NEW BLOG

I have to admit that I started this blog in order to keep in touch with family back home. They wanted to see my kids grow and share in our adventures in Australia. I had no idea that soon I would have more friends following my blog than family members.

I debated what to do about blogging. Then people in Australia told me that I better keep it up - they want to know how we are doing. I think that this new blog will not have so many adventures on it, but more of the day to day things that we do and my feelings about life.

If you want to keep following us feel free to take a look - it is still under construction so don't judge me too harshly...LOL!!! When I feel like my life is more settled and calm I will do some work on the blog.

Time of your Life

SAYING GOODBYE

It is hard to believe that it has been almost a week since we left the land of Oz.
Although we are very glad to be back home it was so hard to say goodbye.
I fell in love with Australia, the people, the culture, and the climate.
It is not a bad place to live with beaches 30 minutes away and sunshine almost everyday.
We traded sunny skies and warmish temperatures with rain and cold spring of Utah.
The leaves were just changing and falling off the trees, now the blossoms are falling like snow.
We left many things behind and packed up the rest and sent it on a big boat.
We came with 10 suitcases full to the brim and our hearts full as well.

I learned over the past three years that the Lord has bigger plans for us than we can ever imagine.
All we have to do is listen and have faith to follow the path He puts before us.
It may seem that some get all their prayers answered while we still long for things that seem unreachable.
This is not true.
Our paths are not all the same.
If we are willing to see the hand of God in our lives we will realize just how many blessings come our way.
If we are willing to jump out of our comfort zone every once in a while we will see how strong we really are.

I took a giant leap to move anywhere outside of Utah - this is no secret.
I certainly moved outside of my comfort zone.
I was not sure what I was doing and why I was going down the path.
I knew that this was something that Kev had always wanted to do.
I made a sacrifice to make his dreams come true.
I am glad that I did.
I learned a lot about myself over the past three years.
I will never forget the time I spent in Australia.
I will not be the same because of those I met while living "down under."
I am a better person for having jumped out of my comfort zone.
I followed the path that my Heavenly Father put in front of me and He had bigger things in store for me than I ever thought possible.
I have truly been blessed.
I will never forget where all those blessings come from.

FOR THE KIDS

I have been trying to make this transition for my kids as painless as possible.  There have been many tears shed over loss of friends.  Many talks over all the good things we get in return.  Many hugs and kisses to make it all better.  All in all they are doing well.

In my quest to make this transition easier I told the kids I would have a party for all their friends before we left.  WHAT WAS I THINKING?  How was I going to fit that in?  Well I did it the easy way.  We had the party ( a glorified play date really) at the park last Friday straight after school.  I had all the mom’s bring a plate to share and it was so easy!!!

Because we did it at the park I told the kids they could invite whomever they wanted.  I made little invitations and gave them each a little stack – Cooper’s was significantly smaller than Madi’s (about 20 for Madi and 10 for Cooper).  They took them to school on the first day back for Term 2.  After school I was informed that they both needed more.  I gave them both about half the number of the day before and told them that was it.  We had so many kids show up.

Madi is our social butterfly.  She is so nice to everyone and has tons of friends.  Cooper on the other hand has two really good friends and a handful of boys he plays ball with.   It is so funny to see the difference in their personalities.  

We taught the kids how to play red rover and just let them hang out and play.  Rylee had so much attention from all the girls who would do anything for her that she was in heaven and we hardly saw her the whole time we were there.  What an easy party.  I was glad that I did it for the kids.  They appreciated it and told me so many, many times.  Sometimes even through the stress of life we need to do things to help our kids, things we may not want to do, but things that will make them happy.  

    

AN AUSSIE ICON

We had to see it one more time. 

We had to say goodbye.

We had to ride the trains there for the last time.

We had to venture through the gardens and see the bats.

We finally saw the eels in the pond.

We had to take our picture in our spot.

We never cease to be amazed.

We had to get icecream – it’s tradition!

We had a beautiful day.

 

 

EQ Fishing Activity

As I mentioned in one of the earlier posts we had our Elder's Quorum fishing activity on Saturday. It was a lot of fun and I was glad to got to go before we moved home.

Matt and I went early and were on the water fishing just as the sun came up. It was beautiful and the pictures don't do it justice. My camera didn't pick up as much orange as there was.

We ended up with three boats. Matt and Brandon both had boats and we rented a BBQ boat so we could cook some breakfast while we were there.

In the picture blow you can see Dean standing on Brandon's boat. The funny part was that the reason I took this picture is that Brandon's boat was tied to the BBQ boat and the rope broke with no one on it. So dean saved the day by jumping in the water and swimming out to get the boat as it drifted away. You can see the rope dangling off the front.

Here is a picture of me and the flounder I caught. They are the weirdest looking fish! In the picture next to me you can see Dave with Brandon, Mark, and Aaron in the background. I kick myself because I didn't get pictures of everyone there, which I should have done.

Here is Patrick in his cool sunnies! And Brandon ended up catching the biggest fish. He actually caught two of these flat heads and they were about the same size. From the picture below you can see a little better why they call them flat heads. The reason he is holding it with a cloth is that the fins are very pointy and very sharp. There are some interesting fish in the ocean.

Everyone ended up catching some fish but we threw most of them back. Overall it was a great activity and a lot of fun.

Basketball - Wednesday Lunch

One of the best friends I have had here is Australia is Tim Baker (#14). A while ago he asked me if I was interested in playing on his Wednesday lunch time basket ball team that played at a gym in the Rocks (about a 10 minute walk from my building).

I was a little hesitant at first because I know I am not as good of a player as he is and knew any team he played on would be a pretty good team. Plus he told me that person I would be replacing was over 6'6" tall. That didn't help.

I decided to do it and I am very grateful that he asked me and that I said yes. I was able to play 4 seasons with them and we won 3 of those seasons. I won't talk much about the season we lost because I still feel like it was my fault we lost. You see, my biggest weakness (and I know it) is lay ups and they are supposed to be the easiest shot. I would much rather take a 10ft turn around jump shot than do a lay up. To make a long story short we were tied with 15 seconds left to go in our semi-final game and I got the ball and missed a lay up. We went into over time and lost. There were other things I did but I won't go into those details.

It really was just a lot of fun! The pictures above are the before this last Wednesday's championship game and after. As you can tell from the trophy we won.

Thanks again Tim for inviting me!

Sick Weekend!

It is 9:40 on Sunday morning, Stacy and the kids are at church, and I am at home trying to rest. Thursday morning I woke up with a sore throat and by Friday it was the achy muscles that were getting the better of me - especially my throat. The problem was that I had one of my last presentations I had to give at work on Friday and the kids farewell party we had planned for them was right after school ended.

All was good and the party was fun but by the end of the day I felt exhausted. The other problem was that we had our Elder's quorum activity planned for Saturday morning and we were going fishing. I wasn't about to miss that.

So I went to bed at 9pm (a record for me), got up at 4am and after getting ready felt a little better. I was excited because I was meeting Matt again (last fishing trip) and we were going out earlier than everyone else. I got to his place about 10 to 5 and we were in the water fishing as the sun was coming up (I'll put pictures later).

Anyway, I felt pretty good the whole time were were out. Maybe a little weak but not bad. Then on the way home as I was riding my scooter I started to feel really weak again. I could tell I wasn't over it. I came home and crashed for a little while on the couch. The rest of the day I just felt worn out again.

I kept waking up last night as well and so I decided to stay home from church and rest. What a time to be sick. I just hope that I will be better soon (glad we have a holiday tomorrow - ANZAC Day). I am also hoping that Stace and the kids don't get it either. We would really like to be healthy for the next week and a half ahead of us. There is too much to do to be sick.

RELEASE...RELIEF

On Sunday I was released as the Primary president in the Normanhurst ward. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with our Church this is the organization for the children 18 months to 11 years old.) I have to admit that I have been praying to be released for a long time. I was worn out with all that Primary entails. I have been in a primary presidency for five years - that's a long time. I felt like I had nothing left to give. That I was just trying to "get by." I didn't get the release when I wanted too. I had to struggle to give 100% for months and months. I learned through this that the Lord has a plan for each of us. He knows our concerns and our trials. He still needs us to serve those around us. Sometimes you don't realize what you do to strengthen those around you.

Knowing that we were leaving it wasn't too big of a shock that I was extended a release. Of course I can't be the president while in Utah...LOL! Sharing time via Skype probably wouldn't work so swell. What was shocking to me was how sad I felt when the release finally came. I will miss hearing the primary songs each week in Sunday. Hearing all the funny things the kids have to say. Mostly I will miss the sweet spirit that is found only in Primary.

I know that Heavenly Father loves the primary children all around the world. They are the future. They have so much to give. They need to be strong to survive in the world around them. He knows who they are. He wants them to succeed. I feel honored to have had a small part in that.

I also felt relief - I will have to admit. Relief to not have to worry about Primary while trying to pack up to move internationally. I was supposed to do sharing time this week - so glad I don't have to figure out how to fit that in. Maybe I will have a Sunday without a headache to take home with me...LOL!

I ventured into Relief Society (the womens organization of our Church) for just a little bit. I felt a bit out of place among all those women. I haven't been to Relief Society consistently since Cooper was born - young womens and then primary took me away. I found myself having a hard time paying attention. Not because the lesson wasn't good. There were no pictures to color. No one who needed to go to the toilet. No music with actions - I needed to stand up singing while jumping on one foot and turning in circles. I think that my attention span needs to increase. Apparently I have lost some of it. How long does it take to build it back up?

We will see how it goes this Sunday when I don't have to go down to the dungeon. Will I feel relief or will I feel sad when I don't have to go up and down those stairs over and over again. I will miss Primary. I am sure I will have a stint there again sometime. Hopefully not too soon - apparently I need some time to build back up my attention span. It is dreadfully lacking at the moment.

LAST TIME

Saturday we headed to the beach for the last time.  This was something that Madi wanted to do before we left.  Saturday was the perfect day for it.  The water was even warm – so they tell me, I didn’t even put on my suit knowing I probably wouldn’t get in. 

We meant to only stay for a few hours, but stayed much longer than that soaking in the sun, exploring the rock pools, looking for seashells, and just having fun.  We turned and said our goodbyes as we left – realizing that the odds are we won’t be back to see the beach in Australia.

We went to Avalon beach for our last time.  Mainly because there are lots of rocks on the north side and lots of little pools of water.  Rylee loves the water, but hates the waves so we thought this would be perfect for her.  Boy was it ever.  She didn’t want to leave the water and kept telling me it was her bathtub.  The little shelled creatures hanging onto the rocks were no match for her.   She was pulling them off so fast and throwing them into the water.  She wouldn’t believe me when I told her that there were little animals inside.  Hopefully they all survived the hands of a 2 year old.

HOW?

How did I move to Australia again with a brand new baby?
There is so much to do when you move internationally.
My to -do list is a mile long and I only have one thing crossed off so far!
Kev's list is longer than mine - but he seems to have more crossed off.
What's up with that?

We have plane tickets and a start date for the new job.
We will touch ground in Utah May 5th - three weeks away!
Then we will have a new to-do list which will also be a mile long -
but as Scarlett O'Hara always says "I will think about that another day!"

Still have no idea exactly how we are going to ship things home.
One guy told us we can pack it all ourselves.
Another told us that is illegal.
UGH!!!
Last time around the company did all of this.
Now we have to do it.
Once we figure that part out I think I will be breathing easier.

It will all be worth it in the end.
To see the faces of those we love!
To see the mountains that we have missed so much!
We are sad to leave this beautiful country and the wonderful people we have met here,
but home is where your heart is.
My heart is back in Utah!
I can't wait to get back to the good ol' USofA!

CRAZY DAY and THINGS FULL of MEMORIES

You would not believe my day today!!

Last weekend in anticipation of moving, sometime, to the States. Kev and I went through the house and made a list of all the things that we knew we had to sell. We have to move ourselves home this time around so we have limited room in the shipping crate we are going to get. We know that we have to get rid of somethings and we definitely have to get rid of anything with a plug on it since it won't work in the States.

Last night around 10:30 we finished up pricing everything and sent an e-mail to a few people and asked them to pass it on if they could. I got on-line this morning at 8am and I already had about 15 e-mails of people wanting things on that list. I was shocked. My day continued on like that. The phone ringing. People stopping by. Things leaving my house. Making deals to pick things up later when we don't need them anymore. In one day I think we have sold half the things on the list. In between things we cleaned out the garage, moved stuff out there that will go to the garage sale in a few weeks time, clothes, books, toys, etc. Kev washed the car and we talked endlessly to people around us. I am still shocked and very worn out.

In realizing that stuff is leaving I see things and remember stories about them. One of those is the wardrobe that we have been using for Rylee. I found it on the side of the road one day during Council Clean-up. I was by myself and I knew that if I went home Kev wouldn't go back out and get it for me. I proceeded to take the seats out in the van and somehow with much sweating and a bit of "why am I doing this again?" I managed to get this big thing in the van all by myself. I could barely close the door. Kev laughed so hard when I got home to see what I had been doing - he was wondering what had taken me so long. I had drawers stacked high and the wardrobe squeezed in the van. I was proud of myself for not giving up and Kev admitted that he wouldn't have gone back out and gotten it for me. It is being sold along with many other things in our home.

Now we are just praying that the van and the scooter will sell before we have to leave. What a relief that would be!

WE'RE COMING TO AMERICA!

Now do you have Neil Diamond running through your head?

Kev sent me a message yesterday and told me to listen to something on my computer - this is what started playing. Then he called to tell me that he had been offered a job!!! Yes, this is the job we have been waiting and praying for for the last three or four weeks. It all fell into place - funny how that always happens even if you stress yourself out.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers - even those of you praying that we would stay...LOL!! We have been so blessed. I won't go into to many details, but we got more pay than we expected and a signing bonus which will help with some of the shipping costs. They want him to start in three to four weeks - we are shooting for being in Utah the first part of May. That isn't much time.

We have to sell everything with a plug and a bunch of our other stuff in order to only fill a 20 foot container. Lucky for us we put together a list last weekend of all the things we need to sell. I just have to go through and finish pricing a few things and we can send it around.

I think my life just got really CRAZY!!!

SLOWLY GOING CRAZY

After weeks of waiting and wondering about a job possibility, I am going crazy.
Everyday I wake up wondering if today will be the day.
Will we find out something?
Instead there have been three interviews, promises of decisions being made, and no news!
We are slowly going crazy.
My body is starting to feel the strain of the stress.
My muscles ache - the chest injury still hurting and not getting better.
My stomach feels like butterflies live inside of it.
I jump every time the phone rings.
I feel full of anxiety until around 11am when I know the work day is over in the States.
Kev got a huge stress sore on his lip a few weeks ago - it was HUGE!
Still nothing.
Seriously it has been almost a month.
I just want to know - either way - I just want to know.

THE TRUE MEANING OF EASTER

The Easter bunny did make a stop at our house.

 

We did search for a few of these.

We also had some people over for a fabulous Easter dinner, including the missionaries and an investigator.  Madi loves Sister Hepworth.  She has been a great example to Madi.  Her mission is coming to an end at the end of this month.  She has been in our ward for half of it.  I love that Madi has seen examples of wonderful sister missionaries.  I am sure that she will remember their examples when the time comes for her to choose whether or not to serve a mission.

After dinner we did our Easter lesson with our eggs full of things to remind us of the Savior and His sacrifice for us. 

I pondered after everyone had gone home about how I had spend my Easter. 

I spent my Easter Sunday serving those around me.

I wished several time that I was home in Utah listening to General Conference.  I love when it falls on Easter weekend.  We will listen to the first session tonight for FHE and next weekend will be filled with the thoughts of our prophet and apostles.

I was uplifted as I attended my meetings at Church.  Reminded of the little things that we do and the impact they have on those around us.  The Spirit filled my soul.

Although I am far from perfect I do know that when we follow those little thoughts that fill our minds we can make a difference to those around us.  We can leave a lasting impression.  We can become more like our Savior.

The sacrifice He made for me I cannot imagine.  I don’t understand the pain He went through.  I can’t imagine the sacrifices made on my behalf.  I sometimes wonder if I am worthy of those sacrifices.  I sometimes wonder if I have done enough.

Easter is a good time to ponder on these things, but it isn’t the only time of the year I do it.

So although the Easter bunny paid us a visit and we hunted for chocolate eggs and lots of candy.  We also were reminded of what Easter is really about.  A perfect brother who paid the ultimate sacrifice for us all.  A brother whom I want to try and be like.  A brother who knows how I feel.  A brother who hasn’t forgotten me.  A brother who is always there.   

ADDING A BIT OF COLOR!

This is the third Easter we have spent here in Australia.  Easters without new frilly, poofy dresses.  Easters without little kits to color your eggs.  Easters with a lot of memories.  I told Kev I can’t wait to get back home so I don’t have to do all the work to make our traditions happen.  When you do these things with family you get to share the work.

Saturday night we colored our eggs.  With no kit once again I used a vinegar and food coloring – works like a charm.  However, I always wonder if I should water down the vinegar and probably am supposed to – the colors come out really rich and lovely though.  We also get to dye brown eggs here – no white ones in site.  They are a bit harder to color, but you just leave them in the mug for longer and they are fine.  This year for the first time I used my coffee mugs (they actually got used for something and not just taking up room in my cupboard).  They worked so much better than bowls which I usually use. 

Rylee loved coloring eggs.  This is the first year she has really gotten to do it all by herself.  She has been asking me ever since if we can do it again.  Next year I tell her, next year.

Cooper still has colored fingers.  He just can’t help getting dirty I suppose. 

Madi was an old pro.  She loved mixing the colors and making her eggs two toned. 

HAPPY EASTER WEEKEND

You know what I love about Easter here in Australia? It is a four day weekend. That's right Kev gets Good Friday off and Easter Monday. Who can help but be excited about that? Coming from a country where you can't mix church and state it is nice to see this most sacred holidays celebrated. In fact there is nothing opened on Good Friday - something we figured out the hard way the first year we were here. The kids also have begun their school holidays for the next two weeks. We didn't make any big plans for this weekend. We just want to relax and go with the flow!

Cooper did talk his dad into a sleep over. They made a list of all the things they are going to do and I believe Sunday night is the night of the big event. The futon cushion will be moved into the play room and out will come the sleeping bags. Possibly they could camp outside - who knows. Cooper even grudgingly said Madi could join in on the fun.

Here is the list:
- play Wii in bed
- have a pillow fight
- eat chocolate eggs
- play board games
- play legos
- sleep (not sure how much, but it will happen)

Kev is so good to do this for Cooper. Whenever there is a long weekend he always seems to get talked into it. What a great dad! These are moments that I know Cooper treasures!

CONFERENCE PACKET

In the past I have always given the primary children in our ward an activity packet to work on during conference. I have created them myself using activities in the friend and coloring pictures. This year however, I found an amazing packet. If you want one for your children go here:
http://www.sugardoodle.info/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5851

It is really well done. I hope the primary children will find it helpful this year and maybe you will too!

GIRL TROUBLES

This little girl is having friend troubles. I can hardly keep up. Everyday someone else is mad and won't play in their group. She used to play with different friends and the drama was kept at a minimum, now with a different group it is girl drama central. I can't help but cringe. I don't know what to do. It brings back terrible memories from my past and a friend who decided that we couldn't be friends any more. Past girls being mean and selfish.

Apparently she used to play with a different group and has a really good friend there, but the other girls thought she was a bit weird (as she puts it) so she doesn't play with them anymore. She says they won't even look at her when they pass by. My heart aches. I wish I could make it all better. Who couldn't love this kind hearted little lady?

This year hasn't gone so well for her. A new class with no friends in it. A new class with some old friends from a class a few years ago, that now have new friends and don't want to play at recess. I wish that she had some friends who share her same values. I wish that she had a really good friend down the street to laugh with a giggle with after school. I wish she had someone to sit by her every lunch and recess and laugh with her. I feel sad when she tells me she spent her lunch time in the library reading books (although I have nothing against reading books).

It just brings back the wounds that are still a bit fresh for me. Girls can be so mean sometimes. The sad thing is, it doesn't change when you are a mom either. Girls are still mean sometimes. They still say means things. They still look at you as in judgment. They still can make you feel worthless. I wish I could make it all better. I guess this is how we learn and grow - watching our children struggle as we did, and not knowing what to do.

PACKAGES!

I love packages – well who doesn’t right?

This week I have gotten two.  That’s even better!

Thanks to my sister Julie I have now watched “Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs” twice and gotten my Butterfinger fix!!!

Then a few days later another package arrived.  Inside were some goodies I created.  To see my work printed was nice.   These are some of my first pages I ever did digitally.  I thought about redoing some of them – they aren’t so good I admit, but admittedly I do not have the time.  I did go through and fix up the shadows and clean up a bit.  All the pages are of Rylee.  I feel so bad.  She has a book that has maybe half a dozen pages in it.  Now she has a whole lot more.  I used a relatively new company:  Persnickety Prints   I was so impressed.  The quality was excellent.  No washed out colors.  They are located in Orem, Utah for those of you who live close by you can actually go pick them up and save yourself some shipping costs.  I happened to get a coupon for a discount in shipping costs, but $10 for international shipping isn’t bad.  It cost them $15 to send it.   I am totally going to use them again and soon!!!!

Rylee has been enjoying her book.  She used to look at the half a dozen pages in her book before and loved it – now imagine all the fun she is having.   It is so fun to see how much she has grown. 

GOOD AS NEW!

I have always wanted to do this project.  Taking old broken crayons and turning them into something lovely and new.  We have many broken crayons around here, and I have been a doing a bit of “spring cleaning,” so I thought now would be a good time to try this out. 

Rylee was my helper one day.

It’s simple.  You take your old crayons and take off all the paper.  Then place them into molds and cook at a low temperature until they melt. 

If I was to do this again I probably would be more careful about what colors went into each slot – but when you have a 2-year-old helping you get some fun colors mixed together.  More fun that way I suppose. 

FYI:  On some of mine appeared a waxy layer on the top.  With a bit of research I found that this may have been caused by washable crayons.

 

Take them out of the oven and let them cool down all the way.  Then you have new crayons to use!

Madi wants to sell these at our massive garage sale we will have when we finally move back home.  We were thinking maybe 5 or 10 cents a piece.  She thinks she will make a killing.  If not then her friends will get a nice gift when we leave!