Sam celebrates entry to the teen years!

Sam turned 13 years today and celebrated with all of his favourites! He treated himself to lunch today at the high school canteen: chicken, pork and gravy meatpie with chocolate milk. When he got home, he was surprised with a decorated house complete with balloons and a birthday sign. Dad prepared his favourite cheeseburgers, fries and gravy and then we had a brownie, ice cream and candy cake for dessert. Sam was lavished with gifts and money to spend on our upcoming trip to Melbourne. Hmmm ... I wonder what he will buy? Happy Birthday Sam and we hope this year is a memorable one for you.

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Making Your Debut

Last night, Dan and I stepped out into Society (in our borrowed formal wear) when we were guests at the Narrandera Race Course Debutante Ball.

A Debutante Ball is a formal event where a young lady of about 16 or 17 is presented to society with pomp and circumstance. It is sort of like being at a wedding but without the marriage. The young ladies are in white ball gowns and are accompanied by a partner who is a young man of the same age. There are flowergirls and

pageboys, also dressed in white who assist the "Debs" and their partners.

Jarrod as a Pageboy.

When all of the guests (500 of us) are seated, music begins and the flower girls and page boys enter up the "aisle" in pairs and proceed to the centre of the ball room where the Matron of Honour introduces them. They do a ballroom spin and then are seated boys to the left and girls to the right. There were 4 pairs of flower girls and pageboys. Our friends, Kellie and Simon's son, Jarrod was a pageboy. They look adorable and play their parts to perfection. They are all kindergarten and grade one aged.

Then, the Debutantes and their partners proceed couple by couple, up to the centre of the ballroom. There were 10 girls being presented at this ball - there will be another 2 this season. When they arrive at the centre, the Matron of Honour, announces them and in Miss America style, gives a description of their age, school, parents and aspirations. The girls are then escorted by their partner to the Official that they are presented to. Then each Deb and partner stand at their respective sides until each is introduced. We knew one of the girls as her mother is a teacher at my school and she works with Dan at the Charles Sturt. You could tell she was enjoying the event immensely.

After all of the girls make their Debuts, they then participate in a choreographed formal traditional dance. Then, the girls, their partners and the flowergirls and pages participate in a second choreographed modern dance. This one was set to the theme of the night which was the movie, "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" (a movie I have not yet seen). It was fantastic - reminded me of that show where the wedding party works with a choreographer to make their first dance special and then surprises the guests!

Cutting the cake After that, the girls all "cut the cake" - yes, they actually cut a cake! And then the band plays and the party really begins. We socialized with the other guests, danced to the band and had our fair share of drink and "nibbles". We left at 12:30 on the courtesy bus which dropped us at our door - fabulous! Thanks Simon and Kellie for inviting us to be a part of such a lovely Australian tradition. It was an experience that won't soon be forgotten.

Thanks Mom!

Sent: January 17

Arrived: March 22

Value to us: Priceless!

Thanks mom! As you can see... Dan loves his birthday present!

John O'Brien Festival

The main street of Narrandera (East Street)

during the Festival

Father Patrick Hartigan A.K.A. John O'Brien

Every year in March, people come from all around to gather in Narrandera for The John O'Brien Bush Poetry Festival .

John O'Brien is the pen name of Monsignor Patrick Hartigan who was Parish Priest at St. Mel's Church (our school parish) in 1917 and for the next 27 years. He was an author and a poet. Around the Boree Log was his most successful work having sold over a quarter of a million copies and remains quite infamous in this area. His residence by the church remains a place for people to visit and view.

The festival goes on from Wednesday to Sunday with events such as poet breakfasts, dinners, wine tasting and art displays. On the weekend, the main events take place with the main street being closed to traffic and open to buskers, a stage, stalls, car and antique displays as well as a kids area on Saturday. Sunday brings events to the Narrandera park until it all winds up in the afternoon.

Dan had to work on this busy weekend so the boys and I took in many of the events on the weekend. We watched musicians and dancers on the main street and partook in food and activities in the kids area. On Sunday, we went to the park for more food and fun. It was a lovely way to spend a weekend without having to drive anywhere.

On Monday, one of the headlining artists, Geoffrey Graham, came to the school to perform for the students. He used costume and authentic colonial items to entertain and inform the students about life in early Australia through poetry and song. It was quite an enjoyable show.

Out in the Countryside

School and life has been keeping us very busy. A typical week includes, of course school, footie twice a week, sports program twice a week and volleyball for Dan and I on Thursday nights. The kids like their extra curricular activities and Dan and I enjoy the volleyball. It is played on outdoor grass courts and our team is playing it's second game of the final 4 week round robin in the "A" division tonight - fingers crossed. Dan and I have been named the "imports" and the "internationals" for our team as we joined with two thirds of the season completed. It is a fun league and rules are ?"loosely" followed. If you hang on the net it's okay, if you carry the ball it's okay - pretty much anything is okay so we look rather pro with our T.A. high school volleyball training (Thanks Mr. Robertson and Mr. Duggan!) In fact, I often hear Mr. Robertson's voice haunting me on the court - even now! Anyhow, it's great fun and we are guaranteed a money prize for our team so we will have a great team windup when it is all over!

The last two weekends we have gone out into the countryside around Narrandera. First we were invited out to Tom Dawson's. Tom is Priscilla's father and he lives in sprawling countryside farmland. He cares for a large estate and the land that surrounds it. It is not a working farm but he maintains the land and enjoys the quiet country life. He has a magnificent view of the river as he is elevated. He toured us about and we looked inside of an old sheep shearing shed and saw how they used to sheer, collect and press the wool. We played a little boccie ball and footy in the yard and looked at the beautiful gardens. Tom told us about the kangaroos that have been around the yard but we didn't see any. The boys had a taste of home by riding around the quad that Tom has. That was a highlight and Sam insists he saw a brown snake crossing the lane way of the paddock. UGH - we had walked there earlier! We had a very tasty dinner of roast chicken, potato bake (yum) and salad. We left too late for a school night but truly enjoyed ourselves. Thanks Tom!

Last Saturday, we went out to explore Galore Hill, which is about a half hour car ride from home. Unlike at the Rock, you can drive to the top of Galore Hill and then explore from there so that is what we did. We saw some BIG spiders once again (see the picture Jake took in the slide show) - YUCK and then we hit the cliff to find the caves.

As soon as we had stepped down onto the narrow trail, Dan commented that we should watch out for snakes - well, that was the end of my fun and excitement on this adventure. Instant paranoia crept in and I could feel it like ice in my body. I could no longer enjoy the views. I focused straight ahead, staring at the ground for fear that I would look to the left or the right and see a snake curled on a rock waiting to strike. There was thick grass and sun soaked rocks and I thought there was a snake at every turn. I was beyond scared. At last we found the caves and after I insisted on several rocks being thrown in and flashlights shone, I let the boys go to the doorway to have a picture taken. Jake of course would have dove right in - eek! I must say that I was very relieved that we once again survived an adventure intact!

Last Sunday, we went to Marie O'Brien's parent's home (Helen and Alan) to experience farm life. We received the grand tour and were amazed at the size and amount of animals they care for! There were cows (3 moms in waiting due to give birth any day), sheep, goats, chooks, horses, geese, guinea fowls and I am sure several I have forgotten. They even have about 6 dogs (that's less than normal) and a cockatoo. They also have avocado trees, mandarin orange trees, oranges and grapefruits, lemons and limes. It is like paradise. There farm is situated along the creek which they use for irrigation and for water for the animals. We walked along and noticed carp and in the traps yabbies and freshwater shrimp. As you can imagine, the boys were in 7th heaven.

We stayed for "afternoon tea" where we tried Anzac biscuits and other treats that Helen made - they were very tasty - and then Jacob and Jack had the chance to ride the horses (Sam opted out) along the paddock. It was so fun and Jack had to be coaxed off of the horse quite some time later! Thanks Marie and Lauren for the horse rides. Thanks also to Alan, Helen, Brigitte, James and Jarrod for sharing the family farm with us.

There was a little drama when one of the cows escaped the paddock and had to be brought back in. The horses went out as well as the ute and some of the dogs to help. The cow was brought back in and all was well at the farm once again.

We have been invited back to see the sheep shearing in winter and the new babies in spring (remember it is Fall here right now)! WE can't wait!

Glossary:

paddock - a field

ute - a truck

chooks - chickens

footy - AFL football

yabbies - giant crayfish or small lobsters

Enjoy the photos of our experiences and Happy March Break all!

T.

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Happy Birthday Mom!

Jack says "Hi".

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