Sad Day

I wonder if it would be o.k. to ask for some faith and prayer on behalf of my Aunt R.  Her ex husand was killed by a great white shark in Solana Beach while out for a training swim about 20 hours ago.   His name is Dave Martin.  She is devastated and so are the kids of course.  It's a very complicated and painful time.  I wish I was there to help with anything they would let me do.  They don't even know how much I love them.

Miraculously my mom was in the area and able to get quickly to her sister shortly after she heard the  news and realized who it was.  That meant a lot to her to be able to spend time with my aunt and the kids.   My  mom loves her sisters so much.  In fact, my parents are in the process of moving to Alpine, Ca. which is only an hour from Solana Beach.  I am sure that the weightiness of this loss will not be quickly lifted.  I am so glad that she will be there as a sweet support.

Dave was a very gentle man.  I remember him at the Christmas eve parties with their  little children, patiently waiting on them.  He always had a smile on his face and I liked him.  He was a very handsome, lean man who exuded calm.  One time he brought his two sons from his first marriage to our family party.  They were handsome and fun and we all enjoyed them so much and then we never saw them again.  Now they're grown with little children of their own.  I understand that their dad adored them all.  Uncle Dave was kind to our family.  If we ever had a need with one of our pets we called him.  He always helped.

My aunt is a gorgeous woman of strength with a quick wit, a bright mind, and a soft heart and an amazing smile.  The past few years following the divorce have been hard in just about every way possible.  This is rocking her world.  Especially as she watches her children suffer the unbearable pain of losing their father.  I believe these children are remarkably strong, each in unique ways, different from eachother's.   They will survive.   My prayer is that they will have what they need to show them the way as they tunnel through this dark time to the other side, where there is peace.

Thanks for your time and faith and love.  I know you'll make a difference. 

Click on Liz and Trevor under Blogging Buddies for her thoughts.

Madi's Daddy

Anyone who read the post about Madi will remember her  story.  She's the precocious, precious 3 year old that touched my soul at a certain dinner at my mom and dad's house in Joshua Tree.  

You can read about it in the post "The Gem I Almost Forgot".

For all who might have interest, you should know that Madi's daddy returned home last week safe and sound. My mom was thrilled to be invited to the homecoming.  I asked how Madi had handled seeing her dad after such a long time.  Seven months is a long time for a 3 year old.

"She was squeeling with delight!"  she said.  According to Mom it was a beautiful reunion and a joy to behold.

So I am guessing it doesn't get much better than that. 

Welcome home Luke!  We are so grateful for your service and sacrifice.  Our prayers will continue to be with you as you shift back into US life.

Much love from all who have read her post and been taught by the love of a little girl for her daddy.

Kelli the Koala

Poor little thing up in the tree.  You'll have to click on the picture to hunt for her in that mass of trees.   She has cystitis, it's similar to a urinary tract infection.  It can turn into clamydia (sp) and as you can imagine, not a good thing for the koala population.  

So my good friend Liz, who, by the way, does not remotely resemble an animal rescue girl, was on call with the Animal Rescue Ambulance parked in front of her house when she got notice of this little gal with a "dirty bum".   Long story short, Jeremy and I went.

It was dark and thank goodness the man who spotted her showed up to point the way.  We walked through grass over our shoulders, climbed trees, finagled nets on the ends of long poles, tried to knock her into a big net, and finally pulled a thin tree down to the ground, grabbed her by the back just like a baby and plopped her (still gnawing away at what would have been a huge chunk of my hand minus the thick leather glove) into a cage that Jeremy manuevered excellently into place at just the right moment.  

She was definitely not happy about a single bit of it.  For something so adorable they can make the most terrifying sounds!  Fortunately Liz is a great teacher.  Very calm and good at making order out of chaos.  She was the one who said, "Just slide the glove off and let her have it in the cage."  Otherwize I am sure I would have tried to pull my whole arm out othe cage with koala attached and climbing up my neck!

We toted her back to the ambulance and off to Liz's house where she spent a quiet night waiting for the guys from Steve Erwin's zoo to come pick her up and take her to the vet.  She'll be treated, tagged and then released back to the spot where we first found her.  Her name?  Kelli.

Bad Weather

I just wanted to complain a little bit.  I am sure you'll all feel quite sorry for me. 

It's raining.  It's been raining all day.  The wind is blowing.  In fact, it almost, practically qualifies as bad weather.  And it's not the first we've experienced.  There's been at least a handful of days that have been a bit gloomy.  Not Australia like at all if you ask me.

If anyone could give me a little advice on how to  handle it, you know, make it through the nasty weather blues, I would really appreciate it.  

We may not even be able to swim this afternoon.  If that ole sun doesn't come out we may be forced to stay inside for the entire day!

I knew you would all appreciate my suffering!  He, ha, hoo, eeee!!!

Seriously, though, it's really bad.  (chuckle, chuckle) 

Delightful Day Pics

In the harbor.

Five men on a dingy.  Aren't they cute?

Sun setting.
Sweet D and Big T.

Dear hubby's turn to steer.  With a little help.

Delightful!!

I have never been sailing in all my days.  Well, if you don't count the short hobycat ride with hubby at the helm that is. ( I loved it Hon but you have to admit that the constant jumping from one side to the other in an effort to keep from capsizing was a bit distracting.   You are my number one captain!)  So, when our lovely friends invited us for a day out on the water we jumped at the chance.  

It was heaven.  It was  peaceful and quiet.  The weather was perfect. The new friends were an easy lot to hang with; anyone would love them. (by the way, can anyone tell me if that's an appropriate use of a semi-colon?) Funny, great stories and willing to climb the Big Sandhills  (Yes, there was an actual sign at the bottom of, well, 2 big sandhills that said just that.) for the view at the top.  Hopefully I'll get some pics from T so you can see what we all accomplished and why it was competely worth it.  

From the pics you'll see that the boat was a real beauty.  She is a source of true joy for big T.  (He is the one with the beard and little T is his son.  We'll call cute wife friend, Sweet D.)  For at least 5 months of the year she, the boat, a 42 foot, 10 ton cruiser/racer,  is consistently his companion for the weekends.  They race, sometimes up to 40 hours a go.  That's like a marathon.    Sweet D says it didn't bother her a bit to take on a second wife.  She keeps him relaxed and healthy and gets him out of the way, hee hee.  O.K. she didn't say exactly those words but she is remarkably easy going about Big T's boat obsession.  Little T knows his way around the ropes but prefers the kind that take you up a very large rock!!  

I think we all agreed that it was a special day.  One of the highlights was the sting ray show!  When we went ashore we passed ray after ray resting on the ocean floor.  Most would explode up and out of the sand in a huge hurry to disappear but occasionally one would remain dug in while we passed just a foot or two above him.  I loved watching them swim under the dingy.  They were beautiful.  Seriously, it was a wonderful experience.

So thank you to our thoughtful friends for taking the time for and thinking to invite us along for the ride of a lifetime!

New friends and vacation

We had the delightful experience of hosting a family that my parents met a few years ago while living in Colorado.  Elizabeth, the mom, and I hit if off right away.  The kids slowly relaxed into the new environment as we surfed, wake boarded, swam, shopped, ate, rode horse back and explored our way through as much of southern Queensland as possible.

The weather wasn't wonderful.  Not everything went perfectly.  Jerett, for instance, hated the horse show night.  Izzy didn't exactly love the afternoon spent with 7 boys back at the house while her mom and I went to the temple.  Tate wasn't loving the rashes a fella can get from surfboards and the ocean water.  Mom, Elizabeth had her first date since her divorce.  It didn't go quite the way we had all excitedly expected.  

But all in all, it was a wonderful time of new adventures and new friendship.  One I hope that will be repeated (minus the  horse show, Jarett!) again in the not too distant future.

So now what do I do?  I have had house full for 10 days and now, nothing.

Guess it's time to do the floors, catch  up and laundry, sweep the porches and make dinner for...(boo hoo) 4.