Cheers Mate

Post 8:

On Thursday morning I said good bye to Becky and her family and headed back home to the USA. I miss them and miss Australia.

It was a good week. Sunday was my last day in the YSA ward at Kangaroo Point. I felt like I could have been friends with a lot of them had I stayed. They were very kind and I even got to say the prayer for Relief Society a couple of times. I think they just liked listening to my American accent. I was just happy to be involved a bit.

I had a lot of fun this week swimming in the pool with the kids. I felt like a ride at an amusement park as the kids used me to do flips and other stuff. I'm just glad Ammon didn't brake my nose like he did Roberts. He's got a pretty hard head I guess. I feel like I got to be a much stronger swimmer in the last month and a half. The kids are really good swimmers and they love to be in the pool. I loved 3 o'clock when they would come sprinting down the driveway or quickly down on their scooters! We had a lot of fun.

On Wednesday Becky, Ashlee and I woke up around 3:30 in the morning and drove down to Surfer's Paradise to watch the sunrise. The sun rises at 4:30 so we missed it by a few minutes. It didn't matter though because it was gorgeous that time of day. There were just a few people up that early and out at the beach. We walked along the beach for quite awhile. I loved being on the beach and seeing all the waves... the ocean is pretty big. I was so glad that Becky is a pretty spontaneous and adventurous. It has made for a lot of good memories. We did a lot of really cool stuff together and I can't wait for my next trip down under:)

I loved Australia. I assume that it was mostly because of the Brouwers. They made my trip so fun! I love each one of them and am so happy when we said good bye it was a see you in a couple of weeks.

Becky took me to the airport and my favorite thing was as I went downstairs Aaron ran to the glass and with his hands and face on the window yelling' "Bye Debbie! Bye Debbie!" It made me cry a little. I am so grateful to have nephews and nieces.

The plane ride was pretty uneventful well at least the one from Brisbane to LA. As we flew over LA at 6 am I saw the early morning traffic... it was looked like a golden road because of the headlights from the cars and it stretched for miles and miles. I also spotted the temple and that was pretty cool. The flight to Boise got pretty bumping. The lady across the aisle from me had a hard time. I didn't even notice the turbulence for awhile because I was really into watching the Sing-Off final episode. It was really good and it helped me stay relaxed through the bumpy ride.

When I think of Australia I will remember a few things. Sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, water, ferries, kangaroos, koalas, spiders, ants, bats, green green green everywhere, accent, road signs, left side of the road, itchy bum, Story Bridge, Brisbane. It was all amazing and I am sure there are things that I am missing. I of course will think of the Brouwers and all the awesome times we had and all the adventures we took.

I am grateful that I got to go to Australia!

Cheers Mate,

Debbie

Aussies

Post 7:

Wyatt is now 1 year old and what a good birthday he had. I woke up on Monday to the sound of the family singing happy birthday to Wyatt in English and then the Dutch happy birthday song. It was really sweet. Monday night we had a couple of Robert's aunts and uncles over and had cake for Wyatt. The frosting had black in it so it was classic. Wyatt wasted no time grabbing the food and shoving it into his mouth. It was pretty funny. There was plenty of paparazzi around him as everyone had their phones out taking video and pictures. I couldn't help but to laugh thinking how different things were not too long ago. We took a couple of pictures and hoped we got a good one.

I had a great night on Wednesday. It was girls night out as Becky, Ashlee, and I headed to the "Outback Spectacular!" This was Ashlee's surprise night. I couldn't get her to make any guesses because she didn't want to be let down. When she got there I think she was a little unsure and maybe a little let down but it didn't take her long before she was excited and smiling. I was very excited and happy. I loved the show and wished that they would have let me take some pictures, but once you got into the show area there was no video or photo taking allowed. We got some straw cowboy hats when we came in and it was so funny to see hundreds of people in these hats. Pretty corny looking, but I was totally into it. We walked into the room for dinner and it was like a rodeo arena only a little smaller. They had stadium seating with the tables and seats going around the arena. There was quite a bit of room and it was a really neat set-up.

The show was awesome. It was a lot of horses and horse tricks. The story they told was about the horses and riders from Australia during WWI. It was a little intense at a few parts, but for the most part really fun and lively. I am so glad I was able to go. I think Becky had a really good time as well. To top it all of as we were walking back to the car after the show I spotted a wallaby jumping away! I pointed it out to Ashlee so she can back me up. It was pretty cool.

Becky and I decided it may be better not to leave Ammon guessing what his activity would be on Friday... thought he was creating something larger than life in his imagination. So we told him about the Rugby games that we were going to and he was very excited about that. It was fun to see him so excited. He kept talking to me about it and would just come and sit by me. It was pretty funny.

We took the train on Friday morning to the Gold Coast where the tournament was going to be held. The train ride was about an hour and a half and Ammon and I played the "how much longer til we are there" game. He was so talkative the whole time. I'm glad I didn't give him my iphone to play with since it was much more entertaining talking to him.

The tournament we went to was played with 7 guys in 7 minute halves. The games went by really quickly which made it more entertaining. There were a lot of trys and that was fun as well. We watched lots of countries play like France, Kenya, New Zealand, Scotland, Argentina, England, and of course the United States. For the first game Ammon and I sat in the front row of this large and beautiful stadium. It was one of the most beautiful stadiums I've seen. It was awesome to be so close to the action, but I forgot sunscreen so we grabbed some food and moved into the shade a little higher up. The people down here really get into rugby. The was they do is by dressing up. It was like a large Halloween party. They all have group costumes. So there were construction workers, crayons, police, gringos, and many more groups. It made things very interesting. As we left I almost fell over from the smell of all the alcohol that was around. People certainly come to rugby as a social event here.

On our way out I bought Ammon a slurpee and we decided that Ammon's favorite part of the day was the bounce house that he played in before the games started. He spent 10 minutes jumping and sliding down a huge steep slide. He screamed each time he went down it, but he loved it. We boarded the train around 4:30 and headed back to Brisbane. Ammon fell asleep on my lap on the way home and I too fell asleep for a little while. The sun sure wipes me out down here. It was a great day. I am really glad I got to go to a real Rugby match down here to see the culture that surrounds the game.

On Saturday we had Thanksgiving with a few other American families. The food was delicious, but the best part was the pool party after dinner. We jumped in the pool and played for along time. It felt pretty odd to be in the pool on Thanksgiving day. We had a great time. I especially liked going for a walk in the rain last night with Becky and a couple of her friends. I was glad for the exercise and it was fun to see the bats flying overhead.

I can't believe that I have been here for 5 weeks now. The time has certainly flown by. This is my last week here and I am looking forward to spending a few more days with Becky and the family. They are amazing and I've loved interrupting their lives just a bit.

Cheers

Debbie

Sick

Post 6:

Well not a lot happened this week. Checked out the city, hung out at the beach, and an overnight trip to Moreton Island... not a whole lot going on here:)

On Monday, I think, Kyle came home from school after having thrown up. He had a fever and spent two days home. Ammon had a Christmas program at school about the time Kyle came home so Becky sent Ethan and me to take pictures and be there for the performance and morning tea afterward. It was a cute performance. Ammon's line went something like this, "Please be quiet, quiet please. We would like to thank Mrs. (whatever her name was) for playing the piano for us."

I met up with Ammon and we walked down to the area where all the parents had brought things to eat for morning tea. It was a great morning. All the food was amazing. Ethan and I developed a good fly by method for sampling all the food. We zigzagged our way through the food until I decided on my favorites and just hovered about. Ammon grabbed me and was finally able to drag me away with the promise of a popcorn treat and pulled me over to where Ashlee was. So we had morning tea all together and it was fun to see them all at school.

We took a day trip to the beach and had a great time once again. I can't remember the name of the first beach we went to. We didn't swim there although we could have, we just looked at the beautiful landscape. There were a bunch of surfers so I watched them a bit. It was a really pretty beach. Then we drove down to Kings beach and swam there. I really had a good time just floating around on the boogie board. Becky and I tried to swim like you would on a surf board, but she kept splashing me in the eyes and the salt water burned my eyes so I steered clear. Ethan and Becky brought Wyatt and Aaron in a little further to the waves and I think they enjoyed it except when they got hit with a wave in the face. That kind of ended that... I didn't see it happen though because I was chasing our umbrella across the beach! Good thing I've been working out... that umbrella was fast and not a soul on the beach even glanced at me as I sprinted past them yelling, "Stop that Umbrella!" Haha pretty funny. I'm glad I got out of the water just in time to see it take off. Was surprised though that nobody would be willing to help.

On Tuesday night we had a taco dinner and I didn't really know what to give Wyatt to eat since we started dinner a few minutes before Becky got home. So I gave him some lettuce which I was surprised that he liked so well. I am glad I didn't give him much else though. When Becky got home and was eating Wyatt was crying a bit so Becky was holding him and he was so cuddly that Becky was really happy and cuddled him right back... she said how much she loved him and lamented that he would soon grow up... right after that we figured out why he'd been so cuddly as the lettuce and a great deal of water came up and out of Wyatt and all over Becky... sorry sis, but it was kind of funny in an ironic or something way. Felt bad for Wyatt and kind of figured at that point I may not be able to avoid getting sick.

Thursday night was the much anticipated departure for "secret adventure" with Kyle. He was so excited for our little trip that Becky had helped me plan. I've decided to take each of the kids on a little trip and this was Kyle's turn. We were going to Moreton island to hang out. Well Thursday morning is when I started to feel sick. By 1 o'clock my temperature was 100 degrees and I was not feeling great. I really didn't want to disappoint Kyle and I really wanted to go on our trip so I decided to brave it and just get through the day since the sickness seemed like it was a short one. It was a very long day!

Kyle got home at 3 and excitedly packed his bag when I told him all he'd need was a swimsuit and toothbrush. Becky took us to the ferry and we were on our way. We got to Moreton Island Tangalooma Resort about 6:30 and checked into our hotel and then went to the jetty (or the dock) to watch people feed the dolphins. I was freezing at this point!!!! I had some serious chills going on. I tried to get Kyle to feed the dolphins, but he was a little too scared to go down and do it. I think if I'd gone with him he would have done it, but I was sooo weak and cold that I wasn't sure I could do it without getting sicker. So we just enjoyed watching the dolphins for a little and then I took Kyle to get an ice cream cone which he enjoyed.

Kyle and I stayed up for a few hours watching TV before we finally said good night. He was soon asleep and I was up for a good portion of the night. I was sooooo HOT!!! I was burning up and at the same time had the chills... and sick to the stomach from being hungry and sick. At some point during the night I remember starting to feel better and I just kept feeling better. I had just finally drifted into sleep when I felt a tap on the shoulder. I asked Kyle what time it was and he said 5:51... I asked for 1 more hour... then asked if he'd been up for awhile, which of course he had been... I just smiled remembering being young and not being able to sleep when I was so excited for a special day to start. I got 20 more minutes then got up and got ready for the day.

We got to do a lot of things. We did archery, croquet, swimming, fishing, snorkeling, and just hung out. I think I could have just lied on the beach all day long. At the end of the day Kyle told me he wished he didn't have to leave and that he loved Moreton Island. I was glad that he had a good time. We boarded the ferry back and when we arrived back in Brisbane he was first off the boat and sprinted to his mom and gave her a big hug. We had a great time and I was happy.

I can't believe how diverse the world is and I've only seen a small portion of it. I feel in awe of all of God's creations and have often thought of the verse that even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here. I'm grateful for Becky and Robert and for the kids. It has been a great experience for me.

Debbie