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.