The Chronicles of Williams

All 7 of us at the beach and what fun we had!  The weather was just perfect.... not too hot and not too cold.  Everyone wore their sunscreen so we didn't get sunburned.  We played on the beach and the kids enjoyed relaxing after working so hard on their finals and getting packed and getting on the plane exhausted!!  Here's some pics of our day at Manley beach starting with the ferry ride and ending with chinese dumplings in Sydney..... yum!! Cullen's last day of school is today... Wed so he's excited for (another) summer vacation. This one is only 6 weeks but it will give him some time with his brothers. The college kids went hiking at Katoomba yesterday and said they got lots of great pics so I'll put some of those up.  Katoomba is in the Blue Mountains just about 30 minutes from where we live and is a big tourist destination because of the beautiful canyons, perfect temperature and great hikes and waterfalls.  Other news.....  Oprah ha...

David is back and all 4 kids have arrived from the USA so summer is officially here! It is great to relax with all the kids here after 6 months planning.  It's around 90 degrees F here but our house is nice and cool so we're getting over jet lag and watching a nice movie.  Our plan is to get up tomorrow and head to the beach on the train and just stay and hang out all day. Here's some pics of the first 3 kids that arrived.  They got quick look at the beach but that was enough for the to know that they want to spend lots of days at the beach and can't wait to show Nikki tomorrow! Hiking near our house... in the Blue Mountains Dinner in the backyard enjoying our "Christmas Cracker" hats. Relaxing after a long flight.  Nikki has arrived!  Miss you all...

David sent some pics from Veitnam and we just had to share them. He's having a good time there and is enjoying taking pics of people with his special zoom lens.  3 of the 4 kids are coming in 2 days!!!  Can't wait.. but we feel their stress as they're trying to do well on their finals, pack up their living quarters for a month leave (or more) and get packed... good thing is all we need here is a couple of shorts, couple of shirts, hat and sandals:) Next blog....  Arrival of summer and kids! xoxo

Cullen has me in the Christmas Spirit.  It's hard to think about Christmas here in the middle of summer.  Hearing Christmas music "Dashing through the snow", "Frosty the Snowman"..   just doesn't seem right!  But we found a song we like.... "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas"...  at the whitest beach in the world per Guiness Book of World Records!  We'll be there on Christmas Day!  We also heard there is lobster and prawn to be caught in this area... Jervis Bay.. so we'll try to maybe catch our own Christmas meal... yum! We are thinking about making a "new" way for us to enjoy Christmas this year and with all this great weather... we've got lots of options! Another discovery we had was how to make pumpkin pie with butternut squash using our friend David Ellsworth's modified recipe.  It's the best ever! David made it safely to Vietnam last night and he'll be back a day after Nikki arrives so we'll a...

The kids are coming so we're preparing for them to arrive.... washing sheets and making sure they have room to relax when they get here.... hoping the weather is nice and sunny. It appears we're here for a La Nina year and Australia has had more rain than they've had in over a decade!  Dams are full, rivers and lakes that have been bone dry for years have water and flowers are blooming like crazy!  We're wondering about the mozzies... (mosquitoes) but so far they're very minor.  Cullen's school has been fun for him.  The kids are curious about him and treat him very well.  He's learning Japanese and likes ice skating on Wednesdays when all the kids get to pick a sport and take buses to explore an off campus sport.  The day the kids arrive, their entire grade will go to a movie and then go swimming!  He scored the highest math grade for placement in the 9th year classes.  He'll be also doing Geometry online for credit to keep him on track at LH...