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Best Buddies

Yared and Bronte get along quite well. Bronte has decided she likes being an older sister and takes very good care of Yared. Her imagination and creativity are delightful and he goes along with anything she concocts. He will truly miss her when she starts Kindergarten in Feb.

Darling Harbour

We braved a bit of cold and wind to enjoy a nice morning out. This is a main harbor in Sydney and is teeming with life and activity. The kids (and I) had a great time!

Better than McDonalds!

We've started a new Saturday morning tradition -- yogurt parfaits. So far, after week 1, Ravi declared them better than McDonalds. It's a good thing, since I was quite proud of myself: I made the granola and the yogurt and we had a great array of fruit. Yum!

More Wildlife

We took Sheridan to Featherdale Wildlife Park -- we'll never tire of going there. I love the calm, the animals, the natural beauty and sounds. It's just so pleasant. Each time we go, our Australian wildlife IQ goes up a few points. We're getting better at kangaroos vs. wallabies, emus, cassowaries, koalas, flying foxes, and an endless array of birds. This crocodile is over 4 meters long! Yared clapped after having the courage to pet the kookaburra this time.

Fun new plans

Through an interesting set of circumstances, our friend Sheridan arrived this week from NYC. She will be staying with us for 3 months to help out while I go back to work at the U.S. Consulate temporarily. It's a good fit for her and for us. While I'm waiting for my official job offer and start date, we've been having fun and seeing the sites. The kids love her and we're really glad to have her here!

Bronte's Photos

What child doesn't take great photos? Bronte was thrilled with her work: especially the inside of the dishwasher and microwave. Maybe we'll go on tour...

She also enjoys painting and playdough and will keep herself occupied for quite some time.

Scrabble

We opened Scrabble the other night and quite enjoyed it. Our favorite words were Ravi's "q-u-i-t", Chris's "e-q-u-i-t-y" and my "i-n-e-q-u-i-t-y" on double and triple squares. It was great fun but takes too long. However, after visiting the wildlife park again, I've got a few new words to try: "quokka" "echidna" "quoll" and lots of others.

Team Aussie

We stayed up LATE (2:30a.m.) to watch the opening ceremonies live. Ravi made it until midnight when he tuckered out. It was so fun watching with Ravi and getting excited over the whole production. He'd make comments like, "Wow! Those Chinese are so clever! I wonder what's going to happen next!" and "There's Djibouti!" "There's Eritrea!" "There's India!" He recognized many countries from Google Earth and his talking globe. He just loved it all, though he fell asleep before Team USA and the finale, which was phenomenal as you saw.

Luckily one of our 5 free TV channels provides coverage and I'm really excited about the Olympics this year. However, I've never watched the Olympics while in another country. Of course (what was I expecting?) everything here is focused on Australians. Ravi even asked, "Which team are we cheering for again?" Chris said we cheer for Australians and we cheer for Americans. If they play against each other, we can cheer for USA. I'm a bit sad to say I don't know the USA athletes or their stories. I miss the familiar broadcasting faces. I'm still struggling understanding the 'strine' accent. But, nonetheless, we are in full Olympic mode. One world, one dream...

Motivation

I've started a new sticker chart for the kids where they earn dollars to spend on items in the buy box. It's already a hit -- Ravi calculates all week, plans, thinks it through, strategizes. Bronte doesn't want to do the work, but when it comes time to buy she wants it all. Hmmm...

Cleaning Machine

Some of you may notice a tainted smell arriving from our direction. If so, it's because I've forbidden anyone living under this roof to take a shower until further notice. Today I accomplished my semi-annual cleaning of the bathrooms. This means that no one may use the toilet, wash their hands, shower, or brush their teeth, or leave any other evidence of existence. As a result of scrubbing away grime and water-stains all morning, I am in need of a shower myself. However, the question is: where? Do I use my own glass shower that is so sparkly clean I can actually see my reflection in it? Should I use the kids' bathroom where the counter is white again after scraping layers of dried toothpaste off? Should I use the guest bathroom that has a huge STOP sign on the front door since we have company arriving in a few days and no one is allowed to step foot inside? The last time I cleaned the bathrooms, Ravi asked me after school what I had done all day. I told him. He said, "Mom, that's a lot of work to work all day cleaning the bathrooms -- and for what? The bathroom's clean. Oh well." I have to say I agree with him, which is why I can't muster the time, energy, or creative outlets for Bronte and Yared to keep them busy while I accomplish such a large hurdle more than once in a long while. Yes, I will do a quick clean of the counter tops periodically and Windex the mirrors. But this kind of cleaning only comes when the build-up is so intense it requires serious effort and actually counts as my aerobic exercise for the day. I don't recall anyone, ever -- relation or stranger -- commenting on how impressed they were with such an accomplishment. "Wow! What clean bathrooms you have! I noticed how clean the light fixtures are and how you must have spent extra time on the faucets to get them shining. Wow! You used earth-friendly products too? And washed all the towels and rugs and vacuumed loose hairs and dust? And kept your children busy painting and exploring through imaginary play? Wow! That toilet seat is clean enough to eat off of too!" It just doesn't happen. So, if any of you want to come visit, please do -- immediately. Otherwise, there's no guarantee we'll have things clean for you...

Little Gymnast

We're not Olympic-bound yet, but Bronte's just thrilled to participate in her first class of this sort. She, and the other 8 kids, enjoyed running around, jumping, somersaulting, swinging, hula hooping, climbing and doing handstands. It's once a week for 10 weeks so hopefully she'll enjoy it. One little guy is truly a gymnast -- I better get his name in case we do see him on TV someday.

Pajama Party

I found some cheap pajamas on clearance that were so cute. I thought I'd save them for some sort of incentive -- but I couldn't wait. We had a Family Home Evening Lesson on pioneers, in honor of Pioneer Day, and these were their prize for the treasure hunt . We talked about when they wear them they can remember the many blessings we have of comfort, a cozy home, warm jammies, and lots of good food to eat -- perhaps the lesson will sink in. Regardless, it was fun. Too bad it wasn't Christmas Eve.

Manly Whart

After a very long, cold week of rain, we were thrilled to see the sun on Saturday morning. We spent the morning at Manly Wharf. We saw large sharks and rays at the aquarium, walked through a street market, watched the surfers catch the waves, and just enjoyed being outside again.

Primary Activity

Fortunately for me, my counselor did all the work for our activity called "Book of Mormon Olympics." The kids had a great time and we had 17 of our 18 in attendance. I love these guys!

Rainy days

It's been quite cold and rainy this week -- as winter is supposed to be. We've remained indoors as much as possible but today Bronte wanted to try out her rain coat and boots. Yared wasn't so sure what to think of it and did fine till he tripped and cut his lip. I'm ready for sunshine again, but as we tell ourselves often, "If this is winter, we can handle it." We really can't complain about a few days of rain (especially since every spare drop is saved by our drip system and eventually becomes the water to flush our toilets. Pretty cool.)

Like Parents, Like Son

Yep, that's the new Mac store behind him

Ravi is definitely Chris's child: he reads the atlas like it's a comic book and plays Google Earth fanatically. He loves places and people and names and countries and driving directions and all of those things. He asks questions at night about diplomats and visas. He's a bright little guy, just like his dad.

But, I have to take some credit for a few ways he's like his mom. He's also fluent on both PC's (from school) and Mac (home, of course.) He came home from school talking about PC's and wondering why we don't have PC's at home, why we use Macs. This led to very insightful discussion about Mac vs. PC. Chris told me long ago if I'm not careful I'll drive my children to be PC-friendly just because I love Macs so much -- it will be their form of rebellion. So the conversation went something like this. "Ravi, both Macs and PCs have value. You'll use PCs at school and in the workplace. Nothing is wrong with PCs (I was crossing my fingers behind my back at the time, does that count?) I know how to use PCs too and it's great to use both of them. However, we'll always use Macs at home because they are far superior in everything I like to do on the computer and don't you dare ever think otherwise." (Okay, so I was more diplomatic than that...) Did I mention a new Mac store is opening just a few minutes from my house? I'm thrilled!

School holiday: Winter Break Fun

An old-fashioned train rideLearning the hula

Powerhouse Museum at Darling Harbour

Going anywhere and everywhere

Tuckered out

Dracula & Fairy Princess

Ravi had just over 2 weeks off school for winter break. Because they have a few weeks off in between each term, there are hundreds of school holiday programs, camps, workshops, classes, etc. to be involved in. We participated in a few and had a great time with Ravi. We went to the Olympic Park for a morning of old-fashioned games like marbles and hula hoops. We went downtown to see Chris's office and enjoy the Powerhouse Museum. We enjoyed parks and playgrounds and bike-riding. Ravi and Bronte attended a Circus Workshop where they came home with dazzling face paint. Ravi had a gymnastics day complete with trampolines, balance beams, uneven bars and such. We enjoyed some quiet time at home too: playing games, reading

books, building forts, and pulling weeds. Ravi's back to school until September, when we'll have "Spring Break". It was great having Mom here and we were very sad to see her go.

Mom Leaves

We had such a great time with Nanny here that I was truly sad to see her go. She was not only extremely helpful around the house (can you believe she cleaned my bathrooms, vaccumed, chopped veggies, and read countless stories with the kids) but I also really enjoyed her company. She went anywhere and everywhere without complaint, rain or shine. She dealt with the logistics of kids and stroller and naps. She was a wonderful friend and listening ear and moral support. Our ward is very small and they all got to know and love her, and she taught Bronte's Primary class a few times. Her flights were so smooth that I hope she'll be motivated to come again soon -- this time with Dad. Until then, we'll save your room for you. Thanks, Mom!

Happy #4 Bronte!

Playing "restaurant" with her new food

Her new and improved room -- it's really cute

The easel is a success already

Her requested dinner was chicken,
though she hardly ate a bite


It's really been 4 years since I went into labor on the night of Chris's treasured Diana Krall concert in SLC. So much has changed in our life since then. We lived in Eagle Mountain, certain we'd probably be there for awhile. Chris worked at Evergreen, I tutored at nights. Ravi was just 2 1/2. Shortly after Bronte was born we moved to South Jordan to be closer to Grandma Blakemore. Two weeks after our move we were notified Chris had finally been accepted into the State Department and our lives then changed forever.

Bronte has celebrated each of her four birthdays in a different country -- a trend I'm not sure we'll be able to afford forever, but fun for now. Birthday #1 found us in Washington D.C. Chris studied French 8 hours each day as we prepared for Djibouti. #2 was in Germany as we spent a month-long R&R in Bavaria. #3 found us in Marseille, France, which was extra special since she shares her special day with France's Bastille Day. We watched the fireworks over the ocean and she just knew in her heart they were for her. And this year, #4, we celebrated in Sydney, Australia. Nanny has been with us at each of her birthdays as well, something that we treasure and likewise hope we can continue. Next year? Who knows. We're tempted to hop on a plane to New Zealand...Coming, Nanny?

She had a thrilling day, with Ravi looking out for her all day, making sure she got exactly what she wanted. We spent the day at Clown Town, an indoor play center, where the kids wore themselves out. That night we enjoyed a birthday dinner of homemade chicken, cake, and strawberry ice cream. We decided to liven up her room a bit with the help of IKEA and it turned out really cute. She's still a bit confused about how long her birthday lasts and how long she'll be four, but I think she's finally got it figured out. If you ask her she'll say "I'm still 4!" and that she gets to be 4 until her next birthday when she turns 5.

Thanks, Bronte, for being part of our family!