Talent Fashion and Fish

When you have rain every day, what do you do?  Rainy day activities - dressing up, games, talent shows, dancing, museums and aquariums.  Now you know how we spent our free time when we weren't working in the office, preparing for transfer week.  We will explain these outfits at the end so for now we will move on to games with the YSA in the Harbour Ward.

This was their version of "Minute to Win It" and they even had official instructions on the TV screen.  We were impressed with their planning and execution of the activity.  We think many of our grandchildren could win the above game - move the cookie from the forehead to the mouth without hands.  This guy was amazing!  Then they had to empty the kleenex box in 60 seconds, one at a time.  We would put a grandchild against these two any day!  

In between the games, there were musical and dance numbers.  We have some very talented YSA.  

This Sister is an art major and gave a demonstration on how to draw mouths and teeth that were "not scarey".  :)

Fear Factor was the next event with 10 "volunteers".  We uncovered our dishes to find what we would be eating.  Some chose wisely, while others were left with unusual  nibbles - that would be Sister Feil's choice.

This is a Century Egg or Pidan.  It is a Chinese delicacy which actually tastes like an egg. How appropriate that the oldest game player gets the oldest food!  Some of the other items were dorian, mussels, green pickled onions,   

chicken feet, vegemite sandwich, fresh mushroom, bicky, tomatoe, and sour patch ribbons.  We believe Sister Feil won the "prize".

Another Senior Missionary stole the show with her "magic tricks" that made everyone laugh.  These two sister missionaries played "If You Could Hie to Kolob" with gusto and aplomb!  The crowd went wild!!!

The closing numbers were amazing as the Elder's Quorum followed a duet with a Lion King theme dance number!  We were able to teach a few new line dances to round out the evening's entertainment.  A fun time was had by all!  We'll see if we can find some Century Eggs to enjoy for Christmas Dinner!

Because of the rain, we enjoyed a pday in the city and found these wonderful missionaries doing what they should be doing - street finding.  We love these Zone Leaders.

The sun broke through as we headed in to the  IMAX movie to see "D-Day Normandy 1944" narrated by Tom Brokow.  It was excellent and we have a greater appreciation for those who sacrifice for our freedom.  

We are not showing you the delicious gelato we consumed.

This is the bridge over Darling Harbour/Cockle Bay.  We think spring might be coming as it begins to warm and the sun peeks out now and then.  We love the Smiths.  They are our "Go-To" touring buddies.  The sun didn't stay out for long, so when the rain appeared, we headed back indoors to the Sydney Aquarium.  We heard it was a fantastic array of marine life.  

We were not disappointed - look at that large blue fish!  Ah, that's Elder.  He fit right in with the colorful fish in the tanks.  Because the Aquarium is right along the bay, they use the ocean water for the tanks.

The mighty Seahorse!  These guys are so small and cute - difficult to get a picture.

Watch out Elder, that ray might sting you!

The frog was not excited to see us.  Maybe he is waiting for his Princess...

His name is Tom - Needlefish Tom.  :)

These are some small penguins that are native to Australia.  They are found on the south coast as well as NZ.  We hope the grandchildren appreciate our efforts to take pictures of strange animals.  We have seen so many unusual ones and enjoy learning about all of God's creatures.

This is a grouper - we think we eat him as 'fish and chips'.

The fish are all around us at this point.  You really feel like you are "swimming" with sharks.  

We never want to meet one of these guys in the water - but in here, it was beautiful.

The star fish are in the touch tank, and we enjoy the opportunity to experience a close encounter.

We enjoyed the indoor beach with our raincoats.  Oh well, we just remind ourselves that it really is still winter.

You are completely surrounded by water at this point.  It was really a beautiful experience.  

This is about as close as we want to be to these jaws!  We have been told that there are lots of shark teeth on the beaches, but we have yet to find any.  We are hoping as the weather warms to find some before we head for home.

Sydney has unusual sculptures on the streets and by the buildings.  Since we were with a former dentist, we thought the above sculpture looked like teeth!  :O  The bird house mobile is hanging at the side of this old public school building built in 1875 in center Sydney.

And we find 2 more of our missionaries on the street.  They are so dilligent in doing the Lord's work.  They are a great example to us of courage and perseverence.  These same sisters were the dueling pianists from the talent show!  We love these sisters.

We found this great little French restaurant for dinner.  It is in the Hunters Hill area.  We all enjoyed escargot for the first time as well as mushroom polenta, brussel sprouts with pancetta, cauliflower gratin, and guyere souffle.  For dessert, we enjoyed deconstructed lemon curd cheesecake.  Bon Appetit Feils.  We want our children to know we are getting educated about food.  

Now for the explanation promised - one of our senior couples had to travel to Samoa for work and decided to help us enjoy their experience.  Sister A brought back lava lavas for each couple based on their personalities.  We wore them for our dinner and enjoyed the slide presentation and music as well as photos.  We felt like we were all in Samoa!  Talofa!

The male fashion models were brilliant!

This is their version of the Haka!  Keep in mind that every one here is over 60!  They still know how to have some fun and look scarey at the same time!

We've seen some feet photos posted by daughters and thought we should throw this in.  

Now for the Sisters fashion.....the hardest part for them was deciding on a pose!

How's this???  The back break became the look of choice - just to show that we could still bend!  A fun time was had by all and just as our grandkids do, we still enjoy dressing up on a rainy day.  Some things you never get to old for.
We are fasting today for the missionary in the Sydney South Mission who was severely injured in an accident.  We also fast and pray for our friends who are fighting illnesses.  We know that the Lord will bless them according to His great plan and His will. We've been learning of different cultures and the challenges faced by those who live in various parts of the world.  We know that the gospel is the Lord's answer to problems. We change people for the good, from the inside out by giving them truth and  knowledge.  We hope as the new school year begins that your learning will include spiritual as well as secular knowledge.  May you be blessed in your endeavors.  Matou te alofa ia te oe!
Tofa soifua,
Elder Big Fish and Sister Fashion