All Blacks Night

Last Saturday night we had fun decorating the house for an All Blacks night. Mum and Dad had sent us the last Australian/New Zealand game on DVD so we had the priveledge of watching it in our own home. We invited about 20 friends over and had a great night.

The gathering begins.

Mark was excited all week about watching the game.

A bit of rugby was played before the DVD started.

Even Spurgeon the cat dressed up.

Marshmellow Wars

Several months ago on one of their afternoons together the boys made these marshmallow guns. They actually work really well and we have had a lot of fun with them. Marshmallows are very cheap here. you can get a big bag of little ones for $1. Yesterday they decided to try using them in a war with Star Wars figures. It was a bit of a laugh.

Some Videos of Matthew for Grandma

Boat Trip

On Sunday afternoon we were taken out on the river by friends Bill and Carol Russ. They have a lovely boat and it was a beautiful day for it, still nice and warm. Joel was the only one keen enough to have a swim but we all enjoyed ourselves.

Fall Farmal

Last Friday night we all had to dress up for a Fall Festival put on by Dorothy Sayers Classical School where the girls go. It was a really neat night of games and fun. Anna-Marie and I even had a go at line dancing but if I put that video on she will not be very happy about it.

Matthew enjoying himself.

Anna-Marie experimenting with the camera

Cliffty Falls

It is fall break for Mark this week so we worked the girls hard over the weekend so that we could have Monday off. We travelled over to Indiana to a place called Cliffty Falls. The falls were basically dried up as this area is in desperate need for rain but it was still a pretty place to do some hiking. Now that autumn is here the weather is beautiful and we wanted to enjoy it. The semester so far has been pretty busy, especially for Mark, so it was nice to have a day together.

This photo was taken not long after we had all tried to walk through a man made cave. It was pretty rocky in the bottom of it with a little water running through it so we were picking our way through it when the children all screamed, "Did you hear that, it was a hiss, SNAKE!!!!!"

Mark and I hadn't heard anything (apparently because we are adults and have lost hearing of certain pitches??) but they all started panicking and heading back towards the entrance. I decided that if Joel, who really wants to be brave like a real man, was scared, then I was scared too and we all got out of there. Later on the walk we came to the other entrance and Mark, Joel and Rachel decided to conquer fear and go back in. They found the answer to the mystery of hiss. It was bats. They flew around them and as the passed, hissed at them. Better than snakes but I'm still glad that I stayed out.

Hurricane Ike

On Sunday, 13th September, Hurricane Ike hit Louisville. Ike had already travelled many miles over land and we only experienced one aspect of its fury, wind. This was bad enough for Louisville which has an incredible amount of lovely old trees throughout the city. Nearly 300,000 homes were left without power. Tress were down on nearly every street. Signposts were blown over, power lines were laying on the streets and traffic lights were out. School was cancelled as people dealt with defrosting freezers and nothing to cook on.

Homes were last on this list to receive power. The Ryder's Cup was due to begin the next day in Louisville so all the hotels and hospitals etc had to be dealt with first.

Our wonderful neighbours shared their grill with us and their gas stove top. We were also blessed to still have our gas hot water and we were able to eat at the seminary. We were without power for 7 days and lost a lot of food, but with hot water and food at the seminary we were fine. The nights just seemed a little long.

These are photos of our street on the day of the hurricane.

This is a house just a block away from us.