Mt. Coot-tha Botanical Gardens

Hello faithful readers.

If you ever decide to come over for a visit there is one place you have to absolutely visit. It’s the Mt. Coot-tha Botanical Gardens. We’ve visited lots of parks and gardens around the world—New York, Paris, Keukenhof, Kuala Lumpur—but these are the best yet. They combine European structure and sense of space with U.S. size and variety. These gardens are also over 30 years old, so they are generally mature, well-established plant communities.



Lots of paths wind in and out revealing great little nooks and quiet spots for reading, resting and/or contemplating. Célia will love this place. We recommend the Fern House and the Tropical Plants Dome. Make sure you bring a lunch with you, because even a quick trip will take a few hours.



We give the Botanical Gardens a rare and prestigious Adams rating of 4.5 stars out of 5. The only drawback is that not every area is wheelchair accessible.

Baby Shower Gifts

Gifts from Baby Shower:

Tons of nappies (diapers) and tons of wipes
A couple boxes of nursing pads
5 wraps
2 blankets/quilts
2 small toys
1 hooded towel and 3 washers (washcloths)
2 bibs
4 dummies (pacifiers)
6 pairs of baby socks
2 bottles of baby powder
1 bar of baby soap
1 disposable baby care mat
1 magnetic picture frame
1 hat
1 hat and bootie set
Some chocolates (for me, not Brian)
1 Baby Einstein DVD
1 Baby carrier (one that you strap to your chest)
1 Baby carrier (with handles that you can put in a stroller)
1 baby bath
1 baby book
1 book
1 burper
12 singlets
14 bodysuits/outfits

Plus other things we have bought or been given:

A few more blankets
A couple of baby books
A couple of books
A couple picture frames
Quite a few more clothes (I think we are okay on clothes for the first three months at least)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Big news from Down Under this week. Brian finished his degree on Thursday and promptly looked up from his books to notice that it was no longer early October. Where has his life gone? Since he does not yet have any Ph.D. funding he is exploring some other options, only two of which risk prison sentences.

Two friends of Carolyn threw her a baby shower on Saturday. Reports from various sources confirm that all had a great time. Amidst copious amounts of chatter and chocolate, Célia received some very nice presents (the list of which will be posted in a few days), which helps her parents quite a bit. Brian really likes the Baby Einstein DVD in different languages and Carolyn seemed partial to the cute clothes.

The picture of all the pregnant women is in order of due date.

A bunch of us from church spent Friday night camping on Mount Tambourine. It was beautiful and an enjoyable break. Believe it or not, this was the first time that Brian and Carolyn have gone camping together. They both love it enormously, but, as you know, Brian has a tendency to only be aware of what he is currently engaged to do, and tends to put off other things until he is done. And since he never seems to be done….

We wish all who celebrate this Thursday a Happy Thanksgiving. We will be spending it thinking of our family and friends so far away while celebrating with some American friends here.

Where did her belly button go?

Hello after a long hiatus. Sorry about not keeping you up to date. We wish we could say it’s because we’ve been on vacation, but that would be a lie. Instead we have both been the busiest we have ever been. School and work and church have kept us running flat out for several weeks. Luckily we have a core of good friends and colleagues here who support us and strengthen us in our fatigue.

But enough with the apologies. On to the news…

Carolyn has officially lost her belly button. We can’t say where it went, but week-by-week we watched it slowly diminish. Brian was a bit worried for a while. Having never watched a pregnancy so closely he thought perhaps the belly button would come untied and Célia would be dumped out onto the floor. But to his great relief nothing of the sort happened.

Célia continues to do well. And by all appearances, she has a promising future in kickboxing and cycling.

Brian, on the other hand, has no promising future at all. He heard back from both of his Ph.D. funding sources and they were both a resounding NO! It was disappointing news to the Adamses. They aren't sure what the next step will be. He is just trying to finish up his degree this semester. If all goes well he should turn in his final assignment on November 16. After that he will be looking for summer work in hopes that other resources will be made available to continue the Ph.D.

Here are the pictures of the week. Yes, he is superman.