THANKS TO THE BEST HUBBIE AROUND!!!

It has been a week since Rylee and I arrived home in Oz. We are slowly getting back into the swing of things and luckily, this time around, the jet lag was short lived. Unfortunately, Rylee came home with a cold and the day we got home Cooper came down with a major one as well. We have gone through lots of Kleenex and had lots of crying, ornery little ones in the past week - part of life though so we are just dealing.

I should have done this post last week, but better late than never, right?! I just wanted to give Kev a big thanks! He thought of a way to get me a visit to family and friends and sacrificed to make it happen. He worked hard while I was away getting the kids to and from school, swimming lessons, and play dates. Somehow he also managed to do the laundry, clean the house, and cook. The kids were well fed and well taken care of. He got his work done as well while dealing with fights and loud kids at times.

I came home to a clean house, a lovely card, and Gerber daisies (daisies are my favorite flower - they are so happy and cheerful!). The laundry was caught up and the grocery shopping was done the night before so that we didn't have to worry about that either.

Thanks again Kev for all that you do for our family. I am so lucky to have you! I love you with all my heart and half my liver!!!

WE MADE IT!!!

After saying our goodbyes for another year, at least, we caught our plane and started our journey back to Australian soil to see the rest of our family.

I have to say that my trip home was well worth it and I totally enjoyed myself, but I was ready to go home and see my other kids and my husband. It wasn't the same without them and I missed their company very much. I did so much in the three weeks I was on holiday that my brain is still whirling, but it was so much fun as well. I do truly miss Utah and I can't wait to move back there and see family more often and the mountains every day.

Some of the things I miss:

1. Family - this is an obvious one!

2. The mountains - I think that I had taken them for granted living around them for so long. There were times when I would be driving down the road and see this beautiful view of the stunning mountains and I would be in awe. They are truly magnificent!

3. Friends - I truly have some awesome friends!

4. Rootbeer - I got my fill of that

5. Little Ceasars pizza - $5 pizza and crazy bread, yummo!

6. Cafe Rio - great mexian food!

7. Butterfinger and Baby's Ruth candy bars, Reese's pieces and peanut butter M&M's, and of course chocolate covered cinnamon bears

8. Customer service - I was in Target one day and not 10 minutes after walking into the store someone asked if they could help me find something. I was in shock! I had forgotten what costumer service really is.

9. Strawberry lemonade

10. Wendy's frosties and fries

11. Seeing temples and churches so often. Driving down Bangeter Highway I saw both the new temples being built and there are truly churches everywhere.

12. BYU football

13. Heather's delicious mint brownies - thanks again Heather!!

14. Wide streets and parking spaces

15. Peas straight out of the garden - can't wait to have my own garden and yard again

16. Family dinners - although loud and crazy I miss them on Sunday nights.

17. Wal-mart - a great deal for so little.

18. A big washer and dryer

19. Heaters inside the house - great idea you don't have to freeze inside your own house.

20. A great deal on clothes - clearance shopping at it's best!

By the time we got to LAX it was 10:30pm and Rylee was so tired. We made it to our gate and had to wait to board the airplane for the long flight to Sydney. Here is Rylee climbing into the box to check if your carry-on luggage is the right size - she fits so I guess I can carry her on the plane!

She was asleep as we headed up into the dark sky and thanks to the benefits of Benadryl she slept for most of the flight. We were lucky to sit next to a really nice lady who helped me out on occasion and talked with Rylee a lot. They gave me the window seat and left the one next to me opened for Rylee to sit in - that was a lifesaver! The flight was uneventful and really long.

After getting off the plane and going past the first customs officer - who made a comment about how much Rylee had grown up since her passport picture had been taken (remember she was only about three weeks old in her passport picture - how do they know that she is the same person?) - we headed out to get our luggage. The quarantine officer was walking around with his dog sniffing at people's bags as we waited. The dog came to our stuff and Rylee got so excited - not me because the dog stayed for a really long time and I knew that I didn't have anything bad in my bag. I was a little nervous but the officer asked if I had any bananas in my bag, to which I told him no but Rylee had eaten a banana on the plane and had probably wiped some of it on her blanket. He told me that the dog liked baby smells. Then he left. I also didn't really have to stop at customs they asked me if I had any food in my bags and I told them just some candy from the States. He told me to go on out without stopping and that was the end of that. We then headed out the doors and soon found the smiling faces of the rest of our family!

We tried to stay up all day, except a small nap in the afternoon, to counter act jet lag and remarkable when Rylee woke up at 5am this morning we felt lucky that it was that late and not 2 or 3am. We brought her in bed with us to see if she would go back to sleep - no luck - after Kev got up to get in the shower soon the other two had joined Rylee and I. I had missed our morning snuggles so much!

I feel so blue for those Cougs! --- He he he he!

Go Utes!

"Go the Betch" - Check

I guess I have to be careful with that one don't I - Just make sure you pronounce it right! One of the things on Madz and Coop's list of things to do while mommy was away was to go to the beach. It was nice that we just happened to have plan a Elder's Quorum activity that was at the beach so I could kill two birds with one stone.

The day was actually quite a busy one. It started out with basketball (of course). While I was there Maryanne Baker came over and said that Emma wanted to know if Cooper and Madi could come over and play with them. Thanks Maryanne!

I have to stop here for a moment and say THANK YOU to all of the people that have helped me out while Stace has been away. I have had so many people help out, especially by taking Madz and Coop, that it has helped me to be able to get other things done that would not have otherwise. Thanks everyone!

Anyway, after I picked the kids up we headed off to the beach. It was a lot of fun and had a great turn out. Here are some pics from the good times at the beach (wish you were here Stace!).

I got to play cricket again! It was more just hitting the ball into the water and catching it but it was a lot of fun. Again, I learned that I am not that good with a Cricket bat!


I got to take Coop and his "Train Buddy" Ethan for a walk over to the pools and the rocks. They are funny kids. Here are their "Crazy faces."

Of course there is always a big hole that has to be dug when we go to the beach. This was the one today.

Madz and Coop
Looking for sea shells.

WITCHES....

I love, love, love Halloween so I was excited when my sister-in-law suggested that we head over to Gardner Village and check out the witches. It was nice to get into the Halloween spirit - thanks Heather for the idea even though you ended up not being able to come with us.After walking around Gardner Village we went to Cafe Rio for dinner - sorry Kev had to take some pictures just to make you jealous and yes it is still as good as I remember!!!

FRIENDS, FRIENDS, AND MORE FRIENDS

Let me tell you a little about me. I have not always had many friends in the past that have been girls. When I was going into 7th grade my best friend, since I was at least 4, decided that she didn't want to be my friend anymore. I was devastated and because of how it all happened I hated being around girls. I had to make all new friends at a critical time in anyone's life (those early teen years are a killer). I didn't really like the way that girls treated eachother and that is when I began hanging out with all the guys. I spent most of my life getting along much better with the opposite sex and not understanding how girls could be so rude to eachother. Well that was until I got married. You can't really go hang out with the guys when you have a hubbie around, can you? I have since realized also that not all girls are bad and that you can have really good friendships. I often tell Kev that I have rarely had a friendship with a "kindred spirit" like in Anne of Green Gables. Well I will have to say that I have realized over the past few weeks how wrong I am. I have so many friends who have helped me to become who I am and who love me for me. I am so lucky!!!

I have spent a lot of time in the past few weeks visiting with some of these friends. Some I have known for a really long time and some that I had never met in person before. It has been fun and instead of making individual posts for each outing I decided to put them all down in one. So here are some of the friends I have seen in Utah!

These are two of my "scrappin" buddies. I was so excited to meet some of my on line friends in person. I have never been one to have friends without speaking to someone face to face, but since starting digital scrapbooking and getting involved in ScrapMatters (an on-line scrap site) I have made some really good friends whom I have never met. These are two of those ladies (Kathleen and Brittney) who happen to live in Utah and were free for an afternoon to have lunch. We chatted for 2 1/2 hours at Chili's. It was so good to get to know them better and to meet IRL (in real life).



That same day (which is why I am in the same clothes) I went to dinner also and meet up with some old friends whom I haven't seen in a really long time. In the summer of 1995 I worked as a counselor at Oakcrest, a girls camp run by the Church for girls 12 and 13 years old. This summer Oakcrest turned 50 and there was a big reunion which I was unable to attend (obviously I was a bit far away). I was so sad that I couldn't go, but fortunately for me one of my sister-in-laws also worked at Oakcrest with me so she said hi to everyone and because of her I was put in contact with my old Oakcrest buddies again. Therefore when I found out I was going home I decided that I wanted to have dinner with whomever could come and it was so much fun to see everyone again after all these years.

back row: Diana (Twix), April (Cascade), Laura (Harmony), Becky (Jazz'd),

front row: Louise (Spot), Marie (Hershey and my sister-in-law), me (Mickey), and Kim (Flounder)

Then, the next day, I got to head out to my old, old stomping grounds and see my friends from Eagle Mountain. This was the first place we built a home and I still have some really good friends from out there (although most of them don't live there anymore either). They were so nice they had a chocolate fountain with cinnamon bears to dip (along with other goodies too) and two of them even brought me chocolate covered cinnamon bears to take home with me. I love these ladies! (Candy, Jen, me, Amy, LaNae, and Cindy - sorry we took the pictures after Anna went home.) We had a really good time. Cindy let Rylee and I sleep over at her house, which was a good thing because we were up until 2am chatting away and finally forced ourselves to go to bed. A few days later I got together with some of my friends from West Jordan (where we moved from to head overseas). It was so much fun to catch up again with good friends. Thanks Krista for setting up everything - you are awesome! I also drove by our old house - still looks the same!

back row: Cassie, Cindy, Amy, and Cindy front row: Brooke, Krista, and Jolyn we took the pictures after Donatella and Rikke left - sorry ladies)

This last group of friends are old friends and I don't mean because of our age. I knew all of these lovely ladies in high school and we have slowly lost touch with eachother. Due to the internet and the wonders of technology we have found eachother again - thanks to Carol. It was so fun to get together and have lunch and we talked as if we haven't been apart.

(Carol, me, Shelley, Shayla, and Monica on the front with her little boy Jack)

Thanks everyone for making me feel so loved. It has been nice to catch up with all of these groups of people plus lots of small reunions too. I have missed my friends so much and was excited to know that I have been missed by them as well. It is always nice to be reminded that people love you and are praying for you and wishing you all the best in this life. Friendships are so important and I am glad that I have also made some wonderful friends in Australia too. Friends that will last a lifetime.

You might be getting tired of these but...

I love hearing some of Cooper's ideas that all of a sudden just come out of thin air. And if I don't write them down I know I will forget them.

As were walking to Madi's school to pick her up today and as we were getting out of the car we had this conversation:

(C): Hey dad, do you know what would be really cool?
(K): What's that Coop?
(C): Wouldn't it be cool if me and mommy switched bedrooms?
(K): [Just started laughing]
(C): That way we could hang out all the time. But we would have to move the James off of my door [There is a big James train sticker on his door]. I don't think mommy would like that on her closet door.
(K): I don't know about that Coop, daddy has a hard time sleeping when mommy is not there.
(C): Think about it dad, I would never have to leave my room during rest time.
(K): What do you mean Coop?
(C): Well if I ever have to go the bathroom it would be right there. I wouldn't have to come out of my room to go to the toilet.
(K): I guess you will just have to ask mom.
(C): OK!

SNOW & A LITTLE BLESSING!

We woke up Sunday morning to the first snow fall of the season. Of course this is one thing that I do not miss at all about living in Australia, but it is beautiful when it has freshly fallen to the ground and is all white and pure. Rylee of course has never seen snow and although she wouldn't touch it she did seem to think it was pretty cool. It was fall snow though, so was all melted by the time we got out of church. On Sunday we also got to see baby Claire get blessed. I was so glad when my little sister told me that they were going to do the baby blessing while I and my other sister were in town. It was such a lovely day and they are such an awesome little family. I love my little sister so much and she has married a wonderful man. They have been so blessed and so has their daughter in her short life. I marvel at their strength and their testimonies of this Gospel. That little baby is in good hands!!

GO COUGARS!!!

I love BYU football - really LOVE IT!!! So when I found out I was going to get to come to Utah on my list of things to do was go to a game. Luckily for me I have an awesome brother-in-law who also love BYU and has lots of connections when it comes to getting tickets. He worked super hard and got a bunch of tickets to the game, we were only about 40 rows up. I had a blast! They won 21-3 and it was a tough game - tougher than it should have been to be honest. I was a bit worried about the weather when I woke up in the morning and it was snowing a bit. Luckily it seemed to warm up a little and it wasn't so bad at the game. I had on a few layers but I wasn't that cold - until we left the stadium and got into the wind. It has definately been a highlight of my trip back home!!! Here are some of the pictures I got - I had so much fun taking pictures on my continuous setting (although most of them are not blog worthy, it was fun to play around with my camera).Of course when you are sitting on the west side of the stadium you get a great view of the mountains so I took a few pictures of course! It was fun to see a bit of campus and I had so many memories flood back. I really need to take my kids there to see my old stomping grounds. After the game we headed over to the Brick Oven (best pizza and homemade rootbeer ever) and had some dinner. Cosmo stopped by and my neice and nephew and I got a picture with him as well! Good times and great memories!

More Cooper funnies!

Here are another two things that Coop has done to make me and Madz laugh this weekend.

First I will show you a picture and see if you can see anything out of the ordinary. I will post another picture at the end of this post so don't scroll down until you think you see it.

Second, it was a conversation that we had tonight during scriptures.

Kevin: (Reading the story of Job)
Cooper: What's all over his body?
K: Those are sores that made his body hurt.
C: Ouch! [Pause while he thinks] Is this story true?
K & M: Yes.
C: Are all scripture stories true?
K: Yes.
C: Even the Old Testament? [I have no idea where this came from.]
K: Yes.
C: [Excited and with big eyes] What about the story of Noah and the ark?
K: Yes, it's true too.
C: That is so cool! That is my favorite story. I am so glad that it is true!

The written version doesn't seem as funny but it really made me laugh. I just wish I could capture the facial expressions when he has these conversations.

Now back to the first one. Madz came running out of her room one day laughing and saying, "Dad, come and see what Cooper did! He is so funny!"








Keep scrolling.....











Almost there.....

























Yes, those are socks on the fan! He make me laugh!

Sunday Conference!

Today was conference for us in the land down under. We got to sleep in a little and, of course, made it about 10 minutes late because of dad sleeping in a little more than he should of and Madz not caring about the words, "going to be late."

But we made it. We watched the first session, had a picnic outside during the break, and then watched the second session. Coop was bound and determined that we were going home after the break and wasn't too happy when we went back in for another two hours. Don't worry, he survived.

What a week!

I could easily lie and say that this has been one of the easiest weeks in my life but I won't. I will succomb to the pressure and happily admit that I will never judge a single parent in my life (Not that I can say I have ever done that before though).

Friday night was not the best night in my life. I can't say that there was anything spectacular that happened that night or even that day -- it was more that it was just the end to a very long week.

I thought I would be nice and allow the kids to have a "sleep over" but that was a mistake because it just got to me more and more as the noise just kept going and going even after I asked repeatidly for them to calm down. Coop just wouldn't stop!

I finally lost it and told Coop that he couldn't sleep in the toy room anymore and started walking him to bed. He was so distraught that gave him an option of sitting on a chair for 5 min or sleeping in his bed. It wasn't until I saw him sitting on time out staring at the wall with his shoulders sunk and head held low that I realized how I had let my tiredness get the most of me and the worst part was that I didn't feel like I could change it. That is one feeling that I don't ever want to feel again.

Luckily for me the next day was Saturday. Some of you may know this and some of you may not but my weekly therapy comes through the form of Saturday morning basketball. I have been playing Saturday morning basketball for years (even before I was married). It is one of the few things that helps me releave my weekly stress, relax, and just detox! Not even Tuesday basketball comes close to Saturday mornings and I don't know if I could even explain the differences so that others would understand -- it is just my release. I know Stace gets tired of it sometimes but she is a great sport and allows me to continue.


After basketball we had to clean! I know Coop and Madz were so excited for that one. The hard part was that it was conference, but what do you do? When else did I have the time? You see, we have our house inspection this coming Wednesday and so we need to get the house ready for inspection. I knew that I wouldn't have any time Monday or Tuesday to get it all done so we had to do it on Saturday.

I was so proud of our two "littlies"! They even helped weed around the house, which did turn into more play but still they helped. Just to prove it to Stace that -- YES, Kevin did weed without you here! -- I have taken some pics just for her, to make her feel a little better about what they will see when they inspect.





Stace, do you even recognize the fence above?


Even thought I was just taking a picture of the back yard I caught proof for Stace that I did hang clothes up and I didn't just use the dryer every time!