AUGUST RUSH

How quickly the days rush by! School has now started at BYUH and my classes are nearly filled. That's good! I have a good group in HEC so far, and will meet the REL students on Tuesday, 2 SEP. Preparing for the folders and their contents, especially the syllabus, always takes me a long time. Keep trying to get more efficient and effective in the teaching/learning experiences.

It was a great travel experience to Australia late July to mid August. SYDNEY is a wonderful harbor city, so scenic and easy to get around by walking, even though it was winter time. We stayed in "The Rocks" which is the historical area, first settled locality. Loved the history, architecture, landforms, and stories. The British feel was evident, in sight and in language. Loved it. Toured the city on the hop on-hop off, then walked places on foot. Also toured the opera house and treated ourselves to a musical--Billy Elliot with music by Elton John. Very impressive.

Canberra was lovely, a real city similar in some ways to a cross between Des Moines and Washington, D. C. Although always the coldspot on the weather map while we were there, we got out a little here and there with the help of Erin and Wil. The week we waited for baby may have gone slow for her, but at least she felt good to visit and we made many fleece quilts and finished the baby comforter, too. Wil had some vacation days, and some work days and football days, too. We enjoyed a lovely shower put on by Moana Howe and others in the ward. Met the family there and at church, too. Stake conference weekend --it was a great conference with such good talks..."to the rescue" was the theme.

Getting used to winter in July/August was new, but other things seemed "old hat." Cooking, some cleaning, laundry, and eventually baby holding plus visiting W and E, and enjoying getting to know Avery William Takarawa Howe [sp?] ---great ways to spend our time. Bill left earlier than I did, so I got to get to know him a little more and be at home with the new little Howe family. Such a nice time. Fun ways to experience a new country. Some wonderful "firsts" in my life and good people and events to remember. The Olympics in Beijing started while I was there...we hear Liesl Jones got a gold medal--Erin is smiling--and when we got home Shawn Johnson, the gymnast from West Des Moines, also racked up a set of medals, including one gold. Hooray for her and the others. Summer Olympics highlights are mostly gymnasts for me.

Packing days are Megan's life right now, and seeing friends before she takes off on Wednesday, 3 SEP. Band friends, girl friends, nephews and sister are among her visits this week. Some beach time, too, and using her new camera. She has really trimmed down and thrown things out--mom and dad are impressed. She can enjoy the "less is more" philosophy, we have hopes, anyway.

Other family news has Jenny starting to show :D and Lindsey counting down until John returns from Molokai FOR GOOD. We enjoy visiting with Jenny and so wish them well. We know they are ready to launch their lives and we are glad Jenny is a graduate student. It's amazing how lives can change. Years ago this would have been a far off wish for Jenny, since we knew how little she liked academics at KHS, so we are tickled for her and happy for her success. She and Aaron are a great team and we know the world is waiting for them.

The three boys/grandsons here are still precious to us, so seeing them is a joy. We look forward to Thursdays. That's still piano day for Papa and Trevor, but Devin comes, too, so he and I can hang out...mostly outside. Then it's dinner time, then a little extra time to play, then we take them home to mom. This seems to give her a little time to herself since Kyle is sleeping then...after Trevor's soccer practice.

Grandma Neal moved to Cedar Falls today. Grandma Reynolds will turn 83 next week. Each day holds something new for each of us at any age. I hope Grandma N. likes her new surroundings and busier lifestyle with the activities held at Mallard Pointe.

Dad is busy and needs to catch up his blog!! His school responsibilities take up the most time, and getting time to set up his class with Paul Freebairn has finally gotten done, too. We are both happy about a 3-day weekend. Monday is our annual picnic/beach day for new and old BYUH'ers down here. Then it's class days, then Megan and I are off to Utah!

It's good to keep up on the blogs. I enjoy everyone else's so much. Hang in there, everyone.
I love you. mom