Happy Father's Day!!

There were a lot of funny experiences and comments from the kids that we tried to make note of during the month of August during and separate from our travels to Uluru, Victor Harbor and Sydney. Hunter, in particular, has grown and developed in leaps and bounds over the past month. He’s really started talking, and as we mentioned in our Sydney diary, has developed a severe streak of stubborn independence … and, he hasn’t even made 18 months yet. We’re just hoping the desire for independence leads him right into nursery without the need for parental companionship. But, leaving the independence aside for a moment, let’s talk about his talking. Just like Collin, and quite unlike Savannah at this age, the boys are inclined to polite manners and saying thank you. Whenever he receives something (particularly food) he gives a cute little ‘dank ooo’ without any prompting. He also really enjoys seeing the big tractors and earth equipment being used in the park across the road and when he sees them out there he points and says, ‘track-ee!’ He also knows the essentials of ‘more’ which comes out more like ‘moe’ and is combined with the sign language – perhaps hoping that the combined effect would provide double the food! He’s also become quite creative with his hand signals. When he has a poopy diaper and he’s getting changed, he’ll wave his hand in front of his nose and then pinch it saying ‘steeky’. He also loves to play pick-a-boo and, as much as they will let him, play with Savannah and Collin. He loves to play with balls and has a wicked left foot (his name for ball is ‘baw’.) The other day at church a lady was passing him and she was trying to get Hunter’s attention. In response to her request he covered his eyes like he was playing pick-a-boo and tried to hide … always playing hard to get. Last and not least, the kid is a muscle monster and has an affinity for the protein shakes that I take after bike riding.

Collin has been up to his quirky ways as usual. He still loves to play with balls whenever and however possible. But, he’s also into the toys and trucks, sticks and bugs --- the usual boy stuff. One thing that he’s definitely in to is girls! Can you believe that? When Savannah had her party, Collin was all shy and everything because there was a girl that he liked in particular but he didn’t think that she knew his name. Well, by the end of the party he had turned his attention to another girl because she was nice to him and paid him attention. He then piped up not too long after that when he has a party he doesn’t want any boys to come to his, only girls. Oh boy … Let’s see, what else? When Grandpa Whetstone and Collin were on a walk recently it was getting kind of dark to which Collin remarked, “Come on fellas, it’s getting dark.” Then on another occasion when we were down at Victor Harbor walking across the causeway and we were talking about something to which Collin piped in, “You guessed it!” On another occasion we were talking about a sports game or something and I mentioned the word referee to which Collin responded, “It’s refe’4’” – he has a complex with being three and I guess wants everything to be 4. The other day Kelli had the kids at the fabric store and there was this fluorescent green tiger fur material – he asked Kelli if he could have it and when Kelli said no, he tried a different angle and said, “Maybe Dad would want it for Father’s Day.” Little manipulator! Kelli also recently told him that he needed a haircut and called him a ‘shaggy dog’ – and then Collin said “no, I’m not a shaggy dog, I’m a shaggy horse!” Identity crisis avoided! The other funny thing was yesterday I was playing on at a soccer game and was on the sideline. I was sitting next to a guy who was leaning back with both palms on the ground – Collin decided to mimic him and did the same thing. Then a little while later I was kneeling with one knee on the ground looking out on to the field. I looked over and right next to me Collin was also kneeling on the ground with one knee – somewhat awkwardly, but it was a pretty funny sight. Collin has also been learning to write his name and has been doing really good at his numbers and counting.

Savannah has also been full of a few creative comments herself. We were watching a tennis tournament in which Rafael Nadal was playing. He’s notorious for picking his bum – which we had a front row view of during the Australian Open. When Savannah so that he was playing on TV she asked Kelli, “Who is the bum picker playing?” She also had a sore throat recently and commented that she felt like she had a porcupine in her throat. Never heard of it described that way, but not a bad analogy. Kelli called Savannah downstairs to look at a Father’s Day present online and when Savannah returned to playing with Dad and Collin, Jessy asked what we’d been up to. She replied, “It’s none of your business, Dad!” Plenty of attitude to go around in this family! She’s also turning into a vegetarian. We’ve mentioned that she likes to ask about which part of the animal every piece of meat is from. Well, recently Kelli asked Savannah what she wanted to have for our Father’s Day dinner – to which she said, “Anything without animals!” So anyway, steadily moving down the path of no meat for Savannah …

Kelli is doing good and keeping busy with the kids, helping out at the school on occasion, trading babysitting with another Mom to get some tennis time in (she is playing doubles and enjoying the time to get out under the sun), and busy with her Relief Society calling. I’m busy getting papers ready for publication at work and transferring into the next phase of work that continue until we depart from Australia. I’ve also been playing quite a bit of soccer with the Air Force base team getting ready for their nationals tournament in Sydney in October and also filling in for a community team that needed some help due to injuries. We’ve enjoyed “cheering him up” (as Collin says) from the sidelines the last two weeks. Always enjoy getting out for some fresh air (even if his body says ‘I’m not 20 anymore’), particularly if it involves a soccer ball.

Anyway, that’s about the gist of how everyone is doing right now. The weather is turning to spring and it looks like we are finally through all of the cold spells. Everyone around says that we are in for a very hot summer, but after our electric bill for heating the house it’s probably something to look forward to! We also saw the complete lunar eclipse last week which was pretty cool.

Today is Father’s Day down here, and after shopping for a spectacularly delicious breakfast, we realized it was fast Sunday! I guess the breakfast will have to wait until tomorrow. Dinner will have to be enough. Kelli and the kids took Jessy his presents in bed—unfortunately Collin can NOT keep a secret at all, so Jessy had a pretty good idea of everything he was getting. Savannah gave him a comb with a card she made in school and a notebook and pen she also bought there; Collin gave him an airplane mug; Hunter gave him an Adelaide Crows blanket (which has already been used for a pretend picnic); and we all gave him a South Australia bike jersey with kangaroos on it. He’s a great dad!!!

We hope everyone is doing well and we hope to hear from you all soon!