Fire Trucks, Friends and Frosty Roads

Win has a few missionary companions that he was excited to meet up with once we got here.
Two guys that he went through the MTC with live south of Salt Lake and offered to drive up and pick us up for the day to hang out. Ben and Garrett drove us to Riverton where we met their families and had a great lunch. The kids loved the kids sled cart that they had in the house and spent most of the day riding around the lounge room in it.
Then Ben (who is a Firefighter) took us to his work to show us around. The kids were very excited with the personal tour of the station, particularly when they got to ride in the truck around the block.
It was a blizzard outside and it took us hours to get home that night in the snow but we managed to drive via temple square where the kids got their first glimpse of Temple Square.

It was way too wild outside to actually get out of the car but it was lovely to see it all lit up on a stormy night.
There was a snow storm that was wide spread across the country that night, leaving the East Coast covered in record amounts of snow.
We saw a couple cars that slid across the roads out of control, one that we watched next to us narrowly miss hitting a fire hydrant. It made us re-think the sort of car we should buy. SUV's seem like a good option at the moment!

Skiing.... not as easy as the Wii Ski would make you think....

All I can say about skiing is that it is for those that have suicidal tendencies...

Win's cousin's; Aaron and Lance were going skiing so they invited us to come along for the ride.
We were going to snow basin, where they had held the winter Olympics in 2002.

First stop was at the college equipment hire shop because it was cheaper than hiring at the ski resort. Once at the resort we were amazed by the crowds, being Christmas vacation the place was packed.
We got our passes and then headed over to the chair lifts for our first taste of skiing down the "bunny hill"- designed for beginners.
Well, the ski lift was easy enough to get on and I thought that I was going to be OK when they said "just lift your skis up and keep them straight". The chair lift got to the top of the hill and we had to dismount, well as soon as the chair lift gave us the gentle nudge off I went down in a big heap with ankles and skis twisted in every direction.

I looked behind me and realised that the next people to dismount were about to be on top of me and I panicked. Lance managed to help me up and out of harms way and I was able to stand up and stay vertical long enough to move to the top of the run.

Lance showed me the basics of skiing, starting with snow plowing. That's where you turn your skis in at the front into a V shape. So I learnt how to snow plow and then go left and right. We managed to get to the bottom of the run without too many dramas and only a few falls- the main objective being not to skittle a small child on the way down. Once we were at the bottom Aaron convinced Lance to go off with him to the advanced runs and leave us to fend for ourselves for the next 4 hours.

Win and I went up and down the bunny run a few more times. Win had some issues with his ski not locking in correctly and when we were on the chair lift his ski fell off and fell down to the run below- a very good reason NOT to ski underneath a chair lift!
He had to go back down the chair lift on one ski and then trudge up the hill to retrieve his lost ski.
At that point Win and I decided to tackle another hill, so we got on the next lift up. Well, this chair lift just kept going and going and going..... to the very top of the mountain, some 90 000Feet I believe.
With every rising foot I got more and more scared that we were in way over our heads, but there was no middle ground lift, just the bunny slope for 3 year olds and then the top of the mountain.
We got off at the top and headed for the easier course. Apparently the beginner course was only intermittent, the rest was filled with more difficult stretches.
The other thing we discovered was that snow plowing only works on mild slopes, when you are on a steep hill it doesn't slow you down nearly enough!
We got to a particularly bad slope and I stacked it pretty bad, with my legs going in different directions, I thought for a minute that I had dislocated a hip... well, I hoped anyway.
Some man that saw me fall came down to help. He asked Win "Did she brake a leg?". At that point I wished I had, and I was contemplating faking a broken leg in order to get a rescue crew up there to get me off the mountain. I was petrified of the slopes ahead and we were a long long long way up with no options but 'down'!
The man that stopped to help asked me if it was my first time skiing and I said "Yes" then he pointed to Win and said "If he bought you up here on your first day he is not your friend".

I laughed and tried to tell him that Win was a beginner too but I don't think he heard. He then said that the first time his wife did this slope she took off her skis and walked down.
That sounded like a good idea to me, so I did just that. I had a few people stop and say that I couldn't possibly walk all the way down but I didn't see a whole lot of other options at the time.

The slope did get a little better once we reached a fork where the beginners went one way and the advanced another. I put back on my skis and Win and I slowly, slowly made it down.
We stopped on the way to wander in the trees because Win wanted to carve out a snow cave. It was beautiful sitting up there in the peaceful quiet snow enjoying the view but I knew that I had to get going soon or later if I ever wanted to get back to the warm lodge alive.

We did eventually make it to the bottom of the mountain, exhausted and bruised but thankful to be alive. I vowed not to ski again that day.

So Win and I went back to the Lodge where we met up with Win's cousins for lunch. Then the Boys all decided to go back out for more skiing while I sat in the lodge armchair near the fire.

I think that the most humiliating part of the experience was that when I was up there on the mountain thinking that skiing was only for the insane, a little kid the size of the twins would zoom past on their skis. Darn those little kids and their mad skiing skills.

Win and I finished the day with a ride up to the top and down again on the enclosed gondolas (like ski lifts but in an enclosed cabin style). It was an incredible view as you went up.

Next time we go I will stick to the bunny slope for the whole day until I have mastered a few more techniques other than snow plowing.

When we got home and I took off the boots I found that I had strips of fine lines of blisters around my shins and legs where the socks and jeans had been pushed into my legs so hard by the snow boots that they had left criss-crossing blisters. Plus I had two big lumpy bruises on my leg from where skis had collided with my legs in the crashes.

All up it was a great day, funnily enough!!
As an additional note, I heard the day after we went skiing that somewhere in the world a chair lift cable snapped and a whole tonne of people were injured. I am glad that I hadn't heard that news before my trip because the chair lift was scary enough without that kind of news in the back of your mind.
Also today on the news they talked about a teenage girl who was snow boarding and got caught in the terrible snow storms that have been happening all across the country in the last day and she died before they could rescue her.
Not sure if I'll be racing back to skii in the next few months.....

A not so white Christmas....

No snow, but a great Christmas nonetheless.
Win and I were up late with Tim the night before wrapping and filling stockings that were hung over the fire place.

Crystal had even made individual ones with our names on them!

Christmas morning we all went downstairs to find that the stockings had been stuffed even fuller by the mystery fat man.

There were lots of great gifts from Santa, most notably for Chelsea a Nintendo DS, for Isaiah some great puzzles and a fire engine/police station wooden boy doll house and Isabelle got a barbie and magnetic doll house. Much more exciting though, Win had given me cheese in a can... one of the delicacies in this world that no one should miss out on trying.... made me reminiscent of the Goofy movie....
Daniel also got another cockateil, "cookie" to keep "Oreo" company and to add to the menagerie that they have here.
Alex and Daniel also got cupcake shaped beanies that they wore for the day. Quite amazing beanies really, complete with knitted cherries on top.
Everyone got Chocolate Oranges in a Hahn Christmas stocking tradition... I guess in place of the mango in the stocking tradition... although they did also give us dried mango in the stocking so that we would feel at home.

Ate a big breakfast and played with toys then after lunch Grandma Scott turned up and we all moved into the other lounge room where there was another tree and 120 more gifts...it was like 2 Christmases!
We were blown away by all the gifts that the family had given us, both the Hahns, Ida Mae and Allen and presents that Judy and Emory had given instructions to buy from them.
They were all so generous that we felt very touched.
A lot of things to set up the new house, and even things to kick start our foodstorage.
Then of coarse there was Christmas Lunch/Dinner which included Candied Yams, Baked Ham, Mormon Funeral Potato Bake, UHmazing fresh baked rolls that were from a can and Fruit salad.
Then we all went to Grandma's house for second dinner and to see some more cousins (Aaron and his wife with their 3 kids) who had driven up from Boston as a surprise.
The kids played, we ate Allan's dry smoked ham and a whole lot more food till our bellies hurt.
We gave the family Cadbury chocolates and boomerangs. Win's grandma got Daryl Lea chocolate covered macadamias.

Car Shopping, Christmas Lights and Houses

I promised to show some of the general Christmas lights in the neighbourhood. This house was one we snapped last night, most of the detail is lost in the dark but this gives you an idea of the great effort that they go to. Apparently there are businesses that you hire to put up and take down all your lights!
During the week we thought that we should get down to serious business and find a car and house so we didn't have to inconvenience the Hahn's for too long.
We we car shopping with Lance and his wife Cass, who is Ida Mae's son.
They took us to some car lots and we were overwhelmed by the size of the cars. Everything was bigger and longer than the cars in Australia. We had asked several people about what cars they recommended and the overwhelming advice was to get a big SUV.
Most said that they felt safer being in the biggest car on the road. It is an interesting trend, given that everyone would have to just keep getting bigger and bigger to be the largest vehicle out there.
Each SUV seems to come in a few different variations: Long, longer and semi-trailer long. WHICH TO CHOOSE??
So we started to look for what seemed familiar and we found a Toyota Sienna that closely resembled our old car (Toyota Avensis). It was a big bigger but pretty similar. They do seem to have a certain popularity here because they have 8 seats which is a necessity for most families here.
We test drove one and it was a scary scary moment to say the least. Thank goodness Lance was sitting in the passenger seat next to Win because there were a few times Win nearly turned into oncoming traffic at the intersections. Driving on the wrong side is a lot harder than I imagined. I have spent a lot of time trying to watch and get used to the foreign concept but I have not attempted to drive yet. The first week I had a few 'panic' moments where I was sure that we were driving into oncoming traffic. It has improved with time and I think that it won't be so bad when I finally attempt to drive.
Not much snow this week, lots of rain which I hear is unusual for this time of the year but on the plus side we have been looking at houses all week and it makes it much easier to assess a back yard and outlook when it is not covered in snow. Everything looks the same when there is snow and you can't see the landscaping.
We have looked at around 20 or so houses, and have been impressed with the size and basements. The kitchens and bathrooms have been hard to get used to. They all favour timber kitchens, which is really hard to get used to. And in the bathrooms they all seem to have bath/showers - and a lot have curtains in the shower instead of glass doors.... these are quite new houses too. It baffles me, but the rest of the house usually makes up for that, being large and spacious with lovely exteriors.
We have found a few that appeal but still trying to figure out which neighbourhood we want to live in.

Snow Sledding....

While Win and I have a quiet moment I'll try to catch up on the past few days....

On Saturday morning we were awoken by a fire engine in the street. Isabelle was the only one who went outside in time to see Santa delivering candy to the kids on the street... the rest of us just thought that there was someone in distress....

So the kids ate tootsie rolls and peanut butter cups and all kinds of other things. Apparently Santa does this every year in the neighbourhood.

Crystal and her boys took us sledding. Just at the end of their hill there is a baseball diamond that is surrounded by great slopes for sledding. It had snowed the night before and so it was perfect conditions.

We all bundled up and played in the snow for an hour or two. George and I crashed our toboggan twice, flipping upside down and George being the one stuck on the bottom sliding face first through the snow... he decided I was not a very good partner after that!

Crystal's boys taught the kids how to roll snow boulders. They rolled a large ball for the base of a snow man and then Isabelle rolled another but would not part with it when it came time to use it for the head. She kept rolling hers bigger and bigger until it was bigger than her. At that point she perched herself on top and refused to move or allow any one to touch it.
So we made another snow man nearby. In the mean time Isabelle somehow turned her big snow ball into a car/ snow mobile. When the other kids saw her snow mobile they had no interest in the boring snow man and they all just wanted to ride in hers.
So the boys put a side car on it and some wheels and that was the winning design of the day.

The Scott's had a big family Christmas party at Win's Grandma's house. All the extended family that could come were there. There was lots of very very good food, and even a few "salads" that involved jello, berries and cream.
The kids all did a lovely nativity that is a yearly tradition and Win and I were privileged to be Mary and Joseph. George was the youngest baby so was supposed to be baby Jesus but he refused, wanting to dress up as a shepherd, and throwing himself flat on the floor in tantrum position until we conceded.
They also played a great game of present swapping where everyone bought a recycled or unwanted gift and everyone got in a circle and had to pass their presents around until everyone had a random gift, then we took it in turns opening them. The catch was that if you had not yet opened your present you could choose to 'steal' one of the opened presents. each gift could be stolen 2 times. The gamble was not knowing if what you were swapping was a better gift because it was still wrapped. Win thought he'd scored a great latex moulded pillow but it got stolen from him again. In the end I stole a box with great big pancake mix and cider cinnamon drink, and Win stole a present full of bathroom products.... at least we will eat and bathe for a few days when we find ourselves a house!


The next day we went to church, a lovely ward that put on a Christmas musical presentation.
In the middle of sacrament Isabelle called out; "I want some more of that bread, America makes really yummy bread!"
I am pretty sure the whole ward heard that one, but I had to agree with her... their bread was sweeter!

Our first few days were spent trying to soak in all the good food and sights that we could possibly fit in. We visited Win's Grandma, who has a beautiful house, with Ida Mae and her husband living there helping to care for her. They welcomed us and we met Win's cousin Scott and his lovely wife Heidi. We peppered them with a million questions, peered over their car for good ideas on what we should be looking for in a family car and the kids played happily in the playroom with the other 2nd cousins.
The basement was beyond impressive... it was a whole nother house down there...
The kids played in the snow again in the backyard but still we were not able to make snow balls or snowmen because the snow was to powdery, it just fell apart like dry sand, so we were hoping for a little wet snow in the coming days.
Win and I went to a rental house that was $210 a week (including utilities) but it was pretty bad, on a busy main road and the basement was made for midgets who didn't mind spiders.
Then we looked at a house for sale in a great quiet culdesac, good school zone and great neighbours. It was beautiful and they were asking $160 000. We were pretty tempted. Especially when they said they get deer roaming freely through the meadow out the backyard and the neighbours trees have apples and apricots free for the picking....
It was a gorgeous house but perhaps a tiny bit small for what we are looking for.
Tempting though!
One of my first priorities was a hair straightener, so I asked the two girls with the best hair and they both pointed me in the direction of a Chi straightener... which I bought from Shopko a big Kmart like place.
We were very lucky that when we got here Crystal and Ida Mae had organised a whole wardrobe full of winter snow gear and winter clothes. Each of us had great snow boots, coats, gloves, hats and snow overalls. This was a huge help because we have lived in this gear this past week. I have had to tell Win that his snow boots might not be necessary for all occassions tho, because I notice that not everyone is wearing such get up.
We went to a pre-school Christmas Musical Presentation at a local elemetary school. They had cute little kids with all the girls in perfectly curled pigtails and all the mums looked like they were about 20. Win and I were pretty excited about the change in age demographics. In Australia we are 15 - 20 years younger than most other parents at school functions, but here we were totally normal... except for our strange accents.
I did ask Win's cousin Scott how these women stayed so slim eating the american diet that we were experiencing and he said that they go home and vomit.... ahhh, the secret was revealed. :)

We ate at Wendys fast food for lunch one morning with Toby... and had their chicken, pecan, apple salad.... I think that America had me at that salad. I was in love. seriously, this salad had chicken and apple and pecans and cranberries and blue vein cheese crumbled throughout all topped with a pomegranate vinegarette dressing..... the best thing I had eaten since birth.
I will add a photo but it won't do it justice unfortunately.

We tried to open a bank account that same day but when Win went to give his social security no. they said that it was flagged so we had to go all the way down to the social welfare office to get proof of his number. That was a fun experience... you have to go through airport like security just to sit in a little room and wait for 3omin to have them call your number and answer your questions... makes centrelink look a lot more appealing.
We finally got to the front of the queue and Win could get what he needed but apparently I am a legal alien so I will have to wait a couple months to be issued a social security number.... therefore I can't open a bank account here!

The boys all needed haircuts when we arrived and we were told that uncle Alan was the man to see about a haircut. So Isaiah, George and Win all braved it in his bathroom barber chair. They all looked much more presentable at the end!

Our children have taken to their cousins like leeches, if Daniel or Alex are in the house the kids are stuck to them like flies. They have been very very patient with them but I did hear Alex say that his biceps are improving from all the kid carrying he is doing!

Well, enough for now.... night!

To all our devoted fans out there, or those that just want to check in and make sure we are not about to return home any time soon, we have created a place that you can see all our adventures in boring detail.
I am aware that there are also some that are excitedly anticipating a series of photos that show the progressive slide into obesity that we will inevitably take as we settle into the wonderful american diet. To you I say- it will be totally worth it.

So, I will start with our departure.
We flew out of Adelaide at 6am on the 15th December. The Hansford bunch came, the Chicks, Laura R and Jude +Emory. Notably missing was Hayley and Farley who I believe were planning to come until it actually came to it and the warm bed won out over the cold dark 5 am morning.
In all fairness, we didn't expect anyone to come so it was a very nice show.
However there was a distinct lack of tears at the airport which does make me wonder if the crowd was just there to make sure we actually left the country.

Isabelle led the pack in heading off to the plane, quite anxious that we might miss the flight! The flight from Adelaide to Sydney was quite uneventful, except for the small lady like vomit that I did nearing the end of the flight. I think that it was more because Win and I had not slept more than 30minutes the night before the flight because we were packing and organising all the last minute things.
I think I was so sick with fatigue and stress that it manifested in a bit of airsickness.
We felt very blessed that when we checked in our luggage at the adelaide airport the lady had seen all the kids and bags and taken pity on us so she gave us free bus transfers for the sydney domestic to international airport service. (we were pretty excited when we found out that they would have cost us $33- you all know how we love a free bus ride).
It turned out to be a very good thing because the bus was a much safer option than the train for us with all the kids and bags.
We filled two luggage trolleys with our 6 suitcases and 10 handluggage bags!
We stopped at McDonalds for some breakfast and saw a few fresh missionaries working hard to get contacts in the mcDonalds line right behind me.
After 30 toilet stops we finally made it to the international area and stood in line for what seemed like eternity, then made it through customs and by the time we finally made it to the V Australia boarding gate we only just arrived as our flight was boarding. (we arrived in Sydney at 8am and our flight out was 1.15pm) so it had taken us 5 hours to get there??!! - when I said there were 30 toilets stops I was not kidding.

As soon as we got on the V Australia flight the kids were excited. Isabelle was in awe that they gave you free ear plugs, and she wanted to try them out straight away.
Isaiah was equally pleased with the eye patches and pillow.
Chelsea got straight into the video games and kids movies that were available on the backs of each seat. I had the twins in my row and Win had Chelsea and George. Apparently I picked the good two because mine slept most of the flight. George cried and complained and finally went to sleep in Win's arms but it meant that Win could not sleep the entire flight.
Different Air Hostesses would aske Isabelle where she was headed and she told one " I am going to America...... where they put cats in dryers". (Apparently Crystal's son once put a cat in the dryer when he was little and Isabelle had been told the account).
The flight attendent didn't know how to repond to that one, so she just smiled and nodded!
When we arrived in L.A. 13 hours later it was morning. We had to go through the long process of going through customs where we went through several different lines and it took an extraordinarily long time becuase we were in the "refugee and immigrating aliens" line (can you pick which one we were?!
There was a very kind staff member from V.Australia who helped carry our bags off the plane and then waited around for ages to help us collect our checked luggage and get it checked in so we would not have to carry it all the way across the LA airport. It was a really great help because it also meant they did not weigh it all again (we'd swapped bags around and we were not allowed as much weight for the next domestic flight) so his help was wonderful.

As we were walking outside in the smoggy polluted L.A. air between terminals Isabelle said
" This place smells like car=seat vomit"..... it was a pretty accurate description!
When we got to the gate for our Salt Lake City flight with Delta we looked around and spotted a fresh missionary heading to the MTC that Win struck up a conversation with, turned out he was from a tiny Tongan Island and this was his first time flying that day. He asked Win if he could be his sort of companion on the flight.
We also ate some cinna-bons scrolls while we waited. It was then that it felt like we were really heading to Utah, sitting next to a missionary heading to the MTC and eating Cinnamon scrolls!

Our flight to Utah was short and bumpy, both in turbulance and in toilet trips! Isabelle wet her pants unexpectedly and Chelsea announced- just as the pilot had announced that we were beginning our decent into SLC and he was expecting quite a bit of turbulance so we needed to make sure everyone was seated with belts tightly on- that she needed to urgently go to the toilet. URGENTLY. now, to explain, a few days before we left Adelaide she had a bit of an upset tummy and although she was mostly better she complained of stomach cramps the WHOLE trip, and walked doubled over through the airports. So when she said that she NEEDED to go there weren't a whole lot of options. So I asked the air hostess if we could go quickly and she said "if its an emergency". SO there we were in the tiny airplane loo as the plane hit lots of turbulance and the flight attendant was banging on the door to hurry things up....

We arrived in SLC and made some more toilet breaks where Isabelle managed to embarrass me in the womens toilets as she announced that people with dark skin look like they have fallen in mud- then moments later a black woman walked out of the cubicle behind us.

We met Win's Aunty Charlotte and then Crystal at the baggage collection area and we all climbed into their two large cars. The kids were in awe as they saw for the first time snow covering all the trees and plants.
We all went back to Crystal and Tim's house where we are staying. As we pulled into their street it was like out of the movies, with all the big beautiful american homes, covered in snow and with Christmas lights adorning every house.... Loberthel lights had nothing on their street.
Crystal's home is beautiful, the picture perfect home that you imagine. Huge, and warm with the most amazing Christmas decorations!
The kids were so excited that as soon as we had put our bags down they were getting in the snow gear that Crystal and Ida Mae had collected and running our into the now in the backyard. It was night time but that didn't stop them!
Tim had scouts around for a games and pizza night and so we felt like we were experiencing life in Utah right there in that first evening.
It was so nice to see teenage boys there doing good clean fun activities on a Wednesday night, by a fireplace with the snow outside. I was pretty excited for our kids right then. I thought "we are going to enjoy it here".


Crystal's boys; Alex and Daniel gave up their bedrooms for us to stay in. Daniel (who is 12) has a room full of reptiles and their food- chirping crickets!
There is a bearded dragon, a matador? and one of those cool bright green iguanas.
The kids were pretty excited to be sharing a room with the lizards although they were quite concerned when they couldn't find the matador lizard (who looks like a goanna) in the morning because they had been told that he does bite. He was hiding in his log.
Today the boys fed them a frozen baby mouse, which they thought was great, especially when the tail hung out of its mouth for awhile.
Well, I better end this very long post.