A YEAR IN REVIEW - 2007

I have been trying to make a little movie of all our memories of 2007 and in doing so have been reminded of so many things that have happened in our lives. I thought I would review them on the blog as well.
2007 - THE YEAR OF BIG CHANGES

JANUARY - By now the job opportunity in Australia was a big unknown - we hadn't heard anything for a long time - the company puts a job freeze on any new positions including the one in NZ and Sydney. After dealing with terrible morning sickness (really all day sickness) I was just happy to be feeling better. In the middle of the month we found out that we were to be blessed with another girl! We had to deal with really cold weather and of course had some fun in the snow!! I filled up squirt bottles with water and food coloring and the kids had fun spraying the snow all around the circle. Kev came home from work one day and laughed because I had used yellow food coloring that day - "don't eat yellow snow" comes to mind.

FEBRUARY - Celebrated my mom's 50's birthday with a huge surprise party. Wendy and Jeff even came into town and hid out at my sisters house to surprise them. Love family time!! Took another cousin picture with all those grand kids.

Kev also had a bad accident playing indoor soccer when a ball hit him directly in the eye. He didn't even have time to close his eyes. He lost his eyesight and his pupil was blood red. We rushed to the ER and he spent the entire weekend reclined in a chair, with a patch in place so his eye could "settle". It was a very scary time - the thought of loosing his eye sight was really hard for Kev. Lucky for us he recovered with only a small black dot still in his line of sight all the time.

MARCH -

Madi had to build a trap for Lucky the leprechaun. They had a huge kindergarten program for St. Patrick's Day. I got to play the piano and it was so cute!

We now know we are moving to Sydney, Australia.

APRIL - This was a busy month for us. We had decided to take a family vacation and see all the sights around SLC. We went to the Hogle Zoo, Discovery Kidd, Planetarium, Dinosaur Museum, movies, and Leatherby's.

It was a really fun vacation and there is so much close to home.

Then of course we got new Church clothes for Easter, learned more about the Savior's life, and had traditional egg hunts!

Grandma Susan and Grandpa John leave on another mission to Palmyra, New York to work in the temple for six months. This was a bit sad because we knew we wouldn't see them for a while.

We also put up our second house for sale - this time electing to do it ourselves. It was sad, but at the same time really exciting.

The yearly "Girls Weekend" full of shopping in Park City at the outlets, scrapping, making bows, eating, and lots of laughs went off without a hitch. This year we took advantage of John and Susan's house being empty and did it there.

MAY - Kev officially started his new job in Sydney - he is working really strange hours to adjust to Australia time. We get to stay in SLC until after the baby is born and after I have a few months to recover.

We are showing the house to many people and have a few offers. We also decide to move to John and Susan's house before the baby comes. The nice thing is that the company pays someone to move and pack our stuff going to Australia. All we had to do was pack the stuff we are storing. We also had to say goodbye to Sugar and Dora. :(

Cooper get to go ride on Thomas again - this time with daddy. What a great adventure for a train lover!!

We are trying to prepare for a new baby - but with all the other things going on it is hard. The big changes in life are birth of a baby, sale of a home, marriage, death, a new job, and moving. One change in life is hard enough, try at least three at once.

JUNE - Rylee enters the world. Another c-section for me, but this one I got to watch with the use of a mirror - it was awesome!! As soon as she is born we have to get paper work started for her birth certificate, SS #, and passport. CRAZY!!

The day after Rylee is born Madi has her last day of kindergarten!! A week after that she has her last dance concert.

We also finally sign the papers for the sale of our home!! We have started to sale off things like the trailers and the cars - we are debt free!!

Kev has to take a few business trips to Phoenix and Sydney - thanks to family for taking the kids off my hands so I could recover and have some one on one time with Rylee. I wouldn't have survived without this help!

JULY - We celebrate Independence Day (Kev is still in Australia so he misses out on the festivities). Dera invited us over for a swim and a BBQ!! Madi ended up inside again to watch the fireworks - some day I hope this fear of loud noises ends.

Madi spends lots of time with her friend Brooklyn. Lots of sleep overs and trips to fun places like the zoo.

We have a joint B-day party for Madi and Cooper!! With a water balloon fight that quickly turns into a water fight!! Since Madi will be in Australia for her b-day we thought it was a great way for her to see her friends for the last time.

We spend a lot of time this month saying goodbye to family and friends.
With lunches, trips to the movie, and BBQs. Of course, we also made one last trip to the cabin!
We had the annual Cooper campout. Because Rylee was so small we only stayed for a night. We went on Cooper's b-day so he got cake there!! It was fun to sit by the lake and enjoy family time.

We blessed Rylee the weekend of the campout because Wendy and her family were in town and because it was one of our last weekends in the country. We finally head off to Australia. The first airplane ride for the kids. It is good to finally be on our way after months and months of preparation, but it is also scary (mostly the unknown).

AUGUST - We spend the month in our little two bedroom apartment - which we end up hating - looking for a house and sight seeing. Kev works as well - it is nice to have a normal work schedule again and so much easier to talk to people face to face! We also celebrate our 9th anniversary - hard to believe it has been that long. Madi has her b-day, but our air shipment hasn't arrived yet so she has to wait for her presents.

We get a visit from our friends Jessy and Kelli who also live in Australia. They were planning a trip to Sydney and we just happen to be here!! It is so nice to see familiar faces and to hear an accent we understand.

SEPTEMBER - We start the month off on a good note. We move into a house!!! The only problem, our sea shipment hasn't come so we have to rent furniture. We start attending our new ward and meet so many nice people. Madi also starts school - due to the school year here and their birthday cut off she has to go back to kindergarten. Madi quickly gets used to wearing a uniform and a hat - or she can't play outside - and makes lots of friends.

I got a calling to be the 2nd counselor in the Primary. Funny thing - same calling I had in Utah before we moved and sold our house. I must have missed something and need to do it again.

OCTOBER - We start out the month with a trip to the beach!! This will become the first trip of many this year!

We also went on our first date in Australia - it was amazing. We got to see Josh Groban at the Sydney Opera House! What a voice and what a great evening!!

Kev gets a calling to be in the Elder's Quorum presidency.

Our sea shipment finally arrives!!! We finally have all of our stuff -it has been months and months (Only they lost our couch and love seat!).

Madi has her first school dance - what a big girl!

We get to experience General Conference outside of Utah. This means no TV watching and no PJS. We went to the Stake Center a week later to watch it via satellite. It was a great Conference!!

Halloween Aussie style isn't quite the same as in the States - but it will do. We had fun at a spontaneous trunk-or-treat! I missed throwing the annual Hutchinson Halloween party and may have to do it here next year!

NOVEMBER - Madi goes on her first excursion for school to a farm. She loved seeing all of the animals and spending time with her friends on the bus ride.

We find out that Cooper got into preschool for next year!!

Spent our first Thanksgiving away from home. This was hard - luckily we got to talk to family on the web cam!! We did go to an American family's house here and have our own feast on Saturday instead of Thursday. I missed having "Black Friday" :(

We had the Primary Presentation. Cooper and Madi did a great job and I got to fill in at the last minute on the piano. I love the Primary Presentation!

Got a new couch to replace the one that was lost some how in the move across the sea. Maybe a dolphin saw it and decided he needed it at the bottom of the ocean - who knows?

DECEMBER - The ward Christmas picnic - still having a hard time remembering it is Christmas time in the heat.

Went to the beach several times this month - Madi and I try boogie boarding for the first time and love it!!

Our friend Jessy comes to stay for a few days while at a conference in Sydney. We went to a Korean/Japanese BBQ resturant.

Madi finishes kindergarten for the second time in a year. She is out of school for summer vacation until the end of January. (Summer vacation in December and January? Strange!)

Our first "green" Christmas is spent with time at the beach and the missionaries over for dinner. It was strange and we were a bit homesick - but we survived. We also got to celebrate Boxing Day for the first time.

I get my first summer birthday - of course spent at the beach and with a BBQ to end the day. Probablly the best birthday on record!!

We spend New Years Eve with friends eating prawn and other things on the "barbie" and having a swim!! The fireworks are spectacular! Here's to a great, but quieter, new year!!