mesa is one of her biggest fans. I thought this was a cute pic. Making the same faces. :)

Summer has been here for the past 2 weeks and it has flown by! She is leaving tomorrow and Rick and Lydia are accompanying her to Fiji for 5 days and then she'll be homeward bound. It has been really nice to have her around I must say. I have had "A Whole New World" from Aladdin running through my brain as it is the only song she played on the piano that I recognized until I taught her chopsticks last night. She hung out with the kids, did Candy's makeup and went shopping with her and she has helped out in the basement of our house trying to get it ready for renters and gotten to know my sissy a bit and I think its safe to say she loves Lydster more than me! (Big surprise) I am already looking forward to her next visit.

Here we are. Me teaching her chopsticks.

The kids have all had sports days at school recently and here are the results

Candace - 4th place in 400m

Blaze - 1st place in 800m relay

Mesa - 1st place in 400m as well as 1st place in 800m relay

I am proud of all of them! It was fun to watch them run their hardest and reminds me of my days as a runner.

Well, it is now 130 am and I need to get some more sleep. I wanted to get this out though. I'll blog more later!

Thank you Aunt Lynne!

2009-07-22T08:48:00.003+10:00

Yesterday was a fun and exciting day as we got a package in the mail from Aunt Lynne filled with goodies for Savannah. Several cute as blankets, and lots of cute cowgirl baby clothes. You should have heard me as I looked through everything! It was, "ooohhhhhh! look at this! Ohhhhhh!, how adorable! ohhhhhh! this is so sweet!" for a good 10 min. Among the blankets was this fuzzy little number which Savannah clearly likes. I have just taken these pictures less than 10 min ago and by the time the pictures finished uploading onto the computer I turned around and this is what she looked like so I had to take just one more. Here is a video of her saying a big baby thank you!
More pics to follow I promise!

Long time...

2009-06-14T07:27:00.007+10:00

I love being in the warm bath. It reminds me of when I was in mommy's tummy :)
Could I be any more relaxed?

Chillin after a good feed

Same feed, same chill. Mommy thinks I am so stinkin cute!

Me and Daddy are the same! We both love our toques!

A bit blurry but oh well. Cute as still.

I know its been ages since I posted last. I really wanted to keep up on this once Savannah got home but have been an idiot. I have gone through some strange times since I had this baby. I haven't wanted to talk to people on the phone, just wanted to keep in my own little circle here and enjoy my time with Savannah being a fresh lil bun out of the oven. She's actually still supposed to be inside of me! 8 more days till my due date. Wow. She turned 1 month old yesterday and sometimes I feel like I've had her forever and then others I feel like I can't believe she's a whole month old! She has definetly been such a pleasure and a joy to my soul. I am living the dream of what every mother thinks their first baby is going to be like except then its not. It is amazing. She is such a darn good baby I honestly enjoy every single moment with her. I am so calm and confident, never frustrated with her, never wish away any of her little moments or hoping that she "grows out of them" or grows up. In fact I wish she would stay this way forever sometimes. I don't even mind getting up in the night with her! I know, I'm probably making some wonder what kind of drug I'm on or perhaps others are rolling their eyes thinking whatever! But its true! I'm for sure living some kind of dream. I hope I never wake up.

Besides being a brand new mommy again, I'm also enjoying keeping many world wars at bay between the other children, listening to them come up with reasons why I should let them come to dinner with the adults for Aunt Lydia's birthday, watching them hula-hoop (see video) and doing alot of baking and cleaning and observing Rick doing construction on our house. (My bedroom is almost done!) The floor is beautiful! and the walls are super cool and just everything is looking so good and I am so impressed with his quality of work. I'll post pics when it is complete I promise.

Yesterday was Lydie's b-day. The big 3-0. Rick slave drove her all day so she didn't get to do anything real fun. Sorry Lyd, but we did go out to dinner to an Italian restaurant and of course had presents and cake minus the ice cream. Triple layer chocolate cake. Yummmmmo! I'm so happy to have her here with us. She is such a great help and just plain ol good to have around.

The followin video is of Candace ad Blaze doing the hula hoop. Which brings me to ask, Does anyone know why it is called a hula hoop? Well, apparently its because you do the hula with a hoop around your waist and hence the term. How come I never knew this?? I must be completely out of it for the first 33 years of my life to not put that together!

I'm thinking of coming over to Canada sooner rather than later. I just saw today that you can fly to North America for under $1k taxes incl. I just need to figure out how to get the cashola first! Maybe I should do a massive bake sale. Hahaha.

What's new

2009-05-26T17:56:00.003+10:00

She is so pretty isn't she? Yummmy.The tube is a naso-gastric tube that she gets fed through.

Rick's first cuddles with bub.

My first ever time holding her. The doctors were just about to put in a central line which was going to go from the crook of her arm all the way through the vein and end up in her heart so that she could get TPN (total nutrition) through this line because at the time she wasn't tolerating her feeds. But the doctor couldn't get the line in the right spot so they left it to try again later and by the next day she started tolerating her feeds so they ended up not doing it at all. Yay! Rick had given her the blessing so I totally believe that's why the sudden turnaround. :)

Ok, I am so in love with my new little frog! I can't get enough of her. I just can hardly stand to be away from her. I see her every other day when I make the 90 min trek to Brisbane but today was my last day going there as tomorrow morning she will be transferred to Nambour Hospital which is only 20 min away. Then I will beable to go every day. Yippeeeee! Savannah from what I know of her is a very good little bub. Really content and chill. Today she was awake for about an hour which was sweet. I love looking at her eyes and it seems as if she's really enjoying figuring me out.

Rick for some reason got a kick out of taking this pic. The nurse was taking her little stickers off of her before her bath and of course she didn't like it!

She has made excellent progress and made a complete turnaround within a 24 hour period of time after Rick had given her a blessing and she had her first ever cuddles and first bath on day 8. It was so cool to see that. I am so thankful to have Rick and the priesthood in our presence. He is such a darn good daddy! He normally can never sit still for any length of time and starts to get restless unless he is super tired or watching a movie. But put lil Savannah in his arms and he is content to just sit and sit. It is so cute to watch him with her. He makes all these little noises to her and gives her whisker tickles.

See any resemblance? What a character. He is so in love.

What else has happened are 2 birthdays. I haven't had the time to post about Mesa and Candace's birthdays but we had parties for them. I hate to just touch on them like this but better than nothing right? My life is just a little strange right now. Candace's was a real hum dinger I'll tell ya. Blaze and Mesa were being so selfish and bratty during her party. They were both really cranky and Lydia felt sick to her stomach and Candace was practically laying on the couch in her blankets. I was also feeling somewhat depressed but tried to put on an act of happiness. I think next year will be better. Maybe?

She is a great poser for the camera.

Caught in the act. I can't believe she's 13!!!!!

It's...a GIRL?!

2009-05-19T14:44:00.006+10:00

Rick trying to be like his big brother Steve.

Us on the way to the hospital

Savannah Ivory Miller was born May 13 at 11:33 am and was shown to me for about 15 sec and I was able to give her a small kiss before they whisked her away to intensive care. She had trouble breathing and had to be intubated straight away and hooked up to all sorts of monitors and such. Had 2 arterial lines put in through her belly button so they didn't have to keep prickiing her heel every 4 hours for bloods. She was on the o2 for a couple days and then graduated to a CPAP just to help her along a bit. a couple days after that they took her off CPAP (thank goodness as it was terrible to see her with that on) and is now breathing solely on her own. In the meantime she wasn't tolerating her feeds and lost over a pound of her 6lb5oz birthweight so they put her on a TPN(total parental nutrition)to help her gain back some weight which has worked and then after a 24 hour break from breast milk, they put her back on the bm and shes tolerating feeds much better now. I won't beable to see her till tomorrow and its pouring rain right now so I am not a happy girl. The baby blues have definetly kicked in.

My first ever sighting of bubby.

In some ways she is getting better and then others still struggling. But I have hope that she will be well enough to be transferred soon to Nambour hospital which is only 20 min away as opposed to 90 to the Brisbane hospital she's in. Basically we're waiting for the bili levels to get down and stay down and get rid of the arterial lines. Nambour won't take a baby who has arterial lines, who isn't tolerating feeds and who requires more than one set of lights. Anyways, here's a few pics. Not too many cuz how many pics can you have of a bub who doesn't really change her scenery and looks the same everyday. I rarely have even got to see her with her eyes open! And have not been able to hold her yet either. Boohoo! That is very difficult.

Savannah with her CPAP machine on. I hated to see her with tubes shoved up her nose and she didn't like them either. She's been much happier since the CPAP came off. And, boy oh boy, she loves her soother big time!
Ohhhhhh! How cute is she?
I loved this pic of her cute little mouth open and the nurse said if she's gonna wear sunnies they might as well be stylish. Nothin but the best. So she made her a pair of Prada's

Intubated and all geared up.

This is the best picture I have of her without her sunnies on. This was the first time I really saw her.

Her blood transfusion happening. Poor lil thing. I hope it didn't hurt too bad to have that nasty needle stuck in her foot!

Mesa was the first lucky one to get to see her lil sis. She was ever so lucky to beable to touch her foot with one finger too. They don't allow children under 18 to touch the babies in NICU. They are too germy. Understandable.

Things I've learned from my Mother

2009-05-12T01:00:00.003+10:00

Well, technically Mother's Day is over. Its been over for 2 days on this side of the world and I had every intention of putting up a Mother's Day post for my own mom. Sort of an ode to mom. I was actually a bit pre-occupied yesterday though and didn't have time to do it before I left the house at 10am only to return home at 6pm. So I thought that since I am really bad at sending cards I'd just write this and then she could read it and then she wouldn't have to feel either A) feel bad about throwing out the card eventually or B) Keep the card to clutter up her house. And I don't want either of those to happen so this is my Mother's Day gift to you Mom!

My mother has taught me many things throughout my life. Here's some that I can think of right now.

1. How to work-never thought I'd be thankful for that all those long hot days in the greenhouses

2. How to cook and LOVE it-she set the wonderful example for me and I know if it wasn't for her I would not be a cooker or a baker today

3. How to clean-my mom is the BEST cleaner ever. She is so thorough and never does a job halfway. I am the same way.

4. How to pray-although I never realized that repetitiously was not the way to go. I can still remember the exact same prayer I used to say throughout my youth!

5. How to say "hellsy bellsy child!"

6. How to not let my kids get away with too much.

7. How to be "the meanest mom in the whole wide world"-Aren't you glad I ended up with children "just like me"?

8. How to serve others-my mom is the Queen of serving others. She will do anything for anyone anytime and with a smile on her face. She has helped ME out more times than I can ever even begin to thank her for.

9. How to be the best yeller in the house-My mom rocks when it comes to yelling. Now that she doesn't have any kids to yell at anymore she yells for the dog which is very entertaining. Keeeeeeeepppperrrrrrrr! heheehe I think every mom needs to really know how to yell, even if she rarely does it!

10. How to hiccup and sneeze at the same time-wait...she set the example for that but I don't think anyone can do it like her. Right mom?!

I've just realized I'm not the greatest daughter though as I only have 2 pictures on my computer of my mother and one of them is of her and my sister making pig noses (obviously my sister's idea) That is sad. So here is the other one. I am going to be more dilligent next time we are together and get some darn pictures taken of us together!

Thank you Mom for being the best possible mother I could ever have. For not giving me too much leash as a teenager and reigning me in when I needed it which was often. For always backing me up as an adult and helping me to feel like I'm making the right decisions. For listening to me learn the flute and piano and playing them for years and years and never ever ever making me feel like you were tired of hearing the same darn songs over and over again. For laughing alot and also thinking I'm the life of the party. For watching my kids countless hours and weeks even and taking them to work with you and never making me feel like you didn't want to. For not ever actually giving me away to the Indians or throwing me in the Catholic Charities Clothes Bank for real (even though I probably deserved it) and for just all round setting a darn good example for me to live by and for raising me in the gospel and carrying on the awesome heritage that we have in our family tree. You're what I would call a sucessful parent...AND a sucessful Grandparent. Love you!

Culinary Dusasters...I mean Disasters

2009-05-05T17:49:00.004+10:00

Ok. NOT a good day for me in the kitchen. First I make a batch of Bacon Cheese Muffins. They turned out awesome. That's where the awesomeness ended. I continued on to make some hashbrowns and bacon. Parboiled the potatoes to speed up cooking process. I do it all the time so nothin to it right? Well, I ended up frying mashed potatoes. Not happy about that. Ok, so I am a screw up at this point. I'm not used to messing up like this so I'm bummed out and decide to skip the bacon all together. Then I need to bake the rest of the sugar cookie dough. Nearly burnt those and they were saved in the nick of time thanks to Mesa saying "Mom I think the cookies are done!" SHOOT!!!! Screw up #2. This is all getting too much for me to handle. No more cooking till supper time. I have this yummy lasagna supper planned and have just returned home from the store with the necessary ingredients. Purposely not getting lasagna noodles cuz I know I have some at home. Turns out I only have half of what I need. Ok well, time to improvise and use some other pasta as well. Harmless right? Yeah but that means my lasagna won't be perfect like usual but I just have to suck it up. If I had any inclination of what was going to happen next I would have been happy enough. So an hour later I go and take my labour filled lasagna out of the oven and what happens? I am doing it one handed because I have cut my finger and my hand decides to give out and SLAM! The lasagna is all over the floor! Oh my GOSH!!! What an end to a perfectly disasterous day in the kitchen. I can't believe it but I was able to control myself. Didn't say anything I shouldn't have. Didn't even cry. So what did we have for dinner you ask? Well, lasagna of course! My dear sweet husband came to the rescue and picked it all up off the floor and back into the pan it went and well, I only got 1 cockroach leg in my serve! hahahaha jokes about the leg! Ready for your comment about that Lib! Looking at these photos disgusts me and I can't believe we actually ate it! Well, at least I can laugh about it right? A little extra germs never hurt anybody anyways!
Oh, and I forgot to mention that yesterday I made a Lazy Daisy Cake which I have done so many times before and only one other time have I burnt the icing. Yesterday made 2. DOH!

The Daily Grind

2009-05-05T11:44:00.005+10:00

Ever wonder why one day can be so darn good and the next so darn not so good? Why is that? Yesterday I had an awesome day. The kids were home from school. I made sugar cookie dough for Mesa and her friend to bake and decorate, did stuff on the computer (none of it organizational I'm afraid) and just basically concentrated on my job as a mother. It was really refreshing. I've realized how much I miss being a stay at home mom 24/7. That's one reason I can't WAIT till baby Miller gets here! That means I don't have to go to work!!!!! Yay! I just get to concentrate on my calling as a wife and mother and that sounds so good to me. I am so bloody excited every single day thinking of the moment I get to meet him/her. As for when that's gonna happen I just don't know. I technically have 7wks till full term but am 90% sure its coming quite a bit earlier than that. Anti-D antibodies are playing a part in that. So for now after 2 scares 2 days in a row and thinking that tonight's the night, I am a bit more relaxed and just taking it day by day. Thank heavens this baby is a mover and a shaker. He/she just never stops! I'm chasing body parts around in my tummy and thinking what a character he's gonna be.

Well, tomorrow my sissy arrives fresh from Canada and so I am really looking forward to becoming really close to her in the next few months. She's my only sis and I really hope she can stand being around me for 3 months straight w/o going bonkers! I would add a photo at this point but am on Rick's laptop and there isn't one single photo on here! So I'll have to do it later on the other computer. I promised Rick I'd have the lawn mowed, Lyd's room ready and the floors vacuumed btt he gets back from the job site. Yikes! I better get a move on!

Positive Parenting 101

2009-05-04T09:21:00.004+10:00

Our ward put on a seminar last night called Positive Parenting:What the experts know but don't tell you! Well, I decided that this may be beneficial for the health and safety of not only my children but myself so Rick and I went. I was very prepared and took a notebook and pen so I could make some notes. I've been feeling somewhat desperate at times. Like I'm losing control (or have maybe never had it) in my job as a mother.

So I must say at the very beginning of the slide presentation the parenting guru from LDS Family Services had a list of common parenting mistakes. Hah! I sat there thank goodness in the dark so hopefully no one could see the guilt written all over my face. I chuckled a few times because the mistakes were "so me". But I did learn that even though I am guilty as charged in the bad parenting department, I needn't worry. Just start fresh today and don't beat myself up for it. I just hope I haven't passed the "point of no return" where I may have already screwed my kids up so bad there's no hope for them. hahah

Point taken #1

Parenting is about YOU. Not about your children or their behaviour. A sucessful parent is one who has loved, sacrificed, cared for, taught and ministered to the needs of the child(ren). If you have done all the above and your child turns out to be an unsuccessful human and a wreck, then it doesn't mean you are not/have not been a sucessful parent! What a load off! I have always sat here and thought that if your kid turns out crappy then you weren't successful but how wrong I was!

Point taken #2

A few mistakes made that I thought hit too close to home were

being moody and angry, ( BIG check)

trying to control the child's agency, (check)

always being right-they are always wrong and you are always right, (check check)

having too high of expectations (check)

Point taken #3

Discipline is about teaching NOT punishing. Children need to experience natural consequences for their actions and the discipline needs to fit the crime. Logical consequences are to be agreed upon in advance which then enables the consequence to do the teaching. Eg: This morning I came downstairs to a bowl of carmel popcorn that was no more. Who was the culprit? I had my immediate knowledge based upon past experiences who was to blame for the disappearing popcorn and when I approached that child it was vehemently denied. Not just once but over and over again. Well, the truth finally came out which has made the punishment 1/3 as severe as it was gonna be and now as I type he is carrying out his punishment. I would have thought that tabasco sauce may have been a good consequence. That was before last night. Now it is lines

"I'm sorry I lied about eating the carmel popcorn." 100 times. I think its working. We shall see. I know he's certainly not happy about it. But it is known that the next time he is caught in a lie then this is what will happen. It's like if you are speeding down the freeway and get caught you know darn well what will happen.

Well, Bottom line is, I'm glad I went to the seminar. I'm really glad I made carmel popcorn last night. It was AWESOME! Here's my recipe if you want it. Comes from my own mother's recipe box.

Mom's Carmel Popcorn

3/4 c. butter

2/3 c. brown sugar

2/3 c. white sugar

1/2 c. golden syrup

Boil for approx 5 min depending on how thick you want the caramel. I like it fairly thick. Add 1 tsp vanilla after removing from heat. Pour over 1 c. kernels (popped) (large tupperware bowl full) You really need to sift through the bowl of kernels to end up with the nice fluffy popcorn and not seeds that will break your teeth.

Thanks to my mom for her awesome tradition of making this when we were kids and therefore allowing me to make for my own family and lovin every minute of it!

Hidden Talents-The Braid Master

2009-04-28T15:03:00.003+10:00

Well, I guess my dear husband has been hiding a talent from me for quite some time! I also suppose his talent can be credited due to the fact that he had 4 little girls with whom to practice on at times throughout the last 28 years. Mesa came and wanted her hair braided which I was happy to do but told her it would have to wait until i was feeling a little less tired so she turned to Rick who immediately agreed to the task. I wasn't expecting much however was pleasantly suprised when it turned out to look quite good. See for yourself! Compliments welcome!Why is she such a poser? Not my idea for her to pose like this!

Lets see...what else has been happening? Well, only one other thing of worthy note as far as I can remember. Yesterday Blaze and Mesa were in a cross country race and Mesa came in 4th in the girls and Blaze came in 8th. They both love running. Blaze wanted to wear these shorts to school which he had worn for the last 5 days in a row pretty much and when I told him to change he said, "but these shorts make me run fast!" No further arguments from me. Well Blaze, those aren't your school shoes so go change into your school shoes please, "but I can run faster in these shoes!" again, no further arguments from me. This morning however it was "Blaze, those aren't your school shoes. Go change please" No further arguments from him.

I swear I had thought of a couple things earlier that were blog worthy but I've forgotten what they were! Doh! I hate it when that happens! I'll definetly check back in if that changes.

The Game of Life

2009-04-25T12:28:00.004+10:00

Last night I made $1.33 million dollars and ended up living in a country estate. Nice way to end a long long day I must say! I was an athlete for a night and I got married, never had any children but somehow ended up with a grandchild. Go figure? Actually Blaze wanted to play a game so I volunteered even though I'm pretty much a lame-o when it comes to playing with my kids. I have to say I haven't had that as a strong point even from the time they were wee things. Why? I don't know, but I thought what the hay and we played a round. Well I'll be darned if I didn't really enjoy myself! I think the most gratifying thing was knowing that I was spending time with my cute boy and not sleeping. hahaha

I wanted to put this cute pic in of him when we lived in Poway. Its one of my faves for sure. Rick found this hat somewhere and brought it home for Blaze.

This of course is my funny man trying to look as cute as Blaze. Hmmmm, I don't think he succeeded even though IS pretty darn attractive! hah!

I have to tell something else that Blaze said to me. So I've had this problem tooting ever since I've been pregnant. I know, that's totally embarrassing to say but Blaze says to me "Mom, do all pregnant ladies do that alot?" I laughed because I realized that he has noticed a difference between the way I am now and the way I used to be! I told him yes that I think so. Maybe I should try to control myself a little better around my kids eh? I wouldn't want them following my example! Anyways, now that I've totally embarrassed myself....

Go play a game with your kids! You'll have fun.

The woes of pregnancy

2009-04-22T16:58:00.003+10:00

Well, I want to thank Robyn for her comment on my last post. That made me feel better. They probably are wrong and I've decided that even if it is true, a sumo baby is better than no baby at all right? I've felt like crap today. I woke up in the night like I do every single night and was awake for 2 1/2 hours. Yuck. Then this am went visiting teaching and was seriously so tired I kept closing my eyes to rest. Came home and had a little lunch which consisted of a sloppy joe (homemade cuz you cant buy sloppy joe mix here and besides homemade is sooooo much yummier!) and then had a nap. I must've been seriously tired cuz I actually slept! That NEVER hardly ever happens to me! Sleeping in the daytime? What is that? Then it took me forever to even feel awake after that. I hate that feeling. The other day I went to get my glucose test done and the lab tech says, 'you can't do that today'. I'm like 'what!?' She says you have to be fasting and I say 'but I am fasting already!' She then explains that they only do those tests first thing in the morning and asks how long I've been fasting for. I couldn't even tell her because I just burst into tears so upset that I have to fast for 8-12 hours before the test! I'm saying, not on your life! Inreality it had only been abou an hour since I'd had an apple but I was so hungry already! So emotionally, I WAS fasting. She tries to get it out of me why I'm doing the 2 hour test anyways if the 1hour had fine results and I couldn't even tell her I was so emotional. All I could say was I can't do the test at all and that I would talk to my doctor. What an idiot I am! Total basket case eh? Crying because I can't take a gtt when I want to!

Yesterday I went to Myer where Jes works and got her to do my foundation cuz I reckon I need to start wearing some. My complexion seems awful these days. Really splotchy and just not smooth and peachy. Well, she put on this awesome stuff and I thought I looked fabulous! Jes is so cute and I love having her and Nick around. They are a pleasure. I'm secretly hoping they decide to have a baby soon! hehehe They're really good with the kids and Jes and I work right beside each other in the plaza so its nice to go out to lunch every now and again.

The smooth peachy complexion I got thanks to Jes and her $66 foundation

I'm going to buy some but not until I run out of the sample she gave me to try at home. It costs $66 a bottle! Yikes, I have to feel rich before I go for it. It doesn't take too much to perk me up these days tho. I feel so drab and huge and just bleck that the littlest thing is like Wow! I also got some new lipstick from Avon. 3 for $10 and I'm wearing a new colour in the pic. So yesterday was really my day. Today? not so much.

Big babe on the way?

2009-04-17T13:52:00.003+10:00

Ok, I am freaking out here. I just got home from an ultrasound. The last one I had was about 19 days ago. 19 days ago baby was 8 days ahead growth wise. Today? Oh my, 16 days ahead of schedule! I'm really really hoping that the tech has made a mistake of some sort, but at this rate I'm gonna have one huge baby on my hands! NOOOOOOOO!!!!! I have another scan in 12 days. My glucose test came back as normal. But now I have to do a 2hr test to make sure. Gestational diabetes is the main cause for a big baby. My babies have never been big. 7lb4, 7lb13, 7lb14. And not in that order either. Guess how much this baby weighs already? 2.2kg which if I calculate correctly is a whopping 4lb14. And it still has 9 1/2 wks to go till full term! Please do NOT let me have a big baby please please please!

2009-04-13T11:54:00.003+10:00

This is what I feel like or at least what I will feel like by the time the kids go back to school. It is only day one of term break holidays and the kids and I are home alone. Stranded because Rick has taken the car as his is broke down...again...On one hand I would like him to beable to have a newer more reliable work vehicle but on the other hand I don't know if that would be good because how long will it stay nice inside and out? He's been using my car quite a bit lately because of the weather-who wants to drive around in a topless car when its raining cats and dogs right? And today I noticed a nice big dent in the passenger side on the back quarter. Thanks Rick. I know it was just an accident but still! Grrrrr.

We are actually going to have to buy a 7 or 8 seater very soon as not only are we adding one to the family permanently but my sissy is coming for a 4 month stay as well.

So far the only vehicle that sticking in my head as a possibility is the Prado by Land Cruiser. Cars are really expensive over here so a brand new one is definetly out of the question but it will not be more than 3 years old. Besides, brand new cars lose probably 25% of their value within the first little while anyways right?

Well, any ideas of what to do with the kids while on holidays would be much appreciated. Please help keep me from losing my sanity! What little of it I have left.

4D Scan

2009-04-09T19:25:00.003+10:00

Ok, it's official! Baby Miller has a miller chin I think! You can't really tell in these photos but I reckon its there. The pics didn't turn out so good because the baby wasn't facing outwards but rather towards my back. He said to come back in 2 weeks for another go. It was so cool. The baby kept opening his mouth and nodding his head. At one point it looked like a sneeze and made me laugh. I'll post a video next week but we don't have the video yet cuz we gotta take our USB port in and he'll t-fer it all on there.

29wks and Counting down

2009-04-08T08:28:00.004+10:00

I don't have much time right now. But I'm getting in trouble for not posting any pics of my tummy so I had Rick take these a few min ago. Enjoy. 29 weeks 2 days. I can't wait to meet the little ragamuffin. He's so active and crazy in my tummy! I go to bed feeling him kicking around and wake up to the same thing. Last night he got the hiccups. That was funny. I get a 4D ultrasound tomorrow. So look for pics of that coming soon. Ok, will these pictures finish loading already? I have to go to the store and then to...oh good their done.

Driving me crazy

2009-04-05T17:16:00.002+10:00

Hi All. Its been a while I must admit. I guess my life is pretty boring. My friend Megan from SD just told me that I need to get more stuff on here about baby. Things I'm doing to prepare for the new arrival which if I have my way will happen in 9 weeks. So in order to prepare for the lil' bundle I've discovered ebay thanks to Kelly. She started it all by bidding and winning some baby clothes from and Aussie seller and had them sent to me. They are soooo cute and in such great condition. Brand new condition and they are so teeny! They are all boy clothes so I'm hoping to be able to use them! She really is taking a gamble but what a good deal she got on them and so I decided that I would start looking on ebay for all my major purchases. Things are so darn expensive over here especially when it comes to those big necessities. So far I've gotten a crib, swing, stroller and a diaper bag (brand new) and only spent $298. The diaper bag itself is a Kapoochi bag which retails for around $80 was only $1.25! How that for a deal? My first ever ebay purchase/win. Now that's something I can definetly get into! So tonight I'm hoping to win a car seat. Keeping my fingers crossed.

As for other life, been working quite a bit. I also spent 3 days cleaning up the yard. It took so long because I can only do a couple hours each day and the lawn tools kept going wrong. Grrr. Baby's quite active. It's also measuring 8 days ahead so obviously thriving in its little home. The weather has been crap here. Raining cats and dogs for over a week now. Major flooding going on here. And leaks in our house? Well, we have more than a few when it torrential downpours. Speaking of the phrase "raining cats and dogs", does anyone know where that phrase came from and why? Well, being the studious person I am (hah) I just looked it up and there are actually abour 4 or 5 different suggestions but it seems as though the one that makes the most sense is that back in 17th and 18th century England it would rain so much that often you would see dead cats and dogs flowing down the hillsides and filthy streets. Yuck.

The girls bake a cake

2009-03-15T09:44:00.003+10:00

The kids are always looking for something fun to do on a Saturday and always wanting to play with friends. I'm finding that I would rather have them hang out here and so asked Mesa if she wanted to bake a cake or something which she thought sounded like a good idea but an even better idea if her friends could come and help her. So Mesa, Aqua, and Jesse came over and baked a double layer white cake and wanted to go all out on the icing. Here are some pics of the fun they had.

5 colours of icing??

As scary as she looks

Also as sweet as she looks :)

There was ALOT of tasting going on

The finished product. A bit scary but hey, as long as they're happy with it!

And the picture is.....

2009-03-06T13:01:00.004+10:00

Ok! Well I could think of a million other pics I have that would be so much more interesting and exciting to look at than this one! But this is actually a perfect depiction of the moodiness of my oldest daughter. Actually, now that I look more at the photo I can see that she was in a moment of laughter because this was actually Mother's Day last year if I remember correctly and she was being a poop and so I decided to take some pictures of her acting like a sour puss so she could see what she looked like. She was avoiding the camera which is why she was slouched down and had started to be momentarily happy. Aaahhh, the joys of motherhood....to a 12 year old.

I'm off in search of the perfect house coat. I wonder if that is the current name for them? I want something cottony, cool and light that I can just throw on any old time to go downstairs after waking up or after a shower. I don't know what I'll find but I'm so going to make one if I have to go to 2 more stores before finding MY wrap. It also has to be the perfect length because...well, just because. I'll let you know how my search goes. I know you'll all be biting your nails waiting for me to return! hahahah

Dost mine eyes decieve me?

2009-03-02T06:53:00.004+10:00

So I'm walking in the store the other day and something stops me dead in my tracks.

What does that look like to YOU? Ketchup chips perhaps? Oh MY GOSH! My heart starts beating faster with the thought that this new discovery just may make my day...or my week...or my year! Well, not really putting THAT much hope into some crispy things surrounded by a plastic foil bag. I mean after all, they ARE ripple chips. That's a negative first off. I mean have you EVER had a rippled ketchup chip? I don't think so. But nevertheless I buy and of course buy the pop to go along with it...7-up so it doesn't interfere with the flavour too too much. Mesa was with me and so she cracked em open before we even left the parking spot we were in and after a min or two I say "Well, they're not bad?" hmmm, still analyzing the flavour. They taste alot more like ketchup than their Canadian counterpart (is that the right word btw? counterpart? whatever) My end decision is to give them a 5 or 6 out of 10 based soley on the comparison between my absolute all time classic fave Old Dutch. If I had never had ketchup chips in my life and had nothing to compare them to I would have to say they are pretty tasty. It takes a really bad tasting chip for my tastebuds to reject. After I said they weren't bad Mesa pipes up "Not bad?! Are you kidding me? They're terrible!" I laughed. She's so dramatic at times. Kind of like her mother. ahem!

BTW, this is what it says on the back of the bag "A classic Australian Taste!" Yah right... also, "Two Aussie favourites unite to bring you the Smith's Heinz Big Red flavoured chip. The freshest Australian potato is peeled and sliced...then cooked and seasoned...with the rich and tangy flavour of Heinz Big Red tomato sauce" Hahahaha Tomato Sauce!! That's hilarous. Well, we know one thing Canadian chip companies are better at don't we...I...?

Fries n'Gravy

2009-02-28T10:22:00.004+10:00

Yesterday was my favorite day of the week. I had been offered an extra day of work but had to turn it down because my body said "YOU NEED A BREAK!" And not just a break from work but a break from ANY and ALL work whatsoever. So apart from going to the gym for 30 min the most movement I had was going back and forth from the couch to the fridge and couch to the bathroom. I read a book all day and entertained my tastebuds by eating anything my heart or should I say tummy, desired. Chips, candy, pop, ice cream and of course fries and gravy. So my newest crush is just that. Fries n'Gravy. I'll eat it everyday if I feel until I don't like it anymore. As I'm typing this the french fries are in the oven awaiting the perfect crispness to arrive.What do you think? I had to finish eating them before I even finished this post! aaaahhh! I'm a fries n gravy maniac!

On another topic, I just took blaze down to the park to meet his friend and on the way back I saw Herbie! You know? No. 53. White with blue and red stripes? Who out there

was NOT a fan of Herbie when he went bananas??

Preggy Pics

2009-02-27T07:48:00.007+10:00

23 1/2 wks with #4

Okay, so just like I am curious when I know someone else is preggy and I totally wanna see their cute tummies, I have had many requests to show my tummy. I honestly though I'd be better at this cuz I have wanted to look like this for so so long but until yesterday I had not one pic taken of me showing my tummy since getting this way! I had Candace take one just before I went to work so here it is. I'd like to get some nice professional photos taken actually. But this will have to do for now. I think I look absolutely terrible in it. I'm all squinty cuz the sun was so bright and I didn't put on my sunnies. I had a customer at work tell me yesterday that I seemed to be carrying the baby really well and that I looked like I was "all baby" which was really nice. You know, when you're expecting you rarely think that you look "good" But now since hearing that compliment I have been thinking, "Yah! You DO look pretty good actually!"

I just made a perfect batch of pancakes this am. Don't you love it when they turn out picture perfect and taste even better? I like them with just butter. Yu-umm! I'm still trying to go to the gym as much as possible. I usually only make it 1-2 mornings a week though. It takes every bit of motivation and energy I can muster up to make it there. I really look up to Robyn for being able to be so active during her pregnancy. I thought I would be the same way. I mean, I used to wake at 5 every morning (no alarm) get ready and go to the gym and work out HARD for at least 60 min and come home and go throughout my day and do the same thing over and over 5 days a week. Now? hahaha Its seems like I was a different person back then. But at least I'm not eating major amounts of junk food so I'm not piling on the weight. I've been lucky because I've actually been turned off by pretty much any and all sweets for the most part. I can walk by chocolate bars and candy and ice cream and actually feel gross like I have no desire to partake. And if I do get a hankering to have a sweet its like a couple bites and I'm done. I've had one week where I ate as much chocolate in that week as I had in the whole 4 mos previous combined. So lucky. Anyways, nuff talk, more action!

My husband has a problem

2009-02-19T12:16:00.003+10:00

Ok, so the other I am attempting to make a quick and easy supper and so tuna casserole comes to my rescue. I usually add a can of cream of mushroom soup but there isn't any in the pantry so I go on a hunt sure that I had some somewhere. Well, I open up this cupboard in the basement and what do I see? 5 cases of energy drink! Holy mother! Richard, lay off the drink man! He is seriously addicted.

Well, today is the big guy's birthday. We won't talk about the age cuz know he's a tad sensitive about this issue. hehe...So over 2 months ago I got this email advertising super cheap prices for plane tickets all over Australia and I decide I'm not going to live in a beautiful country and never see any more of it than the area I live in. So what did I do? Something I would NEVER normally do. I bought tickets for Rick and I to go to Sydney on his birthday for the weekend. It was to be a complete surprise as well. I was going to basically kidnap him and not tell him where we were going or anything. How fun eh? Well, a couple things happened to make it hard for us to get away and well, to make a long story short, I told him about the tickets this morning and we would have been on a plane right now going to Sydney but instead I'm blogging about my foiled birthday surprise and he's pouring concrete at the job site. I feel so crappy about this but he was so stoked that it could have actually happened so...I guess we'll have to try again soon. Now anything else I may do for him today seems to pale in comparison to what could have been.

I'll have to post some picss tomorrow of his cake and us all happy on his bday. hahah, you know how he LOVES being the center of attention!

Well, V-Day was sweet cuz we went out for a movie and a donair. Saw the Clint Eastwood movie that's out. Gran Torino. He's awesome.What I loved about this film is that Eastwood's character went from loathing these Asians to caring more about them and doing more for them than he even did for his own family. He sacrificed his most priceless gift for them. Too much swearing in it for sure but Clint E is so cool I just had to forgive it. Awesome story. So if you can handle a lot of swearing then go see it. Also, Richy surprised me with some chocolate and I surprised him by not getting upset that he extended his hour long surf into a 4 hour one. Actually the thought of being upset with him never even crossed my mind. Only thoughts of the fact that I was so happy he was doing something he wanted to do and something for himself for so long and having a good time. We are just so perfect together! Love him!

Hmmm...what do I name this post?

2009-01-26T07:10:00.006+10:00

Well, I started this post AGES ago but the pics didn't upload and then I lost interest. So now because of some demand I am getting to post something new then I got the pics to load this time and hence the text is at the bottom and for some reason I can't cut and paste it to the top now! I am challenged. So read the text below and then check out the pictures. If you want to do it that way...no one's forcing!

Jeesh what the heck is this thing called again? I can't remember it's been so long! Ummm, maybe its called a water something or other....
The famous Crocoseum...Just not the same without ol' Stevo I'm sure

It was really cool seeing crocs. The show actually wasn't as fabulous as I had expected. I'm sure it would have been heaps better with Irwin around to do it though. It was neat though.

I can't believe I let my kids get so close to a croc! I must be insane! hahaha

Here they are in a cave. Some moronic kids who should totally have known better and whose parents sat there and watched them interrupt our photo session wouldn't get out of the way!

This tiger looked magestic.

These turtles were pretty sweet. I'd never seen such big ones before

Don't we look happy?!

These elephants were super cool. Pretty smart too. And huge.

My beautiful mother sent us some money for Christmas so instead of just banking the money and spending it on something we "need" I decided to do something fun with the money instead. None of us had been to the Australia Zoo so we decided to go and make a day of it. Here are some pics from the day. I really wish Steve hadn't gone and died though cuz I think it would have seemed more magical if he were there. But we had a good time and even I had a good time! I know that sounds terrible right? I don't know what my problem is. Its just that things don't generally thrill me like maybe they should. But we had a great time! And I sat there and listened to my kids and thought how funny they are and really enjoyed being around them. They must not have been fighting! hahaha aaannnnnd, I was surprisingly NOT tired enough to feel like I wanted to climb in with a giant lizard or a tiger and take a nap! Thanks mom!

Starting off on the right foot

2009-01-05T12:19:00.003+10:00

Hey! Well, this morning my hero of a husband told me of one more thing he's done to prove that he's my hero! He caught one of the perpetrators who's been sneaking into my house for the past 2 years, eating my baking, eating my fresh fruit, drooling its slime on my floors and making a plain old nuisance of itself. Here's a photo of the guilty party. Now, before you start thinking ohhh! He's so cute! or Ohhh, its just a poor defenseless animal! Or ohhhh! you're so mean! Let me tell you that these things are just overgrown rats. They are disgusting and they emit a smell somewhat like a skunk. They have long disgusting rat-like tails and would shred your arm or hand if you tried to pick one up. Yeah, he's a poser alright. He was caught red handed and was at our mercy since 2am and does he like it? Noooo, not one little bit! But that's ok! Rick was going to take him over to the area where he's building and I said WHAT! You need to take him to the river for a swim is what you need to do! So as far as I know that's what he did. He said he's not a killer except for cats and I said, you would kill a CAT who at least used to be cute and sometimes still are but you won't kill an ugly creature that breaks and enters and makes you crazy? Whatever.

There have been 4 nights of supper in our house since the new year started. We have had curry 3 of those 4 nights. hahah. We went to a movie on Jan 1 called Frost/Nixon. Anyone seen it? It was pretty good and then went to an indian restaurant (which I had sworn I would never do) but we were with friends and they said there will be no Indian music playing there which was my main concern. Anyways, had the best darn curry ever! I love going to a resto and walking away saying, "oh my gosh! That was sooooo good! I will def come back here." The kind of food that makes you want to go in and say thank you for the awesome food it was delish! So that spurred a curry making trend for me. The 2nd night I made it I even made some roti to go with it. Just the bread. Sooooo yummy.

Well, better run now. Gotta go to work for a few hours. Yay! I mean that too! I haven't worked for a couple weeks now and feel the need to do something different. I don't even have to get dressed up b/c they just want me to do some filing in the back. Adios

Last post of the year

2008-12-30T06:43:00.003+10:00

This is a pic of Mesa in her class at school's Christmas program. I think they sang the song "We wish you a Ripper Christmas" (don't even get me started with that one!)

Well, once again I've fallen victim to blogger laziness. I could think to use "too busy getting ready for Christmas" as my excuse but that would just be an outright lie. I didn't do any Christmas baking, hardly any shopping, and I didn't wrap presents till the 23rd. I did make a Christmas dinner though of course which was delish. Nick and Jes came over and the Elders wanted to work for us that day and it just so happened that they didn't have a DA for that night so we gladly invited them to stay with us. The more the merrier!

I only took one photo on Christmas Day. It was of Blaze. I had my camera all out and ready to take pics of my surprised kids as they found what Santa had brought them which included a bike and helmet for Mesa and a cool computer game for Blaze but they had already woken up in the middle of the night and were surprised on their own and when it came time to be surprised for us, they were over it! I actually ended up giving Mesa a lecture for doing what she did. Blaze at least pretended and put on a fairly good show. Mesa needs to work at that. Also, the cat's out of the bag when it comes to Santa. I don't understand what it is with kids these days. When I was a kid, i WANTED to believe in Santa and I wanted my parents to think I believed until I was like 14! But these kids? Well, it's "I know Santa is you because I saw your shopping list...or, Santa isn't real is he mom?..." so I decided well, if they wanna play that way then fine! I'm tired of pretending when the kids don't appreciate or at least play along with me! It takes too much energy and I'm all about tired these days.

It's all I can do these days to even fix supper for my family and do minor necessary clean up jobs. I'll fall asleep at any given time of the day and I have no desire to do anything but read. It's very pathetic I tell you.

Oh! I almost forgot! I also did another thing this Christmas which made my true blue Miller man happy. I made Scottish Stew for the first time! I wanted to call Lynne to find out what to do but by the time I thought about it it would have been the middle of the night in Ontario so I just had to wing it. 3 ingred. Sausage meat, stewing beef and beef broth right? Well, even if its not, Rick said it tasted just as he remembered so he was happy. Me and the kids ate some too. Not too bad. A little meaty for brekky but good otherwise.

Here's a picture of my happy little husband cuz he finally has his Scottish Stew after probably 10 years of missing out! He couldn't keep his eyes open for the picture because he had a major eye problem for a few days where his eyes were ultra sensitive to the light so hence camera flash=pain. I was happy to do this for my Ricky. Love you babe!

So that about wraps it up for our Christmas. I was definetly the Grinch this year. I think I get more and more Grinchy every year I'm away from home for Christmas. I hate hot Christmas's what can I say? I hate not having tons of people around to share in all the joy of Christmas. I think that's the biggest thing. Growing up we always had tons of people around for dinner and all day Christmas Eve and Day and Boxing Day. It was fun and exciting. Now...4 of us this year...I told the kids that's why we're having more b/c that way it'll be funner. haha They seemed to like that though cuz that would mean they would have one more present to open. Well, next year I have a plan. I'm too tired to talk about it right now but I think it's gonna be swell!

Housework

2008-12-01T14:33:00.004+10:00

Does anyone out there just LOVE housework? It is a never ending job I must say. I used to keep my house spic and span all the time. That was when I lived in a smaller house and I had small children at home and didn't find excuses to get out of the house on a daily basis. I always thought that the older the children got, the cleaner the house would get. Aaahhh, I long for those days again. I've found my freedom but in the meantime, the mess has found me. It's quite embarrassing to tell you the truth! I feel so inept as a housewife because I can't seem to stay organized. It's possible that the construction could be causing a bit of the chaos that envelops me day to day.

I see piles of laundry that creep up out of nowhere and sit for days and days begging for some soapy serenity but it gets no attention. And it seems as though once the washing and drying is finally done, it will sit...and sit...and sit. Eventually it makes it's way into the basket folded only to sit some more. I'd love to be laundry actually. What a life. Just sitting. Enjoying the laziness.

Clean floors. I LOVE them! I wear shoes in my house almost 100% of the time because I can't STAND gritty feeling under my feet. Crumbs, sugar, dirt, water drops. YUCK. And they seem to only stay clean for like an hour max after all my hard work. Frustration. That is actually my biggest challenge being under construction. I look at my floors and say, Why should I sweep and wash you? You're just going to be dirty the next time someone walks on you! So I'm sorry Mr. Clean, you've been taking a back seat for quite a while now and it'll be a while longer too.

Windows. I just cleaned a bunch of my windows today. I love clean windows. I hate it when little fingers smudge them up within hours of them being cleaned. I think I should probably enjoy seeiing that? I don't know. Maybe if they were half the size they are now it wouldn't bother me so much.

Bathroom sinks are so nice when they are nice and shiny and white and the taps sparkle. Then your dear sweet husband comes in and trims or shaves and bam! Hello hairy sink! Long time no see! Sometimes he tries his best to clean the hair away but frankly he pretty much sucks at that job. Then there's the fingerprints on the fridge. Why is it that they appear just minutes after being cleaned off? It certainly isn't me doing that. STOP IT!

Well, another day of housework come and gone. I don't love housework. Until it's all done. Then I can relax and chill knowing that I've done my best to provide a welcoming enjoyable retreat. Aaaahhh. I want to go read Twilight now. Oh wait! I'm finished...time for New Moon now. It was really good.

Pickles anyone?

2008-11-27T08:40:00.003+10:00

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

2008-11-24T09:21:00.004+10:00

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!

2008-11-22T08:32:00.004+10:00

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

2008-11-21T19:23:00.004+10:00

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

2008-11-05T05:47:00.002+10:00

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

2008-11-04T18:21:00.005+10:00

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........

Students from afar

2008-10-26T13:03:00.002+10:00

Hello! It has been 2-almost 3 weeks since we have had a couple of students come to stay at our house. They are from Korea and Taiwan. Their names are Jeong and Helen. Super nice girls and funny too. They just have this sort of innocence about them probably because they are not used to our language and culture. But we have really enjoyed having them around. I thought it would be stressful having to make sure they had brekky and supper everyday but it has been exactly the opposite. They help with the dishes at every single meal, and always offer to help out doing whatever. They have been playing games with the girls. You remember those hand slapping games?

Down by the banks of the hanky panky

where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky

saying dip dop diddly eye op

down by the banks of the...ker plop!

They are also real polite and its been a really good experience to have them around.

Jeong from Korea (I think she's a bit afraid to smile in pics!)

Helen from Taiwan

Also, I have to tell you this cool story. A couple weeks ago (yeah I'm really behind on telling this cool story) but the kids went to this little cafe here called The Attic and the owners are strangely nice and generous and they throw a little "party night" for kids every fortnight. Well, they had an eating contest that night which was like a Fear Factor for kids. Well, the winner was going to get an Mp3 player! Wow! I thought, well, Blaze definetly won't be winning that! And then Rick and I took our students out for fish n'chips. YUM! Later on when Rick brought the kids back home (I had already fallen asleep BIG surprise!) Mesa is so excited cuz SHE won the mp3! Cool! Good Job Mesie! Here are some of the things she had to eat.

Vegetable (choice between broccoli and brussel sprouts)

fish eggs

sardines

chocolate with garlic in it

I can't remember the last thing! Shoot! Some sort of animal or something. Will post when I remember...crap!

Anyways, I was pretty stinkin proud of her and Blaze surprised me by coming in 2nd! I guess he really wanted that mp3! Candace actually puked at one stage. Caviar. haha...wish I could've been there. Here she is with her prize...

Pics for my IVF Pals

2008-10-25T08:57:00.006+10:00

One day I stumbled upon this website looking for answers to alot of questions I had while undergoing IVF treatments. It is really interesting to read what other people are going through in their lives and IVF cycles and I have found a wealth of information that has helped me and entertained me throughout. I have been a part of this one particular thread with about 10 other gals and we have gotten to know each other through cyberspace and I thought it would be fun to see what everyone looks like! So they are putting their pics up in various places and I decided I would just put some of my faves up on my blog for them to link up to! Maybe the rest of you will enjoy looking at some of my faves too.

Me n' my Rickie - my best friend and pal. My favorite person in the entire world

My sometimes very bratty children who at times have caused me to wonder why I'm on this journey? But at least they're pretty cute! And actually they are really good kids and very sweet and nice...just not to each other!

My ultra sexy but baaaad to the bone husband!

Well, I don't really like this pic that much but its one of me by myself where I don't look retarded so I thought what the heck!

Me, my friend Andrei from Canada and Mesa

My 2 favorite guys. And then below, Rick and I (obviously)

My new sweet baby - boo boo!

2008-10-17T17:46:00.002+10:00

Ok, this is just too funny! kind of bushy eyebrows for a baby eh? What's up with the right side of the face too? It seems as though all the features, eye ear and mouth are a little bit smaller on the right side! ha ha...good for a laugh anyways!

What do you think about my little new baby boo boo?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

Cool...

2008-10-17T17:13:00.003+10:00

Well, I was right when I said I needed to post something big on my blog in order to get the comments! Unfortunately I can't post something cool like that everyday! :( I am totally stoked that everyone is so happy for us! :) It means alot to have good supporters out there! Just know that we don't take you for granted. Betty Jean is really excited cuz she gets to be a grandma again! My grandma couldn't believe it! All in all everyone is pretty excited.

Most of you know how funny Rick is. He's always full of suprises. Always finding a new way to make me laugh without even trying it seems! I wish I could be so funny. He really is the perfect guy for me cuz I love to laugh! So the other day he sends me this email and it says

"And they said I was too old to have more children. What a joke "i'm still goin strong". Some say I have so many kids I must be a Rock n Roll Star. The truth is I am just a humble carpenter OH YA and the journey continues OH YA !!!"

And then there's this pic attached. I thought it was funny as. So Rick too. I think Summer took this pic when she was here back in May. So I forwarded it to several people cuz he thought it would be a good way to let people in on our good news. Apparently it wasn't clear to everyone what it actually meant and Rick was mortified that people might actually think he was just doing it for no reason at all! haha...too funny.

So I was thinking today and wondering if we could go to a website that would figure out what our kids might look like. You know, combine Rick and my pic together to come up with something funny! So I think I may try to find something. Anyone know of anything? If I find something I'll post for sure. Remember on How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days how she did that? haha...those were some ugly kids!

Start spreadin' the news!

2008-10-16T13:37:00.005+10:00

Well, the news is spreading like wild fire! I guess good news travels fast! I wanted this announcement to be a fun thing and hopefully for all of you reading this blog it will be. So here's a big secret we've been keeping for a whole 18 mos! Libby says she doesn't like secrets so lets get out with it eh?

After 18 mos of IVF treatments, Rick and I are pleased to announce that we are going to be having a baby! Yay! We are so happy about this. There have been so many times that I have wanted to spill the beans but we didn't want to say anything to anyone until one of the beans was growing in my tummy!

I'm 4 1/2 weeks which is very very early and there's a long way to go but we're having fun for the time being. Here's a pic of the embryo that was transferred on Oct 4 at 9:45 am!

Expected due date June 22/09

We look forward to hearing all of your positive comments! Yay!!!!!!!!

Lately

2008-10-10T19:33:00.004+10:00

Here I go again! Waiting forever to post! Actually I haven't hardly looked at anyones blogs either so...I'm preoccupied at the moment. I got a new job. I work at an optometrist office in the mall. Its called OPSM. I've only had 2 shifts but they were both really good and I've done a bit of everything. Repairs, adjustments, phonecalls, booking appts and I even helped 1 older lady pick out a pair of frames. 1st pair I had her try on looked beautiful on her and that was that! My manager who is a super duper nice guy is really happy with me so far. Wait till I start getting mouthy! haha jokes

I wish I could tell you all what I've REALLY been up to lately but I just can't. haha...Maybe that'll get me some comments eh?! On Sunday I made homemade Chicken n' Noodles. Oh my gosh they were soooo delish! Here's a picture of me and mesa making the noodles. So easy and fun to do with one of the kids! She has been the absolute best little girl lately. I'm so enjoying her at the moment. She's been super sweet. A bit crazy and really nice. Good combo. Oh and just so you know, my pasta machine is AWESOME! totally done by hand (no electricity) and the best part? Only cost me $10! (Sally Anns) Now THAT's a deal!

I don't really have much else to say right now. Not really in a computer mood but I've had requests out to post something new so I thought I'd whet your appetite for some good posts coming up!

Blaze wanted to get in on the action too. He really wanted a pic taken. Photography by Candace. Good job Canny, cut me out of the pic! I looked really bad that day so she did us all a favour. I look at those arms of mine though and think...Those are my moms arms!!!

Temples and troubles

2008-09-20T17:20:00.002+10:00

We got back from the temple about 3 hours later than expected. Rick and I also got into a fight cuz I was so stinkin cranky. You know, Rick and I RARELY ever get into a spat and practically the only times we do is when I am hungry and cranky. We left the temple and were all hungry so stopped at my least fave resto Maccas...you know...the golden arches? Well, I DO NOT eat at maccas so canny got a cheesburger combo and rick ordered a wrap of some sort and I was all phissed cuz I couldn't believe my hubby was going against everything I believe in! Well, yes, I am exaggerating slightly. So not only am I annoyed about that but I am getting pretty darn hungry by about 5 min into their eating of the food. So I said, ok, lets stop at the grocery store on the way out of town. Well, little did I know that it was actually going to take us another 15 min or MORE to get there. By the time we drove into the parking lot I had called Rick a jerk and a moron and those are the two most dreadful words in the world for him to be called and he says "Well, I can't even say what you are cuz that would be too mean!" So yeah...NOT a good thing to be saying to me at this point. What I actually need to be hearing is..."Oh honey, I sure love you...do you want some chocolate?" So I'm like, "Don't even stop. Lets just go home." But noooo....he gets out of the car and goes in and I sit there for about 30 seconds or LESS and I hightail it into the store. I find him. We start arguing in the middle of Wooly's and although we are trying to be discreet, a few people are looking at us and Ricks giving them looks like "What the heck are YOU looking at??" And the whole time we're arguing I kept thinking..."hmmm, what can I eat that's fairly low in fat but more importantly, sugar free high in protein and no carbs??" Yeah and I wasn't even thinking "cheap"! hehehe

Well, we actually ended up being ok by the time we left the store. I apologized for being such a crappy wife. He disagreed. I insisted I was one. Then I ate my food I had been thinking about the whole time we were arguing in the store. After that we had a super enjoyable time! I actually don't mind it on the rare occasion that we DO argue because we ALWAYS end up the best of friends afterwards and it makes the good times just that much sweeter. Now THAT'S a marriage!

Ok, then comes the good part. We are on our way home and I ended up phoning 911 but ozzy style which is 000 and tattling on some hooligans who were going highway speed and one of the idiots was sitting with his whole upper body out the window and drinking and smokin and then feet out the window and the car in front obviously knew them and they were throwing food at each other and and swerving in and out of lanes. Ridiculous. I don't usually not mind my own business. But I figured it was a safety issue and so... Ok, then we get about 3 k from home and notice that the check engine light is on. So the engine conks out and we end up stranded on the side of the road. Call a tow truck. This nice lady stops and offers help so I get a ride to the house with her while Rick and Candy wait for the tow truck. And turns out this lady happens to be my neighbour's sister! Too weird eh?

So this was quite an exciting day for us. Especially candy. She said "Wow, it was my first time to go to the temple AND my first time in a tow truck!" hahaha Oh, and I forgot to tell you that Rick lost his temple rec b4 we left and even after 2 prayers, it still took us 15 min or so to find it. Is that an indication of our level of righteousness? hmmm....We did have an excellent time at the temple though. Rick got to confirm me for 10 people and I got to sit there while all of our beautiful YW were confirmed for people and I saw Candy get dunked 5 times. It was nice.

Childhood Dreams DO come true!

2008-09-18T13:39:00.003+10:00

How cute is she?

Yes, ok? Anyone who knows me from when I was younger knows I had this great deep desire to have braces. It was so bad that I used to get an elastic band and cut it and then tie a short piece of dental floss onto the ends so that I could stick the floss between my teeth and the elastic would go on the front of my teeth. Like braces right? hahaha! I was such a retard! Anyways, seeing as how I was fortunate enough to be blessed with naturally super straight teeth although at that time I was cursing them, I never got to get braces :(

Well now I have a daughter who needs them and today she got them put on. Yippeee! Although aparently, you are very restricted in your diet and are not supposed to have hardly any sweets as they can really cause some damage. With that in mind, maybe I should be glad I never had to have braces eh? Well, I think she looks fab and I really think she'll look even more fab in the end. So I have to live vicariously through my daughter now. I was more excited than she was this morning when she went to get them put on! haha

Cooking disaster!

2008-09-15T16:00:00.003+10:00

Ok guys, yesterday I made a strawberry pie. Or should I say strawberry soup with burnt crust! It was pathetic and it all started with what should have been a perfect crust getting burnt in the oven. It was all downhill from there folks. The recipe which I might add will never use again looked good and I got it from a magazine of my ex-sis in law's about 5 years ago appeared to have promise written all over it but alas, I guess it just wasn't meant to be! So instead of my pie looking like this...It looked like this...

I think I will go make another batch of those Choc Chip cookies :(

On the upside, I went to the school last week and the kids were all doing some entertaining stuff. Candace pretended to be a teacher and said she was gonna teach the kids how to swear that day. Mesa was a box of Weet-bix and Blaze was...well, just Blaze. On the way there I saw this cute as little van. It looks almost like a toy van its so cute and little! Here's also a pic of Rick enjoying his corn on the cob the other night. I wasn't able to post it with the post b/c I was at work.

Food Glorious Food!

2008-09-13T12:28:00.002+10:00

Hey all. I'm at work right now. Things are quite boring today and so I thought I might as well blog and get paid for it at the same time! haha...I hope my bosses never find my blog and look at it! Yikes! Highly unlikely. So last night we had 2 sets of elders come over for dinner and I cooked up chimichangas and the fixin's and for dessert I made a Fantastic Lemon Roll. Oh My GOSH! It really is what the title of the recipe says...FANTASTIC! Made with real fresh squeezed lemon juice and lemon rind it is truly a culinary delight. If you like lemon, sugar, whipped cream and a nice light sponge cake then this is the dessert for you! I got it out of "The Best of The Best of Bridge" cookbook. Here is the recipe

Fantastic Lemon Roll

Cake part

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp orange rind

1/3 c. fresh squeezed orange juice

1 c. flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Beat Eggs till frothy. Add sugar gradually while beating. Beat until thick and light yellow (about 1 min) add vanilla, orange and juice. Beat. Add dry ingred and mix. Pour into parchment lined 10x15" pan and bake at 350 for 15 min or until golden brown and spongy to the touch. Sprinkle 1/3 c. icing sugar onto a clean dishtowel and then flip the baked cake over onto the towel and roll up and place on a cooling rack until cool. Meanwhile...

2 eggs

1 c. sugar

1 Tbsp lemon rind

1/2 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 c. whipping cream

Whisk all ingred except the cream in a saucepan over very low heat and cook until thickened. (about 15 min) Cool. Whip cream and then fold into lemon mixture.

Now to put it all together! Spread all but 1/2 c. (at least) of the filling on the inside of unrolled cake. Roll up again and place on serving platter. Use the 1/2 c. set aside to spread on top and then garnish with fresh strawberries. Chill for about 4 hours before serving.

I wish I would have taken a picture of my roll before I served it up last night but I forgot!

I also made some choc chip cookies last night. I used the recipe that won Jeni's contest and I must say it is quite delish! I think it's my new fave. They turned out perfect! I only had one. I'm trying to limit myself. I think a Whopper Jr. Value Meal, chimichangas, a full on roast chicken dinner, lemon roll, zucchini choc chip loaf and some chocolate in between all those is enough for about a 24 hour period don'tcha think?

Hitchcock

2008-09-11T14:28:00.003+10:00

"Suspense is like a woman. The more left to the imagination, the more the excitement."

Alfred Hitchcock

"Drama is life with all the boring bits cut out."

Alfred Hitchcock

I wonder if I'm ever going to coin a cool phrase like the 2 above. Hah! I'd like to send out a personal invitation to Kelly. I just got home from purchasing an oh so cool Hitchcock Icon Collection movie that includes Rear Window, Psycho and none other that her all time fave The Birds! Yesssss! I can't wait to watch it! I'll make popcorn and we can have Tim Tams and everything! I love old Alfie movies. Probably cuz my mom always used to rent them when we were kids and I was happy as to watch ANYTHING on T.V. (except for the news). What can I say, I was deprived as a child...

Well, since Kelly probably would rather spend her hard earned money on something other than a plane ticket to watch THE BIRDS with me, anyone else who would like is invited. Mom???

A Day at the Beach

2008-09-10T11:47:00.003+10:00

Well, one of the days the Granny's and Lyd were here we went to the beach...to swim...and sun bathe. My grandma had never ever been swimming in the ocean and we actually only made it to about knee high water but the waves were pretty strong that day and it proved almost too much for the grannies to handle! Grandma actually lost her footing and was down on her knees and all four of us were standing there laughing and battling the ferocity of the water. It was a really great experience.
Well, If that wasn't enough drama, my granny decides that she doesn't want to walk all the way back to our towels in the soft sand and opts to stay closer to the water so after setting herself up there, laid down for a nice little snoozer and wouldn't you know it, after about 15 min a big wave comes in and absolutely smothers her! She sure got up in a hurry and my Aunt Sylvia sitting next to me starts laughing hysterically and kept on laughing for a good 5 min or more! It was sooo funny just to hear her laughing at her sister's demise! Funny lady!

I had a feet fetish that day and wanted to take some cool pics of our feet in the sand but this is about as cool as it got. I really would like to be good enough to be a professional photographer but I guess I'll have to settle for just being a good cook. Auntie silly, granny and Lyds were thinking I was pretty strange to be infatuated with the feet.
My toes look pretty cute though don't ya think? You can see the scar where I got an ingrown toenail cut out when I was a teenager!

My daily goings on

2008-09-09T07:24:00.003+10:00

For those of you who don't know, Candace is getting braces in about 9 days! So in preparation it was necessary for her to get 4 teeth pulled. She was soooo nervous before her first appt last friday but walked away thinking it was pretty much a piece of cake. She was especially motivated by the fact that I said she could have ice cream and pudding and whatever else she wanted afterwards. So I stuck to my promise and bought Mint Choc Chip ice cream. (as per her request) Then yesterday she got the last 2 pulled as the dentist didn't want to do it all in one day for fear that too much local might make her sick and she didn't want her to walk away from a dental visit with a bad experience. Very smart. Well, Candy got her teeth out and was a trooper. She was in the chair for 20 min and then we left! 250 bucks for 20 min of work? I don't know bout you but I'm thinking dentistry is an excellent profession to be in! That's 10.50 a min!

I also got my car back yesterday after it being in the shop for over 3 weeks! He put a new head on it. I also had told him I don't want it back until it has been test driven for a couple days so what did he do? Gave it to some mates of his who probably drove the heebee geebees out of it and smoked in it and used up a full tank of gas! It was full when I dropped it off and empty when I picked it up. Oh well, I'm just happy its fine now and we didn't have to pay a dime to get it fixed. Besides which, they're bikers...do you think I'm gonna get all cranky? No way man! I may end up with a broken arm! hahahahaha. Well I took some time today and cleaned it all up and now its shiny and red again and I've also put some yummy air fresheners in it. That should take care of that.

Me n My Sis

2008-09-08T14:00:00.005+10:00

Well, I really do have things lately that I should be blogging about and I take pics that I think, "Yeah! I'll put this on my blog and tell a nice little story and people will like it!" And then the inevitable procrastination sets in. So I was just looking at my pics thinking of what this post should be about and I of course went to the latest which were pics of when my world travelling rellies came for a visit. I will tell more about that later but I wanted to dedicate this post especially to my sissy Lydia. She is so cool to come over and visit me wherever I happen to live. I think I could live in Saudi Arabia and she would come to see me! So I wanted her to know how cool I think she is for making me a priority in her life. I sometimes feel like we have grown apart because we are so far away from each other distance wise as well as where we are at in our lives. But her being here with me was really cool and by the time she left I felt closer to her than I have in a long time. And I also thought that maybe just maybe, that hanging out with me she might just learn to be a little bit more bad like me! ahahaha (I'm soooo bad!)

So here are some of my favorite pics of her and I when she was here. Enjoy!

We went to the Temple one day and these 2 pics were taken in a little building across the street. A gazebo type building.

Of course, with me as your sister, you always get plenty of goofy photo opps!

Self portrait. At a beach up in Peregian where we had some time to kill because my car broke down that day and we had to wait for Rick to come rescue us. I was actually pretty stressed at the time!

At "The Skin Thing" a store where you can buy all kinds of lambs wool, sheepskin, slippers, rugs, hides and the like. They actually had a couple of real zebra hyde's! It was so weird. A skunk one too! Why anyone would want that I have no idea...hmmmm

Pretty Lyddie. I took this pic. For some reason Lyd just LOVES getting her picture taken! hmmmm...

Lyd took this picture of me at the beach right behind our friends house at Marcus Beach. It was a beautiful little walk from the back door along a little trail that went up and down and winded through and at the end was a beautiful sight waiting for us.

Another goofy photo opp! We are such nerds!

Lyddie made this dress for me. And she found her plum one at a shop here in the "Plaza"

Anyways Lyd, I sure do think you are absolutely the sweetest most thoughtful sister, auntie, and sister in law me and my family could ask for! You always were the sweeter out of the two of us and I used to be jealous cuz "everybody loved Lydia!" But now I'm just happy that you're that way and I'm the way I am. I luv you sis!

The Good Ol' Days

2008-08-06T05:55:00.004+10:00

Remember this toy?
Oh my gosh, I was looking on the web about time capsules and found this picture! I am now on a search for one. Does anybody know of the where abouts of one of these? Remember Camptown Races & Hickory Dickory Dock. I used to love love love this toy. My grandma had the best toys I reckon. Or what about this one? I remember playing with this with my cousins whom I used to babysit all the time.

I love the good ol days!