The Chronicles of Williams

Catch up blog day.... We've been having fun entertaining guests since December. We've had a great time showing our family visitors around various areas of our state... New South Wales. We had over a month with our kids and now they're back into their school work in Wyoming and Austen in the Netherlands. They're doing awesome. In January we enjoyed showing David's mom around for 3 weeks. She really got to "live" here and enjoy being a resident and got to see many beaches, mountain views and lots of birds from our deck. She was here during the hottest days of summer but loved the heat (she's a true Texan and loves the warm climate and the beaches). She's such a great mother and grandmother... it was nice to be able to treat her to a well deserved vacation. In February my parents and sister were able to come for a fun visit and we were able to take them to some new areas about 3 hours north of Sydney along the beach. We found new beaches, vi...

We love possums.... Ever since we moved into our house we have seen possums. They are one of the nocturnal features we'll miss when we return to Wyoming. They're super laid back like everything/everyone else in Australia.  When you go up to a possum they just look at back at you and hang out.  We hear them make this little growl noise at night sometimes as they make sure their territory is maintained.  We hear them run and jump across trees and onto the roof of the house and we have to work super hard to keep them out of our deck herb garden.  The last couple of weeks, we've been hearing something closer...  in the ceiling maybe.  We just knew it was those little possums! Last week, Tanner and Jessica were heading to the backyard to get dried laundry (when it was dark) and they screamed because a possum landed in their laundry basket just as they walked onto the deck!  We laughed so hard because th...

Bringing in 2011 in Sydney was great.  We jumped on the train and found a nice spot at Bradfield Park (under the harbor bridge opposite the Opera House).  The bridge gave us shade during the day and we had an excellent view of the show.  It was awesome!  Here's some of our pics of the day and then the fireworks show at the bottom.  The public transportation is so organized that getting on a couple of trains right away was no problem....although the crowds were amazing!    We got home around 3am... but it was well worth it!  Hanging out, reading waiting for the show! Trying out the new hammocks  under the Sydney bridge. Austen and Nikki hanging out in Sydney. Behind us at the park. Happy New Year! Tanner, Jessica and Cullen are holding our spot... middle of the pic per Nikki and Austen's view from the bridge above. Tons of people waiting in the sun and holding their spot near the Opera House. Our view of ...

We had a new experience this holiday season…. Probably different from any we’ll have again. Having Christmas and summer at the same time is just crazy first of all. Hearing “Here comes Santa Clause” while grocery shopping in our shorts feels just wrong. We made the best of it. We made reservations at a beach house in November for Christmas Day. We wanted something totally different since we were all screwed up in the head anyway about all of this upside down living. We arrived at our beach house (located on Sanctuary Point at Jervis Bay) on Dec 23 and stayed until Dec 26. While we were there we enjoyed making our own homemade crab raviolli, prawn on the barbie with mango salsa and lots of nice fruits and veggies/ avacados. Jervis Bay is a really cool area with lots of beaches, St. George Basin (a saltwater lake that is fed by the ocean), a huge bay perfect for stand up paddle boarding, kayaking and snorkeling and also a National Park filled with hiking trails, more beaches and t...

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