Summer's End

The summer months are gone again. This past summer has perhaps been the quickest I’ve ever experienced. Our days are so full of life, experiences, work, fascinating moments, opportunities, and challenges that we barely count them. Instead we only notice when another month or season has left us, and wonder where that time got to. Our summer has been non-stop. Travel to Gosford, time in the pool and at the beach, Kylie’s parents visiting, fun with friends, lots of hard work at uni, an increased workload for Kylie, a broken arm for Ella, swimming carnivals and bike riding for Chanel.

To complete our final two weeks of summer life has returned to a fairly stable routine. Kylie and I are up each day around 5.30. We carry out our responsibilities and fulfil our priorities until the children go to school and I go to uni. Our evenings are busy. Monday night we hold Family Home Evening and then take Chanel to the velodrome. Tuesday nights I have Young Men’s Activities. Wednesday night I have executive meetings at church. Thursday night is Kylie’s night out. Friday night we’re back at the velodrome for Chanel’s races. Saturday I ride in the morning and we clean and organise during the day. We try to make Saturday our family fun day. Sunday it’s church in the morning and church things in the afternoon. And Monday it all begins again.

Chanel competed in her District swimming carnival and performed well. She swam as fast as she ever has previously, and did several best times (we think – we don’t really record them at this stage). I took note of a few so that next year we can compare the improvement. But of course that relies on me remembering where I put them, and taking the time to look them up. Maybe if I put them here I’ll find them. Apologies if this is boring to you. . .

50m Breaststroke 1.05.35
50m Backstroke 1.03.54
50m Butterfly 1.04.01
100m free 1.55.45

We didn’t get a time for 50m free as Chanel didn’t qualify in the carnival for it. But generally Chanel was in the top ten or twelve for her age group across the twelve schools competing. We were very excited to see how much of a thrill Chanel got from representing her school and performing well. Her bike riding is going well too and we are seeing real improvement. She’s still the slowest of all the kids by far, but is very enthusiastic about it.

I also forgot to mention that Chanel received her very first Valentine! Oh no! I’m not ready for a daughter who’s old enough to receive valentine’s cards. It was from a boy in her class named Josh M. He wrote on her card, “Dear Chanel, I think you’re pretty sweet.” Chanel was suitably excited. She had plenty of information to share about Josh M and shared willingly with Kylie.

On Friday Kylie had a new first – blood donation. Kylie has been wanting to donate for a long time and finally took the opportunity to do so. She did really well with it, but was pretty tired for a few days. Kylie said it was a terrific experience and the staff made her feel really good about being there. I get the feeling that more appointments will be made.

Saturday was a really big day. I began with a ride up Macquarie Pass. That is one big hill! I got back from that ride and went straight to Ella’s kindy where we did a clean-up. I transplanted a 10-foot jacaranda tree, then shovelled several cubic metres of sand. That wore me out. Finally we went home and cleaned up before racing to the chapel for a baptism. One of the families in Wollongong ward has mum and daughter as members, but not father and son. The son was baptised! I’ve been working with him through the Young Men’s programme for the past 9 months and it was a great experience to be at the baptism. I was also asked to speak about baptism to Callum. I pinched an idea from a wonderful and learned friend. I took one of my old white shirts that I’ve been planning on throwing in the bin for a while. While at the pulpit I pulled the shirt out and poured tomato sauce over it. Then I sloshed on some soy sauce. And lastly I carefully sprinkled beetroot juice. The shirt was no longer white! The congregation were hooked! I spoke about how Jesus Christ is the ultimate stain remover – but he removes much tougher stains than those on the shirt. He removes sins from souls through His atonement.

Sunday was a real treat at church. I got to play the piano for a piece of music that Kylie sang with one of her girlfriends. The music was really special and several people mentioned that they appreciated it. Someone said they thought it should have been on a CD.

Monday I took the day off and helped Kylie around the house. We didn’t get enough done, but it was nice to spend time together. The rest of the week was a blur, with lots to do but nothing noteworthy. Finally Saturday arrived, and once again things were frantic. I did another Macquarie Pass ride. Then raced to the chapel, about 45 minutes late, for a farewell breakfast for Vee. Vee is going on her mission this week – to Perth. There wasn’t enough food for me. That’s what I get for being late. A quick trip home to take care of some jobs around the house. Then we went to the beach for Kylie’s next new service project.

A couple of weeks ago Kylie spoke with a lady about tandem bike riding for the blind. A gentleman lost his sight many years ago and felt miserable. He was in London and his friend told him it was time to buy a tandem bike and go for a ride. He was scared but gave it a go. He loved it. When he came to Australia he began buying bikes with his own money and seeking volunteers to take blind people for tandem bike rides. Saturday afternoon Kylie went out and had her first go. She loved it – and took three friends to also volunteer. It has become her new favourite thing to do! It’s nice to help people, and Kylie is doing all she can at the moment.

Sunday – my favourite day of the week if we can get the kids to sit still at church. Things went pretty well this week. Church was positive. Kylie taught a lesson about prayer and scripture study. Then in the afternoon I went home teaching. I spent some time with a family who have become good friends. The husband is not a member of the church. We spent 90 minutes talking about really important gospel principles – and getting excited about them. He appreciated it and felt edified by it. I was grateful for the knowledge and ability I have to teach.