A Taste of the South

Hi

Over the last few days we had a taste of the great south. Tuesday morning we flew to Atlanta, Georgia for Poppa to visit some pastors. It was only a short flight. We didn't know the people that were picking us up so Nana and Poppa wore there bush hats. A lot of people stared at them. A couple of people were brave enough to to ask were we were from. The people that were picking us up were pretty smart as they wrote Poppa's name on a card and Nana saw it as we came out of the concourse.

When we made the introductions including me and Prickles we headed over to Eagles Nest Baptist Church. This church is situated in downtown Atlanta. We met Pastor Larry as we arrived and when we went in we were surprised because Mako from Perth was there. We had a great time catching up and even caught up with Bruce who looked as if he has really been roughin' it. Of for some lunch with lots of laughter.

We drove past Martin  Luther Kings Church and grave site which was just around the corner from Pastor Larry's church.

After lunch we went to Pastor Larry's house and Poppa and Nana chatted for about 2 hours. Bruce Pickles and I played around for a while. Poppa showed and explained the meanings to Larry the paintings that Darron, Nana and him had done. Pastor Larry really liked them.

We then left with Kyle and Lolli and headed to their house for a wonderful nights sleep. Nana and Poppa talked with them quite late but Prickles and I went to sleep.

I found Nemo at the kid's church

Next morning after a hearty breakfast we went to Johnson Ferry Baptist Chruch. Poppa and Nana talked with Kyle and were introduced to some other staff. They talked a lot about the Australian Aboriginal Mission.

We then went exploring through the main church building with Lolli. We went through the Chapel, Sancturay and a maze of offices and rooms. This church has about 7000 people atending and they sent out about 1700 people on mission trips each year. We were all amazed.

After some lunch it was back to the airport and back to St Louis. What a whirlwind trip.

Off to bed
Nugget.

Preachin'

Hi

Sunday morning we were up early to prepare for church. Poppa was nervous as always and kept checking his notes. Jilpi (the puppet) was also coming too.

It was going to be a big service as there was a choir from Tennessee, some people being accepted into membership, another pastor from Australia who was doing the children's talk and Poppa preaching.

It was a great service except Poppa took me up to the pulpit to make me preach. I was speechless when I saw all these people. Poppa eventually decide maybe he should do the preaching.

We had an afternoon rest and then joined the choir for dinner. I met some cool guys from Tennessee who were in high school, however they also like basketball and I became the basketball.

After dinner we went for a drive to see some of the local sites. There is this Indian legend about a bird which we saw on a cliff by the Mississippi River.

We parked near the river and Nana and I went for a walk. We found a little creek and saw some sticks moving. We went to explore and discovered a shy beaver. We got talking and he too is homeless as the floods washed away his dam. His name is Chuck. We have invited him to join us on our adventure.

Goodnight all

 Nugget

The American Experience

 Hi

On the Saturday afternoon after a good rest we left Nana and Pickles to do some shopping while the boys all went to a baseball match. The stadium was tall but not as big as the MCG. As Poppa went thought the gate they searched his back pack and I thought "Oh no! I'm going to be squeeze searched again" but all they were looking for were cans of drink. Only plastic bottles are allowed in the stadium.

We went to look for our seats and we climbed up and up until we were near the very top of the stadium. We seemed to be right above the playing pitch and had a real good view. We saw one innings where the Jays had all the bases loaded and the batter manage to get most of them home. They got 5 runs in that innings that made sure they were going to win.

As we were watching the match a storm started to roll in. Lightning was starting to flash all the over the place. It was a bit scary being so high in the stadium. As we left the stadium there was a display on the lawn near there of the Marines. The Americans are very nationalistic for there armed forces. There was a big helicopter and other vehicles.

On the drive home the storm was getting more wilder so when we got home Mike turned on the TV to watch the weather. There were tornado warnings not far from were we are and so we had to be a little bit prepared to go to the basement.

We found that when Pickles went shopping they had a birthday party for her. She also got to see a statute of Liberty.

Oli got a catapult from Nana and as we were watching TV' I became the target.

As we settled into bed there was a huge flash and a house shaking bang as lightning hit not far from the house. We all huddled on the bed between Nana and Poppa and went to sleep.

 
Nugget.

On the Road Again...

Hey

Well we are on the road again. Kansas City to Brighton Ill.

With an early start we packed the car and were able to squeeze everything and everyone into the van and at exactly 7qm were in the road. Poppa was proud that we managed to be on time.

The trip was rather boring though as we were on freeways all the way. We saw both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. They were big, a bit like everything here in the US.

After about 4.5 hours we were at Brighton a small village north of St Louis. No-one was home at the Rayson's so we went to lunch with the Baldwin's. It was sad to have to say goodbye but James was talking at Rockford latter in the day so they had another 5 hours to go. Lincoln and Jaslen loved playing with us and we with them.

After lunch and a short walk back to the Rayson's we discovered they were home and we were able to settle in. I met Laura and she had brought all our luggage in from outside and put it in our room.

We had a restful afternoon.

See ya all later
Nugget

Hunting Mania

Hi

We all slept in a bit today. We had vegemite on toast for breakfast and that made me homesick. We had a little play before we were ready to go out.

We stopped at a church that goes all day every day. It was called IHOP – International House of Prayer. The worship time was a bit noisy as there was a youth camp in at the moment. It was good though and great to see many keen people wanting to serve God. We had some morning snack and looked in the bookshop. Poppa wasn’t allowed to buy any books because we would go over the luggage limit. Poppa said that he could always leave me in America and get some books anyway. I think he was joking as he didn’t get any books.

We picked up James and he took us to a store or was it a zoo, or even a museum? The store was huge. It had stuffed animals everywhere; bears, bison, wolves, mountain lions, deer, moose, ducks and I lost count but there was also live ducks and fish and an enormous aquarium. Nemo wasn’t there as he is on holidays in Australia.

A number of times I got the scare of my life as the bear tried to eat me.

We had some lunch in the restaurant and Nana was on the lookout for more presents.

The shop as called Bass Pro Shop and I have never seen anything like it.

See you

Nugget.

Good Morning Sunshine.

Hi

After a restful day yesterday it was time to do some exploring. We were off to a farm to see some animals. We jumped into the car and Nana jumped into the driver’s seat but no steering wheel. What’s going on? Oh we are in America. Well driving on the other side of the road is an experience.

When we got to the Farm the first thing we did was go to school. Even Poppa had to do his lines. The teacher was strict and I though Poppa might get a detention. We wrote on a slate with chalk.

The next stop was the Dairy. The little cows were great to feed and then we saw the big mummy cow. She was big.

Across the way was some Indian Tepee’s and a large mound. As we explored the area the entrance to the mound as like a burrow and inside was cavernous. I could fit my whole family and more into this burrow.  There were some bows and arrows and a rifle on the walls. There were nice blankets around the sides that I could have cuddled into and had a nap. A nice Indian Lady told us about how the Prairie Indians lived in these burrows (Mound Halls).

As we left there we saw some kids riding horses and Lincoln had a go. He was a big boy and he said he was like a cowboy. He then got some milk in a baby’s bottle and we went into a yard full of baby goats. None of them had nay manners as they fought and pushed each other out of the way to get a drink.

Lincoln kept telling us we had to see the Bison. I thought the cow as big but the Bison was huge. All he wanted to do though was to eat the hay. He just ignored us as we tried to get his attention. It was very rude of him.

Then we saw some turkeys, draught horses and Texas longhorn, ducks, geese, fish turtles and the most interesting were the prairie dogs – because they had burrows all over the place.

That was a great morning and a well deserved nap was the afternoon’s agenda.

Well, see ya all!

Nugget.