How do you entertain 15 little kids?

I wanted to have something on hand during the footy party just in case the littler kids got bored and didn't want to sit and watch the footy. Being in the country, having stuff on hand to entertain them isn't too difficult. I mean the minute they all got here all the little kids wanted to do was go and see Rosie. So me and my eight little homeys headed up to see Rosie in her paddock. After they played and chased Rosie for a while one of them noticed our electric fence and wanted to know if it worked. So I had them each get a long blade of grass and place it on the fence so they could feel a zap, but nothing that would hurt them. They all thought it was cool and went back to chasing Rosie around....poor Rosie. Then one of the little boys who just turned six noticed that there was an electric fence on the other side of our fence line, but this one was metal, so he asked if it was on. I told him that because it was to keep the cows out of our yard I would think that it would be on...well, wouldn't you know it he just had to touch it and got the biggest zap ever! He burst out in tears and screamed like his arm had just been cut off, I'll be honest it was so hard not to laugh because I had just finished telling him that he probably shouldn't touch it because it was more high powered than ours. He of course is okay, but I don't think he'll be touching fences anytime soon.

The next thing that they wanted to all check out were the chickens. I had purposely not gathered the eggs that morning as I knew that they would want to see them and thought it might be fun to have them gather the eggs. Boy was I right! It was so funny to see them all head into the chook shed and want to see where the "shicken's live". As they gathered the eggs one of them asked what was inside the eggs. Another wanted to know if they were like the real ones you get at the shops. And another just wanted to chase the chickens around and around until he got too tired. Boy, don't you love the country life?

Well thankfully by this time the food was all cooked and so we all ate and started watching the game. The little kids did well to entertain themselves until about the third quarter and then I pulled out the face paints to keep them occupied. Now I will admit that I am not a great face painter, in fact, this was the first time I tried out my face painting ability. The kids were so excited as they thought of what they wanted me to paint on their faces. Some were quite creative, others didn't really care as long as they got in on what everyone else was doing so they weren't left out. The older girls 10-13 saw the little kids had their faces painted and wanted to get theirs done as well. I told them that if they would be patient and let the little kids have their faces done first that I would do theirs and then let them paint mine. What was I thinking!?!?!?!?

Here is just a sample of the face painting fun...Courtney (almost 13) wanted her face painted in Hawthorn brown and gold...she couldn't smile as the paint was drying on her lips and she didn't want it to crack.
Sisters Hayley (5) and Faith (10?) wanted their faces painted with a butterfly and flower and as a tiger...roar!

Molly (10) wanted her face painted for the footy game...top half yellow with brown "Go Hawks" bottom half white with blue "boo cats". Angel (almost 12) wanted Hawks yellow with brown "love hearts".
Here's Hailey again, she is too cute and loved the camera with her cousin Desiree (4) who had to be the "butterfly girls". I painted all the little boys faces as well from clowns to the Hulk to blue dots and the joker but by the time I got through with all the girls and they had painted my face all the boys had rubbed their faces off and were too busy playing to be bothered for a photo shoot. Then...after all the kids were painted it was my turn.
I told the girls that they could do anything they wanted on me just as long as they didn't get it on my clothes or in my hair...boy was I daring or what???? I have to say that my teeth look very white in this picture! Every time I thought that they were done they would just keep adding more and more...we were having so much fun laughing and giggling that I just couldn't tell them to stop.Here it is the final product. Don't I look smashing??? As I walked back into the house and the girls made the grand announcement that I was coming in everyone burst out laughing when they saw me. Later one of the parents said, "When you walked in all we could see was the whites of your eyes and your white teeth."
Here is a group shot with all the girls and their faces painted in the tree in our front yard. I have to say that as soon as this shot was taken I couldn't wait to start peeling off the paint! One thing for sure is we had a ton of fun, lots of laughs and the paint was a great way to exfoliate!

Superbowl Aussie Style

The last Saturday of September here in Oz is always the Grand final of Aussie Football. So imagine our excitement when Darran's team the Hawthorn Hawks made it into the final!!! Last year we had a footy final party at our house with a bunch of friends and we had so much fun we wanted to do it again, and with Hawthorn in the final, it was going to be a party to remember!

We had about 40 people come to the party. And 28 of them happened to be under eighteen. There were 10 under the age of 9...it was a full house but we sure did enjoy ourselves! We decided to have a big Aussie barbecue and asked everyone to bring their own meat and we would provide salads and treats. I was in entertaining heaven baking cookies, banana cakes, marshmallow brownies and peanut butter bars. Then made several salads and home made salsa too. YUMMY!!! No one went hungry that is for sure!

Before, after and during half time of the game we had our own footy game in the back yard. Since I can only run for 3 minutes, I decided just to watch and take pictures of all the excitement. Everyone was divided into two teams based on who they barracked for. Darran's team was everyone who liked the Hawks, the other team was anyone who didn't. I think that there were only a few people even at the party that weren't Hawks supporters. Even Diesel had to get into playing the game. He was so excited with so many other people around that he just kept running after one person then another and another. He finally did get a hold of the ball after everyone had left for the evening and well...he was so excited he bit right through it and it is now flat.
Even the little kids got into it. Some of them tried to play, but the teens weren't too happy about that so in the end they just stood on the side lines and cheered. I don't know who won the back yard footy game, but I am happy to report (although I didn't see much of the game as I was too busy trying to keep the six kids under six from getting into everything they weren't supposed to) that Hawthorn beat the Geelong Cats (who won the grand final last year and were favored quite heavily to win this game) by 26 points! It was a happy and very loud night at our house! It was so fun to have everyone come to our footy party, can't wait for next years!!! GO HAWKS!!!

3 Minutes

So what can you do in three minutes? Have you ever taken the time to sit and think about that? Maybe sitting and thinking about what you can do in three minutes will take three minutes! I know of people who brush their teeth for three minutes, others who can put on their make up in three minutes and still others who do deep breathing and visualization for three minutes to get centered. So what can you do in three minutes? Me...I can run for 3 minutes! Yep, the physio yesterday cleared me to start to run! YIPPEE!!! But my guidelines are: Only for three minutes, only at a very slow pace and only on grass. I can't go far only a 1/2 of a block and then I have to turn around, but hey when you haven't run for 6 months...three minutes is three minutes, and I'll take it! In two weeks, I have to be up to running 10 minutes, so there is a goal out there, I won't be running a marathon any time soon, but it's a step in the right direction! The three minutes are calling to me...off to run! :)

Very much a puppy

Well it's been 2 weeks since Diesel came to live with us, and boy has it been a fun filled two weeks! He has been adjusting well to living out in the country with us, and we have been trying to adjust to having him here. In all honesty he is a sweet sweet dog, who is still very much a puppy and needs lots of time, attention and love! And it's a good thing we understand that! Here he is peering around the laundry room door, just to make sure we are still around and that he is okay being in the laundry room. There is so much we need to teach him, but I am happy to report that he has mastered the "sit" command very well. We are still working on the "stay" or "wait" command, but he is getting better at that too. We are having a heck of a time trying to teach him how to get in and out of the car. He hates getting in the car and can't wait to get out. He loves it once we are in and on our way and has a great time playing at the beach. He is always excited to see us, and loves to jump and chase and play fetch. But if he is really excited to see us he'll just flop over on his back and wait for a tummy rub. He loves his tummy rubbed it is his favorite thing next to eating the chicken poo. Yeah, this dog has gourmet taste! :) He also has a taste for electrical cords! He chewed through the electrical cord on the washing machine this week. It was in two pieces, don't have a clue how he got it. Luckily it was turned off at the outlet (Australia's power points have a light switch on them so you can turn them off and save electricity) and he wasn't zapped. Even better Darran knew how to fix the cord when he got home from work.
We still have to remind ourselves that he is still a puppy and needs to learn not to chew on things (like Darran's shoes, fishing pole, and snorkle...this might be a good lesson for Darran also to pick up his stuff and put it away or it might get eaten!) or dig and learn how to follow commands. But how can you just not love this face? I especially love it when his ears are perky and he tilts his head to the side...he's just so inquisitive!
Hope he continues to be inquisitive when we take him to puppy school! I think it would do us all a lot of good! Maybe we could learn how to "sit" and "stay" too! :)

Who's that.....

On the radio???? Why it is my hunky hubby! Part of the fun of this weekend footy spectacular was that Darran and his mates that do the local footy show got to broadcast the Seniors grand final game between Yarram and Wonthaggi. It was the first of all of them, and they did a fantastic job!
Here they all are....Darran, Mark, Kate and Nate. Can you see the pre game jitters????
Doing final commentary on the game, the fights that happened both on and off the field and the wrap up for the show for the season.
Wow, isn't he just cute in ear phones?!?!?! Good job honey! Love hearing you on the radio!

Footy, Footy, Footy and more Footy

Aussies love their footy more than Utahan's love their fry sauce! And that is no understatement!!! Footy is a way of life here, it is something that Aussies eat, sleep and breathe. Especially when it comes down to the grand final time of year (which just happened to be this weekend for country players) and in a couple weeks for the pro teams. So it came as no surprise that Darran and I got caught up in the country footy grand final fever and spent the weekend attending several grand final games. The first of many was our friend Lochy's grand final game. He and his brother play for the Wonthaggi Power, who according to all the other teams in their league are too good and the teams are trying to get them kicked out of the league. Well, this grand final didn't disappoint. It was a close nail biter of a game, with Wonthaggi coming out on top to win the cup.
Here is Lochy with the ball (in the black shorts). Notice there are no helmets, no pads, just shorts, and footy jumpers (tops) and mouth pieces. It is a physical fast paced game. One that has hard hits, fights and lots of excitement.
These are the goal posts. There are four of them. The two on the ends are worth one point and the middle goals are worth six points. The guy in the orange (in the middle) is one of the umpires. He stands there to signal what type of goal has been scored. He has two flags to signal that they just scored a 6 point goal. He uses one flag to signal to score a goal. In order to score you have to kick the ball through the posts. If it is hit with your hand through the goals it's only worth one. The ball is kicked from player to player, rather than passed like in American football.
The next day we headed up to Ballarat (about 3 hours from our house) to watch our friends Josh and Sam's (the twins) footy final. We had a great drive up there and enjoyed the time we got to spend together in the car. I had packed a fun picnic and we both had a lot of fun laughing, talking and eating. When we got there, we noticed that there was a change in the weather from the day before. At Lochy's game, the sun was out, it was about 75 degrees and I got a bit of sun burn. In Ballarat, it was cool, over cast and windy. We still had a fun time, despite the weather, and the fact that the twins lost.
This is the grand stand at the East oval in Ballart, it was built back in the 1850's. It was one of the first Cricket/Footy ovals in Victoria. It was beautiful! I felt like I was sitting in the grandstands where Babe herded the sheep in the sheep dog competition in the movie Babe. See that tree to the right of the grandstand? It is a maple was planted in 1847. How cool is that? What a weekend of footy! Looking forward to the AFL (pro league) grand final in a couple weeks!

A new nick name

So it's been a while since I've posted anything about my adventures at the deli. And to be honest, it's because there really hasn't been anything too exciting at the deli to blog about. I mean really, how exciting could a post about cold cuts, chicken necks (yes we sell them there for people to feed to their dogs), or octopus be? But a couple funny things happened to me this week and I just had to share.

About two months after working there a gentleman came up to the counter and wanted some sort of deli item...as I was serving him, he asked of course where I was from in the states. When I told him Utah, he looked at me funny and said, "So you one of those Mormons?" I simply smiled and said yes. He shook his head gathered up his deli items and was on his way. I actually forgot about him to be honest because I haven't seen him in about 7 months. Well last week this gentleman came into the deli and saw me and said, "Well how's my Mormon girl doing?" When did I become "his" Mormon girl? I just simply smiled and said that I was doing well and it was good to see him again, I was actually shocked that he even remembered me. Anyway, since I hadn't seen him in months, he felt he had to catch me up on his life and what he had been doing, apparently he is a great rose gardener. At the end of our conversation I promised that I would stop by the local city park and check out his roses and see what he had been doing with them. He assured me that it wasn't time to see them yet, but that he would let me know when they were at their peak. With that he turned to go and said, "Well I'll speak to you soon Mormon girl." Now I've had several nick names through out my life, some good, some bad and some ugly (which we won't go into right now) but I think I handle this newest one.

American politics are pretty big here in Australia...it seems to always be in the news and newspapers. More Aussies are interested in America's politics than their own. I mean, I was at a doctor's appointment a couple months ago and during my visit with the doctor, all he wanted to do was talk about American politics. I have never been one to get into conversations or discussions about politics. I do my civic duty, I vote, I follow what is going on, but especially here where George Bush is a swear word, I try to keep out of conversations about American politics. So last week when I was serving a customer and he asked if I was American and what I thought about Barack Obama I found myself in this conversation that I really didn't want to be in. I just simply smiled and said, "Well, I am still researching out who I am going to vote for and who I think is the best candidate." Hoping that my answer would be enough to stop this conversation dead in it's tracks. However it didn't and the gentleman who asked me the question wanted to know if I was going to vote for Obama or McCain. I simply looked at him and said, "I don't know what I am going to do as I am still researching out who the best candidate is...but I am really impressed with Sarah Palin." With that he snatched (literally) his stuff and said, "Well, there is no need to even try to talk to you anymore." And with that he turned and walked away. I couldn't believe it. I have to say that I have talked more about American politics in the 20 months that I have been here than I ever have living in America. Which isn't a bad thing as it has made me keep up with what is going on over in the States. These next few months should prove interesting as the election gets closer...I wonder how many more of these conversations I am going to have.

Beneath the tough Aussie exterior...

My hubby has a very sensitive side, especially when it comes to animals.

A month or so ago our friends who live down in a suburban neighborhood asked us if we wanted a dog. They have two, a Cocker Spaniel named Snoopy and an 9 month old Queensland Healer Kelpie mix named Roy. Darran and I told them we would think about it and let them know. As we drove home from their house (about an hour away) we discussed taking the dog and decided that the two main factors in why we shouldn't take him was because the yard wasn't fenced and what would we do with him when we went on our vacation to America. So we called our friends and told them that at this time we couldn't take Roy.

Well a couple weeks ago these friends called Darran and again asked if we had changed our minds about taking Roy. When Darran told him that we hadn't our friends said that because they lived so close to other people and because their yard was too small that they had to find him a new home, and if they didn't they were going to take him and have him put down. As soon as Darran heard that he told our friends that if they would help us build the fence and promise to take him while we were in Utah that we would take Roy on a trial bases....so this past weekend we got a fence and a dog.
Here is Roy...who we are in the process of renaming Diesel....we think the name fits him better. He really is a sweet dog, one who is getting used to us and his new home. He is still very much puppy and loves to pull down the clothes from the clothes line. He hasn't had much training at all, and has been a bit traumatized by the girl who took care of him....she did her best to try to control him, but when he was bad she'd kick or hit him, so he is a bit skittish as well. He is my new walking buddy, which is great, but he needs to learn that he can't pull while we are walking, and not to be scared of cars when they drive by. We also have to teach him how to get in and out of the car and enjoy riding in the car once we get him to stay in. We have a lot of training to do, so if any of you have any great words of wisdom...please share!!! I'm sure there will be lots more pictures and stories about the adventures with Roy Diesel in the weeks to come!

Nat shares photos of her trip down under

Finally!!!! Nat had some time to actually sit down since being back in the States and sent me these pictures with a few thoughts from her trip....While there in the land of Oz Nat got to drive both an automatic and manual car....and she didn't kill us! :) Remember that is no small feat especially the manual as everything is backwards from what she is used to in the States. The worst part of her driving experience???? Was that she kept turning the wind shield wipers on when she tried to signal.

Nat absolutely loved the trees in Australia. Especially the ones that lined the road just up past my house. She felt like she was right back in California, where she grew up with all the eucalyptus trees around.

On one of our many adventures....we finally found where the red fern grows. And don't you just love that in the middle of winter the bulb flowers begin to bloom???

Well what can I say...some things never change...and even being on different continents and thousands of miles away...true friendship last the age of time!

While at Healesville Nat couldn't get enough of the kangaroos....so she was super imposed into their world, naw....just kidding, but this is a cool shot!
Well, what do you say about this kangaroo. He was a character and when you have an itch, you just have to scratch.
Here is Mya the ewok....oh wait, I mean koala. Nat thought it was so cool seeing koala's up close and learning all about them!!!

This is a dingo...and no, this one didn't "eat my baby". hehehe He was so sweet that Nat just wanted to crawl into his den and cuddle up on it's side.
While showing Nat all the beautiful beaches of Australia, these two "silver gulls" landed on the hood of the car, and since we were inside the car where it was warm, they added to our beach experience. It was hilarious as they acted like hood ornaments for a good 10 minutes.
The rocks and waves and gulls off the Nobbies at Philip Island. What a fun time we had walking around exploring all the great coastal areas of Philip Island, it was beautiful.
Awwwww....Aren't we cute! This is on Philip Island at Cape Woolami (the beach where they held the women's pro surf comp) Gee....I didn't remember that there was such a height difference! :)

Last but not least....yes, this is the man that I married...and as you can see we never have a dull moment and our house is always filled with laughter. Thanks Nat for sharing your photo's and coming out to visit us! We can't wait until you come back!!!