Friday, December 10, 2010

A Beautiful Gift from Australia!

Mrs. Yollis and her class are dear friends with  2KM and 2KJ in Australia. These blogging buddies have developed a wonderful friendship over the last year. 

The classes  connected through Skype in November, they worked together on The Ugandan Global Project which was a big success. Last June, 2KM came to school an hour early and Mrs. Yollis' class stayed an hour late so they could have a Skype Show-and-Tell Party! There have been gifts sent from the class and also from  Bianca and AA.  Mrs. Yollis' class sent a California gift pack to Australia!

Today we received a beautiful Air Mail package filled with lovely holiday gifts!

A precious Christmas recipe book filled with family favorites for the holidays! Yum!






Australian pencils for all!

A souvenir booklet of Australian money!


Everything was wrapped in a fabulous Australian flag! 





Included in the package was a ♬ ♫ CD of Aussie Christmas music! ♬ ♫

Here is a thank you video filled with our special holiday ♬ ♫ wishes ♬ ♫ for our friends down under!

We treasure your friendship and we wish you well in your new grade!



What's fun about having friends in another country?

What is your favorite memory about the 2KM and 2KJ connection?

How can we keep in touch with our friends?




14 comments:

  1. Dear Mrs Yollis and class,

    I am so glad you liked your special Aussie gift! We were hoping you would get it before we finish our school year (on December 17th).

    All of the students had to bring in a Christmas recipe from home and we had a great time looking at all of the yummy things each family likes to cook at Christmas time. I hope you get to try out some of the recipes.

    Your friendship has been a big highlight of our year and we are so glad to have connected through the wonderful world of blogging!

    My favourite memory of the 2KJ/2KM/Mrs Yollis connection would have to be collaborating during the Ugandan Global Project. It was such a successful and meaningful project to be a part of it and I'll always remember it!

    I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year!

    I look forward to seeing you again next year when I have a new bunch of students in 2KJ!

    Your Aussie pal,
    Miss Jordan

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  2. Dear Mrs Yollis and class,

    Me again! I forgot to say I just love the Christmas video you made for us! It's so festive and made me feel very Christmas-y!

    Mr B is a lot of fun and we have enjoyed all of your singing and creativity this year.

    Thanks again!

    Ho, ho ho!

    Your friend,
    Miss Jordan

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  3. Dear Mrs Yollis' class,

    Like Miss Jordan, I am also really glad you liked our holiday gift!

    Everyone in 2KM and 2KJ had a good think about what you might like.

    The holiday period is a good time for making yummy treats so we thought the recipe book might be useful for you. There are some real family favourites in there!

    We know pencils are always useful at school and after sharing information about our currency in the Ugandan project we thought you'd like to see some (almost) real money!

    We thought the flag could be something special for you to keep in your classroom - if you have room as it is pretty big! When I showed it to the students in 2KM, they thought I could wear it as a dress!

    Finally, we know how much you all ♥ music and we have cherished your performances with the wonderful Mr B. this year. We hope you enjoy the CD!

    I just ♥ the video you made for us! The Feliz Navidad song was very special (I think that was the title?). I like how it said Happy Christmas and Happy Hanukkah I don't know anything about Hanukkah but maybe one of your students would be able to share some information with us.

    I hope the 2010 2KM and 2KJ students keep in touch with you through your blog. I am going to miss those students so very very much but I also look forward to meeting and introducing you to a new bunch of 2KM and 2KJ students next year!

    Your friend,
    Mrs Morris (Miss McGeady)

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  4. Dear Mrs Yollis and Students,
    So glad you recieved our special gifts for you all.

    I love collaborating and our friendship.

    I have loved learning together with you all.

    Thank you for the video and I thought it was awesome! all of you rock and Mr B. Rock on Mr B.

    I hope to keep in touch by writing on each others blogs.

    From your friend Bianca.

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  5. Dear Mrs Yollis and students,

    What lovely gifts you all recieved from your friends down under.
    Now you all have to promise me you will endeavour to attempt every single recipe in the cook book HA! HA!

    I have loved every single thing about
    this amazing friendship.
    For not only have the students in 2KM and 2JK enjoy the bond you have all made but so have I.
    I really do hope it will continue for a number of years yet.

    The Christmas video with the students and Mr B was just HIP HOP
    BOP great like BB said you guys ROCK!

    Thankyou for a super year and making me feel it I was always in the classroom learning with you all.

    Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you all.

    From your blogging buddy way,way down under A♥A.

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    @ Miss Jordan and Mrs. Morris,

    Thank you, thank you, thank you for your thoughtful Christmas gifts! What a fun surprise for all of us! We have been listening to the Aussie music and enjoying the pencils and the souvenir money. (It sure looks real!) We have hung the beautiful Australian banner near our blog bulletin board! Panda is proudly holding up one end of the flag!

    The handwritten holiday recipe book is fantastic! It is hard to choose which one to make first! I'm looking forward to making some of the tasty treats! Yum!

    The experiences that we have shared over the year with our classes are etched in my ♥! Your friendship means the world to us here in California, and we look forward to being connected with all of you for many years to come!

    I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a restful summer break down there in the southern hemisphere!

    Your pals,
    Mrs. Y♥llis and class


    ☼ ☃ ☼ ☃ ☼ ☃ ☼ ☃ ☼ ☃ ☼ ☃ ☼ ☃

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    @ Bianca and A♥A,

    A tremendous thank you to both of you for the gifts and the friendship! Your constant support of our blog is so appreciated!

    It is very difficult to choose which recipe to make first! I have a real sweet tooth, and my mouth starts watering the minute I open the recipe book! :-)

    One of my favorite moments from blogging with you all was the birthday connection. The joyful look on my mom's face when she opened the 80th birthday card you sent her is something that I'll always remember! Such thoughtfulness!

    I am certain that we will stay connected through our blogs! Your friendship and support means so much!

    Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy your summer! Maybe you'll publish some summer ☼ fun posts on your blog! That would be great!


    Your pal,
    Mrs. Y♥llis




    ☼ ☃ ☼ ☃ ☼ ☃ ☼ ☃ ☼ ☃ ☼ ☃ ☼ ☃

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  8. Dear 2KM and 2KJ,

    I loved your gifts. Mrs. Yollis hung up the flag that you sent us. I am looking forward to listening to your Christmas music.

    Having friends in a different country allows me to get to learn about a different part of the world. My favorite memory about the 2KM and 2KJ connection is that we all worked hard to earn money for the Ugandans.

    Why are there some stars with seven points and one star with five points?

    From,
    ♥Miriam♥

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  9. @ Miriam,

    You're very welcome! We are so glad you are enjoying the gifts.

    The large seven point star on the Australian flag is the Commonwealth Star There is one point on this star for each of the six states in Australia and an extra point for the territories (they are kind of like states).

    The group of five stars on the flag is the Southern Cross. This constellation of stars can be seen only from the southern hemisphere and is a reminder of Australia’s geography.

    I think some of the stars in the Southern Cross have five points and others have seven points is because some are brighter than others. They made some stars seven point stars to show they are brighter in the sky.

    If anyone thinks this is wrong, please correct me!

    I hope that explains it, Miriam?

    Your pal,
    Mrs Morris (Miss McGeady)

    PS - I just loved your piano performance too! You are very talented!

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  10. @ Mrs Yollis,
    Thankyou for your very kind words.
    It really means a lot to BB and I. Its has been worth very single moment visiting your blog and leaving a comment.

    Yes I do have to agree it was my special blogging moment sending the card to your mum from BB. The photo of your mum holding the birhtday card is worth a million dollars.
    Then to make it even more speical the special message where she was playing the piano thanking BB and I. BB has not forgotten as a matter of fact she has sent a Christmas card to your mum so heres hoping it arrives before Christmas.
    Once again thank you Mrs Y♥llis
    From your blogging buddy A♥A.

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  11. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I have friends from Australia too! Their names are Layla and Nicky. They love coming to the US to visit me for the holidays. Did you know, December is in summer there?

    From,
    Emily (your former student) :-)
    Happy Holidays!

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  12. Dear Mrs Yollis and class,

    I am glad you liked our Aussie gift!

    I loved the video! It was great!

    My favourite memory is when we skyped, the Ugandan Global Project and Collaboration Corner.

    Talk later,
    Sophie

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  13. Dear Mrs. Yollis and class,

    You have certainly made a lot of good friends across the world. Your friendship with other third grade classes in other parts of the United States, and the world is so heartwarming to watch. I think it is great that Mrs. Morris's class sent you gifts and souvenirs from Australia. I hope everyone has a happy and enjoyable holiday season.


    Warmly,
    Parisa (Iman's mom)

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  14. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I think that the Austrailian kids brought us stupendous gifts! I also loved the Christmas songs the Austrailian kids gave us. My favorite Christmas song is "We wish you a Merry Christmas." I do not think that song is in the CD that the Austrailian's gave us.

    I thought the video that our class sent the Australian class with Mr. B was really great because it had a lot of songs that we sing in our school. I think it is cool that we both did something different.

    The flag that they sent us was also very cool because there was an 8 pointed star and a regular star. I thought that was really super cool.

    Also the recipe was fantastic. I do not know how they made the recipe, but I can't wait to take the recipe home and make a yummy treat. Maybe my older sister and my mom can bake with me.

    I LOVED ALL THE GIFTS THEY GAVE US. My FAVORITE thing that they brought us was the recipe for Christmas pudding because I can't wait to share it with my family and bake a treat.

    I have some questions for you:
    Do you like all the gifts the Austrailian's gave us?
    What is your favorite gift that they gave us?
    Do you think that it is cool that a star on their flag has * 8 points?

    Warmly,
    Alexa

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