Zooness

On Saturday Landon worked during the day with Ammon.
I went to the Phoenix Zoo with the Chambers. Fun! We all got in for free because Jackie got free passes.
I helped Erin out this week, her little baby is so cute!! And Sam is adorable with her.

This week

We had a great Valentines/Presidents day weekend. We had our Valentines date on Saturday where we went out for Lunch then stopped at Toys'r'us where we bought our valentines "presents" a kite each. Then we went and saw 'The fantastic Mr. Fox' which is great by the way, very funny! Then after that we went to the Skyline football field and flew our kites... then as the sun went down we realised the stake adult valentines dance was in an hour so we rushed home to get ready. Thank goodness we live around the corner from the stake centre! The dance was average, but we had fun with the Cahill's and the Chambers and afterward since we all hadn't eaten dinner we went to TGI Fridays. BUSY day!
Monday was Presidents day so we went out with the Chambers to the Tonto National Monument, which are cave dwellings. We decided to go out via Tortilla Flats, which we discovered just beyond there the road turns to dirt and gets quite scary in some places! Landon kept saying "we're gunna die!". So I think it was about 20 miles of dirt road or a little less, when we turned a corner and BAM suddenly the Roosevelt dam just appeared in front of us! After that the cave dwellings were only about 5 minutes down the road. It was pretty cool, you could see the fingerprints where they had patted the mud to make it solid.
On the way back Landon decided to go via Globe, which is all sealed roads. The Chambers stayed with us and had pizzas and a movie. So it was a very fun day!!
That day also Erin Parrott had her little girl! AAAAWWWW!!! She is so cute, a mini Erin! We went to the hospital to see them on Tuesday night.
Now onto Thursday night. GREAT night. I had Girls Camp kick off which I went to because I get to be Cabin Mum boo ya!!! I'm so excited to go!!! It helps that my girls are awesome :-D So at that we were introduced to all the camp staff and YCL's (youth camp leaders? The laurels basically) and we did a bunch of activities around the stake centre. The theme this year is CIA - courage in action.
So there you have it, a busy week summarised in a few paragraphs! what a great life we lead!

Short story

I,Katie have had a few requests lately to see if I could get my stories published. I dunno how I feel about that, they are mostly for my personal amusement, but if I get enough positive feedback from those who have read them and from any short stories i post here maybe I will consider it.
So here is something I got 17/20 for in an English exam back in 2003. The topic was Happy memories or moments or place? something like that anyway.

The water dripped off my nose as I flopped into the cool wet sand. My hair felt wiry from the salty ocean water and my back was beginning to burn. I felt so fresh, so alive. I dug my fingers deep into the sand and began to create my sand monument. Beside me he flopped with his board, he had obviously just been dunked by a wave as his breathing was heavy and there was a graze on his knee but he was grinning from ear to ear.
I dug deeper. The wall around it grew higher. The shallow pool of water at the bottom of the hole eroded the walls creating an overhang which i quickly smoothed out to avoid collapse of the sand structure.
The ocean was gushing behind me and occasionally I felt its cool kiss on my toes. I could hear amongst the crashing of the waves laughter, the skwark of seagulls, cicadas humming. It was the song of summer, of magic memories passed and yet to come. Of an innocent childhood when I was pure and oh, so happy. Even now the sounds echo around my mind as if a piece of it exists there frozen in time. As I grow older the sound of summer remains my sanctuary and my hole in the sand with its walls is my mastered creation and now he is with me too. His childish manner, such a contrast from the boys at school. He's a person who makes me smile just by a simple glance. He rolled over onto his belly and began digging in the hole too.
The hole was almost as deep as my arms could reach and about as wide as that too. The walls around it curved gently, the outer wall creating a wind break to protect the inner wall from the ocean breeze whipping up the sand. The water pooling at the bottom was almost ice cold, numbing my fingers while i felt the sun burn my back. This was easily going to be the biggest structure I had created. Years of perfecting, of experimenting, to create just the right shape to avoid collapse.
He followed my lead, recognising my understanding for the design. It made me feel good to see his recognition for this minor accomplishment. I didn't get noticed much for the big things I do, but for him, to notice my refined expertise on such a childish thing left me feeling in good spirits.
Our time had ended, the sun was setting and the tide was coming in. We leaped into the waves to wash the sand off our arms and leghs and out of our swimwear.
In the morning the hole would be gone, washed away with the high tide. I looked at the carefully crafted structure as he wrapped his arm around my neck. The song of the summer began to sing its lullaby.

Multi-cultural day

Katie was asked to help out up at Avalon Elementary with their multi-cultural day where she talked to the kids in the 1st grade about Australia and demonstrated boomerang throwing. The kids enjoyed it, and it was good for her to get out of the house and help out in the community. It was a fun experience and exposed the children to the great world out there. The ironic part was the classroom across the hall was doing Native Americans.... seems to be a trend to put the two together! So while in the Australia room Vegemite was eaten, across the hall was fry bread YUM!

Government hates poor Landon

So I have finally posted our wedding photo's on facebook, about 10 1/2 months after the event. Have a look...
On Saturday Landon decided the government hates him. After all the dramas and delays with my permanent residency - which according to our last letter we received about 2 weeks ago will arrive within 60 days (stupid homeland security, it's already approved and has been mailed once, just mail it again freaking idiots) - the decided that we didn't supply them with enough information to get our tax rebate for our house. It would be good to mention also Landon employed a tax person to do this application for him. So, suffice to say he contacted the guy and told him it wasn't done properly, and so the guy did it again free of charge. Yet again we hit snags with government departments, no wonder Landon feels like they hate him.
Well, we keep our chins up and keep soldiering on like we always do.

Free Food

So today I, Katie, won a free healthy meal from the gym. So the company running the competition will come in on Thursday night and provide dinner for Landon and I. Sweet, no meal prep for me! Free stuff rocks.
Also, we got a reflective number painted on our driveway today, one of those ones for emergency services, and when I looked up and down the street, we are one of about 2 or 3... and for a long road, that's not much!
Well, just to let you know, the Australia Day party on Saturday was a success. Plenty of good friends, fun activities which aren't played by locals but loved by us Aussies, and of course Landon was amazing with the food. Thanks to all who came, without you, you would have been a flop! Next year I will try to make it better somehow.

Just beginning

So I, Katie, have just set this up so that it will be easier, and less messy than facebook, for people to keep up with us.
We have been married for almost a year now and so much has already happened. We have our own home, have had some very insane dramas, and we have our Hope, the Alaskan Malamute. We are looking forward to this year, our second year together and what it may bring.
Right now, Landon is working full time while I am still waiting for my permanent residency to arrive. The whole shenanigan has taken about a year and a half so far. Avoid it if you can people, they suck you dry!
We both have callings in the ward now too. Landon is the Asst. Ward Clerk over finances and I am Ward Young Women's secretary and I will have the privilege of going to Girls Camp later this year as a Cabin Mum... for those who know me, you will know that it will be the party cabin!
Well that's it for now...
Katie