Australia: Some like it HOT!!

If you were to ask us if we like warm weather, you would get a resounding YES, but 111 degrees on Christmas Eve is befuddling! I am off work this week and have been able to spend time with the kids, which is always good for me and the kids. We've been playing games, wrestling, cleaning up and playing some Rappe-style basketball (when we can withstand the heat).
We hadn't been on any adventures since Thanksgiving, but we were able to get out on Saturday evening and do a little 4x4-ing out bush. We went on a track that is really close to town, so it only took about 10 minutes of driving and we were off the pavement. One of the guys at work told me about this track and I think he called it Tom Hill. It is a big hill just outside of town that you can drive to the top of and see some great views. Right off the road was a huge mud puddle that the kids enjoyed driving through (well ok, so did I). And then we saw a Perentie lizard first thing! It was a small one but all of the kids got out and had a look. The road had several big mud holes that we crossed, and some very rugged terrain to get up the mountain. Once we started up, we had the Disco in four-low and the differential locks engaged until we got to the top. At one point, I think we actually had one wheel completely off the ground while climbing a particularly nasty group of rocks! We made it to the top of the hill (saw a kangaroo on the way), took some pictures, and the kids did some fossicking (Australian term for gold/gem hunting). We only stayed at the top of the hill for a short time and headed back down so we could hit the hard parts in the daylight.
The kids' swim lessons are over, which means our free family passes to the community pool have expired. We now have to decide if we want to pay for a membership or not. I imagine we will, since it is something the kids really look forward to, and it is a great way to keep cool and spend time together.

Small Perentie

Kangaroo in the shade

Christmas preparations are keeping us busy until the last minute. Hilary got the last little bit of shopping done yesterday afternoon, and so we finished wrapping presents last night as well. The kids are VERY exited for tomorrow morning and can't fathom how they are going to be able to stay in their beds until 7 in the morning! Yesterday (Sunday), the kids got all dressed up for the last service before Christmas. Beaux wore a very cute dress and the boys wore their Easter suits. They love to get dressed up!
Today we've done all of the normal Christmas Eve things: peanut butter balls, Tripoley, sugar cookies, MOWED THE LAWN!?!?, gave the boys haircuts (so they could have a "Fuzzy Zeller" on Christmas morning), finished the Advent book, read the Christmas story out of Matthew, read "Twas the night before Christmas" and set out cookies and milk for Santa. Hilary has been slaving away in the kitchen getting a succulent Christmas dinner prepared for us (yum!). Hilary read that they were supposed to come pick up the trash today instead of tomorrow, so I set the full bins out last night. The garbage man usually comes at about 5:45am, so when I went out to mow at 10:30 and the cans were still full, I brought them back inside the fence thinking we had gotten inaccurate information. Well, I wasn't in the house for more than a half-hour after I had brought the trash bins back in and I saw the garbage truck zoom by... missing trash day the day before Christmas is going to cause a bit of a back-up, but we'll have to manage! Finally, we opened our one Christmas eve gift, as per tradition.
At the end of the pictures, you will find a picture of a Huntsman spider that was in the kids' bathroom. These are the spiders that are the size of a small dinner plate, though this one was only about 3.5-4". The story of how we found it is a bit funny. Jones had woken up about 11:00pm with a bloody nose (Hilary and I had just gone to bed). Hilary was mopping Jones up in the bathroom and sent me out to get some wipes. So I walk out of the bathroom and Jones launches a blood-curdling scream. I guess Jones was sitting on the toilet while Hilary was mopping him up and looked in the mirror to see the Huntsman directly above his head on the ceiling! Needless to say, the two of them moved to our bathroom to finish and I was left to deal with the intruder. I was a little nervous about how I was going to get him without him falling on me - I understand that they are pretty fast little fellas. Maybe I got lucky that this guy only had seven legs, but I had no problems - the intruder was eliminated!
We will miss not being with family tomorrow, but there is no lack of excitement here! We are making the most of it, and more importantly, we will not be forgetting about the part of Christmas that will never change - remembering the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God for all He has done for us!

Trent