The Aussie sun is HOT HOT HOT

So a couple days after Christmas Darran had a video job at the McCrae yacht club to film the International yacht and canoe sailing race. I didn't have a clue what that meant, only that he got to go play in the sun and be near the ocean while I was working at the deli...didn't really seem like a fair trade to me. So one of the days he was working, I decided to go do to McCrae and see exactly what he was doing. So we ventured down to McCrae, just across the bay from Melbourne. This race is the second oldest sailing race right after the America's Cup. It was totally not what I expected, I was thinking big old yachts, but these were little canoes with sails on them, and these little two person boats with huge sails. It was so cool to watch...was so engrossed by it all, I forgot to get the camera out of the bag and snap some photos. :(

While Darran worked, I settled down at the beach for some sun with a good book and my Ipod. It was so nice to be at the beach, and soaking in the sun, I had almost forgotten that it was the end of December!!! At first I had a hard time concentrating on my book, as I was so mesmerized by all the different people, their different swim wear and their body shapes! All I can say is that some of the people on the beach that day must have had great self confidence!!! As I settled in with my book (the third in the Twilight series that I got for Christmas...what does that say if it was only a couple days after Christmas and I was already working on book three? Yes, they are that good!) Darran came over to check on me. I had been there about an hour, and I was feeling it was time to turn over and get some sun on my back. When Darran got to me, he looked at me and we had the following conversation:

Darran: " Wow, you're getting red, did you put sunscreen on?"
Me: "No, I don't need any sun screen."
Darran: "They have some up at the canteen (snack bar) you can use."
Me: "We also have some in the car."
Darran: "But the canteen is closer, and you really should go put some on, the Australian sun is different than Utah."
Me: (Laughing) "You're telling me you have a different sun?"
Darran: (Laughing) "It is really different and you should go get some sunscreen on."
Me: "I'll be alright, it's time for me to flip to work on my back."
Darran: (As he was leaving to get back to the job) "Don't say I didn't warn you."

So, I flipped onto my tummy and started to work on my back. I was dressed in a shirt and shorts, and was the most covered up of anyone at the beach. It was nice soaking up the sun, hearing the waves of the ocean, the little kids all around me laughing, building sand castles and playing in the water...it was so nice, that I closed my eyes and took a little nap. When I woke up, my not so crowded beach had become hugely overrun, with people everywhere, so I decided that it was time for me to move to the yacht club and sit in the shade.

As I sat in the shade, I realized just how red I was getting. "It's okay" I thought as I looked at myself in the yacht club bathroom..."I always get red the first time out in the sun, then I start to brown and tan after that." When Darran finally got back off the water from shooting, he saw me and just chuckled and said, "See, you should have put on sunscreen." As we got in the car and started heading for home, I began to realize what I was in for. We were driving along in the car, and it was about 97 degrees outside, we had the ac on and I was covered up in a towel because I was freezing...not a good sign with a sun burn! :)

So needless to say I have been dosing myself with moisturiser and staying inside today, which is a good thing as it's supposed to be 106 degrees, the hottest day of the year so far. Before Darran left this morning for his final day of filming on this project he kissed me and said, "Have a great day lobster girl." Guess that is my new nick name and boy does it fit at the moment! :) Note to self: Next time you are in the sun or at the beach...wear sunscreen!

Our First Aussie Christmas Together

Merry Christmas to all! We hope that you had a wonderful day full of the spirit of Christmas as well as fun and happy memories spent with family and friends! It was a beautiful day here on Christmas day (about 85 degrees) and we had a wonderful time opening gifts, going to a Christmas brunch with friends, then having a seafood Christmas lunch and spending the day with Darran's parents, Pam and Russ. Here are just a few pictures from the big happy day! We woke up at about 830...which is so unlike me on Christmas morning. And came out to find that Santa had been here and spoiled us rotten! We are also glad that we lugged back all the Christmas presents from America when we were there! Darran also wanted to make sure that my first Christmas here in Oz was a memorable one, and he did not disappoint! He actually did way too much, I am SO loved!
Here is our Christmas meal, which included prawns (shrimp for all you Americans), scallops, oysters, oysters kilpatrick (my new favorite way to eat them!), lobster, gummy shark and flat head fish with white bean salsa, I also made a green salad and zucchini bake (as we have zucchini growing crazy in our veggie patch) to go along with all the seafood. Darran and Russ were in heaven with all the seafood! It was a delicious meal and we so enjoyed the company.
For dessert Pam brought down a a cheese cake and an Australian pavlova with strawberries, kiwi, blueberries and chocolate flake candy on top. SO YUMMY!!! Doesn't it look good enough to eat? :)
Here are Pam and Russ ready to dig in to our now traditional Scott family Aussie Christmas meal!
Do you like our crowns???? They are a tradition here. See the little tube things sitting on the plate in the picture above? They are called bon bons and every Christmas the Aussies open these up and wear the little paper crown, read the little quote and admire the little toy that is inside. We just wanted to show you the size of the Prawns too and let you know we all had a wonderful Christmas lunch to go along with a fantastic day! My first summer Christmas was incredible, especially since I was surrounded by my family and friends who made it extra special for me!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....except it is 90 degrees outside

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house! What a fun and different experience it was for me this year to decorate the house listening to Christmas music, pulling out all the snow themed decorations while wearing shorts! But it isn't the snow, the decorations or the Christmas music that cause us to celebrate this time of year. It is the birth of our Savior which is the true meaning of Christmas, and as I have continued to focus on that, it has made all the difference in the world. So many times I feel we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, that we really loose track of the true meaning of Christmas. So I hope and pray that everyone out there will feel of and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas this holiday season.
This is our tree this year. The little one in the middle. Darran being a bachelor hasn't ever had a need for a bigger tree, and those of you who know me, know that I love fresh Christmas trees, but it has been hard and expensive to find a live tree here in Oz. They don't have Christmas tree lots on every corner like they do in the States. So we decided to just make due with the little tree Darran has, and I think it turned out just great! It has treasures from both of us on the tree...see the angel? It has been in Darran's family since he was a child. It's what you call a treasure! I don't know if you can see the little blue block on the left hand side of the tree but it says..."Let it snow" wishful thinking I know...but I had to try! :)
This is a view in our library. As I was putting out the snowflake pillows and the snowmen that are on the table right behind where I was standing to take this photo, I asked Darran if it was weird that I was decorating with snowflakes and snowmen. He smiled and said that most Aussies decorated that way too. He also informed me that along with snowmen there are some Aussie families that put out Santa and his sleigh being pulled by kangaroo instead of reindeer. Haven't seen any of those lawn ornaments yet, but if and when I do...I'll be making him stop so I can take a picture!
This is our humble little fireplace. And as you can see our "stockings are hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicolas soon would be there." We hope you all have a happy holiday season! Can't believe that there is only one week left before the big day...at this point, I'm not even close to being ready!

My Mixer

When we packed up to move to Australia a year ago. I put a lot of things in storage due to the fact that we couldn't fit it in, or that it was an electrical appliance and worked on different voltage and things like that. Well one of the things that I had to put in storage was my KitchenAid Mixer. Now for those of you who know me well, know that I love to cook and love to bake, and my mixer was a daily part...well okay at least weekly part of my life, until I moved. When we moved over here Darran told me that we could just buy a new one that would work on Australian electricity and that it would be just as good as my mixer in Utah. So, we move here, and I start looking for mixers. I did all sorts of research and found out that they indeed do sell KitchenAid Mixers here...however they start at $1,000 in price. Now me being me, thinks that that is WAY too expensive and wouldn't think of spending that on a mixer. So I settled for using Darran's mixer, which I am grateful that he had...but it was nothing like my beloved KitchenAid. So all year, I have said that if we ever make it home to Utah, we are going to go to the house and get my mixer out of storage. There are just somethings that a girl can't live without. And my mixer is one of those things.

So during this trip back to Utah, we indeed went to our house in Farmington (there are several stories that go along with this, but I will spare you every detail...but let's just say, that it was a labor of love to get this mixer) and got into storage and found my mixer (right exactly where I remembered it) and brought it back to Oz with us. It was packed in a special box, that counted as one of our pieces of luggage...with this special message written on it from Darran that said, "Fragile Please be careful with this it is my wife's mixer". Well I'm happy to report that it made the transfers in LA...and down the ramp at Melbourne, but if it had to go much farther, the box would have given out, it was on it's last leg. I am also happy to report...that after doing much research and phone calling, Darran found out what adaptor we would need for the mixer (which will also work with my sewing machine -yippee) and it has been ordered. It costs almost as much as you would pay in the States for a new KitchenAid Mixer, but it's not a fourth of what you would pay here for a new mixer. All I can say is I am happy to have my KitchenAid back with me, and that I am married to the world's greatest guy, who helped make this dream a reality!!!

Let it Snow

So as you know from the previous blog, when we arrived in Utah there was no snow...and as most of you are in Utah, you know that quite well. Well, since it is summer here we were hoping like mad that it would snow at least a little bit before we headed home...and to our great relief and happiness...it did! I have always loved the snow, and growing up in the snow, so I was especially happy to see it before we left. Darran also loves the snow, and to snowboard, and this past winter (June-Aug) we weren't able to get up to the snow here (about 4 hours away) so he could snowboard...so he was thrilled to be in Utah when it snowed. These are some pictures he took of the snow around my parents place. Utah really does have the best snow on earth!



Hope all of you in Utah and surrounding states that get snow enjoy it this holiday season. We will be enjoying the 80-90 degree weather we have and spending time at the beach....some how that still just sounds so wrong to me in my head. This will be the first ever Christmas I celebrate without snow....oh wait that isn't true...there have been a couple times that there hasn't been any snow at Christmas in Utah...but then the day or two after there have been major snow storms. So I guess I should rephrase that and say, this will be my first beach Christmas, yeah, that sounds better. Anyway...all you who have snow, get out there and build a snowman for us!!! And if you do...send pictures we'd love to see them!!!

Go Cougars!!!

So the minute we touched down in Salt Lake, we hit the ground running as there was so much to do and so many things and people to see while we were there. We didn't get to see everyone we wanted to, and so to those of you that we didn't see, please know we love you and are sad that our time just went way to quickly, and we weren't able to catch up while we were there. But if it makes you feel any better...my sister called the night we were flying back to Oz and said, "I'm glad you're going back home so we can actually talk and catch up again." How sad is that, but that literally is how busy we were while we were in Utah.

On the Saturday morning after we arrived, mom and I headed down to Provo for the BYU UofU football game! Did I time coming home just right or what?!?!?! Darran stayed in Farmington to hang out with the Whitakers who were all home for Thanksgiving...helping them hang their Christmas lights and hanging out with the boys.
It isn't Autumn without going to a BYU game, at least for me...and this is the first year except when I was in DC that I hadn't gone to a BYU game since I was really young. So I was thrilled to be able to be there and cheer on the Cougars and watch them beat the Utes! What a great day!
A view from the South end zone where we have been sitting since I can remember. Only thing missing in this picture is the snow that should have been on Mt. Timpanogos. What am I saying...when we arrived in Utah there was no snow anywhere, I couldn't believe it! We were both so sad!!!
Coug's getting ready to do their annual tradition before each game the Hakka
A play right before the end of the game, where BYU comes from behind to steal yet another victory over the Utes! GO COUGARS! At one point with a minute and a half left and the Utes having just scored, I thought, "I didn't fly all the way over here to watch the Cougars loose." Good thing they heard me through mental telepathy. :)
The fans and students rushing the field after the big win over the Utes! Like the score board? BYU 17 Utah 10...that is a sweet sweet thing to behold! Rise and Shout the Cougars are out!!! Congrats to a great season and the Conference title!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

While in America, Darran and I celebrated our first anniversary! What a fun day that was! While at Disneyland, we came across these beautiful Mickey ears...top hat with ears for Darran and sequined ears with veil for me...we thought it would be the perfect picture for our year anniversary! There hasn't ever been a dull moment for us this first year, and the laughter hasn't stopped! It's been full of fun, love, laughter and lots and lots of great times and memories together!

Thanksgiving

We love spending Thanksgiving at Newport Beach. Many things make this a memorable holiday for the Jones crew. One of those things is the Thanksgiving crafts we usually do each year, which end up being our center pieces for the Thanksgiving day table. This year was no different thanks to Mom and Jill for all their planning and creativity! The kids first started out making turkeys out of apples and gum drops
Then it was a quick and funny game of pin the tail on the turkey....go Abby...I think she was the actual closest.
Then it was back to craft time and making Pilgrims, Indians, surfers and wizards out of toilet paper rolls and construction paper...we did this one year with the residents at SDCH where I used to work, and believe it or not, it was a lot easier with two 3 1/2 year olds, a 6 year old and an 8 year old! They turned out SO cute!
Dad doing the honors of carving the turkey...boy was it yummy!
And here is Emily helping set the table out on the deck over looking the ocean and Crystal Cove State Park...what a beautiful day and wonderful celebration! A tradition in our family each Thanksgiving is to go around the room and tell three things that we are thankful for. Each year this brings out the tears, and this year was no exception. Some of the things that our family is thankful for this year are: stingrays, tractors, Jesus, family, health, being together, laughter, all animals, horses, loving and supportive spouses, generous parents, friends, and match box cars. As you can see we have many things to be thankful for, and I was especially thankful to be able to be there with my loving family, and for my wonderful parents that made this trip so memorable!

After our Thanksgiving dinner, it was off to Huntington Beach again, where Darran's great grandpa Pirate Scott "No Eyes" had buried a treasure for the kids to find. Jill, Darran and I sprinted over to the beach to hide the loot, while the kids got on their pirate gear.

Darran the good sport that he is, got into character too and sat down to tell the kids a tale of his great grandpa Scott, the dreaded pirate from Australia.
The kids were totally taken in by his story....can you tell???? :)
Once the story was told, and the photo opt was taken, they were off to the races to find the buried treasure that awaited. The kids had to act quick as the seagulls were quickly helping themselves to the treasure.

Everyone found the treasure, enjoyed playing in the ocean and at the beach again, and it was a such a fun day! Thanks Jill and Mom for making the costumes and coming up with such a cute idea! The cousins loved it, and I think Darran enjoyed getting back to his pirate roots! Arrrrrr.

Legoland

Let me just start this blog by saying....Legoland is the coolest place ever!!! We all had such a ball at Legoland!! There was so much to see and so much to do, and the best part was that it wasn't crowded! You could actually get on a ride in less than 15 minutes, you could walk around the park and look at things and not worry that you might get lost or separated from your family if you let go of their hands. It was a wonderful day, full of fun, adventure and good old family togetherness! We saw several things while at Legoland...Thomas the Train, Darth Vader, Santa Clause, T-Rex, Lincoln, Washington, The Queen, pirates, dragons....just to name a few...and the coolest was is that they were all made out of Lego's!!!
Garrett and Thomas the Train
Emily battling Darth Vader

Allison loves her sun glasses! And when she wasn't wearing hers, she was playing with and wearing mine!
Who knew we had to travel to California to see the Sydney Opera House!?
I had the opportunity to spend a year in the DC area...my favorite place was the National Mall (and no that isn't shopping) where all the monuments are located. I loved sitting on the steps of the Lincoln monument and looking down past the Washington monument (tall pointy one) to the Capitol. But my absolute favorite was sitting on the steps of the Jefferson (round one in front) at night by the reflection pool. So imagine my joy and surprise when we walked around to the Washington DC replica and saw that they had created every detail from the old Post Office to the Smithsonian's all out of Lego's! They also had New York, San Fransisco, Las Vegas and New Orleans to name just a few of the cities they had done completely out of Lego's! Just to give you an idea... just the Lego's in the capitol building alone if stacked end on end would cover a six mile stretch...now that's a whole lot of Lego's! Besides cool Lego displays and building opportunities, they also had a lot of different rides for everyone of all ages to enjoy. Here is Darran and Emily in the Lego boats...
At the fire station we were able to race, girls against boys (except Darran he was with the girls) we had to pump our fire trucks down to the "burning" building and then get out, squirt water on the fire and then pump our fire truck back home....as you can see...the boys were number one...they beat the girls, but we all had a great time playing!

One of the funnest things that Legoland has (I think) is a mini Indy 500 course. They have two actually. One for the little kids ages 2-5 and one for the big kids ages 6-12. David and Garrett were so excited to get in their cars and have a ride around the track! It was so funny to watch them go!

David had a hard time keeping his car straight...he would drive into one curb then another while...
Garrett was lapping everyone in sight. You could tell that he was a natural thanks in large part to his John Deer tractor at home!
Then it was off to watch the big girls on their course. They had stop signs and traffic lights on their course. They were fantastic! I know that grandpa who just retired from teaching drivers ed was impressed with their driving skills and ability to obey traffic signs!

There is a place in Legoland that the rides only work using your muscles to make them go. Here are Jill and David peddling around in the go mobiles....whew, what a work out!
See, I told you Allison likes glasses! :)
At the end of the day we hit the "biggest" ride in the park. A scary roller coaster ride that mixed the Wild Mouse of Lagoon with your typical roller coaster. I went on it with the girls and after the first time, Emily wanted to go on it again, but with her dad. So I swapped places with Jeff and hung out with Garrett, where I was able to snap this cute picture.
And this is what we saw when Darran, Jodi (back), Emily and Jeff (front) came barreling by on the roller coaster.
It was a great day for everyone and we were all so glad that we had decided to go to Legoland. If you are ever in California...check it out. It's a blast for the whole family!!!

HUNTINGTON BEACH SURF MUSEUM

For those of you that don't know Darran is currently working on a surf show for a TV station in Australia, so while we were in California, we were able to get over to Hunting Beach to the International Surf Museum. It was a fantastic little museum dedicated to the world of surfing. As part of the trip, Darran had arranged to meet and interview Dean Torrance from Jan and Dean (for those of you that don't know who that is, don't feel bad, I didn't either, but then again, they were way before my time!) Jan and Dean were a popular surfer band who played with the likes of the Beach Boys. It was very interesting and fun seeing Darran at work! My parents came along to join in the fun, and it was fun for them to meet Dean and see Darran in action.
A picture of the Hunting Beach Peer at Sunset

The Surf Museum had several interesting displays, including this one of all the different types of surf boards and how they had changed and transformed into the boards of today.

A tribute to all those women surfers out there
Evolution of the Surf Board
Darran hard at work interviewing Dean Torrence
Darran, Jen, Dean, Mom and Dad
Besides interviewing Dean for his TV show, Darran was in 7th heaven in the Surf Museum. The owner -Natalie and her staff were incredible, and they were so welcoming and friendly, it was like we had known them all for years. After Darran finished the interview and packed up his stuff, he had a chance to look around the museum...and there he found the greatest display ever. The one and only original camera that was used to shoot the movie Endless Summer. Darran saw that movie as a child and it became his inspiration to get into surfing. Here he is hamming it up with his new favorite thing.

DISNEYLAND

A trip to California isn't complete without a stop at Disneyland! And that was the first thing on our long list of things to do while all together in Cali. The day started off with my cute little nephew David wanting to see and meet Mickey Mouse. How cute is that? So we went straight to Toon Town to find Mickey at his house, along with several other park goers who wanted to meet him as well. As we were waiting in line, mom and Darran headed off for Goofy's roller coaster...that in it's self is funny! :) We finally made it to see Mickey and David couldn't be more happy! While we were there, we took the opportunity for a photo opt. Allison, Jill, Mickey and Me
Grandpa with Emily and Abby

We met up with everyone at It's A Small World. It's a family favorite and so we even managed to get Aaron on board, which by the way, this was his first trip to Disneyland!

Grandma, Jill, Allison, David and Aaron on It's A Small World

One of the many fun things we experienced at Disneyland was running into my friend Rebecca and her whole family from Utah. It was so fun to see them and catch up with them for a few minutes! Boy her grandkids are darling and have grown!!! We also ran into a friend that I played volleyball with in high school...it had been a long time! Disneyland was so crowded! We ran into an old roommate of Jill's who now lives in California and said that she had been there the week before and didn't have to wait in any lines. We'll remember that for next time! A trip to Disneyland isn't complete without visiting the many gift shops and taking advantage of the photo opts with all the fun hats. Here are just some of our favorites! Darran as King Tut
Darran and Jen join the Mickey Mouse Club

Abby had waited for 2 years to get her Goofy hat David with his Mickey Ears
Emily found Nemo
And Garrett the Pirate Mouse
All the cousins had so much fun at Disneyland, that they wore their hats around the whole rest of the trip! We all had such a fun time at Disneyland and catching up with old friends. Thanks Tim for driving for 45 minutes to come and hang out with Darran for a couple of hours! It was great to see you mate!!!

California Here We Come!

We have just come back from a marvelous family vacation to America! It started out in California where we met my parents, sister and her family and brother and his family in Newport Beach. It has been a tradition in our family to go to Newport Beach for Thanksgiving for the past several years, and it was wonderful to be able to continue the tradition this year! Darran and I flew into California a day earlier than everyone else so we could sleep and get over our jet lag. Which was a very bright idea on my mom's part! After getting to the hotel and sleeping for a while, we ventured out and found a Mexican place to eat. Since not having good Mexican food here in Oz, we were in seventh heaven! The next day my parents, sister and her kids flew in and came to pick us up at the hotel to take us over to the condo. It was SO GREAT to see them, tears flooded the doorway as mom and I hugged. My sister is an expert packer and we were able to pack all our luggage into the van along with all their luggage, and we headed off to the condo. Jill's kids were asleep in the back seat and it was so fun to see how much they had grown. Once settled in the condo, we eagerly awaited my brother and his families arrival. Seeing all the kids was an incredible moment, and it didn't take long to see that even a year and the distance of the ocean didn't seem to change our relationship with them. The condo's we stay at in Newport are less than a mile from the beach, so we piled up all the kids (mom and dad stayed home with Allison) and we headed off to the beach. The kids were so excited to play at Crystal Cove State Park, and the ocean looked way too inviting to them!

They loved jumping off the small sand dunes with Mr. Wiggle.

The sunset was incredible and everyone commented on the cool cloud that was near the setting sun.
What is California without "King Palm Trees"?
There is a cool little sea side village in Crystal Cove State Park, where a bunch of beach shacks are being renovated. They used one of these beach houses in the movie Beaches. Pretty fun!
Garrett getting his toes wet. It didn't take him long to venture into the ocean and run along with the waves.
David was so excited to be at the ocean, he went running out into the tide, but didn't realize that the tide comes in and goes out. So out he went with the tide and got soaked from head to toe. But he looks like he had a pretty great time!
Abby and Emily enjoying the beach, the ocean and the scenery. I just loved being there with everyone! I had to keep pinching myself to really truly believe that I was there with my family!