And it feels like freedom....

We have a TON of things to blog about but we'll start with first thing first....

SAM GRADUATED!!!

Hallelujah! He now has a Graduate Diploma in Education and can officially whip other people's children into shape using extreme times tables and advanced spelling...

No, but in reality he will be an amazing teacher! He connects with kids so well because he listens to them, respects them as individuals, and knows how to keep them engaged ... It is time for the university part of our life to finally end and a whole new adventure to begin.........

Sam with his graduating class and staff

Sam's mum, Debbie, proudly showing off her two graduates

I am SOOOO relieved uni is over! I missed QT with my hubby through-out the year...

but it was well worth it in the end.....

Sam's little sister Naomi also graduated this year with her diploma in education!

Great job Sam and Na! We are all so proud of you!!!!

So.... now that uni is over and there is no more homework (YESSSSS!!!!!!) it is time for Sam and I to finally sit back and enjoy the beautiful area we live in!!!!!

It's summer here and the weather is getting hot so our first plans were to hit the beach with Sam's sister Naomi and her 3 kids....

Our little 1 year old niece Hayley showing off her stylish new swimsuit!

Naomi's kids (Liam, Hayley, and Dominick)...aren't they cute?

Sam and I out in the ocean working on my body boarding skills... (and yes I am all decked out in my sexy new pair of goggles....because I'm cool...and that's that)

Catching a wave in!!!!

And finally...since Sam is now the young mens' president of our branch he decided to plan one last hurrah by taking the young men on a hike up Jingera, which is a 2,200 + foot 'rock' out near Wyndham. Our troop was made of Sam, 3 of the Wright boys (Jared, Ammon, and Joe), the missionaries, and....me (the lone brave female!)

Oh...and one other thing....Jingera has no marked trails....just 100% bush walking! Party on!

There had been a recent burn-off so the boys used the soot off the trees to put on their 'war-paint'

(Joe and Ammon)

Climbing rock face number one!

Our fearless leader and a veteran Jingera climber, Jared.

Elder Yu

Check out these awesome teeth! I brush twice daily (oh...and there's Elder Ziegler in the background there)

Victorious! At the top!

Thanks for checking our blog again! We are about to embark on a craaaaaazzzzy adventure starting January 1! We will be moving the the Northern Territory....but that is another story for another post at another time...

Don't shut down that computer! Updates will be coming on a daily basis! We will be posting info about our new location and trip as well as posting pictures from each leg of the journey! That's 2 weeks of updates (because we are taking a 2 week road trip from one side of Australia to the other)...or about 15 new posts! So stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!

Mo-vember

Like daddy, like doggy..... ha ha

okay, okay....so really Snoopy's funny 'above the nose' hair is my fault...it's summer and time for his bi-annual shave...I decided to save some money and do it myself but after 2 hours with dull clippers Snoopy decided he had enough... and the result was his mo-vember hair! Don't worry...November is almost over...we'll shave both mustaches soon enough... ha ha

Torturing the dog...this was only 1 hour into it and he was asleep at this point I think... or just numb from the vibrations....

Humpback whales!!!!!

LET'S GO WHALE WATCHING!!!!

On a whale watching cruise in Merimbula to be part of the humpback whale migration

The super cool life jackets they make us wear crossing from Merimbula lake into the ocean

This is a humpback calf breeching...we caught him on the way down! We saw 2 whales breeching while we were out. One was this calf and one was the mother. They are amazing, gorgeous animals and seeing them up close is indescribably breath-taking!!!

Here you can see the momma and calf (behind her). If you look close you can see the barnacles on the calf's face as he comes up for some air!

This calf was newborn and tiny compared to his mother!

Sam took this photo...it is beautiful

On the way back from whale watching we saw this yacht for sale and have now added 'buy yacht' to our bucket list so we can sit out the water and watch whales all-day. We have been completely obsessed with whales ever since.... it's like a physical need... seeing whales up close gives you such a rush of amazement and wonder and peace....we would do it all day every day if we could!

Happy whale watchers!!!!!

Welcome spring

So here's what we have been up to the past couple weeks. We weren't in the blogging mood for a couple weeks so we have some catch-up to do with this post! First of all, we are both thrilled for spring to be coming to Australia! This means lots of warm weather activities....like taking Snoopy out for his first canoe ride (He only tried to jump out once)

As well as warm weather, spring has brought us an amazing opportunity to have up-close-and-personal contact with the local wildlife. Naomi's husband, John, found this little cutie in the middle of the road late one night on his way over to our place. With no trace of the mother, the wildlife people think the poor little guy was thrown from his pouch. This happens when the mother is injured, in this case probably clipped by a car. Since this baby is old enough to walk (or hop), it is a survival mechanism to try to save the baby, even if the mother kangaroo dies. Unfortunately this baby landed flat on his face on hard concrete and therefore had a broken nose and two black eyes. He was injured and in shock but the wildlife specialists were hopeful. We never found out what happened to him but we hope he survived! Mandy now has dreams of being trained to raise baby animals (tons come in when their parents are killed by cars)...Sam just rolls his eyes!

Mandy keeping the joey warm before taking him in for proper care! Isn't he such a cutie?

Sam's sister, Naomi, taking a turn with our cute visitor

Here's more of our spring adventures.....

Yes...that tiny little black dot in this picture is a humpback whale calf breeching off the coast near our place. It was Mandy's first whale sighting and she is now obsessed. We will be going on a proper whale watching boat soon so hopefully we will be able to see these beautiful creatures up close!

At the Eden Whale Festival to enjoy the warm weather and celebrate whale season here on the coast.

(Mandy with Sam's brother Mike and Mike's girlfriend Brea)

A Port Jackson shark

Sam checking out the tugboat on display

Mandy checking out the captain's cabin on the tugboat

Petting a baby saltwater croc

Sam is only a couple weeks from completing his degree so there will be more adventures to come! Keep posted!!!!

The meaning of loss...

Unfortunately this blog is one of sadness as we have struggled with our first major trial as a married couple. After not being able to hear our dear baby's heart at the 11 or 12 week mark, we began a difficult journey. The miscarriage was confirmed at the beginning of Mandy's 13th week. It was a missed miscarriage meaning that the baby had stopped growing at 7-8 weeks but Mandy's body had failed to recognize the loss. As if it simply needed confirmation, Mandy's body soon began the extremely painful and heartbreaking process of passing the baby. After several days in intense pain, and 2 days in hospital (thank goodness for strong drugs) we were able to come home and rest for a couple weeks. Luckily Sam was on holiday from school so he was able to spend time with Mandy while we both struggled with our loss. We are doing better and moving along one day at a time. We have faith that Heavenly Father has a big plan for us and although it brings us occasional sadness we are hopeful that He will bless us abundantly in the future. The doctor has confidence that our next pregnancy will continue normally so we will be sure to let everyone know when we are blessed with another tiny angel. Thank you for all of your well-wishes and thoughts. During trials such as these it is kind words from friends that we cling to the most!

Bikes and Beaches

So here's an update on what's been going on in our lives lately. We have been pretty busy lately with the usual chores around the house and Sam's Uni work....but luckily we have also had time to do some fun things! Sam of course has continued to engage in his mountain bike training and races and ended up entering in two races on the same Saturday afternoon. The first race of the day was a race in the Bermagui Dirt Surfers Bike Club Series in which Sam is currently holding 1st place. He has competed in 3 races of the series thus far and has 1 second place ribbon and 2 first place ribbons putting him above all the other competitors. Here are some pictures of the last race...where he came in again with an easy first place!

Sam showing off his wheeley skills as he passes by the camera

That's his second first place ribbon and his fastest lap time thus far! :)

After racing at Bermagui, we hopped back in the car and drove another hour so that Sam could take place in the Mogo Netti Mtb Enduro race. This race was a 14k time trial race where all the participants left in 30 second intervals and raced against the clock instead of against each other. He was exhausted from his first race, was feeling a little sick, and it was a very hot day but he still managed to race very well. He was the 5th biker to start and the first to cross the finish line. He came in 12th overall out of 161 bikers that finished the race!

A picture taken during the mogo race

Since he was the first across the finish line he had the privilege of being interviewed. It was pretty exciting to have his opinions about the race and the track broadcast over loudspeaker! :)

Along with more exciting adventures in mountain bike racing, we have also been enjoying the coming of spring and warmer weather. One of the first signs of spring appeared in our entry way about a week ago. We loved watching our new little reptile visitor scale the brick walls. He eventually found his way into the toilet room and hung out with us for a full day before we decided to catch him and put him back out. We have seen him here and there ever since and hope he'll stick around for the rest of the summer.

Our little reptile friend

The other wonderful thing about the coming of summer is the coming of whale watching season! So far over 7,000 whales have swam past our area but I have yet to see a single one! BUMMER! We keep taking trips out to the beaches to see if we can spot any...but no luck yet! They often swim right off-shore and it isn't uncommon to see them breaching. We will post pictures when we are blessed enough to have an encounter. Even though we haven't seen any whales it has been nice to go and sit out on the beach and enjoy the beauty of the ocean. Here are some photos from our latest expedition to Kianinny Bay.

And finally, we had to post some pictures of our dog, Snoopy because we have just been having so much fun taking him out whale watching with us. On one outing we rode our bikes and then had quite a good time playing doggy dress-up with the bike helmets! We thought Snoopy looked quite cool in his matching fur/helmet ensemble! :)

Vogue Snoopy

Attempt number 1

Final adjustments

Snoopy rock climbing at Tathra Wharf on one whale watching trip... what a cutie!