{on the eve of a new year}

I've spent the morning reflecting a little upon the year that is now behind us whilst watching the snow fall serenely outside our windows. Once again I am finding it a little odd to be facing new years eve surrounded by white snow & a bitter cold which keeps us sick ones indoors. 

Eight months & three days into our American adventure I would have to say that I am still feeling quite rootless. We are well & truly settled into our home & the city but have made few friends & are yet to find a church that feels like home. It has been a year filled with new beginnings & a whole lot of highs & lows. Moments of loving this new country we are in & then moments of wondering if & how we are going to cope being here with two kids a day longer. We have had a lot of visitors who have enriched & enlivened our time here as well as two trips to Vancouver, Canada for work & to see our much loved Canadian family. Precede all that with 4 busy months of packing & planning in Australia & I think that I am happy to have come out the other end of this year! 

We have watched our two boys learn & grow so much this year that I can hardly remember how far they have come if not for the photos that remind me everyday. They are beginning to play (& fight) together happily which gives me a wonderful vision of the future with two boys. 

2011 will bring with it more visitors (Mum again in 2 weeks!), a 5 week trip home to Australia (anything less is a nightmare with jet lag & kids), more time on the ski slopes & then a whole lot of exploring the countryside in our caravan when the weather warms up. And of course my everyday wish to love my boys wholeheartedly, to teach them kindness & gratefulness, and a deep heartfelt love for their creator. I think that this next year will be just as big as the last one.

Here are few of my favourite photo memories from two thousand & ten...

Arriving at LA Airport - there are no words to express what memories go with this photo.

Waking up at our new house our first morning in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The first of many walks to our local park. Look how little they both are!

A hike to Cecret Lake with our first visitor - Oma.

Another favourite summer past time. Throwing rocks in the river with Aunty Linda.

A road trip to Canada for a beautiful wedding. 

Fall hike to hot thermal springs.

A camping trip in the caravan in late fall. Riding bikes is our new favourite pastime.

Sammy visited & the boys made a new friend for life.

Practicing their snow angels.

The first of many trips to Moab.

Danny's parents visiting & a breathtaking view from the top of snowbird ski fields.

What a year...

{goodbye gran & grandad}

Our time with Danny's parents has come to an end & they are off to hop on their plane home to Australia. We have had such a wonderful time full of adventures & memories that I'm sure we will all remember for a very long time. We are all glad that it is only going to be a short 5 weeks until we see them again for our holiday in Australia. 

The boys having a last story time with Gran, wearing the new shirts she bought them yesterday. 

Goodbye - See you soon!

:: a tram ride up snowbird ::

Yesterday we made the most of the clear skies & took a scenic trip on the Snowbird tram up to 11 000 feet (or 3352 meters). It was a beautiful trip & the scenery was just breathtaking. Here are some photos but you will have to excuse the scratched windows that I was shooting through. 

All the skiers & snowboarders hopping off the tram. We were packed in there like sardines but got a good spot up the front of the tram. 

Looking south away from the valley. 

From the top of the mountain giving a clear view down the valley. 

The family shot. 

On the shuttle bus going back to the car. Jamin managed to talk us into buying him a new pair of sunglasses with yellow (his favourite colour) just like Sammie's. How could we resist the little rockstar?

{one of those birthdays}

I haven't confirmed it with Danny yet but I think that yesterday may have been the worst birthday he has ever had. Sad huh? Even worse than the one where he tore his meniscus cup in his knee wakeboarding. At least that day he got to go out on the water in the boat. 

The photos show just about the only bright spots in an otherwise cold & dreary day. I was sick in bed with a terrible flu & the boys conspired to stage a mutiny against the remaining adults in the house. He had to go & buy his own birthday cake & cook the steak out in the freezing weather for his birthday dinner. I am feeling a bit better today so am going to take him out to dinner tonight to make up for it. This was also the only birthday that he hasn't shared with his twin brother Scott, who celebrated his in Australia on our Sunday.

Opening his only present - red licorice from Australia. The rest have been bought already or are yet to be bought. Danny is a hard one to buy for as he just goes out & buys everything that he needs. 

Jamin accompanied Happy Birthday on his guitar. Gorgeous!

Kael enjoyed the cake.

Cooking his own 1 1/2 inch thick birthday steaks on the barbecue in the snow. Looks cold huh?!

At least he can try again next year...

< sick... again>

Another american cold & flu bug has snuck into our home & I am feeling miserable. Kael & Lindsay are working through the tail end of it & I am just greeting the beginning with aches & pains, a scratchy throat & runny nose. 

The boys pretending to be sick together. cute.

Here's hoping that I can fight it overnight to make Danny's birthday tomorrow as special as we can.

:: a cold christmas in utah ::

We have had a different Christmas so far away but still a special one shared with family & new friends. The most important part is remembering the reason we celebrate & having hearts full of gratitude for that most precious gift, Jesus & the love we share with each other. 

Kael was the first up this morning (not counting Jamin's 3am wake up call) & discovered the special nativity scene in the fire place. The stars were down about an hour later.

Jamin joined his brother after 7 and was very excited to see the presents under the tree.

Gran & Grandad opening their present from us - a trip back to Utah next year!

A special moment playing in the 'snow' under the tree.

Amidst the chaos of Christmas lunch with tired kids we managed a great photo featuring our roast lamb & beautiful red wine. For dessert, homemade apple pie & custard. It was delicious!

Our friends Merilee, Boston & Steve came over to share in baby Jesus' birthday cake & exchange presents. We gave Boston a photo book of all the fun things we have done together since moving to Utah.

Pouring over Jamin & Kael's copy of the photo book.

Jesus' birthday cake!

Boston & Jamin with their matching Dorothy backpacks they got from Merilee for Christmas.

A cute & kind of long video featuring Oma's guitar present.

A Merry American Christmas to you...

:: twas the night before christmas... ::

... and there has been an awful lot of activity around our home. Having a 3 & 1 year old means that our decorations sit on the top half of the tree, the presents don't come out until after they have gone to bed on Christmas Eve & the nativity set has spent more time scattered around the house than together on the fireplace. Now that we have gone to a Christmas Eve service & wished all of our Australian families a merry Christmas it actually feels like Christmas is here, despite the snow melting on the ground outside & the very chilly weather. I cannot describe how weird it is to not feel hot & be eating salads this Christmas like so many of our past Australian Christmases. 

I am keenly feeling the separation from my family who are gathered back home at my Aunty Sandies house, with a whole lot of yelling & laughing, eating & loving.  They may even be eyeing each other furtively to see if anyone has the guts to start a water fight in the wet December weather. 

I am so very thankful that we have Danny's parents here to share the love & the memories of our first American Christmas. Family makes everything special & meaningful. 

Our tree on Christmas Eve, complete with a skirting of snow & a load of presents.

Thankyou family for sending them so very far for us! 

Our gorgeous nativity set which reminds us of the very special baby behind this celebration. 

Thankyou God for loving us so very much that you sent your son. 

What amazing love is this?

:: a steamy penguin ::

At 4327 feet or 1320 meters the air up here in Salt Lake City is pretty dry & in the middle of winter its very common for people to have humidifiers on in their houses during the day. We only had a small one that we bought for when the kids were sick after we first arrived. But with winter & sick kids I decided that I needed to look at buying another one. 

So I headed down to my new favourite shop called Deseret Industries. Basically its a Mormon second hand store & it is huge! It seriously is a mega op shop & I have gotten numerous bargains there. My only regret is that I didn't discover it until we had bought all of the necessities after we arrived. They have everything there!

So look what I found still boxed, unused & with its warranty card for $7 yesterday? A cute penguin humidifier that retails for $40 at ToysRus. 

I think I get far too much pleasure out of a bargain but this penguin makes me happy every time I look at his steamy beak. Jamin likes it too & has been inventing games about fire breathing penguins all day.

:: lights at the temple ::

Yesterday we adventured out of the house at the unfriendly child hour of 5pm. We had heard from some local friends that the Christmas lights at the Mormon Temple were well worth seeing. And as you can see from the pictures - they were spectacular. Definitely better than any Toowoomba light show we've seen. Danny did remark that there is a lot that you can do with free Mormon labour. 

The shepherds & their sheep on their way to visit baby Jesus. 

Mary, Joseph & baby Jesus

Another shepherd & animals.

Danny & Kael all bundled up in front of the beautiful Christmas tree.

A white Christmas in Salt Lake City.

The path next to the Temple. 

The trees are just spectacular with thousands of lights.

A great outing that stretched the kids & the adults but was well worth it in the end. Not sure if other Christmas light displays will cut it from now on...

:: an adventurous mishap ::

One of the things that I love about Danny is his spirit of adventure & guess who he got it from? His Mum! 

When Sue arrived in Salt Lake City a few weeks ago she was keen to try snow skiing for the first time in her life. She gave her travel insurance a call the night before our trip up to the slopes & upped her insurance to include sking & off we went. The first morning she had a lesson for a few hours to get the basics down, then she was off!

Down the bottom of "Easy Street" just near the lift. 

Looking pretty proud of herself for her great effort!

The next week Danny & his Mum & Dad headed back up the mountain with our friend Valerie for our normal Wednesday morning ski. Sue hit the slopes again with Valerie giving her some pointers. After a morning sking down "easy Street" Valerie thought Sue was ready to head up the Moonbeam lift to try out the next level slope "Same Street". Now I just have to say for the record here that I only headed up this slope on Sunday for the first time & my oh my it's just a little bit daunting. Nothing like the bunny slope that we had been learning on! But here is a video of Sue doing an amazing job skiing down the first part like a pro... except for the bit where she crashes at the end.

Unfortunately it wasn't this ski where she fell & tore her ACL & MCL, rather the next one. Oh dear. 

Danny snowboarded down to get some help while Valerie stayed with Sue. Then these guys show up before Danny could even get back. They just patrol all of the runs looking for people who might need some help. 

The tobagan looks pretty comfy & they put her leg in a lovely splint. I think they might have done this a few times before... They did comment that everyone was far too cheery for it be too bad an injury.

And down the hill she goes! Looks kinda fun hey?

They have a pretty amazing medical clinic at Solitude, complete with X-Ray machine. Although she went for an MRI later in the day, the Physician's assistant here was spot on with her diagnosis. 

Sue has been recovering really well over the last week & she started having some physiotherapy yesterday. She might not be up to any sledding with the boys just yet but she is still making the most of the holiday.