Crazy Mountain Weather

7:30am, view of Doon Valley walking to school...

 9:30am, blue sky walking to CharDukan...

2:30pm hail storm #11 almost time to return to school...

3:00pm, end of the storm for the walk to school to pick up the kids...

4:30pm, clearing skies for the walk home from school...

8pm, power flickering on and off despite the back up generator.  Hmmm, this is some pretty crazy weather.

Welcome Back to the Mountians

One of the best parts of living in Mussoorie is the view.  Last weekend we walked around the chukker and enjoyed the clear views of the mountains.  The sunshine felt wonderful.

Hail Storm #10 and Strep

Gregg and I walked down to school this afternoon just as the clouds were returning.  When we got to Woodstock, the pitter patter of little hail stones started.  This is what we found when we returned to Oakville.  Enough hail had accumulated to look almost like snow.

We returned home today with only one child.  Zibby had planned a sleepover with 5 friends to celebrate her birthday, but her strep test came back positive.  Happy Birthday, Zibby.

Oh well, we have her antibiotics started and we will try for the sleepover tomorrow night.  Looks like Felix, who planned an escape from the party with a sleepover at his friend's, will get to join in with the girls anyway.

One Camera Down

We arrived back in Mussoorie just over a week ago.  Jet lag is a thing of last week, and the "I don't want to get out of bed" on school mornings is back in, unfortunately.  It really felt like coming home a we traveled up the mountain on that early Saturday morning.  By the way, if you are planning to visit Mussoorie, morning is really the time to arrive as there is a minimal amount of traffic.

The weather is not like we were told to expect.  We have had 3 hail storms, no snow, and lots of sunshine.  This past weekend, Zibby and Felix had a blanket outside and were building with legos in the sunshine.  Gregg and I found some books and joined them to soak up some rays.

My nice camera stopped working while we were in Australia, but I was able to get a replacement while we were in the states.  This one also takes videos, and I'm sure does lots of other new things.  Maybe I should read the instruction manual?  Our 2nd camera, our point and shoot, was left in Grandma's car.  So, be patient for photos.

Australia Here We Are

We were in the New Delhi airport on December 15th watching the news of the hostages in the Sydney cafe.  We were holding boarding passes to a flight to Sydney and wondering if we were going to make it to our holiday travels.  We arrived the next day with the hostage situation resolved, and a city much the same as before.  The sleet and snow of the Himalayan Mountains were behind us, and the sun of Australia ahead of us.

 We are now on Kangaroo Island after 4 days in Sydney and a night in Adelaide.  Here are a few choose photo of our Australian travels so far.

Have You Seen Christmas?

3rd and 4th grade Christmas play.  Enjoy.

6th Grade Christmas play.

Caroling after the play.

Just out our front door

We've loved all the walking up and down the hills, but we've really enjoyed all the beautiful scenery.  Here is just a couple views around our house.

This is what we see just out our front door,

and this is what we see from our driveway.

This is looking just past our current house at sunset.  The purple color is from the reflecting sun.

Here is what we see half a km from our house.

Sunset walking home after school.  The sun actually sets above the horizon, a phenomena known as winterline.  Winterline can be seen in late fall and early winter in Mussoorie and some place in Switzerland.