Our Flat in Wodonga

Grandpa working at the computer.
Our bedroom

The kitchen and dining area.

Lounge room

Our humble abode in Wodonga.

Grandpa leaves footsteps to follow...
We had a wonderful time at the Penguin Parade. No cameras are allowed, so no pictures to share, but it was a delightful, fascinating experience to watch the little penguins come in from the surf and waddle to their burrows and their hungry chicks!

Grandpa and Grandma at the beach at Cowes, Philip Island, Victoria, Australia.

Beautiful beach, warm sand and fantastic scenery!

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

Australia Melbourne East Mission Senior Couples Conference, Nov. 17-20, 2009.

The Racines, McGraths and Nielsens at dinner.

Elder and Sister Nielsen at Sassafras, Victoria,

a charming little village in the Dandanong Mountains.

oz.e.wildlife Park and a Baptism

November 14 was the baptism of Ian. He was baptized by Vincent (right) who was baptized in June. We are so blessed to work with these wonderful people.
The Albury Branch on Mormon Helping Hands Day at oz.e.wildlife park, November 7, 2009. We worked hard, mowing, raking, and sprucing up the park.

"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he..."

The kangaroos peek at us from behind the "Patterson's curse,"

a beautiful, but toxic weed in full bloom all over the place!

Lots of animals!

Little calf and little kid want some milk too, and the camel gets it all!

At Cheri's we got to feed the babies, puppies, goat kids, calf, camel, dogs and kangaroos and...

On October 11th we held a musical fireside. Here is the wonderful cast!

Sister Pasina, Sister Staples and the rest of us were thrilled to be a part of Temeka's baptism. She is an adorable spunky gal!

In Shepparton we enjoyed the "Mooving Art" exhibit. This cow is all dress up in her red shoes and necklace.

Sister Nielsen gets to hold a 7 month old joey. Her mum was hit by a car and the joey was rescued and brought to Cheri to care for. "Candy" love to be in this pouch while Cheri wears it around much like the mommy kangaroo carrying the joey in her pouch.


On October 6-8 it was our turn for the flat inspection trip. We enjoy visiting with the missionaries, leaving treats and notes at their flats and soaking up this beautiful. We stopped in Shepparton, VIC and enjoyed their "Mooving Art" exhibit. They have dozens of these unique painted cows all over the town. This mermaid cow was very interesting!

We visited the Kyabram Fauna Park between Shepparton and Echuca. It is bigger than our beloved Oz.e.wildlife Park near our home, but their kangaroos are not as friendly. However they have more variety and a bigger area. We really enjoyed the morning we spent there. These are flying foxes. We spent a long time watching them, but I could never get a shot of one flying. Their wings look like leather, and they walked upside down on the top of the cage and they use little hooks on the end of their wing as little hands. Fascinating.

This lovely cockatoo was pretty cheeky. He grabbed my glasses, snatched Howard's glasses from his pocket, ate a hole in the map of the park and kept us entertained for over a half hour. It is not easy to see, but he has my glasses in his beak. These beautiful birds are eveywhere in Australia flying free!

This friendly emu was checking us out for something to eat. We were very disappointing to him, because we had nothing to offer but some kind words. Emus and kangaroos cannot go backwards. They are on the Australian Crest to signify that Australia is always moving forward.

October 1, 2009. We went with Sister Pasina and Sister Staples to Mt. Beauty to have a hangi dinner at the Greenings.
Erin Peacock was baptized on September 26, 2009

September 21, 2009. We had some chicken kebabs on the barbie by the Murray River. We fed the ducks and a very persistent magpie.

September 21, Sally Carter and her girls spent the night on their way to Melbourne. Sally plays various instruments. This is called the hurdy gurdy. It is wound by a handle and the pegs on the front are played like piano keys. On the inside, the wooden sticks press on strings like a violin. It sounds much like bagpipes. Very interesting, but I wouldn't want to hear it all day.

On the 14th of September we drove out to the Weir (Lake Hume Reservoir) It was a beautiful clear day and the lake was perfectly still. Notice the tops of trees in the background. We have had quite a bit of rain since then and the lake is even higher.

On Sept 14, 2009 we took the Sisters to the Oz.e.wildlife park for a BBQ and some fun with the animals. This kangaroo wanted the food, he didn't think I was feeding him fast enough, so he took the bag out of my hand and helped himself.
This little koala kept us entertained watching him nibble on the eucalyptus leaves.

These beautiful black swans have three little babies, called signets.

This beautiful fellow put on quite a show for us...and his lady friends, they wanted nothing to do with him, but we enjoyed the production.

Shoes worn out in service to the Lord!
August 23, 2009. The Branch held a Welfare Evening. President and Sister Nielsen did a workshop on cooking with wheat. Howard made his famous wheat pancakes, which were the big hit of the evening. We served cracked wheat cereal, popped wheat, wheat sprouts, homemade syrup and homemade brown sugar. There were workshops on finance, education, employment, spiritual, emotional and mental health preparedness. We enjoyed a demonstration on 72 hour kits and a pot luck dinner of dishes we prepared from food storage. It was a great evening.

On August 17 the Wangaratta District met in Beechworth. Here is our District Leader, Elder Kahaiali'i beside a statue of Ned Kelly, infamous Australian outlaw. "Such is Life" were Ned Kelly's last words. The rest of us only came up to the bottom of Neds' sleeve. Elder Kahaiali'i will be returning to the BYU football team after his mission.

Just south of Beechworth is a place called Flat Rock. This is the beautiful view looking west.

Our guides took us to a lovely little cafe where we were treated to some "European Hot Chocolate," so rich and delicious we had to eat it with a spoon!

July 27, 2009 was a transfer day. Our flat was the meeting place for the moving of missionaries and belongings. These Elders are efficient and organized!

Did you ever wonder where Sesame Street is? It is in Wodonga, VIC, Australia!

Sheep and lambs at Morgan's Lookout, Walla Walla, NSW, Australia. July 20, 2009.

Morgan's Lookout, Walla Walla, NSW, AU. Morgan was a bush ranger who used the rocks as a hiding place. These huge boulders are all by themselves in the middle of paddocks; from the top of them you can see for miles in all directions.

July 17, 2009. Spiritual Spa Enrichment Activity. I was assigned to do the session on the Sense of Smell. I had a crock pot of wassail and we talked about how certain smells can bring back wonderful memories; sugar cookies, bread, pot roast on a Sunday, newly cut grass and so on.
There were also classes on the senses of hearing, sight, touch, taste and spirit.

It was a wonderful evening.

It was our turn to do the flat inspections again in July. We enjoy visiting the missionaries and seeing the sights as well. On this trip we stayed at the Church Farm near Griffith, Kooba Station. It is 115,000 acres of cattle ranching and some crops. This is the homestead. We stayed in the wing to the left.
Howard is standing in the Lounge Room

The beautiful grand piano in the main living room.
Notice the lovely stained glass windows.

The main entry into the homestead. The home is full of this wonderful antique furniture.

Master Suite in the Homestead.

June 29, 2009. Such an unusual cloud formation, I could not resist shooting it.
June 29, 2009. We went to Kathleen's for tea, but she was not there, so we visited with Joel. Kathleen kept calling, clearly having some sort of emergency. Joel finally said her car had broken down near our home and could we please drop him off. When we got to the house, I noticed that lights were on that I had turned off. We went in to find the house all decorated, dinner on the table and food prepared. Katheen had made arrangements with the Sisters to unlock our doors on their way out that afternoon. What they didn't know was that Howard checks and locks all the doors when we leave. So, Kathleen arrived, two kids and dinner in tow and could not get in. She went to a neighbor and asked him to help her break in. They could not get the sliding door to open, so she said, "Okay, we need to pray about this."

So they both knelt down on the cement and prayed. After two more tries the door opened. I don't know if the man is religious or not, he has not responded to our thank you note, but he will definitely believe in the power of prayer!

42nd Anniversary Dinner. Kathleen doing dishes in the background.

Christmas in June Zone Conference, June 22, 2009. Sister Lindley and Elder Petty wearing the new scarfs we received to remind us to be "Righteous in the Dark." It is winter here, the days are shorter and we are in need of the inspiration. The scarfs are embroidered with AMEM, (Australia Melbourne East Mission) Gloves arrived a few weeks later.