Australia - Maleny: The Wattlegully Farm Stay

My dear friend, Kirste, met us at the airport in Brisbane. After spending some time with her and Jake, it was off to Wattlegully!!

Wattlegully is in Maleny, which is in the Glass Mountains area. We stayed at a farm. Farmer Ross picked the girls up in the morning at 7:00 in the "ute" to go help him feed the animals. They got to feed the horses, goats, alpacas, and "chooks."

There were wild wallabies that would come up by the cabin, and a pair of kookaburras, who would steal food from the deck. We went on a small hike to find a koala. No luck finding a koala, but we saw many different beautiful birds and the beautiful, fog-covered valley.

The girls got to ride the horses, even by themselves! They did really well. I did videotape it, and maybe Sam's camera has pictures. It made him REALLY nervous :)

The Glass Mountains area

You can see the Glass Mountains in background

Wattlegully farm: feeding the goats

The girls' room

Reminded me of Little House on the Prairie

The deck

Izzy, Gracie, and Sophie

Feeding the "chooks"

Daddy holding a "chook" for the girls

One of the kookaburras mooching hotdogs

Getting ready to ride

Sophie brushing one of the horses

Farmer Ross and the Girls

Pink Galah in the trees

The valley covered in fog

Sophie, Gracie, and Izzy overlooking the valley

Sophie, Gracie, and Izzy

Our cabin

Amazing view

View leaving Maleny...on our way to Mooloolaba!

Sumo Practice

Sorry I've not posted in awhile. I have some catching up to do. Today, we attended Sumo practice at Narita-san, a shrine in Inuyama. It is the location of the Tokitsukaze-stable.

We were able to watch the wrestlers practice, took pictures with them, and then ate Chankonabe with them for lunch.

The wrestler pictured with the girls is Shimotori-san. He was so wonderful with them. Here is more information on him on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimotori_Norio

It was an amazing experience, and I was so proud of the girls for trying and liking the Chankonabe (Sam, too). Afterwards, they wrestled with one of the wrestlers.

Much thanks to my friends Naomi-san, her husband and Kumiko-san for a wonderful experience for our family. The wrestlers and others were so amazing with the girls!

Gracie and Shimotori-san

Izzy and Shimotori-san

Sophie and Shimotori-san

Sumo Sophie

Triplet Power!

The Power of Three :)

Upset!

Tatsuta-san serving Chankonabe - Oishii-desu!

Tying a topknot

The Practice Ring

My Sophie

My Izzy

My Gracie

My Beautiful Family!

Funny Sophie

Sophie just asked Izzy, "You know why you're so smart?" Izzy asks, "Why?" Sophie tells her, "Because I put a double brain in you."

My Spiritual Child

I want to first of all ask that you all keep Malorrie in your prayers right now. She is in the process of receiving new bone marrow from her brother, Jordan. Right now, she is really sick from all the chemo and radiation. Please, please, please keep her and her family in your prayers.

I picked up the girls from school yesterday, and Finbar told me that they had led a heart-felt discussion with the class about Malorrie and cancer. He said they were very knowledgeable about the cancer and medications. I was really proud of them.

Sophie is becoming such a spiritual child. She wants me to read prayer books to her, and she really wants to take part in our bedtime prayers. After saying her meal blessings, she always adds on something. She told me the other night that she knew Jesus was in her heart because she could feel it beating :) She cried the other night when we were praying for Malorrie :( I'm proud that she is learning to find comfort in God.

We love all! God bless!

Our earthquake adventure

This morning, Gracie and Izzy were in our bedroom getting their hair done for school. I noticed the dresser was shaking and rattling and the bed was shaking. I was going to gripe at the girls for "bouncing," but they were being still. I looked over at Sam to tell him to quit shaking everything, and his legs were still....about then it hit Sam and me. He said, "earthquake," but very quietly and calmly. Izzy still heard him. About that time, Sophie yells from her bedroom, "Mommy, why is my bed shaking?" Izzy looked very scared, so I told Sophie to come to me, and we told Izzy it was OK. By the time Sophie got to my room, she had realized what had happened. Then we were all excited over experiencing our first "shake-the-house" earthquake :)

Our Hina Doll Set

Yesterday, Toshiko, one of my English conversation students, brought a set of Hina dolls as a gift for the girls. She and the other ladies set it up for us. I am absolutely amazed at how beautiful it is. The girls were beyond amazed by it. Take a look and thanks again to Toshiko!

School Christmas Party and Concert

The girls had their first winter concert. They sang "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." The pre-K students and kindergarteners were sooooo cute!!!

For their winter party at school, we had a potluck lunch. As always, the other moms went all out to make sure it was a special time for the kids. Christine, the KA kindergarten teacher, had her dad lead a sing-a-long with the kids. He played the banjo - he was really amazing and so good with the children!

I think we were ALL ready for a break though, but the girls are already looking forward to returning to school and Finbar and Christine.

Our 2nd Christmas in Nagoya

Our High School Musical Robes and Hannah Montana Microphones

It's hard to believe we have been here a year and a half! Thanks to our friends Kim and Wayne, Santa was able to deliver exactly what the girls wanted this year.

Gracie asked for a Furreal Friends Piggy:

Sophie asked for a My Little Pony Baby Rarity:

And Izzy asked for a Furreal Friends Parakeet:

Of course Santa delivered a few extra special things. It was such a busy year, and I decided that the girls were old enough to copy their letters to Santa. We almost didn't make it!! Izzy wrote as far as "Dear" and decided maybe it would be best for me to write the rest. She received a long lecture on how sad it was for her to try and get out of writing her Santa letter!!! She did get it done, but they didn't get their letters done in time to receive a letter back from Santa :(

Sam and I got the girls their very first video game - a Wii. We've had a lot of fun as a family playing it.

Anyway, we had a very blessed year and have so much to be thankful for.

God bless you all!!