The 4th,food,and new friends.

Last week Jayden's teacher asked us to help celebrate the 4th of July in the classroom. So we put together and small slide show so that Jayden could tell her friends what the 4th means and why we celebrate it. Jayden did great! The kids started asking a bunch of questions about America and Jayden answered all of the questions without getting to overwhelmed. I made red,white,and blue tie-dye cupcakes for the whole class to celebrate and they also made American flag hands and parade hats. It was so fun to tell all of our new Aussie friends about the 4th and why it is special to us.

That same day I went to my new Rheumatologist. He said that he is very pleased with my RA. All of my swelling is gone and I feel great. I do need to go and gets a few more test done just to make sure my RA isn't progressing anymore and he also suggested that I lose about 30lbs so he gave me a referral to a dietitian to help me with a new diet. I go back in August for a check up.

On the 5th,I went into the city to have lunch with my new friend Susie and fellow Kiewit wife. I met Susie though my friend Allison when we had lunch last week. Susie came to Australia a few weeks after we did. In fact her husband,Tom, and Jason work in the same office. Anyway, she had a small get together at her home with some other Kiewit wife's and some of her new friends.It was a fun time. 

On Friday I had another very busy day. I had breekie (breakfast) with my new friend Lisa. I met Lisa at school the first day of school in the courtyard. Lisa has two girls the same age as our girls. Lisa has been a great friend and my "go to" girl when I have a question about anything. Lisa brought a few friends to breekie and I got to meet some more mums from school. After I got done with breekie with Lisa, I went shopping for our first official dinner party since we have been to Australia. After getting everything I needed and then some it was time to head back home to clean the house and start making more preparations for the party. On Friday night I went to a Mum's night out with the Year 3 (3rd grade) mums.It was a Christmas in July party. Yep, a lot of people celebrate Christmas on the 25th of July here because this is Australia's coldest month of the year. I had turkey, potatoes, veggies, and cranberry sauce. For dessert I had my first Australian Pavlova. Pavlova is a dessert that I have been hearing a lot about..it's a very traditional dessert here in Australia. It's basically egg whites, sugar,and raspberry sauce drizzled over top. It was to die for! 

On Saturday Jason invited some people work over for our first official dinner party since we moved here. We tried out the outdoor pizza oven. We had about 30 or so people here at our home.We had a pretty good system going. I made homemade dough ahead of time, so all you do is roll your own dough to the thickness that you want your pizza.Put some cornmeal on the cookie sheet. Place your dough on the cookie sheet and then put the sauce and cheese on. Then put on whatever topping you wanted on your pizza. (Everyone brought a topping). It was great fun. I stood inside and guided and socialised with the guest while they made their pizza. Then everyone brought their pizza to Jason and he put it in the pizza oven. Wait 2-5 minutes and ta da! Yummy wood fired pizza!! We started the pizzas at 4:30 and we didn't get done until 6:30. That's a lot of pizza! After the dinner, we had sparklers for the kids. It was a great way to end a very busy but fun week.

The next two weeks the girls have school holidays. That means they are off from school  in between terms (semesters) We have all sorts of fun things planned. But today (Monday) Hailley got a orthodontic expander in her mouth. Not and very fun way to start the holidays but at least if she feels bad she doesn't have to miss school. 

Whew. I think I have told you our whole life story. Have a great week everyone!