Around the World in a Day

 Today we helped with the Faith in God activity for Primary by teaching the kids all about America at the international day.  What do kids think of when they think of America?  Disneyland.  James helped dish out our American dessert, S'mores Cookie Bars.  They don't really make s'mores in Australia--too hard to find graham crackers.  They absolutely loved our dessert.  

 Yes, that is the same dress Hope wore yesterday to get her hair cut.  Hard to get it off her.

 Our America presentation wasn't nearly as exciting as the Cook Islands.  

 They gave us coconut buns and taught the kids how to dance.

One of the missionaries in our ward is from Japan and he taught the kids how to Sumo wrestle.  

James judged each country by how well he liked the food.  Smart kid.

Long Overdue

 Hope has been needing a hair cut for a long time.  I've never cut her hair because I just didn't want to cut her cute curls.  Since all the other kids were getting haircuts, we plopped Hope in the chair too.  Here is her BEFORE picture.

At least her hair is out of her eyes.  She is just growing too fast.

Seventeen Years

Seventeen years, five kids, three continents, seven homes, and loving every minute.  Some years we celebrate in great ways.  This year we celebrated at a swimming pool with a birthday party and a work party for Doug.  No matter what we do, it's always great to think of what the next seventeen will bring.

Let's Party

 We are going to be on vacation on James' birthday, so we started the celebrations a little early to bring in the big 1-0 for James.  He invited three of his friends over for lunch.

 And birthday cake.

 We found these sparkler candles that looked like such a great idea until they burned the table where the sparks flew off.

 Iron Man

 James opened his presents then we took the boys to the indoor swimming pool.

 They had a weird rule that photography was prohibited so I could only sneak in this one picture in the pool area.

 After swimming we went outside to the jumping pillow.

 That would be James who is upside down.

James and his mates: Angus, Nicolas, James and Bryce.  A fun day with our birthday boy.

Vivid

We got to hang out in Sydney tonight to see Vivid, but first a stop for some fro yo.

 This tree is covered in knitted yarn at a fancy arcade (shopping centre).

 Had to stop at the play ground in Darling Harbor.

 And then we got on this boat for our dinner cruise around the harbor to look at Vivid.

 I had in mind a nice table to sit at when I heard dinner cruise. The boat was so crowded that after getting our food, we had to eat on the floor of the top deck.

 And this is Vivid, a creative festival of light and color all over Sydney.  We had a bird's eye view of all the cool lights in Circular Quay from our boat ride.

 One of the coolest things we've seen.

 We got off the boat in Darling Harbor and went to Cockle Bay to wait for the fireworks, water and light show called Aquatique.

Another great night in Sydney then we were off to the Jesus Hotel as Faith calls it (temple accommodation).