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

Hiking

Post 5:

I am very sore. This last week was again full of fun things and awesome sights. Australia is full of pretty cool things. I am glad that I am in Brisbane so I am able to be close to a lot of things to do. I was thinking if someone came to visit me in Twin Falls and wanted to see the country we would have to do a lot of driving and flying to really see the country. Although Idaho is amazing it is definitely a drive from a lot of stuff.

I enjoyed going to Southbank again and just hanging out reading and people watching. I also took the city cat to Queen Street Mall on that trip. The mall is an outdoor mall and is soooo big. I think I heard there are 700 stores there. I went around lunch time so I assume that is why there were a lot of people there. I felt pretty out of my element with people rushing past me. I am a pretty slow walker and I bet I was driving everyone crazy as they tried to get past me.

Becky's pool turned green, but don't worry that didn't stop the kids and I from jumping in and having a great time, and I had Ethan google if we would die from a green pool. Since the only danger of a green pool seems to be hitting your head because you can't see the bottom, according to google, we jumped in and played quite a bit. I felt bad when Ammon ended up hitting his head on a wall and started bleeding. Whoops. I tried to tell him that there was a crocodile in the water and that is what got him. He didn't believe me though. The bump on the head didn't stop him for too long though. He was back in a couple of days later and just as fun as always. The kids are really good swimmers and outlasted me in the pool for sure.

I took Aaron to the Gold Coast this week. We drove about an hour south of here and hung out on Mermaid Beach. We had a lot of fun. He really enjoyed his sand toys. He was a little afraid of the ocean and hated when I would walk toward it. He would run away from me further inland. Eventually I was able to get him in the water a bit, but he would always have a hold of me when we went in. Safety first of course. We saw a kite surfer and that looked like a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. I bet they get exhausted. Before Aaron and I left I wanted to walk around a bit so I got Aaron changed and then we saw a park. I gave Aaron a cookie and he went to sit on a park bench and lost his balance and fell backward and hit his head on the pavement... that was the end of our outing poor kid. Looked like it hurt pretty bad. I'm really not negligent of these kids although after 2 head injuries in 2 days may make it look that way.

On Friday Becky, Ethan, Aaron, Wyatt and I took a field trip up to the Glass House Mountains. What a neat place. The mountains are actually Lava Plugs. The actual volcano around them has eroded away and left just the plug, so they look just like they randomly jump out of the earth. We hiked Mt. Beerburrum which is why I am so sore. It was a paved hike just 700 m to the top, but it was extremely steep. It felt like a stair master. It was a calf burner. Ethan had Wyatt in a pack on his back and Becky was pushing Aaron up this mountain in his stroller. It was really respectable. I was very tired and was just carrying my own weight. Well we made it to the top and it was an amazing view. We could see the ocean and Morton Island along with several cities in the distance. There was a tower there and a fire ranger was up there hanging out keep his eyes open for any fires. Pretty spectacular. The hike down burned the calves. I carried Aaron on my shoulders. I was a little worried if he lost his balance we may not be able to catch him rolling down that mountain.

I played a little tennis and then some squash after the hike with my friend Lavinia. It was really fun to play a game. Squash is a lot like racquetball only I didn't feel like such an idiot playing it. The ball doesn't bounce like a racquetball so I really had to remember that. I decided it is an angry mans game because you can hit that ball so hard and it still doesn't go that far. It was really fun. I was so sweaty by the end because of the humidity in that room. It was a great time though.

On Saturday Becky and I were both pretty tired, but Becky is so adventurous and loves to do fun things that we went to another awesome place. This time we first headed out to Kyle's baseball game so our adventure party traded Ethan for Kyle. Kyle did a great job in his game. He got on base each time and looked really good at catcher. The coach for the other team came over after the game and told him what a great job he had done and gave him a pack of baseball cards. Kyle was so excited about it and I hope it encourages him to keep playing catcher. He did have a knack for it.

Ok after baseball we went over to the Tamborine Mountains. There is a really awesome rain forest there. They have a sky walk over the forest along with paths on the bottom. I was hoping to see a jaguar or something, but I don't think they have those here in Australia. We all were a little nervous on the sky walk as it was pretty high and was swaying a bit. Kyle was especially nervous, but he said he was facing his fears... it was really cute. Aaron chased Kyle all over the rain forest and Wyatt grinned the whole time in his seat in Becky's pack. We had a really good time once again.

Our day was still not over yet! We came home and I slept for a little bit and then Kyle, Becky and I went to a professional baseball game. I love baseball no matter where it is played. It was different of course than the MLB back home. They sang the Australian National Anthem before the game and there was not a single heckler at the game. Nobody taunted anyone or said anything to any of the opposing players. They were all very kind observers. Not sure how I felt about that... I suppose that is a good thing, but at the same time... anyway it was a good game. Kyle got to run onto the field with his team and I think one of the professionals gave him a pat on the shoulder or something. The home team, the Brisbane Bandits, won the game 2-0 and we saw a pretty great home run. It amazes me how strong those guys are to hit a ball with a wood bat 400 feet. Pretty amazing.

Another great week past and I am excited that it is Sunday so I can go to church. I am so grateful that even though I am a long ways from home I can go to church and do the same things and hear the same words that my family is hearing back in America. It is a great blessing to have such organization.

Debbie

Wild Week

Post4:

This week was a fantastic week. Monday of course was Halloween and Becky went all out making mummy pizza's, monster toes, brain surgery salad, and a witches brew. We had some trick or treaters and I enjoyed sitting outside and seeing bats! The bats were far larger than I thought they would be. At first I thought the were large birds.

I got to go to a few music concerts this week. Ashlee and Ethan both had concerts. Ashlee had a solo as Tracy from Hairspray. She sang "Good Morning Baltimore" and did a great job. I could tell she really enjoyed being on stage for all of the numbers because she had a constant smile and was dancing the entire time:)

Ethan sings with the Birrilee Blokes. I was very impressed with there choral group. They had a very nice sound. Kyle said that he liked the song "Tool" the best, Ethan brought a blower on stage and the rest of the group had their own tools. It was a fun performance and it must be a Brouwer thing because I know Ethan loved being on stage as well.

On Wednesday Becky, Ethan, Aaron, Wyatt and I went to the Botanical Garden in Mt. Koot-tha. I have never seen anything like it! The Garden was massive and there were soooo many plant species there. I think they had just about every flower, bush, grass, and tree there. They even had a dome with a rain forest inside. I was in constantly in awe of how small I felt compared to some of the beautiful things I saw.

On Thursday I decided to spend the afternoon in the city. I took the city cat into South Bank and walked around for just a little bit before grabbing some lunch and finding a table in some shade near a little man made stream. There were a lot of people around, but I finished my book "The Robe," and what a great book! I really enjoyed it. One of my favorite books of all time.

Friday wasn't supposed to be too exciting, but around 2 I got a phone call from a Stephanie in my YSA ward. She asked if I would be able to fill in on a mystery date. I listened very carefully to all the details because I have a hard time understanding the Aussie accent sometimes:) The gist of the date was boys make a main dish and girls a dessert. All of the girls met up at a location and picked an envelope that gave directions to where your mystery date and meal would be. They did not tell you who your date was. The boys did the same for the dessert location. The first date was from 7 to 8:30 then you would end that date and at 9 meet up with your new date.

That all being said I should mention that I don't know Brisbane very well. I did not know any of the boys and it was dark. I was very nervous! My worst fear was getting lost and not being able to find my date. How embarrassing would that be...

I got my envelope and was excited to try a Kangaroo dish. The location was the Brisbane Botanical Garden... fortunately I knew there were two different gardens in Brisbane and figured my date meant the one in the city. I had to call Becky and spent a good while trying to locate it in the GPS. I finally did. Eventually I did find a "car park" (aka parking spot), and then headed into this park... in the dark... in a large and unknown city... it was a big park... oh and I did not know what my date looked like... did I mention I was a little nervous.

I could not find my date anywhere! There were random people walking through the park and I passed a couple mounted police officers. I searched for 20 to 30 minutes. Finally I sat down on a park bench and was so embarrassed and felt really bad that somewhere in this dark park some boy had a made a kangaroo dish and was sitting there by himself and I wasn't going to show up. I felt really bad... so I got up the nerve to text someone and try to find out who this boy was and what his number was. It was 7:45 when I called him and finally found him. Haha I felt really stupid. He was very nice and also very hungry and asked me to pray immediately so we could eat. The Kangaroo was good and I was happy that Adam and I had similar interests in the outdoors and he was outgoing and talkative. It was fun to talk to him and 8:30 came quickly so I had to rush home to beat my date.

I made cookies and ice cream for my dessert and Austin and I ate it out by the pool. Austin too was very outgoing and talkative. I was grateful not to have to lead the conversation. He knew a lot about animals and tried to give me some tips of cool places to see while I was in Australia. Overall it was a good date night and I was certainly relieved that it was over and that I hadn't gotten into a wreck, gotten really lost, or something else.

Yesterday was awesome! The whole family went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and it was one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. I am still excited about it. I got to pet many kangaroos and I got to hold a Koala Bear! It was an amazing experience. I can't even express how it felt being there. Like being a part of a thing that I'd only experienced through movies and never thought I'd ever do. Everyone enjoyed being a part of it. I asked the Koala handler if she just loved her job and of course she smiled and said that she did.

We watched a couple of shows. We learned about snakes first and I did touch it. Then we learned about birds of pray and Ashlee actually got to put a big glove on and hold some rat guts to lure in one of the owls. It landed on her arm and she was all smiles as it devoured the food. She came back and whispered to me that that was so cool. The younger boys loved the guanas and chased them all over trying to pet them.

So many cool looking animals there. I also got to pet an emu which was really odd. They looked very weird and were not soft at all. It was a little scary because they look pretty prehistoric, but the were cool as well.

Anyway, I feel like I have written another novel here. I had a great week again and left out some other things I did this last week... yep they are coming to me now, but I'm out of words for the day.

G'day

Debbie

Driving

Post 3:

Well my first week in Australia was awesome! I love Australia... I love the weather here, I love the beautiful blossoms on the trees, I love the different vegetation here, I love the accent, and I love my family.

I got to do quite a few things this week which I will try to remember so I can give a brief recap of my week.

Becky took me to the city and we walked around for a bit before she left Ethan and I to wander around Southbank for awhile. There is the neatest little water park area near the river in Brisbane. It is a public beach basically built in the city. The kids loved being there. It is very clean and a bunch of people were there. There is also a pretty neat path through the area with shops and lots of trees and plants around. Sometimes I feel like I am in the jungle. Or at least feel like I am definatly not in the States. After Ethan and I had explored the area for awhile we found our way to the ferry and got on board to head home. It took about an hour to ferry home and walk back to the house. We had a great time.

On Tuesday or Wednesday Becky let me drive. I was kind of nervous because the roads are narrower here and there are quite a few little differences like driving on the left side of the road. At one point Becky said I should turn left and I thought I was turning left, but I had turned right. My brain was having difficulty trying to reverse everything so I flipped right and left and was quite confused on that. It was kind of funny. All in all we arrived back home safely so I guess that is the most important thing although Becky was white knuckled the whole time... sorry Beck.

On Wednesday I got to go to the Brisbane temple with some ladies in Becky's ward. I was a little nervous at the end of my session as my ride had left. I was trying to figure out in my head how I was going to get back. I knew I could call Becky, but thought I would try the bus system. I was grateful though that Becky had sent her friend Inga to get me. I was pretty relieved.

I've had such a good time with Ethan (14), Aaron(2), and Wyatt (11mo) since they are home during the day. We just hang out. Aaron hangs out with me a lot. I like to sit down at the pool and he will come down there with me and throw things in the pool.

Ethan and I rode our bikes out to Nudgee Beach on Thursday I think. It was a nice bike ride. Not too many hills once we got away from Becky's neighborhood. We rode for about an hour before we got to the ocean. The tide was high so there really wasn't a beach at all. Ethan and I had fun on the playground:) Took some pictures of some cool trees and the ocean and headed for home.

Yesterday was a great day. All of us, except Ethan who was taking a test for school, went to the beach. I think it was King's beach that we went to. Either way it was very fun. I haven't swam in the ocean more than a couple of times in my life. I recruited Ashlee to teach me how to Boogie Board. She was very good and taught me how to do it. I am happy to say that my second attempt was a success. I'll take beginners luck any day. Kyle was also a very good boogie boarder and was out in the water the whole time we were at the beach. I was also impressed with Becky's skills. I can see where her kids get it from. She did great and had a fabulous time. We had so much fun and the weather was perfect and the sand was so soft and perfect for laying around. I was sad to leave but very tired from being in the sun for the afternoon.

We hurried home from the beach and got over to the church for some Booter Treat (Trunker Treat). We decorated the Boot and the kids looked so cute in their costumes. Aaron won a prize for his white ninja costume. We picked up some fish and chips for dinner which was very good and then I headed for bed. It was a full and fun day.

I had a great week. I'm excited for this week now that I'm starting to figure out where I am here I'll be able to explore a few more things. Fun times always at the Brouwer house!!!

Debbie