Monday, September 14, 2009
Excercise??
I keep meaning to take better care of myself but somehow the week just always seems to get away from me and before I know it, another week goes by without me doing my intended excercises. So today, although I had a hectic day already, I decided to go for a half hour walk/jog. (Amanda, I was trying to take your advice to start off slow!!) I got all geared up and stepped outside to what?... a flock of kookaburras laughing at me!! Yeah, I know, it was a rather funny sight. But I managed a great walk and now my muscles are feeling it. Hopefully tomorrow I'll make it to the pool... without the kookaburras!
Dinnertime and Bedtime
The other day we had corn on the cob for dinner. As with everything else, Brett attacks his corn on the cob with gusto, and ended up with it all over his face. He was wondering why we were all laughing at him until he went to the mirror. We all knew when he saw his corn covered face by the loud guffaw that came from the bathroom!! Brett continues to keep us amused and see the funny things in life. Laughter sure is contagious!
The other night Travis was having problems going to sleep. He came out of bed to tell me: "My tummy doesn't feel well, it keeps flip-flopping!"
The other night Travis was having problems going to sleep. He came out of bed to tell me: "My tummy doesn't feel well, it keeps flip-flopping!"
Friday, September 4, 2009
Ocean going Adventures
On Friday, August 21st, Dave came home from work with a hare-brained idea!!! The guy who works next door to him needed to sail his luxury motor yacht from Sydney to Perth (he's just started out boat-building) and was looking for someone to help him. Next thing I know, Saturday evening Dave and I had booked tickets to fly to Sydney the next Wednesday, the 28th - the weather was favourable so it was go, go, GO! Some quick organisational skills, and Wednesday evening we flew to Sydney, took a taxi to the yacht and within half an hour we were sailing out of Sydney harbour. (sadly we were on the wrong side of the Sydney harbour bridge, so we didn't get to see any of the Sydney icons... we'll have to save that for another time!!)
We started off with nice calm waters (well, we were in the harbour after all!!), I was feeling great, a little jittery about this adventure, but all was good. Well, that changed when I woke up in the morning rather sea-sick. Even though I had taken tablets when I went to bed, they didn't help me in the morning.... I was sick and miserable. Here we were, embarking on a 5 day journey and I was hanging overboard... Thankfully by lunch time I was starting to feel better and after that bout of sea-sickness, I felt okay for the rest of the trip. Okay, but not wonderful. I'd have to go to bed when it got dark, otherwise.... wow, sailing sure messes with your head!!
Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning were absolutely gorgeous days. The sun was shining, the waters were calm, we saw beautiful sunsets and the sea-life kept us amused. We had lots of dolphins swimming along with us, having to jump out the water to see what we were doing in the boat, and swimming sideways just for another peek. They sure are fun characters!! On Friday we saw whales. One was jumping out the water for us 3 times - absolutely awesome to see, just like in the documentaries you watch on TV. We also saw seals laying in the water, flapping their flippers and enjoying the weather. They were a lot shyer than the dolphins and didn't come too close.
We sailed along within sight of the coast, and Dave even tried his hand at fishing, but no luck, just lots of tangled fishing line. Mike (the owner of the boat) was trying to sail from Sydney to Perth on 1 tank of fuel for an article about the wonders of the yacht, the great fuel efficiency, so we travelled less than 6 knots per hour.... very slowly!!
Saturday evening the waters started getting rougher and during the night we were tossed around a little. When we woke up Sunday morning all was quiet, the motors were switched off (first time since Wednesday evening) and the boat was barely rocking. Mike had decided to pull in to Refuge Cove (very aptly named!!) as the weather and waves weren't getting any better. As he pulled in there was a perfect rainbow over the entry into the cove and we had to go right through the middle. We spent a lovely number of hours relaxing in the cove, while Mike and Dave caught up on some much needed sleep (we'd been sailing around the clock, with Dave taking the evening shift 'til 1 or 2 am and then Mike taking over until the morning) before we continued on the difficult bit of our trip.
Sunday afternoon we headed out to sea again, hoping to make it around Wilson's Prom... As we left the cove there was another perfect rainbow, right where we had to go... a coincidence? I don't think so; God was with us all the way. The wind started picking up, the waves grew bigger and bigger... no dinner that night, we could only hold on for dear life as our 14 metre yacht was tossed about on the 6 to 8 meter waves, the wind blowing at over 40 knots!! Thankfully the yacht has a fantastic navigation system and basically kept course on it's own, cause in those waves there was no hope of steering. Oceans like that are something I don't hope to travel in again. You feel so small, the ocean is so big, God's power is awesome!!
Dave took the helm for about 6 hours that night. He quite enjoyed the adrenaline rush of sailing the ocean blue!! By the morning we pulled in at the beginning of Western Port Bay. We anchored there for a few hours while the boys slept, and then headed up to Hastings, passing a submarine, and then we farewelled Mike and headed off to Melbourne.
Monday evening Dave and I had a lovely dinner with a roof carpenter Dave knows over there. Tuesday Dave spent in meetings at Pryda while I spent the day shopping, shopping and shopping. (yeah, it was fantastic, although the world continued to sway up and down.) Wednesday Dave had another meeting at Pryda so I whiled away the time having a massage to loosen all those poor aching muscles from all the tension of the previous days... Wednesday evening we flew home again, and were greeted by very excited children. They all thought it was great that I was sea-sick. Whatever happened to sympathy???
Thank you so very, very much mum, mum and dad for looking after the kids while we were away. We sure are spoiled. What a blessing, having family around!!
We started off with nice calm waters (well, we were in the harbour after all!!), I was feeling great, a little jittery about this adventure, but all was good. Well, that changed when I woke up in the morning rather sea-sick. Even though I had taken tablets when I went to bed, they didn't help me in the morning.... I was sick and miserable. Here we were, embarking on a 5 day journey and I was hanging overboard... Thankfully by lunch time I was starting to feel better and after that bout of sea-sickness, I felt okay for the rest of the trip. Okay, but not wonderful. I'd have to go to bed when it got dark, otherwise.... wow, sailing sure messes with your head!!
Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning were absolutely gorgeous days. The sun was shining, the waters were calm, we saw beautiful sunsets and the sea-life kept us amused. We had lots of dolphins swimming along with us, having to jump out the water to see what we were doing in the boat, and swimming sideways just for another peek. They sure are fun characters!! On Friday we saw whales. One was jumping out the water for us 3 times - absolutely awesome to see, just like in the documentaries you watch on TV. We also saw seals laying in the water, flapping their flippers and enjoying the weather. They were a lot shyer than the dolphins and didn't come too close.
We sailed along within sight of the coast, and Dave even tried his hand at fishing, but no luck, just lots of tangled fishing line. Mike (the owner of the boat) was trying to sail from Sydney to Perth on 1 tank of fuel for an article about the wonders of the yacht, the great fuel efficiency, so we travelled less than 6 knots per hour.... very slowly!!
Saturday evening the waters started getting rougher and during the night we were tossed around a little. When we woke up Sunday morning all was quiet, the motors were switched off (first time since Wednesday evening) and the boat was barely rocking. Mike had decided to pull in to Refuge Cove (very aptly named!!) as the weather and waves weren't getting any better. As he pulled in there was a perfect rainbow over the entry into the cove and we had to go right through the middle. We spent a lovely number of hours relaxing in the cove, while Mike and Dave caught up on some much needed sleep (we'd been sailing around the clock, with Dave taking the evening shift 'til 1 or 2 am and then Mike taking over until the morning) before we continued on the difficult bit of our trip.
Sunday afternoon we headed out to sea again, hoping to make it around Wilson's Prom... As we left the cove there was another perfect rainbow, right where we had to go... a coincidence? I don't think so; God was with us all the way. The wind started picking up, the waves grew bigger and bigger... no dinner that night, we could only hold on for dear life as our 14 metre yacht was tossed about on the 6 to 8 meter waves, the wind blowing at over 40 knots!! Thankfully the yacht has a fantastic navigation system and basically kept course on it's own, cause in those waves there was no hope of steering. Oceans like that are something I don't hope to travel in again. You feel so small, the ocean is so big, God's power is awesome!!
Dave took the helm for about 6 hours that night. He quite enjoyed the adrenaline rush of sailing the ocean blue!! By the morning we pulled in at the beginning of Western Port Bay. We anchored there for a few hours while the boys slept, and then headed up to Hastings, passing a submarine, and then we farewelled Mike and headed off to Melbourne.
Monday evening Dave and I had a lovely dinner with a roof carpenter Dave knows over there. Tuesday Dave spent in meetings at Pryda while I spent the day shopping, shopping and shopping. (yeah, it was fantastic, although the world continued to sway up and down.) Wednesday Dave had another meeting at Pryda so I whiled away the time having a massage to loosen all those poor aching muscles from all the tension of the previous days... Wednesday evening we flew home again, and were greeted by very excited children. They all thought it was great that I was sea-sick. Whatever happened to sympathy???
Thank you so very, very much mum, mum and dad for looking after the kids while we were away. We sure are spoiled. What a blessing, having family around!!
Update on Wade's Injury
Poor kid, after so many weeks, Wade still has a huge lump on his collarbone so a couple weeks ago I took him back to see my docter (the follow up visit was with another doctor who just looked at
wade and said he had a bruised collar bone.... yeah right!!!) Dr V took one look at Wade's collarbone and said, "We'll get that x-rayed again." Sure enough, this time they did a proper job of the x'ray and it showed that his collarbone had been fractured, nearly 2/3 of the way through. The big lump he is now sporting is a callous that has formed around the fracture. It will take year(s) before that goes away.... Thankfully it doesn't hurt anymore.
wade and said he had a bruised collar bone.... yeah right!!!) Dr V took one look at Wade's collarbone and said, "We'll get that x-rayed again." Sure enough, this time they did a proper job of the x'ray and it showed that his collarbone had been fractured, nearly 2/3 of the way through. The big lump he is now sporting is a callous that has formed around the fracture. It will take year(s) before that goes away.... Thankfully it doesn't hurt anymore.
Band Festival 2009
On August 13 and 14th the junior and senior band performed in the West Australian Schools' Concert Band festival, where they could gauge how they are performing compared to other schools and also to receive adjudication from other professionals.
On Thursday evening the junior band did a fantastic job and received an Excellent in the C Division. Wade and Meagan played very well, as did all the band members.
On Friday evening the John Calvin Christian College Concert Band received an Outstanding for their performance in the A division. Their final comment from the adjudicators was "...I think one of the most musical performances we will hear this weekend. Very well balanced, mostly good pitch, nice shapes. WELL DONE..." Cody did very well as the lead alto saxophone player. All that practicing certainly has paid off!!
What a fantastic performance!! Praise God for the talents He has given us.
PS Could someone please tell me how to put a link on here... the senior bands' songs have actually been put on youtube and I'd love to add that to my post here....
On Thursday evening the junior band did a fantastic job and received an Excellent in the C Division. Wade and Meagan played very well, as did all the band members.
On Friday evening the John Calvin Christian College Concert Band received an Outstanding for their performance in the A division. Their final comment from the adjudicators was "...I think one of the most musical performances we will hear this weekend. Very well balanced, mostly good pitch, nice shapes. WELL DONE..." Cody did very well as the lead alto saxophone player. All that practicing certainly has paid off!!
What a fantastic performance!! Praise God for the talents He has given us.
PS Could someone please tell me how to put a link on here... the senior bands' songs have actually been put on youtube and I'd love to add that to my post here....
Family Reunion July 2009
to do justice to this post, you'll just have to be patient with me....
what an awesome month we had!!!!
what an awesome month we had!!!!
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