Madyson participated in a special program at the school called Night of the Notables. It was optional program where students were to choose a person of interest to him/her. The students had to research his/her chosen person in order to take on that person's persona for an evening. Mady chose to be Emily Dickinson. Throughout the evening parents, students, and faculty circulated to ask questions and interact with the different notables. It was a really fun evening for all of us. Kyndal and Dawson enjoyed learning about the other people of interest as well as seeing Mady all dressed up!

Dawson received a special award at his school. There was one boy and one girl from each class chosen to receive an award which recognizes Christ-like attitudes and behavior. Dawson was the boy chosen from his class. He received a special pin that he gets to wear on his sweater in recognition of his achievement. The award applauds students for being receptive to the teaching of scripture in addition to demonstrating kindness and helpfulness in all situations.

Kyndal will be starting Kinder (their version of preschool) at the first of the year. She had a chance to visit the classroom and teacher as well as meeting with the principal. The kinder program is part of the school where Mady and Dawson go to school. Now every day when we arrive at school she says "There's my kinder class." The program is for four hours three days a week. And she's already talking about how she will see Mady and Dawson at her school.

Our first visitors in Australia

Mom and Dad came to stay with us over the Easter holiday. The kids were out of school for two weeks so it was the perfect time to spend time with family. As soon as they arrived we whisked them into the city for the day. We all visited the Melbourne Aquarium, which had a newly opened penguin exhibit that was fabulous! While we were there we also did a glass-bottom boat ride to get a closer view of the sharks, rays, and turtles.











Next on our list of activities was a stop at the open-range zoo. The main attraction there are the African animals and a safari-like tour through their habitat.

The next stop on our list was Sovereign Hill. It is an old-fashioned kind of theme park similar to Silver Dollar City. Sovereign Hill is located in Ballarat, which is an old gold mining town. During the day we got to take a tour of the underground mine, ride a stagecoach, pan for gold, watch candy making, and take in a lot of dust.

Dawson and Mady were both excited to show Grandpa and Grandma their newly-acquired surfing skills. It didn't take Kyndal and Grammy long to make friends with the gulls because they shared their pumpkin seeds with the birds. But look at Mady riding the waves! Woohoo! Dawson would be content with only the sand.

Ballarat is also home to a fabulous animal park where we were able to get up close and personal with all the native animals. Our crew got to feed the roos and snuggle the koalas. Dawson and Kyndal even enjoyed the snake show. Kyndal now takes every opportunity to tell me how much she likes snakes.

We also made a few trips in to the Queen Victoria Market in the city. The market is an open-air market with a little bit of everything from food and flowers to toys and souvenirs. Mark and I were surprised at how much the kids enjoyed it! Mom and Dad purchased the most amazing painting of Sydney harbor for Mark and me.

It was so hard for our family to say goodbye again. After Mom and Dad went home, the Hazens spent three days in pajamas doing NOTHING. We were exhausted after all the excitement of their visit.

March 2009

March was a busy month for Dawson as he celebrated his first birthday in Australia. He had a party with his classmates at a local playcenter complete with a Star Wars cake. It was a fun day for the whole family!