ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS

One of Tom's favorite places here is Sydney is the Royal Botanic Gardens.  This last weekend it was a beautiful Saturday for winter (72 degrees), so we decided to venture down to the city to take advantage of the gardens on a sunny, perfect, blue sky day.  We had a picnic in the park and walked to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair lookout point.  

Mrs. Macquarie's Chair is an exposed sandstone rock cut into the shape of a bench, on a peninsula in Sydney Harbor.  It was hand carved by convicts from sandstone in 1810 for Governor Macquarie's wife, Elizabeth.

The gardens are surrounded on the North side by the Harbor so you have fantastic views all around.  The girls had a surreal time climbing the old trees and doing cartwheels down the grass.  We will definitely be going back.

Grace is climbing on a rock sculpture that said, "Do not climb, this is ART!" - oops!

Cartwheels down the grass - this girl loves to be active.

Sunny View

The gorgeous trees - we love trees...this one is for you, Papa Bruce.

Gorgeous view from a tree

Jane is hanging in a tree!

Grace is sitting in a tree not waiting for K-I-S-S-I-N-G, at least not yet.

Mrs. Macquarie's Chair

Government House - in the center of the Royal Botanic Gardens.

I guess it is safe to say, we had a great time and they are ready to stop taking photos.

17 YEARS

Tom and I celebrated 17 years of marriage this last week on August 15, 2013.  It is hard to believe that we have been married for 17 years but, when you look at the old wedding photos it becomes reality.  We have done some pretty fun things over the last 17 years and I have to say that blind dates really can be a good thing.  --(Thanks, Sue Pratley)

My kids always ask us why Tom would want to wear clear glasses like Harry Potter?
Little did they know that Harry Potter wasn't even a thought back then. 

We have three gorgeous girls that keep us running.  We have lived in 4 different places spanning the USA and world (Utah, Michigan, North Carolina, & Sydney, Australia).   We have had many ups and downs along the way.  I have to say that it has been more ups than downs but, we are still enjoying each other.  He continues to make me laugh and I think that is one of the best bits of our relationship.  Life is never dull with Mr. Manning.  He keeps me on my toes and is an absolute crack-up to be around.  Where we will finally end up, who knows?  I am sure there will be many stops along the way but we are having JOY in the journey.

We celebrated our anniversary this weekend by going out to dinner to one of our favorite restaurants in Sydney that we happened to come across on our "LOOK, SEE" trip in February.  It is a tiny Indian restaurant that only has about 15 tables.  The view of the Sydney Harbor is to die for and it was fantastic.  

Our View

Thanks Mr. Manning for 17 years, I am in this for the LONG HAUL BABY!  Here's to 50 more years, oh wait....that would make you close to 100!  I love being the JUNIOR companion in this relationship. :)  

A attempt at a selfie with the bridge behind us.

What a handsome silver fox I have in my life each day.  

SKI TRIP

Grace with her friends on the slopes.  She is in the purple jacket with the glasses. (Left)

In Australia, the school students have many opportunities to go on excursions (field trips) with their classes.  Most of these excursions are not chaperoned by anyone other than the principal of the school and the teachers of the classes.  So when I found out that Grace could potentially attend an overnight excursion for 5 days to the snowy mountains...I began to panic a little.  She has never spent the night with a bunch of school kids without her mother.  She was really excited and looking forward to a little independence.  I was worried but instead imposing my concerns on her, I put on my big girl pants, my brave mom face and thought about what a AWESOME experience she would have.  So, I signed the medical release forms, paid the money and Grace was off to the snowy mountains for 5 days of skiing.  She was down south near Canberra, Australia....for you movie fans, it is where they filmed the movie "A Man From Snowy River".  

The mountains here don't really compare to the Rocky Mountains that we are used too.  However, Grace is always up for a fun trip with friends, missing school, staying up late, and chatting the evening away.  Improving her skiing talents was an added bonus.  She wants to someday be able to hang on the slopes with her Papa Bruce, Uncle Sammy and Uncle Bubba so any chance that she has to practice skiing is welcomed.   According to her, she is much faster then the last time she skied at Deer Valley - look out family she might just be the next Picabo Street!

As the departure day approach, I began to get a little nervous about this trip however, it was too late to back out.  As we were driving to the school to meet the charter buses, it was starting to sink in for Grace that she would be without us for an entire 5 days and she was feeling a little worried herself.  I assured her that she would be GREAT, then gave her a tight squeeze, kiss on the cheek and helped her on the bus.  What she did not know was that as I walked to the car....I had tears in my eyes because I was going to miss that little ball of fire.

She had a fantastic time, made some wonderful friendships and loved the experience.  She was able to make some conclusions after this independent adventure.

1.  She loves having her mom or dad tuck her in at night....no matter her age.
2.  She thinks that I am the BEST chef in the world.  Nobody makes dinner like I do.
3.  "HEAVEN is skiing in Utah with the "GREATEST SNOW ON EARTH" and her amazing extended family.  (Papa Bruce this one is for you....)
4.  She loves her sisters and cannot imagine life without them.
5.  HOME is where ever your family is...

As she waits to board the charter bus....all smiles.

No matter where she goes she is the Pied Piper with little kids....they adore her.  

This is me....my happy face when my sweet girl was back in my arms.  College? yes---LOCAL SCHOOLS ONLY!  

ZOO-SNOOZE

One of the many things that Australians are very good at is the ability to be very environmentally aware.  They recycle, conserve and protect their environment.  They spend millions of dollars and many man hours trying to keep this beautiful country pristine and safe for all living things that call it home.
  
Claire happens to love this about Australia.  She is a big "Tree Hugger" at heart and wants to reduce her carbon footprint as much as possible.  Don't tell her that I have told the world, but, her secret wish is to live on a farm (right outside of a major city) someday where she grows her own organic veggies, raises grass-fed cattle, has free-range chickens and 6 kids and is surrounded by all that God has created.  However, she does not want to be married to a farmer but, a doctor who dabbles in farming as a hobby.  Keep dreaming, my sweet girl.....So when Claire was asked by her science teacher if she would like to participate in the POWERFUL OWL PROJECT she jumped at the chance to make a environmental difference.  This select group of students would be working with primary age children as mentors.  They are to educate the children about the owl and how / why it is endangered.  These small groups of students are to think of ways that they can protect the owl and help it to thrive in the wild so that it will not become extinct.
For her first meeting with the primary age group of kids, she was to meet them at the local Tarango Zoo here in Sydney.  However, Claire's science teacher wanted the high school age mentors to be very prepared for their first meeting with their pupils.  Her teacher, Ms. Edmonds, asked the mentors to come to the zoo and spend a complete day (24 hours) learning more about the Powerful Owl from zookeepers that know them best.

YES, Claire was going to be spending the night among the animals in the zoo.  She slept  right outside of the gorilla's habitat.  She was able to hand feed giraffes, hear lions roaring through the night and observe the Powerful Owl in its natural setting - complete DARKNESS.  She had a wonderful time and felt a little bit like she was on a safari.  She said that it is one thing to walk about the zoo during the day but, it is completely another experience to walk around the zoo with a headlamp strapped to your forehead in the DARK, hearing all of the animals interacting with each other with their voices!

She enjoyed her time with her group of youngsters and she is looking forward to teaching them more about the POWERFUL OWL and how we can help save them.  It will be a great learning experience, an opportunity of a life-time and a chance to propel her future tree-hugging dreams.  :)

         Claire is preparing for her night in the wild.

Here she is hanging with the Meerkats.

LOOKS LIKE LONDON, FEELS LIKE LONDON, BUT IT IS NOT

Every week in school Grace must do a history project called General Facts.  The year six children are assigned a person, place or event in history, they must research it and answer many questions about it in regards to general facts.  A few weeks ago, Grace was assigned to research downtown Sydney.  She was to find out the origins of many of the historic streets, parks and landmarks.  

Because of this assignment and the high marks (grades) that she received, we decided as a family to head to Sydney yesterday and have Grace take us around to some of the historical places.  She was to give us little background about the place and why it is was important in Australian history.  She did a fantastic job!  She navigated the streets and train stations perfectly.  I decided that since she was taking on the adult persona, I would be a child for the day.  I perfected the skill by leaving our water bottle on the train.  I am not quite sure how I forgot it but, I just walked off and left it on the seat.  Way to go----MOM!  Claire said that she was glad that I lost something because now she knows that I am not PERFECT and make mistakes just like they do.  It was a good learning experience for all of us.  :)

 "THE ROCKS" - oldest part of Sydney

 "THE SOLDIER" - carved out of limestone.

 CONTORTIONIST that we saw in the Harbour - she fit into a small box.

 ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL on College Street

 HYDE PARK - it has the most gorgeous trees...my favorite.

 Hand stands throughout the park....Jane is awesome!

 A few stores that we recognized from the states....it felt like home for a minute.  

Heading home....great job - GRACE!

PHUKET

This is going to be a long post so if you are interested - start reading, otherwise you may just want to look at the pictures.  

The girls had winter holiday these last two weeks and we are missing our American summer so we decided as a family to visit someplace warm during our holiday.  We have had Phuket, Thailand on our bucket list for a while and when I was able to line-up all of the travel arrangements over night we felt like it was the perfect fit.  It was not the HIGH season in Phuket so we had heard from local Australians that is a good time for a visit.  Less people and the weather is still wonderful with an occasional rain shower.  (The whole time we were there it only rained on us once and we were in a taxi headed back to the hotel.)

One of our biggest desires in moving abroad was the ability to expose our kids to different cultures and experience all this wonderful world has to offer.  Phuket, Thailand did not disappoint us.  The girls noticed many differences and made many mental notes about how blessed they are.  Tom and I felt that we achieved our goal by helping them to see that there are many people that live in this world without very much in-terms of monetary blessings but, they are HAPPY and generous with what they have.  We have been given a lot by our Heavenly Father and we have a responsibility to share with others in whatever capacity that we can.  Where much is given MUCH is expected - SERVICE, SERVICE, SERVICE!

So while we were staying in a lovely 5-star resort, we wanted them to experience the REAL Thailand.  In order to do that, we went on many excursions....just driving in the shuttle van down the city streets was a real eye opener for my children - Life-changing!  

Just to name a few things that we did...
We rode elephants, 
went snorkeling, 
visited the Big Buddha and received a blessing from a Buddhist monk, 
visited three Thai Temples, 
shopped, 
went sea kayaking in caves at Phang nga Bay, 
ate many, many Thai meals (we love Thai food), 
visited a rubber farm, 
and visited the Governor's Mansion in Old Town Phuket. 

Our trip was relaxing and very educating!  It was the perfect mix---congrats to the travel agent - oh, that's me!  :)  Here are some photos to document the trip........

We were excited to fly out....10 hours later....we were happy to arrive.  :)  The girls got to see their first Asian style toilet in one of the airports.  They are LOVING the fact that we have western style toilets in our homes.

We were greeted by this adorable towel elephant!

One of the pools

View from our room

 Our beach view

Ya-Ya the elephant came to the resort twice a day....we feed her, rode her and just loved her.  I wanted a baby elephant by the time we left.  She is gorgeous!

Loving some pool time!

We did not see Nemo, but, we saw many other wonderful, colorful friends of his.

 We spent the day on a speed boat traveling to the different islands snorkeling and seeing the monkeys. Beautiful....this guy above turned 48!  Happy Birthday Honey!!

 Monkey Beach

These monkeys are wild and one of them climbed up onto the boat looking for a snack - crazy.

 Waiting for Dad to take our picture and getting pummeled by a wave....HURRY!

 Riding Large Elephants - Jane did not like it as much as riding bare back with YA - YA!

View of Patong Beach 

 Visiting the Big Buddha - 45 m high, 25 m wide at the base.  It has taken them over 20 years to build it and there is much work to still be done.  It is made of white marble that the Thai people refer to as white jade (above).

Buddhist Temples 

Firecracker that they light many times a day - very loud.

 Gorgeous ceiling inside the prayer temple.

 View of rubber tree farm.  It was beautiful and so fun to see how they make rubber.

 POOL TIME - Volleyball, swimming, jumping and catching some rays. 

 Love the Sun - however it does not love me.

 At dusk in our hotel, they perform a Thai fire dance in our reflection pool.  

It was beautiful and so interesting to watch. 

 Sunset

I still have my cheerleader moves!  WOW were my kids surprised that this old lady still had it.

 Celebrating Tom's 48 birthday with some traditional American Ice Cream.

Swensen's, we love you!

 Sea Kayaking in caves in Phang nga Bay.

 Making a traditional "Krathong" that we floated into the water at dark.  You light the candles, make a wishes and float it from your kayak.  It is made of banana trunk, banana leaves, and native flowers.  The flowers can be made into birds.  The girls loved this, it is origami with flowers. YIPPEE!!

 Our view.....as we ate dinner on the charter.  Magnificent!!!