Exciting Times Downunder

We had a phone call with the Thomas's of Menai (our exchange program family) to discuss details of our daughters upcoming adventures. Andrew is quite an interesting guy, and always has some great stories about their activities in Australia. He is an avid Black Marlin fisherman, and the family spends a good deal of time on a friends farm in the outback. The little beauty at the right weighted in at 1200 lb and was 20 feet long. Check out Andrew and this marlin! Watch out Jaimie! I may have to take your spot as this place looks way too fun!

Andrew has been telling us some stories of hunting wild boar in the swamps around the farm and up until now, I assumed they were using firearms to subdue the critters. Turns out it's a little more exciting than that. They actually use dogs to corner the animals, and keep the "bitey end" occupied while they circle around and grab these guys by the hind legs. Last time out they had a bunch of the babies swim out in the water, so they boated over and scooped them up. This one looks cute at this age but, these guys run in pretty big packs and are extremely hard on the agriculture there.

It sounds like Australia has been undergoing a severe drought the last few years. Reservoirs are at 40% capacity, and Menai has water restriction similiar to what we have here in Colorado. Sadly, a recent outbreak of anthrax has killed a large number of sheep in the area, and put their friends farm under quarantine. Hopefully, they will get that under control soon.

Canyoneering in Utah

Over Easter we went canyoneering with long time friends, the Mestdaghs, and Lance Masoner. For those unfamiliar, canyoneering involves exploring slot canyons in the Utah desert. Slot canyons are formed by water erosion of the sandstone as runoff from the relatively flat desert drains down toward several different rivers in the area. Usually you enter the top of the canyon, proceed down, and make several rappels over various cliffs. Rope work is involved, but frequently you have to slide on your butt down crevasses, chimney over pools of water, and squeeze through narrow sections of the canyon. Needless to say your clothes don't last long. Cathy found this out as things started falling out of her newly torn pants pockets, and then the seat of her pants split on a rappel. Steve is shown in the foreground demonstating the timeless art of the "prosthetic" belay. Sorry to Cathy (in the background) who lost her head, and check out our littlest canyoneer, Julia Mestdagh age 4. Jaimie shown negotiating a steep down climb in Lost Springs Canyon. The adults also did a slightly harder adventure the next day in Bull Pasture Canyon. Some of us hiked into Horseshoe Canyon on our way out of Utah, and saw some pretty cool petroglyphs.

Jaimie and Cathy Hit the Red Carpet

Jaimie and Cathy spent a lot of time acting as extras in a movie (The Surfer King) that filmed here at WaterWorld water park two years ago. Last nite they had the premier here at the Buehl theater so we all went to see if they actually made it into any of the scenes. I was pretty amazed. Jaimie is in a lot of the scenes, including a fairly major shot right at the end of the film where they show her center camera waiting for two small kids to catch up, then they all walk together off camera as if leaving the park. After that the camera zooms in on the real actors who were standing behind them. Cathy is shown in a couple of crowd shots pretending to cheer for the "Surfer King". Unfortunately, the movie is VERY lame. It's showing in several local theaters starting this weekend, but I would be surprised if it comes out in wide distrubution. I was struggling not to doze off. If you play the LowQ trailer Jaimie is in a crowd scene near the end at minute 2:16. She is in the second row from the bottom on the left side of the picture. If you're quick you can pause the clip and pick her out.

Jaimies Australian Exchange Partner

Well this was an exciting weekend! Jaimie was accepted into the Lakewood Sister Cities exchange student program a few weeks ago, and we have been waiting to find out who her exchange partner would be. This weekend we had a potluck dinner with the other 5 US students, their families, and the other exchange program liasons. At the dinner the exchange partners were announced. We are proud to find out that Jess Thomas of Menai, New South Wales will be our new "daughter" starting in July. In this picture Jess is shown with her family, and her local liasons for the exchange program. Jess is in the green shirt in the lower left portion of the photo. We are struggling to figure out all the fun things we want to do and show her between the time she gets here, and school starts in August.

Wolber's Here!

Our friend Cathy Shannon (alias Wolber)flew in this weekend for a "spring break". We've been feeding her Mexican food and margeritas since they don't get a lot of the back in Cincinati. Last summer we met up with her family in Wrightsville Beach, NC and spend several days at their beach house. This thing is so cool 'cause it's virtually right on the beach, and has separate upper and lower apartments which they rent out to college kids during the school year. Here's some file photo of Cathy, Terry, and the kids Lizzy, Micheal,& Jackson.