CATCH UP

Time is flying by and life does not seem to be slowing down.  Every time I want to sit down and update the blog, I am sucked into another project, errand or task.  So instead of blogging about all of these events as individual items, I am going to catch up in one BIG summary post.

School started at the end of January and the girls are all pretty happy with their teachers and classes.  There is always a little bit of anxiety as we head into a new school year because if you don't love your classes and/or teacher the academic year can be a VERY long one.  I was very prayerful this year because I wanted the girls to be happy - :).  When I went to pick up the girls from their first day of school, they had smiles on their faces.  It could only mean one thing...we had received a tender mercy.  Prayers were answered and our school year was off to a fantastic start with some lovely teachers and exciting classes.  Why do they have to grow up so FAST?

YEAR 6

YEAR 9

YEAR 12

We had the opportunity to go down to the city again this year to celebrate Chinese New Year.  It is the year of the MONKEY!  Jane happens to be a Monkey so we had a great time in the city soaking up all of the Chinese traditions as we celebrated her year.  We ate Chinese food for dinner in Chinatown and walked the streets admiring the Chinese lanterns BIG and small.  As we wandered the city we eventually made our way toward the RED ROOFED Opera House because there were going to be fireworks in the Harbour just after dusk.  It was the perfect ending to a great day.  Jane is thrilled to be a MONKEY and we are hopeful, it will be a splendid year!

To cap off our whirlwind lives, we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day with another American Expat Family (PERRY FAMILY) with a weekend getaway.  We headed down to Jervis Bay, NSW, Hyams Beach (whitest sand in the world)!  It was three days filled with laughter, games, movies, boogie boarding, sandcastles, fat-filled sugary food and a glow stick dance party.  We made memories that will last a lifetime.  My girls had the time of their lives and came home utterly exhausted - that is what I call SUCCESS!

Nothing better than a HOT, SUGARY DONUT!

GLOW STICK GANG!

They became the best of friends - like cousins!

Perry Lovebirds!

Manning Lovebirds!

Hammock Time

Sandcastles inside and outside the house!

No trip is complete without plenty of cereal!

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 2015

The girls got out of school in December and will be out until the end of January.  We are not traveling so we are trying to make the most of each and everyday during the school holidays.  It has been a busy few months with many peaks and valleys so we are just trying to slow things down a bit by enjoying life! -This post is a long one so if you want to skip it - feel free.

After we returned from Uluru, we got right into December Christmas traditions and started celebrating this special time of year.  We started things off with the Life of Christ Art Display at the Sydney Temple complete with gorgeous fairy lights.  We ran into many friendly familiar faces and had a great time embracing the spirit of Christmas.

As part of the end of the school year celebrations, Jane went to her farewell Year 5/6 Disco Dance at school.  It was a carnival circus theme and Jane LOVES to dance.  It was a perfect night and she was able to dress as a RINGMASTER.  She danced the night away and really enjoyed her last school event of the year with her schoolmates.  

As soon as school let out we headed down to the city to see all of the Christmas lights and festivities that Sydney has to offer at this time of year (David Jones window display,  Pitt Street fairy lights, Martin Place Christmas tree, and cruising around Hyde Park).

Our first full week of school holidays the girls attended Surf School.  They were such troopers because on a couple of the days it was NOT exactly perfect weather.  Many of the days it was quite rainy/stormy and the surf was large however, they stuck with it.  By the last day, they were catching waves and standing up all on their own.  I was very proud of their perseverance, strength and willingness to try something new.  They are such cute, brave beach babes...Go Gidget!

We were able to meet one of my best friends from my college days in Sydney for dinner.  They had traveled all the way from Utah to explore Australia for a couple of weeks.  She has two boys similar ages to our girls.  The night was so fun to catch up.  It does not matter how much time passes we can pick up right where we left off - to me that is a sign of a GREAT friend.  The kids and husbands had a good time also - 2nd generation of friendship.

Christmas Day, Santa dropped by and gave the girls a really lovely day.  We enjoyed our time together as we opened gifts sitting around the Christmas tree.  We had the traditional ham dinner complete with chocolate pie as we wore our Australian crowns from our bon-bons.  It was a fantastic day and we loved it!

We rang in the New Year with fireworks, sparklers and appetisers.   It's always AWESOME to celebrate NEW YEARS in Sydney - there is nothing that compares to it!

 After ringing in the new year, we went down to the Royal National Park to do some sea-kayaking and explore this peaceful park of tranquility.  There is a bridge called the Sea Cliff Bridge that swings out past the coastline.  It is unbelievable to stand there and watch the tide roll in as we were suspended over the rocks.

One week later we headed to Manly on the ferry.  We have lived in Sydney 3 years and the girls have never taken it.  We felt that it was a MUST-DO so off we went.

Grace got her braces off right before Christmas and right after New Years she got contacts.  She is growing up and I am NOT ready for the next stage of life but she is a gorgeous girl inside and out!  

To top our adventures off we toured Cockatoo Island.  Cockatoo Island is a World Heritage Site located in the Sydney Harbour.  In 1839, this island was chosen as an overflow gaol (jail) site for secondary offenders.  You can walk amongst the sandstone convict precinct.  There is an industrial precinct, docks precinct, ship design precinct and historic residence precinct where we were able to admire the history associated with the early settlers of this nation.  We had a lovely day as we walked around soaking up this historical setting and atmosphere.

It was a bit windy on the top of the island!