2009 A New Beginning

Hello friends and family! Let me begin by saying that I think we are finally settling in. 2009 has started rather calmly. I like that! Driving is easier, knowing what people are saying is easier, watching TV is easier and I'm actually getting into the correct seat to drive now. Praise the Lord for the little things!

The little people begin school for the new year next Tuesday. Monday is a national holiday, Australia day. Duane will be off that day so we are driving to Byron Bay in New South Wales. We hear that beach is very nice.

We went to Noosa Heads Beach over Christmas and it was exceptional. There is a national forest with hiking trails through the hilly woods and along the beach. It is beautiful. We saw a huge lizard, a sleeping possum and a sleeping koala bear while we were hiking the trails there.

Beaches are the entertainment here in Australia. There are no shortages of beaches. Real beaches, man made beaches, you name it. In downtown Brisbane there is a man made lagoon. The lagoon is concrete, but has sand beaches and many water features. It is located in the middle of the city and next to the Brisbane River. It's pretty awesome. We live near the top of the Sunshine Coast, but just an hours drive north is the Gold Coast. The beaches along both areas are very nice.

The sun is extremely strong here. The rays are more intense than in Houston; not as hot, just stronger rays. The summers here are great though. Today it is 31 degrees C with 65% humidity. The other day it was 28C and 47% humidity. This is the middle of summer! We are doing well without air conditioning. We have a couple of fans we move from spot to spot. Duane recently made screens for some of the windows so that we can open them without letting in skinks and bugs. There are a few days that are almost unbearable but they are few and far between. If this is hot and humid....bring it on! Australian's warned us that the summer days get terribly hot and the humidity is awful. What would they say about Houston?

I am still enjoying our veranda. There are birds, birds, and more birds. They visit me early am, mid day and late afternoon. Most of my visitors are currawongs, butcher birds, Ravens, miners, and an occasional kookaburra. The babies now come without their mothers except for the Butcher bird. It still stays close. All of us can feed the butcher bird adults and baby right from our hands. Sometimes when the Ravens are full they will take the food and bury it in the yard next door or in a tree nook. The other birds have caught on and will take the hidden food. The Ravens will swoop the smaller birds right off of the veranda as they eat. The miner birds will then swoop the Ravens while they are in mid flight. That may be because the ravens will sit in the tree and wait for the miner birds to get bread and carry it away to the rooftop behind us and when the little birds land, the ravens and currawongs startle them into dropping it and then fly away with the food. Caleb loves interacting with the birds almost as much as I do. He was up before 6:00 am this morning hand feeding all three Butcher birds. We do enjoy it up in the treetops!

Rachel is busy trying to get both government loans and personal student loans for UQ. She has selected her classes for the first semester and will begin in March. She is still looking for employment. I hope she finds it soon. At least she has her piano to keep her occupied. She is going to a beach this weekend with her friend's family from Canada. Then on Monday, she goes to the beach with us. She should be good and water logged by Tuesday.

Caleb and Amy look forward to school starting again although Amy misses her school in Houston very much. I think she would take the first plane back to Houston without us if she could. She accepts the school that she is in, but she likes everything and everyone at Abiding Word more. Caleb loves everyone! He is at home where ever he goes! He can't wait to see his friends again and play ball during every recess. I will miss them when they go back. I still need to find my way. I hope to do a little volunteering at the school some days.

Duane is doing well at Maunsell. He will be working at the project building through March and then go back to the office in Milton. He purchased a bike when we first moved into the house and he enjoys riding it along the river and into the city. A foot bridge over the freeway is being built and will be finished this month. This will enable Duane to ride near or in Mt. Coot-tha. This is very close to our house. I do not wish to have a bike. The hills here are too much! Walking them is hard enough. We live in a very nice area with lots of trees and hills. Duane works with guys who peddle their bikes to and from the office every day. Crazy guys!

Michael is doing okay in San Diego. I think he would rather be with us, but he is making the best of it. The Nimitz has gone out to sea a few times since Thanksgiving, one week at a time. Michael is happy to report that he does not get sea sick! That in itself is a tremendous blessing! I have a correction to make on Michael's e-mail. It is m.hengst3@gmail.com. I had left the . out of it. He would love to hear from you! I had it wrong in my adress book too. No wonder he never responded to my e-mails! I thought he was just busy.

That's about it for now. I will try to post some pictures that we have taken around here. Hope you enjoy them!

Stacey