Family Update

Sorry, everyone, for taking so long to update our blog! February is always a busy month for us, and this year, we also get to plan for Callie and Margaret McKenzie’s visit starting on March 25 and lasting for almost three weeks!! It is always difficult to stick with school during the middle of the school year, but planning and looking forward to the fun we’ll have with them definitely keep us motivated! We just wish more people could come and visit us (hint, hint; just kidding; we realize that Australia is a long distance to travel and takes up too much time for most people). Because nothing even remotely interesting has happened here, I’ll use this blog to give the details of what Meagan, Madeline, Marina, and I have been doing, categorizing them by each family member.

Me: School has taken up most of my time. For my AP English class, I am writing an essay analyzing the military treaty, formally called ANZUS, between Australia and America, and I’ve learned a lot from that, as well as having a lot of fun. I hadn’t realized that Australia and the US are so militarily close! Did you know that Australia has fought alongside American troops ever since 1914? (Well, I actually realized that before I started my paper, but still, it is fascinating….) For my US History class that I take over the phone, I need to read The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. So far, it isn’t my favorite book, but I am learning much about society during the early twentieth century. This week, Meagan and I will take the National Latin Exam, so we both are busy studying for that also. When we finish it on Friday, our Latin will conclude for this year. In about two weeks, we will also stop our piano and voice lessons, freeing us up to spend more time with the McKenzies and to prepare for our move back home. This May and early June, I will take the SAT, SAT II US History, and the AP English Language exam, so it will be nice to have finished Latin, piano, and voice so I can study more. Meagan and I have also started taking speech from a godly Australian woman who actually spent a few of her years in Seattle along with her husband and three children! It’s fun talking to her about the differences between Australia and America. She can really relate to our time here, especially since she has children about our age who went through what we experience right now. Outside of school, I spend my time either e-mailing, talking with my family, reading, watching movies (very rarely, of course :-)), and planning for Callie and Margaret’s visit.

Meagan: She has also been busy with school. This year, she’s taking Algebra I and Physical Science through Bob Jones videos, to name two of her many subjects, and is doing wonderfully well in both. Her preparation for the National Latin Exam has been moving along, and I know she can’t wait to finish it up for this year. Back in America, Mrs. Anderson, a wonderful, godly woman, taught both of us Latin and had an amazing talent to really bring it to life. But here, we are studying Latin by ourselves (we used to have a teacher, but she has been ill for several months) and we greatly miss Mrs. Anderson. Meagan also enjoys speech, especially the dramatic part (she has always had more acting ability than I do!).

Madeline: Whenever her head isn’t stuck in her school books, Madeline can be found either working through some fun craft or activity for friends or family members, or playing with Marina. She has recently enjoyed writing e-mails from Mom’s and Meagan’s accounts to Meagan and me and waiting for replies. (Since I’m on the computer almost 24-7, and because I can quickly write her one-sentence e-mails, she normally receives a prompt reply from me.) She also loves drawing pictures with Marina and giving them to her family members. I have a little drawer almost solely devoted to holding her pictures, and they’re all so cute!

Marina: My youngest sister is so adorable! I love all my sisters, and none more than the other, but because she’s the baby, I can’t help but notice how cute she is. Her vocabulary expands daily (earlier this week, she tried to pronounce the word “ridiculous,” and her attempt at that word made me laugh!), and she lightens our days. Recently, she has found great enjoyment in talking about Callie and Margaret’s trip here. A few days ago, she was absolutely convinced that they were coming in “thwee minutes” and that provided us with another laugh. Right now, she’s sitting at my side, trying to click the buttons on this keyboard with her feet, and I’m having a difficult time managing her….

I hope this provides you with a glimpse of what we do here in Australia! Also, we would appreciate if you could be praying for us this week. A cyclone might hit us later this week, around Wednesday or Thursday. Brisbane has been in a draught since our arrival two years ago, so we hope the cyclone provides us with some much-needed rain. Ironically, our dad is scheduled to leave for a two-day meeting in Seattle on Wednesday, so we’ll see if he makes his flight if the cyclone does indeed hit. Maybe you could pray that everyone will remain safe and also that Brisbane will receive lots of rain. Thanks!

Michelle