HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

It is almost 2009 (well it is in Australia already!) and I am just sitting here reflecting on how blessed we are! We have had such a wonderful time with our families over the past couple of weeks and have realized once again how grateful we are for the families that we have. We have 2 sons that continually amaze us and make us proud, brothers and sisters and in laws and nieces and nephews who are a source of love and pride for us and parents who have loved us and supported us through it all. Not everyone can boast of such a family and we don't ever take ours for granted. If it were not for them we would not be who we are today or be able to be doing the things that we do.

2008 has got to be one of our "biggest" years yet and if I had to sum up my feelings about the year in one word it would be "grateful". Grateful for people who believe in us, in Chris' abilities and for allowing us to experience this adventure of a lifetime. Grateful for family who have stood by us and loved us and told us to go where we need to go. Grateful for our children who are a constant source of joy and pride for us. Grateful for friends who have stayed in touch through all our moves and been the anchors that we needed when we relocated to a new area. Grateful for our faith in a God who is so much bigger than any of us can even imagine.

And above all I am grateful for my husband who has always challenged me and believed in me when I did not believe in myself. He always sees the best in me when I can't see it and encourages me to become the best that I can be. Thank you, Chris, for loving me and being the best friend that anyone could possibly have. I am going to miss you when you go back to Oz and I am still here "playing".

As the new year rolls in remember to love those close to you and be kind to everyone you meet----2009 will prove to be yet another year of blessings!

Sunday in Lima!

We are back in Lima with Chris' dad and brother--made the trip yesterday from Freeport and the gathering of the "Brown" side of the family. It was wonderful! We had 16 there and that included everyone. We got a good family picture and that is important since it is so hard to get us all together in the same place anymore. With some of the family in Ohio, some in New Mexico and Arizona and Florida and New York and North Carolina it is getting more and more difficult to coordinate. We had a great time---had our big meal in the church basement across the street from the parsonage which worked out great so we could all be together and talk without sitting on each other's laps!! All in all a great time and very calm!!! Even with a dog, a cat and a visiting kitten things were rather tranquil which seemed a little unusual!!!

Today we are headed to Ada to have lunch at Colleen and Bryan's and that will be nice. Micah is chilling out in bed still so I guess i am going to have to get him motivated pretty soon. We still haven't even given him his presents or his stocking so I think we are going to have to do that pretty soon or he will think we do not love him! It just has been kind of a weird Christmas----Chris and I really did not do much for each other this year as this trip is kind of our present! And Aaron got his stuff early so it is a really sllllooooowwwwww Christmas this year I guess!

Well this is boring and I am needing to get some other emails written so will post more if something exciting happens!!!

Not the best of pictures of us but it was a fun day with my side of the family!!!!

Meredith and me at The Inn at Ohio Northern University

Micah and Aaron clowning around with me!

My "mommy"!!! I love her!!!

The Fam!

Carl Archdeacon, Shari Brown, Rebekah Brown, Chris Chiles, Christopher Morris
Paula Archdeacon, Chris Brown, Helen Brown, Mark Brown, Beth Ann Chiles, Carla Jo Morris
Rachael Brown, Micah Chiles, Thomas Archdeacon, Aaron Chiles

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are all fed and stuffed, took the annual family picture with EVERYONE here!!! Will post a picture once I get it off of Chris's camera!! It has been a wonderful day and I am loving being with my family!!! Great day with lots of laughs and love!!! Hope everyone else has as special of a day as we are having!!!

The Day Before The Day Before Christmas

The coffee is brewing, the house is quiet except for the chatter of the coffee dripping and I am trying to get motivated to make a list of things to do today! We have had such a wonderful time in Lima despite the miserably cold and dreary weather. We have had sun out 2 days in a row and though my Aussie tan is fading I still have hope that the sun will continue to shine through the cold!!!

We celebrated Chris' 49th birthday again yesterday with a lunch at The Inn at Ohio Northern with Bryan and Colleen and Meredith and had a really nice time. Took a tour of the facility which is really nice, by the way--(makes me want to move in there! )and then walked over to MacIntosh to check out the bookstore. Merry Christmas to us!!! Stocked up on ONU merchandise and had a great time. Chris went back to Dad's and then I went with Colleen and Meredith shopping. Aaron came in from North Carolina in his purty car and he went with us to the mall to look for a coat and some sweaters. He is such a skinny thing it is hard to find stuff but since he shipped most of his cold weather clothing by sea mail from Melbourne and has no idea when it will get here he decided he needed some warmer stuff. So all is good---we are spending today doing who knows what and just being together. Tomorrow we drive to Columbus to pick Micah up at the airport before driving down to Freeport, OH to be with my sister and the rest of my fam for a few days. Should be a great time with a lot of confusion, noise, animals and fun!!! Can't wait!

Hope all have a very merry Christmas!!!

Ice Storm in Ohio

Ice Storm in Ohio

Buddy hanging out under the Christmas Tree after we set it up and decorated it.

Froggie collection bin in the Sydney airport.

Chris hanging out in the Qantas lounge in the Brisbane airport before we flew to Sydney.

I think we are almost back to normal after our long flight---we finally slept fairly normal last night and got up at a reasonable time so hopefully it means that we are on the way to a normal schedule. It just takes a while for the body to get with it after that flight and changing so many time zones.

It snowed here a bit in Lima and there is just a little bit of snow on the ground but it is pretty and not too big of a hassle at this point! Hopefully it will not get too nasty out especially on the days when we have to travel a bit.

We are having such a great visit with Chris' dad and brother and today is Chris's birthday so we are going to go out to Applebee's to celebrate the big number 49!!! Poor Colleen (Chris' sister) is still in school this week as well as Meredith so they have not been over and we are dying to see their new house so hopefully this weekend we will make it to Ada to see that! It is so nice to be back and seeing family. I have been calling all my friends and catching up and that has been great also!

So now that I have gotten my Panera fix, my trip to the mall and Bath and Body Works (haven't hit Christopher and Banks yet tho) life is good!!! Had a couple of good mochas and some good food and great time with family so life is so good right now!!! Funny how the things I missed the most other than people is food...hmmm..wonder what that means!!!

We're Here! We're Here!

We are so excited because we are back in the USA! I don't think I realized until we got here how much I had missed "home" and although I love our life in Australia there is nothing like coming home!!! From Townsville to actually arriving in Lima our trip took 34 hours and we are happy to be here! We had fairly good flights though once again we hate the LA airport! Have never had a good experience there and we are still waiting for one! Chris' luggage did not make it on the flight from Sydney to LA for some reason though my identical duffle made it so don't quite know what is up with that. It is supposedly coming by Fed Ex today but we have yet to see it. Fortunately we both had left stuff in Lima and a quick trip out today ensured that Chris had what he needs in case it doesn't show up. Customs was a BREEZE!!! Chris said it must have been because I look so honest. He kept telling me not to declare stuff and I have seen too many Border Patrol shows so I was determined to declare stuff and knew that they would go through my suitcase since I claimed food and some other items that probably would flag it. The guy looked at my declaration form, asked me what food I had (vegemite) and stamped it and said to go through. So there,Chris!!! Haha. I had a feeling they would confiscate the rainstick I brought for Carlton since it probably has seeds in it but they didn't even look. Now going back into Australia will be a far different story---they are really vigilant about not letting anything come in!

Colleen and Bryan (Chris' sister and brother in law) picked us up at the airport in Detroit and we actually got in about 1/2 an hour early which was nice. We stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home (hello iced tea and fried okra!!!) and then got to Dad's and settled in. It is wonderful to be here!!! We went to bed around 11, got up around 8 this morning and I have not even taken a nap today so I think I am doing well. I plan to go to bed early and hopefully I will be okay by tomorrow with no jet lag! Chris and I went out to Walmart and Kohl's today to pick up some stuff and it was WEIRD to drive on the other side of the road!!!

Aaron made it back to Raleigh, we are still trying to get the paperwork for his car, get the check to them, etc. so it may be a couple of days before he gets it but he is just going to have to live with that. He was picking up furniture today for his apt and getting that all settled in. I know he is glad to be back too.

So we are just planning on having a wonderful time, seeing as many people as we can and just enjoying being together for awhile. Probably won't blog as much and it will be more about snow instead of beaches.

Oh and good news---my kitties still love me!!! Buddy curled up with me on the couch this afternoon and let me snuggle him, Holly is still a little licky and aloof ! It is good to see that they are doing a good job of looking after Chris' dad while we are gone!!!

All packed and ready to fly!

Yep, can you believe it?? I am all packed and ready to go!!! Just have to throw the last minute ziplock bag in and I am ready!!! A whole 17 hours before we have to leave!!! Now what do I do?? Chris is working on his last mill report of the year and then we plan to take a nice walk on the beach, mow the yard, clean out the fridge and clean the house. Sounds pretty exciting, doesn't it? But if we are going to be gone for 3 weeks from the house it needs to be done.

Aaron and Thom made it to Sydney safe and sound and it is supposed to rain for 2 days but he just posted a picture of the Opera House so at least they are out and about and it just looked cloudy so maybe they won't get all the rain that is predicted.

My suitcase if stuffed but it really isn't a lot of "my" stuff!!! Chris asked me why I had so much stuff and I told him that you never know who you might want to give a little Australian gift to!!! The kangaroos are the hard things because they keep hopping out.

We had a great dinner last night at the Australian Hotel in the CBD in Townsville. It was one of our favorite places when we lived at The Quest and I picked Chris up after work and we walked over. I had a hankering (now there is a term I bet the Aussies don't know!) for some coral trout and they always prepare it really well. I was thrilled to find the special of the night was grilled coral trout with prawns and a sweet chili sauce over it. Three of my favorite things!! It was delish!!! YUM!

But enough about my culinary pleasures---------we will be back soon and hope to catch as many of you as we can!!!

It's going to be hard to get those legs and tails tucked into the suitcase!

Well I am thinking about packing.....and how am I going to fit all the koalas and kangaroos in??

I am concentrating on getting Aaron packed up and ready to go tomorrow and hopefully their flights will all stay the same. We got an email today saying that our flight changed and what happened was they added a leg to it so now we have to fly to Sydney also instead of being able to fly out of Brisbane directly to LA. That would have been fine but they put us on this early flight and it was before we even flew out of Townsville so after a lonnnnngggg time on the phone with the Qantas chick I think we have it all ironed out. We aren't going to have a lot of time in Sydney to get to our plane and she assured me that we could check our luggage all the way through to LA at Townsville so hopefully she was right! We will see!!!

We are celebrating Chris' birthday tonight---all that means is that I made a chocolate cake and am going to give him a couple presents!!! Nothing big and major but at least maybe it will help make his birthday seem more like a birthday!!!

The landlord came today and helped us out by taking all our cardboard to the tip (dump) that we had in the garage since we moved in., Everything came in cardboard and they just leave it all when they drop all your stuff off so we had quite a bit. Actually Rodney had already taken one load for us so this was load number 2 which I am very grateful he took. He has a big car/truck and a trailer so it was no big deal for him but he surely did not have to do that for us. We never would have gotten it all done . Anyway, that is one less thing to worry about.

It is pretty hot today and I had to do some ironing so I turned on the AC in the office and got it all done. Whewie. I won't be hot once we hit Ohio, though,, will I???
Can't wait!!!

Just another day in Paradise!

Saunders Beach

Snake on the beach yet to be identified !

A blob of jellyfish???

it has been a couple of days since I blogged so thought I would take a quick break from watching Austar (I know, I know--lame lame lame life!) and write a few lines. Life at the beach continues and we are down to 5 days till USA. The boys are trying to get their acts together and start the packing process and I am trying to make sure laundry is done up and that they are ready to go on Friday. I think they will have a good time in Sydney for a couple of days and it will be fun for them to be there exploring. i think Chris and i may go to Sydney in January when i get back so the boys can scope it out for us.

I was thinking today when i read my sister's email how unstressed about Christmas I am this year and i guess it is because it really does not seem like Christmas here. Sure there are decorations up and carols being played everywhere you go but it is kind of like when we lived in Florida-----not really in the mood when it is in the 80's and 90's outside! And let's face it----I am not doing the usual Christmas preparation here at all. No tree, no cookie baking, not much gift buying going on but you know--that is all fine!!! I do want to do some baking when we get to Ohio at Dad's so hopefully I will get my fill of it then. I think the rest of my family must be taking my share of the Christmas stress---especially my sister who is going to have the whole gang there on Christmas Eve when she has 2 church services to prepare for and lead!!!

One of my friends commented to me that she would make me a box of things that I miss and you know---I really do miss some of that stuff but I have some things in Australia that I have found that I really like!

1. Coral Trout--my new favorite fish
2. Kleenex---they make them big and lovely here!
3. Sweet Chili Sauce---very very yummy and when served with potato wedges it is delish!
4. The sunshine 300 days of the year
5. Living on the BEACH! Absolutely wonderful aside from the creepy crawlies!
6. Birds --there are so many awesome kinds and their songs are unbelievable
   
7. Outdoor markets where you can get the best fruit and veg
8. Morning tea!

So those are a few things that I really like and instead of whinging about what I miss I will try to focus on the things that are great here!!! Tonight we are taking the boys out for a nice dinner and I am going to hopefully get a cake made to celebrate Chris' birthday a little bit early since he always gets gypped on the Dec. 18th birthday!!! Hopefully that will happen!!!

Joke of the Day!

Joke for the day

The pharmacist walks into the store to find a man leaning heavily against a
wall.

He asks the assistant "What's with that man over there by the wall?"

The assistant responds: "Well, he came in here this morning to get something
for his cough. I couldn't find the cough syrup, so I gave him an entire
bottle of laxative."

The pharmacist yells: "You idiot! You can't treat a cough with a laxative!"

The assistant responds, "Of course you can! Look at him, he's afraid to
cough.

Ramblings!

Chris and I had a CSR Christmas party last night at the Casino in Townsville so I made Aaron snap a couple of pictures of us before we left. I really need him to do some photoshopping-----we didn't have a good place to take the picture so had to just do it in front of a wall in the kitchen so maybe he can put some background in to make us look prettier!!! We spent the day hanging out at home and actually finally went to see the James Bond movie. We have tried to do that for weeks! We all enjoyed it but I have made a realization that movie theater popcorn here is horrid!!! Aaron agrees with me that they don't do it fresh---it is all prepopped, prebagged and prestale!!! Ick. Didn't even see the popper machine at this theater so I am not sure where they pop it. Aaron tried to tell me but I didn't listen and went ahead and bought some. Lesson learned. Another thing to look forward in the good old US of A!

We made it to the party and were happy to find a parking spot relatively close by. We had been warned that there was a game at the event center right next to the casino and the tip off was at the exact starting time of our party soooooo we figured no parking but we found something and parked without having to walk a million miles which was very nice. The party was poolside and they served drinks (of course it is Australia after all) and finger foods and it was nice and it actually cooled off a bit so I wasn't sweating up a storm. Chris was a little warm I think but we survived. I caught up with several friends I had not seen for awhile, met some new folks and had an enjoyable time until we had to do organized party games. I understood the purpose was to get everyone mingled but I just am not the party game person and especially after some of these folks had downed one too many drinks!!! But we lived through it and left around 10:30 to come home and even gave someone a lift back to their car because they had to park a zillion miles away. Got home and the boys were in bed asleep!!! They have a big day today as they are going to the Great Barrier Reef which hopefully is still on. It looks pretty choppy out there so hopefully they will be okay. They are going on a smaller boat with only 28 people so it won't be quite like what we had origninally planned but at least they will get the experience.

Chris and I plan to spend a quiet day---him doing his mill report and me doing who knows what. I really need to start thinking about packing stuff up to bring back. I am going to have a suitcase full of STUFF and not clothes tho from the sounds of the weather in Ohio I think I need to bring every stitch of clothing that I own! Brrrrr..... it is going to be a shocker. I have decided to go minimal in packing and use what I left in Lima and just buy a few outfits there (Christopher and Banks here I come!) and then just leave stuff in Ohio when I leave.

Talked to Micah a long time yesterday--he still does not know where he is going or when so things are all up in the air. We are waiting to do my airline tickets till he knows more because if I can help with his move I want to be able to do that. Plus I am going to help Aaron as much as I can too. Should be a great trip!!! I can not wait. Chris has one more long week of budgets and stuff to get through and he will be ready to roll!!!

Will let you know how the reef trip turns out for the boys!!!!

What $15.10 looks like in Australia!

10 Days and Counting Down!!!

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?????????????????

Yep---we are down to 10 days till we fly back to the US for Christmas! I simply cannot wait but I have a lot to get done here before we go!!! Or so I think I have a lot to get done! In actuality I have very little to do compared to most of you!!!

Good news---Aaron's new (used) car is in Raleigh so hopefully if we can get all the paperwork done and check delivered he will be able to pick it up as soon as he and Thom fly in. He is madly trying to locate furniture to furnish their apartment on line and that is proving to be a little difficult. It will all come together for him but it sure would have been nice if we could have given him some of our stuff from the house in Iowa to get started with. He is basically starting out with nothing furniture wise so that means bed, living room stuff, lamps, desk, table, chairs, etc. I have full confidence he will bring it all together and he certainly has done all of this on his own so all we have to do is sit back and transfer the money!! It has been so great to have him here.

I must admit I did pretty much nothing of substance yesterday but watched tv!!! Found all these cool shows to watch now and even found Rachael Ray (tho it was a show from February I don't care!). We are now going to totally veg out!!! Well maybe not! I still have to figure out how to work the Mystar thing which is the dvr thingy but I can conquer that today!!! It was just so nice to be able to see more than 5 channels of stuff. We get CNN and ESPN too so we hope we will be able to watch some Carolina basketball if we can figure out the programming schedule!!! Life is good.

Today we are going to chill out at home again--probably will head into Townsville tomorrow to load up on the last of the souvenirs to take back and maybe hit The Strand for some swimming in the stinger enclosures. When i walked this morning there was a couple on the beach who struck up a conversation with me---they wanted to know if it was safe to swim and I told them that the locals did not so I wouldn't. They are from New Zealand and were camping out in their car in the little camping area and they really wanted to swim but were scared of the jellyfish. I figure if the locals don't swim there now there is good reason. No way I would risk it!!! We talked for about 10 minutes--nice couple and I hope they find a safe place to swim today!!!

Not much else to report as of this moment---oh I got a lovely letter from my friend Mary from Epworth! And how come it only costs you guys 94 cents to send me a letter and it costs me 2.05???? The exchange rate isn't THAT bad yet! LOL

It is TRULY Thanksgiving!

The long, long road has been traveled and today, after a mere 4 months, we celebrate Thanksgiving with the installation of --dare I say it---Austar satellite tv!!!!!!!!!!! The technician arrived at 7:50 am, left twice during the day to go get parts and left for good at 7:15 pm. A long day for the Charles Manson look alike (no joke) but we are up and running and watching Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report at the moment!!! Ah---we are truly thankful for the small wonder of satellite television!!!!!!!! LIfe as we know it has been restored!!!!!!!!!!

Happy First Day of Summer!

I forgot to wish you a Happy First Day of Summer yesterday---December 1st is the official first day of summer here so enjoy all of your warm wonderful sunny weather!!!

And TODAY we celebrate THANKSGIVING!

So what if it is a few days late? You guys are all probably still eating leftovers anyway!!!!
Got the pumpkin ready to cook up this morning, the turkey breast roll in the freezer ready to pop in the oven,and all of the other goodies ready to go later today!!! But most importantly---I have gas in the tank again! Woohoo!!! We may be sweating while I have the oven going but we will eat well tonight!!!

One thing that I forgot to blog about yesterday was our fascination with the cane toads which are a HUGE pest here. They virtually have no predator and so they just multiply and are everywhere all of the time. They are huge and disgusting and about the only thing that the locals say kills them is freezing them. Now I don't think I really want a bunch of toads in my freezer (I am not my brother Mark after all!!) but it is interesting at what lengths people will go to to eradicate this plague on Australia!!! The funny thing is at night when they come out on the roads---the past couple of weekends we have been driving a lot at night in the sugar cane areas which of course are thick with toads. Well, Chris has a new game----Toad Time---which he declares loudly and swerves to hit them!! some make a huge popping sound and others just quietly meet their maker. This may upset some of the environmentalists out there but I have not found one Australian yet that wants to protect them. Anyway, I am very bad at Toad Time---I think I only hit one. I did find an article in the Daily Telegraph which I will paste below that talks about this lovely creature!!!

WHAT do you do if you see a cane toad? Here's some handy advice for dealing with this dreaded Qld critter.

Freezing has been suggested as the most humane form of killing cane toads. When put into a freezer, a cane toad will become dormant as a reaction to the cold. And don't worry, they won't make Alfie Langer-like comebacks when you take them out to make room for ice cream.

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service recently warned Sydneysiders to be on the lookout for cane toads after one was discovered at Quakers Hill.

The cane toad can be identified by its size (up to 15 centimetres long), warty appearance, a large gland behind the ear and pointed, bony ridges between the nose and eyes. A bit like Russ Hinze, really.

More information to help tell frog from toad can be found at www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au

Earlier this month Sydney scientists said that they believed they may have found a chink in the armour of one of Australia's biggest environmental pests.

Sydney University's John Llewelyn and Crystal Kelehear are part of a group known as Team Bufo, named after the cane toad, Bufo marinus.

The team has identified a parasitic worm that attacks the toad's lungs, stunting their growth and, in most, cases killing them. Perhaps they should nickname the worm Willie Mason.

"It's a pretty exciting set of results'', team leader Professor Rick Shine said.

"They kill a large number of the small toads that we infected.''

According to Professor Shine, if toads in Northern Territory and northern NSW were infected by the parasite, it may be possible to slow their advance quite dramatically.

It's also important to check for cane toad eggs. They are black and laid in water in long necklaces.

The necklaces are clear jelly - a bit like the defence of the Maroons' backline.

Most frogs lay their eggs as a mass of foam or clumps of jelly in water or land nests, or in holes in moist areas. An individual cane toad can attach up to 35,000 eggs to water plants or debris in slow-moving or still water. Cane toad tadpoles are very dark, their tails are short compared with their body size and they gather in pub beer gardens. When native tadpoles hatch, they feed on decaying plant material and gradually develop legs before changing into frogs.

A Long and Loverly Weekend!!!

Wongaling Beach (more crab sand art--my favorite)

The Kuranda Scenic Railway

SkyRail over the Rainforest

A view over the rainforest

Looking at Cairns from the Sky Ride

Aaron and his friend the Cassowary

We are back in Saunders Beach after quite a long and eventful weekend. We had a great time and ended up changing plans a bit but it all worked out!!! We met Chris in Ingham on Friday afternoon at the mill there-----I had never been to that mill before so Aaron called and he guided us in and we met him in the parking lot before heading north. We stopped at a little fish and chips place which was pretty much a hole in the wall and had the authentic fish and chips (barramundi) in the foil and wrapped in paper. It was a little hard to drive and eat so since I had the first driving shift Chris fed me little pieces at a time---isn't that sweet??? And yes, I am driving a lot now---especially when we are going places long distance because Chris is always on the phone so it is just easier for me to drive and then he doesn't have to worry about it at all!!!

It took what seemed like forever on a really windy narrow road after we got through Cairns to get to Port Douglas where we were staying at the Rydges Sabaya resort. We had a great little 2 bedroom apt but found out when we got up in the morning that the air con in the boys' room did not work and it was pretty sweltering in there so later in the day they ended up moving us to a different place because they could not get it working. Ah well. It was okay. We got up and got all ready to go catch our ride to go out to the Great Barrier Reef and as we got in line I looked at Aaron who had gotten very pale, he left and went and threw up in a bush....so we decided to ditch the trip for the day and see if we could do it on Sunday. There is no way I would want to go out on a boat when I was sick !!! Poor Aaron felt really badly about it but the rest of us were okay---we tucked him into our bed since we had the room with the AC and then Thom and Chris and I hung out together at the pool. It was a hot hot day but nice in the pool. Aaron pretty much laid around and slept all day and that was what he needed. We tried the next morning to go on the trip again but this time Aaron was having different problems and it just wasn't going to work. I know he was upset but we were not out any money and we are going to try to get them out to the reef from Townsville this week if we can work it all out. But sometimes you just can't do something and you go with the flow. And I could not imagine being sick on a ship out in the middle of the ocean!!! Ugh.

Sunday Chris and Thom and i went to breakfast and then Chris and I ran into Port Douglas to find some medicine to help Aaron's symptoms and found out that they have a nice market on Sundays. We gave Aaron all morning to recoup and get to feeling better and then we headed to the market and walked around. I found a couple things (of course!) and Chris and I will definitely go back there sometime. It has a great beach called Four Mile Beach and lots of neat shops and resorts to go to so there is not a lack of anything to do. The road in the daylight was much better than it was coming after dark!!!

We headed towards Cairns and Aaron was feeling well enough that we thought we would venture into the rainforest a bit. There is a Sky Rail ride that you can take over the rain forest to the town of Kuranda which is a neat little place with a lot of neat touristy shops but a fun place to walk around. There were some hiking trails that we did not get to explore but let me tell you one thing----it was humid and hot. I usually don't really sweat that much but the sweat was just pouring off my face!!! Whew!!! We ate lunch and did a bit of shopping, talked it up with several of the shop owners of course. They all seem intrigued by us for some reason. One couple had a nice little souvenir shop that I bought a bunch of stuff at and we got into quite a conversation with them. He was a trucker so he was telling us all about some of his jobs and all and they really were very nice. I find that most people are if you just treat them with a bit of kindness instead of being all business like!!! And like I said--I think we intrigue them or something!

We took the train back to where we parked our car---an hour and half trek through the rainforest and rocks and we saw some great things including some beautiful waterfalls along the way. I think there were 15 tunnels to go through so that was kind of neat! I can't imagine building that railway!!! It used to be used for transportation but now it is just the scenic train that uses it if I understood correctly. It was fun and the best part---they brought us nice cool towels to wash up with on the way!!! Much appreciated!!!

We headed out and were to spend the night at a place in Mission Beach---or so we thought. I was driving (again!) and I had printed out the webpage with a little map on it. Chris had made the reservations so I didn't really know what the place was. Well, let me tell you---I turned around in some pretty weird places and by the end of it there was just a teeny tiny bit of tension in the car. We were all hungry and tired and it was late and very dark and we just couldn't find the place. Then Chris tried calling, got the owner and found out the key was at reception but then he lost the connection and couldn't get directions. We stopped to ask directions, the guy gave us totally wrong directions and finally Aaron came to the rescue with his IPhone as it finally got service!!! Found the street and realized that it was not Mission Beach but another little beach down the way a bit! Still took a bit of driving around to find it but we did and got all our stuff unloaded. Whew. Walked down the street a bit to a bar where a band was playing (pretty bad music, too) but it had food and that was what we wanted. Of course the girl who took our order was a flake and totally ignored Thom's order so he had to reorder and eat his after the rest of us were done!!! I stayed up with the boys a bit and talked and watched tv and Chris crashed! We both slept well and then he got up and did a few hours of work before we took a walk on the beach. The boys were going to hit the beach but opted to sleep, Aaron is still not back up to 100% but he is getting there.

We loaded up and headed back to Ingham where we dropped Chris off to work for a few hours while the boys and I went "to town". I took them to the cemetary which is really a neat place----it is a very strong Italian town so there is a huge Catholic Italian population. The cemetaries are very ornate and the mausoleums are huge and beautiful. I am going to post some pictures later of them because they are just beautiful. We headed into town where the boys were so happy to find the thing that they have both wanted-----short shorts. The older men here in Australia quite often wear these really short shorts and we found them. Both of the boys got a pair so they can go back to the US with the "look". I had to laugh---they were having so much fun trying them on! Kids.

We picked Chris up after some shopping and headed home----the house was still here and not as hot as I thought it would be so we unloaded (once again!!!) and settled in for the night. I made a special dish for dinner tonight----tacos with kangaroo mince......I just couldn't bring myself to eat it but everyone else did and said it was good.

Tomorrow is going to be our Thanksgiving finally! I have gas in the stove and bought another pumpkin so I am ready to go!!! Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving!!!!
Oh--and add my friend Rhonda 's husband Peter to your prayer list ---he had 2 heart attacks and is doing okay I guess (don't know any of the details) but I am sure that a few prayers from my friends would not hurt in the least!!!

More tomorrow!!!