Two weeks from today we leave for the US and the Smith family could not be more excited! We have been here 11 months now…in some ways it seems like forever but looking back at all we have done and experienced, it has flown. October was still a very cold and chilly month but there were a few days in between that were really, really nice; thankfully, one of those days being Reid’s birthday. We had a few of his “mates” from his class join us for a “sausage sizzle” at King’s Park. It was a very nice relaxing afternoon. The $90 dinosaur birthday cake was not fabulous but the homemade chocolate coffee cream cupcakes that I made for the “mums” were amazing!!! Reid has made some really good friends at school. They play so well together and I’m just so thankful at how “welcoming” they were when we first arrived. In addition, I’ve made friends with many of the moms and I will miss them so much next year when we are at the new school.
The boys were out of school for the first two week of October and the girls were out one of those weeks. Honestly I can’t remember now what all we did or perhaps I blocked some of it out (i.e. roller skating…the boys were NOT a fan). One of the days I had all of them home I met Tegan and her 5 girls at the park. Tegan and Timon are the couple that my friend Leslie Wright got us in contact with. Timon use to teach Sunday School at Stonebriar Church in Frisco and he is the Worship Pastor at Subiaco Church. A couple of Sundays ago he was leading worship and it was just him and his guitar. I loved it. I was singing and a thought came into my head and then I prayed, “Oh Lord, please don’t let them leave”. That night they came over for dinner and we found out that they ARE leaving. He is going to be the head pastor at a church in Adelaide (Australia), now another place on our list to visit before our time in Australia is over. I was/am SOOOOOOOOOOO sad but very excited that God is using him in such a BIG way.
Clint went sail fishing this month on a “business” trip. I’m not sure I call it business but glad he got to experience sail fishing in Malaysia. He flew into Kuala Lumpur and drove 5 hours through palm tree plantations to get to the fishing town. He had two days of fishing and they caught 17 sail fish between five guys. We went to “family camp” with our church and had a very nice time. We couldn’t spend the entire weekend since I had to be back for the “fete” but met up with everyone on Saturday for a day of bible study, games, crafts and team building exercises. We really just enjoyed hanging out and getting to know people. At one point we couldn’t find Luke and while all reasoning tells me he’s fine I start to panic. Well, I finally found him he was with Emma, one of Tegan’s little girls. I stood from a distance and just watched them for a while…it was priceless. He was holding her hand and helped her climb up onto a log and made sure she was okay getting down. TOO cute!
October and November were busy with the kids’ school and AWC (American Women’s Club) activities. On October 25th, Reid and Luke’s school hosted the biannual “West Leederville 2009 Fete”. I was responsible for the nacho stall. I was very tempted to have velvetta and rotel shipped in from the US but feared that it just may not go over very well here. So I made them the Australian way – bowl of chips topped with nacho sauce and cheddar cheese, put in the microwave, top off with sour cream. I have to admit they were pretty good. The following weekend was the Halloween carnival at the International school. I was responsible for the bake sale put on by the American Women’s Club. Halloween is becoming more and more popular here and it really sickens me that Halloween is something that Americans are known for. I missed our neighborhood in Prosper where the kids dressed up in sweet, innocent costumes. Here everyone dressed up in dark and scary outfits with lots and lots of blood. YUCK! We participated in the “trunk or treat” and made an attempt to decorate the back of our car but we certainly did not win the best car prize. This year for Halloween we had a jeannie, Hannah Montana and 2 jedis. Clint got a lot of comments on his “Tacky Tourist” outfit that he had worn a couple of years ago and I was a cat. We really wanted to go as the cast from Scooby Doo but Reid wanted NO part in wearing the Shaggy or Fred costume.
I hosted the “Welcome Coffee” in November for the AWC. It is something we do each month to welcome new people who have recently moved to Perth. I really enjoy the welcome coffees and Luke is always such a trooper to go with me. I always thank him for going and he graciously responds, “Sure mom, anytime!” I am really going to miss him next year since he will be in school every day. I also hosted a baby shower for my friend Stephanie, who actually just had the baby on Friday. She had to have a C-section because the baby was breech. This was her first baby and my heart went out to her being here without family. We were thrilled to be able to be a part of their experience in becoming parents for the first time. It is going to be really hard when they leave! We’ve shared so much together since meeting in March.
We have heard from many people about the flies in November and we finally got a taste of what they were talking about. We took our bikes up to John Forrest National Park for a bike ride and picnic. Maybe we were a bit too adventurous since Luke just learned to ride without training wheels. We were just starting our ride and there was a huge hill in which Clint told them to get off their bikes and walk down. Luke decided he could ride down and he took a very hard fall and tumbled all the way down. His poor back and arms were so scraped up and bleeding…I felt so bad for the little guy. BUT of course we wiped him off, gave him some encouragement and kept on going with him saying over and over, “Lake Monger is more better!” Lake Monger is where he learned to ride his bike. It is the lake by our house and according to Luke it is “more better” because it is flat and there are no rocks. We rode through this old train tunnel. I was a bit scared since it was pitch black…we couldn’t see our feet…and with all the scary critters in this country I was really nervous. The kids didn’t want to do it either but with the leader of our family being the adventure enthusiast we knew we had no choice. After we got through the tunnel, the kids really felt that they had achieved something and we even heard “let’s do it again!” On the way out on the trail, we were going in the direction where the wind was in our face so the flies didn’t bother us but it was a different story on the way back. These pesty flies wouldn’t leave us alone. They were all over us and Kennedy just completely “lost it!” She displayed some Jim Carrey moves as she tried to swat the flies away from her face. It was actually pretty funny. I think the “attack of the flies” is behind us but the flies that are still around are still quite aggressive. The next weekend we attempted the beach but after about 30 minutes we left because it was so cold. These small challenges have surely worked to build character in each of us. Clint and I got a bit wild and crazy and went to the Nickelback concert. Not something we would normally do but it was just nice going “out on the town” with friends (Steve and Stephanie, Cam and Jacqui and Claire and Rob). I actually spent most of the concert praying as it really makes me sad that the lead singer felt it necessary to say the “F” word every other second. Clint cracked me up that night. I’m sure some people thought he had been drinking. Nope…just being silly! After every song the lead singer would say “Thank you so much”…it really became comical how often he said it. When the crowds got quiet, Clint screamed out “Thank YOU so much!” I’m sure you had to be there but it was really funny. And the night was not complete until Clint did the “gopher dance”.
A few days before Thanksgiving my sister Paula gave birth to twin boys – Jacob and Joshua. They are so precious and I can’t wait to meet them. I sure hated not being there at the birth but look forward to holding them very soon.
Thanksgiving Day was approaching and I was trying really hard not to think too much about it. We had already broken the “decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving rule” and quite honestly I just wanted Thanksgiving to come and go as quickly as possible. Mackenzie was leaving for camp and wouldn’t even be with us on Thanksgiving Day, the kids would be in school since it was just another day here in Perth, Clint would be at work and so that left me and Luke to figure out what to do. But my friend Tegan had it all figured out. I have been here almost a year and she found out that I had never had a sausage roll. She gathered a group of ladies together from church and had a Thanksgiving lunch Australian style…sausage rolls!!!! Since Tegan has lived in the US she understood and has experienced what Thanksgiving is all about. Tegan, Catherine and Jo went out of their way to help me get through the day. What a blessing! But instead of letting Thanksgiving come and go the Smiths had “Four Thanksgivings” on the agenda. On Thursday night we had a traditional Thanksgiving feast with the AWC. It was a nice evening but we certainly missed Grandma Redd’s hot rolls and cornbread dressing. The following evening we went to Timon and Tegan’s house for a non traditional Thanksgiving get together with people from the church, including our pastor who is also from the US. We had a fun evening making pizzas and playing “Catch Phrase”. The next day was the Aggie Thanksgiving and Clint and I signed up to bring Grandma Redd’s dressing. I’m glad we did so we were SURE to get some before Thanksgiving weekend came and went. I think we were a bit over zealous about the dressing. We quadrupled the recipe and ended up with two containers full in the freezer. We had one more get together planned with Kyle and Ragan but the Smith family needed some down time and we ended up cancelling. In thinking back through the week it wasn’t as hard as I set myself up for it to be. It was just another day here and life went forward with everyone doing what they always do. We were sleeping when Thanksgiving was actually going on in the States and by the time we woke up it was all over. So all in all we were okay. Mackenzie got home and had a blast at camp. When she got home she looked just a bit older to me. She reminds me quite often that she is almost in double digits.
On a personal note I finished the Bible Study, David, by Beth Moore. Each morning as I would take the kids to school I would give them the cliff note version of what I had read that morning. One morning they asked, “Isn’t he dead yet?” Another morning I was driving and hadn’t really even thought about giving them the lesson on King David and Luke says, “Okay…King David”. I guess that had been my “intro” each morning and when I forgot he chimed in! I gave myself a goal of having to run around Lake Monger without stopping before I could go back to the US. Luke helped me out with this one. After taking the other kids to school I decided that since he could now ride his bike, instead of going to the gym I would take him to Lake Monger. I would run and he could ride. Well, it started pouring down when we were ½ way around the lake and he just took off to the car. He got out of my sight and so I ran as hard as I could to try to catch him. I wanted to stop but I couldn’t because I wasn’t sure what he was going to do since it was raining so hard. So by the time I found him I had made it all the way around without stopping. I did it again the next day and now I find myself waking up between 4:45 and 5am almost every day to go run. I have never been a runner and quite frankly my body would hurt when I ran. I’m amazed at how great I feel now when I run now. No aches…no pains….I LOVE IT! I am also amazed at how easy it has become. And don’t let me fool you into thinking it is some huge accomplishment. I think it is only 2.2 miles (3.5 kilometers) but for me it is a start. I continue to go to the gym all the time but quite honestly I’m not getting the results I want. I’ve made progress but I think I am going to have to finally admit to myself that I have to work on the diet part of the program. URRR! I love dessert! Oh…and I went to a Thermomix demonstration this month and took Clint with me so he could see this amazing machine. I want one sooo bad. We haven’t been able to find out for sure whether or not it will work in the US on a transformer. This machine is like 10 appliances in one and it also cooks the food. You can make your own butter, bread, icecream, sorbets, mayonnaise. With making all of your own stuff you reduce the amount of preservatives going into your body and it does all of this stuff in seconds. My friend Machelle sells them. The day of the demonstration she made sorbet, custard, a dip, homemade rolls, coleslaw and risotto. I was amazed at how quick it was to make and how yummy all of it was. You can also cook your rice, steam your vegetables and cook your fish all at once in this thing. Unbelievable. And very little clean up is required. The thing pretty much cleans itself! I think Clint might just get me one so I’ll stop talking about it. If I could, I would bring them back to the US and sell them! I am sure you would want one!!! Unfortunately, we’ve been told that the US taxes the item as 10+ different appliances and therefore, it prices itself out of the market, which is why they don’t sell them in the US. I have found out that they do have them in Canada so if I get one here, I know I won’t be able to live without it once we move back, I can just order one from Canada since they work on the same voltage! We shall see what Santa decides!! I am looking forward to the plane ride home. I will be spending the flight typing our Christmas letter and reflecting on the last year. I can’t wait. Please keep us in your prayers and if you hear the song, “I’ll be home for Christmas”…think of us!
OCTOBER PICTURES
NOVEMBER PICTURES
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
August/September 2009
August came and went and to be honest we were glad since the weather was really getting to us. With all the research we did before we moved we NEVER expected such a long, wet and cold winter. Australians have said that this was the worse winter in years. Just the other day poor Reid told me he was tired of being cold. I felt the same way. Fortunately, now, spring has sprung and the Smith family is very happy to see sunshine again.
August was full of birthday fun. Kennedy celebrated with a “stamping” party. My friend Stephanie is really into scrapbooking and card marking so she helped me with the party. The girls think she is super cool and crafty…and that she is! The “American Women Welcome Coffee” fell on my birthday and just happened to be at Stephanie’s house this month. She had a birthday cake for me and there was a lot of yummy food! Later in the week Lisa P., Lisa M., and Stephanie also took me out for a birthday lunch. Very nice. And over the weekend we celebrated with a date night with Steve and Stephanie and enjoyed the best dinner out we’ve had since being in Perth at Darlington Estates in Swan Valley. The food, ambiance, service and company were wonderful. Stephanie also made me a home-made birthday cake. I also got to celebrate Lisa Posell’s birthday with her in August with a fun “date night” and then also a murder mystery luncheon with the American Women Association.
September is somewhat of a blur. Stephanie left for the US and was gone for 3 weeks, needless to say our social calendar slowed down a bit. Unfortunately, we don’t think they will be in Australia as long as we had hoped. Not sure what life will be like in Perth without them. We have already had to say good-bye to Karis and Tyson and I certainly do not want to do that again anytime soon. It was actually good Steve and Stephanie were gone because Clint and I started a 15 day “cleanse” and we were NO fun to socialize with. We basically could only eat fruits, vegetables, whole meal…I mean whole wheat pasta (Australian terminology is rubbing off on me), beans and fish every 3rd day. We took lots of herbs/vitamins over the 15 days along with the “diet” in hopes to get rid of all the toxins in our bodies. It was really hard and there is no way I could have done it alone. This was all Clint’s idea just so you know. I was simply being a supportive wife. The first Saturday of the 15 day ordeal we about “lost it”…we were so grumpy! There is just something about the weekends…so much harder than during the week. We discovered sweet potato chips to be a great snack. We sliced them real thin and put them on a cookie sheet, drizzled olive oil and sea salt on them. Baked on 350 for 15 minutes and then turned up the heat and broiled for another couple of minutes. Not bad with guacamole dip either. The first thing I splurged on when it was all over was chocolate covered almonds. The 15 days was a good lesson in self control but I was sure glad when it was all over! I think it was really good for our kids to see us go through this “cleanse”. We certainly couldn’t quit or “fall off the wagon” for the sake of what our kids would learn from that.
One of the most random things that happened to me this month was someone offered to buy my jacket right off my back! When I told her I wasn’t ready to part with it she gave me her card and said, call me when you no longer wear it and I’ll buy it from you. She started to ask me where I got it but before I could answer, she said I’m sure it came from the States (before even my accent gave it away!!). Australians seem to really love clothes from the US (that were probably made in China).
We have made a big decision to move the kids to another school. We have not been pleased with the International School and while the boys love their school a few things have happened that have caused us to question the environment they are in. I just love how God works. So here’s the story that led me to this school. Before we left for Australia I got a call from someone in the children’s ministry at Prestonwood. She received the prayer request form I filled out regarding our move to Australia. She actually did an internship at North Beach Baptist Church here in Australia. She gave me the name of a very sweet lady and we visited the church the third Sunday we were in Perth. We met a nice family that morning and I happened to ask her where her kids went to school. She explained that they were at Kingsway Christian College and that it was the best “Christian” college in Perth. Over the following months I constantly heard advertisements on the radio about Kingsway and it being a “Christ centered” education. It always stood out to me for some reason. Then we had a little “situation” at Reid’s school which pretty much “sealed the deal” for us to make a move. So I began calling around to make appointments to tour some schools. I called Kingsway and the sweetest lady, Charmaine, helped me. We decided to drive to the school over the weekend to see where it was and after the TOM TOM took us around the world (it seemed) to get there, we ruled it out because it was simply too far!!! I had also set up an interview at Scotch College, which is where so many “ex-pat” kids go but got online to look at the fees and cancelled the appointment immediately. Oh my!...we are obviously not on the same “ex-pat plan”! So back to the drawing board! We decided to go ahead and tour Kingsway. I prayed that God would make it very clear to us that Kingsway was the place for our kids. And THAT he did! All six of us went on the tour. The kids were certainly hesitant to let their excitement show but I could see it in their eyes. We saw the fruits of the spirit on the wall, memory verses on the chalk board, positive character traits displayed…for a second I felt I was back at Legacy Christian Academy and it was REFRESHING! And then we walked in a first grade class and the class says “Good morning Smith family…and GOD LOVES YOU!!!” How precious is that? Then the most “God thing” happened. A little boy came up to Reid (it was explained to the class that Reid would be in 1st grade) and gave him a knuckle high five! Thank you God for being so involved in our lives and arranging something like a little knuckle high five for Reid! You see, out of all the kids Reid was the one I was/am most worried about. He loves his school and really, I do too! It has a real nice feel to it and I have made friends with a few of the moms from his class. The kids accepted him from day one and found him to be interesting with the “funny” way he talks and that he is from America. He has been invited to so many birthday parties and play dates. I love that when I walk him to his classroom each day he says hello to everyone we pass along the way and refers to them by name. So when we told him we were considering moving him to another school he said he did not want to!! I feel for him…my heart hurts…but I know that Kingsway will be a great environment. We handed in all of our paperwork and the earliest we could get an interview was mid-October. I made the comment to Charmaine that if by chance someone cancelled to please give us a call, that we were eager to get moving on this. Would you believe she called me back in less than a minute and explained that she was making a comment after we hung up and as the principal walked by that she wished all the families were as eager and excited as we were. The principal told her to call us back and work us in for Thursday! From start to finish I think God has directed us here. I have wondered myself why God didn’t just direct us to Kingsway from the get go and spare us some of the hardships the kids have had to go through. BUT, I trust HIM and know HIS ways are HIGHER than our ways. Oh…and I haven’t even told you about the other blessing. The fees for international students at Kingsway are much like the fees we were use to paying at LCA. However, considering the “food factor” in Australia we were “sweatin it” just a bit as Clint’s company will not pay for Luke since Kindergarten (called pre-primary in Australia) is not a required grade. Thankfully, during our tour Clint mentioned the type VISA we are here on and Charmaine informed us that we would not have to pay the International rates. I about fell on my face! How could this be??? So get this…all 4 of our kids will go to a private Christian College (School) for less than $10,000 per year! Crazy isn’t it?!! Oh what a blessing. And with making the decision to change schools we will be forced to move! DARN! I am sure you can tell how sad I will be about that! Just so you know it’s not just me…one of the guys from Clint’s office came over for dinner and nicknamed our house “Cell block A”…since it looks so much like a prison and we are at 39A Connolly! Nice huh??!!!
Steve and Stephanie came home September 21st and brought back lots of goodies for us from the US – vitamins, clothes, velvetta and chocolate chips!!!! They tried to recover from jet lag quickly before we left the kids with them for four days while we enjoyed a romantic getaway! We had a great time in Sydney. We have been so blessed in the past to be able to take at least one trip a year while family members have watched the kids. THANK YOU for that. We knew upon taking this assignment we would be giving that up. Even regular date nights are hard here since the cost of babysitting is $20 per hour for one kid. Fortunately, we have sweet Hannah who is from the US that is not accustomed to making quite that much!!! Anyway, when Steve and Stephanie offered we just could not believe it…but that is just the kind of people they are – very giving! The day before we left, the crazy dust storm hit Sydney and the entire city was orange. The pictures we saw online were incredible. The news reported that people were being forced to stay indoors and that everyone was wearing masks. We didn’t care…we were going! The first morning we were there we dressed as we would in Perth but had to return to change because we were HOT! We toured the opera house and even decided last minute to actually go to an opera just to say we did I guess. Operas are not my thing. People were laughing hysterically and frankly, I just didn’t get it. We went to Bondi Beach (there is a show on TV here about this beach) early on Saturday morning and then climbed the Sydney bridge. Our warm weather did not last long. It was soooo cold and so incredibly windy! The guide told us he has never experienced it this windy in the 3 years he has worked there. What is it with us being a part of so many “it’s never like this” situations??!! On Sunday we rented what we called “our Ferrari” for the day so we could go to church, outback steakhouse and drive into the Blue Mountains. This meant I had to navigate using a map! UGH! I would have chosen the driver’s seat but it was a stick shift. We went to Hillsong Church. We thought we were going to the big church but ended up at one of their many satellite churches. The service reminded us a little of what we have seen on TV of Joel Olsteen’s church in Houston. After church we FINALLY made it to Outback after several wrong turns. You know it is very hard to start off not knowing where you are on a map and as soon as you find yourself on the map, within seconds you are off the map and on another map. Can’t we just be on one map!?! Clint did really good keeping his cool but I will admit but there WAS a little tension in the car on our romantic getaway! Outback was a treat, even though it was still a little different. One thing was the exact same…the “Sinful Sundae”! YUM! YUM! We thoroughly enjoyed our meal. We then drove into the “Blue Mountains” and had we started the day earlier and had it not been so cold, it would have been great for hiking. We made it to the main attraction “The Three Sisters”. There is a legend behind the formation of this mountain. We enjoyed a “Raiders of the Lost Ark” kind of experience riding down the side of a mountain in this tram/rail cart. I think they said it was the steepest tram in the world. It was very cool, literally! Afterwards, we had hot chocolate at this little chocolate factory. Not your standard cup of cocoa. They served you a platter with a bowl of big chocolate chips and a large cup of milk sitting over a tea light. Make your own hot chocolate I guess. It was yummy. That night we stayed in. Since our hotel was located in the business district, many of the restaurants were closed on Sunday night so we picked up a pizza and watched a movie. Fun and relaxing. We enjoyed many nice meals with great service, much different than what is typical in Western Australia. I had one of the yummiest meals I have ever had the first night we were there. I am just hungry thinking about those raviolis. It was a taste in my mouth I will probably never experience again. Kind of like how I feel about my granny’s chicken-n-dumplings. The hotel was great but the best part was the shower and the “Westin” smell. I love their bath products and I think they filter that smell throughout the entire hotel. One of the days we were there, I must have taken 4 showers!!! HEAVENLY! We got up early the next morning, picked up krispy kreme and headed to the airport. Oh…and don’t be mad at me…we had seats in FIRST CLASS! I felt a bit silly sitting in first class at first but quickly got over it. It was the only type seat we could get using points. It was nIIIIIIIIce! I had my computer so I could work on my recipe project. One of the flight attendants noticed what I was doing and asked me if I wrote my own recipes. I left her the paper copy I had of all the ones I had typed. She was thrilled and just think, there is a little piece of you in Australia since most of my recipes came from YOU!! It felt so good to miss the kids and it was nice to see their smiling faces when we walked out of the airport. Our sweet friends even dropped us off AND picked us up at the airport, took us home and had dinner prepared so we didn’t have to worry about that. Upon returning, the girls had a couple of days of school left and the boys were off for Spring Break.
I guess these last two months may have very well been the loneliest months so far. With the weather being so nasty, people just aren’t out as much and with Stephanie gone it was just lonely. I am so thankful to have gone through this journey with my precious kids. They have certainly made it much easier for me in many ways. But most of all, I am thankful that the Lord offers his companionship to me. I have enjoyed having HIM right beside me, helping me get through the hard days and enjoying His presence on the good! I would choose to do this all over again. It has been a blessing and I have seen God work in amazing ways and do wonderful things in the lives of our children. Would you believe one of their most favorite restaurants is called “Nine Mary’s”…Indian food!!! Reid had sushi at school one day and Luke frequently asks if he can have Japanese noodles for lunch. Who are these kids? The girls are growing up! They have both grown several inches and Mackenzie’s hair has gotten so long. We even had “the talk” with Mackenzie and all she could say was “Can I go now?” Then just watching them go through the trials of moving across the world away from everything that is familiar, well, I’m just in awe of what God has done. We started a thing called “family conversation” each night at the dinner table. We pull a card out of a box and on this card is a sentence we have to complete. The other night it was, “I’m most proud of…” and Luke finished with “my adventurous family!” Praise God that He made us the way we are to accomplish what He has planned for our lives. He has used so many of you to help us through this first year of living overseas. When we were going through something really hard a month ago many of you emailed me and simply said that God had placed us on your hearts and you were praying. What an incredible way to feel God’s love. We are counting the days until we come home – 65 days to go. See you soon!
August was full of birthday fun. Kennedy celebrated with a “stamping” party. My friend Stephanie is really into scrapbooking and card marking so she helped me with the party. The girls think she is super cool and crafty…and that she is! The “American Women Welcome Coffee” fell on my birthday and just happened to be at Stephanie’s house this month. She had a birthday cake for me and there was a lot of yummy food! Later in the week Lisa P., Lisa M., and Stephanie also took me out for a birthday lunch. Very nice. And over the weekend we celebrated with a date night with Steve and Stephanie and enjoyed the best dinner out we’ve had since being in Perth at Darlington Estates in Swan Valley. The food, ambiance, service and company were wonderful. Stephanie also made me a home-made birthday cake. I also got to celebrate Lisa Posell’s birthday with her in August with a fun “date night” and then also a murder mystery luncheon with the American Women Association.
September is somewhat of a blur. Stephanie left for the US and was gone for 3 weeks, needless to say our social calendar slowed down a bit. Unfortunately, we don’t think they will be in Australia as long as we had hoped. Not sure what life will be like in Perth without them. We have already had to say good-bye to Karis and Tyson and I certainly do not want to do that again anytime soon. It was actually good Steve and Stephanie were gone because Clint and I started a 15 day “cleanse” and we were NO fun to socialize with. We basically could only eat fruits, vegetables, whole meal…I mean whole wheat pasta (Australian terminology is rubbing off on me), beans and fish every 3rd day. We took lots of herbs/vitamins over the 15 days along with the “diet” in hopes to get rid of all the toxins in our bodies. It was really hard and there is no way I could have done it alone. This was all Clint’s idea just so you know. I was simply being a supportive wife. The first Saturday of the 15 day ordeal we about “lost it”…we were so grumpy! There is just something about the weekends…so much harder than during the week. We discovered sweet potato chips to be a great snack. We sliced them real thin and put them on a cookie sheet, drizzled olive oil and sea salt on them. Baked on 350 for 15 minutes and then turned up the heat and broiled for another couple of minutes. Not bad with guacamole dip either. The first thing I splurged on when it was all over was chocolate covered almonds. The 15 days was a good lesson in self control but I was sure glad when it was all over! I think it was really good for our kids to see us go through this “cleanse”. We certainly couldn’t quit or “fall off the wagon” for the sake of what our kids would learn from that.
One of the most random things that happened to me this month was someone offered to buy my jacket right off my back! When I told her I wasn’t ready to part with it she gave me her card and said, call me when you no longer wear it and I’ll buy it from you. She started to ask me where I got it but before I could answer, she said I’m sure it came from the States (before even my accent gave it away!!). Australians seem to really love clothes from the US (that were probably made in China).
We have made a big decision to move the kids to another school. We have not been pleased with the International School and while the boys love their school a few things have happened that have caused us to question the environment they are in. I just love how God works. So here’s the story that led me to this school. Before we left for Australia I got a call from someone in the children’s ministry at Prestonwood. She received the prayer request form I filled out regarding our move to Australia. She actually did an internship at North Beach Baptist Church here in Australia. She gave me the name of a very sweet lady and we visited the church the third Sunday we were in Perth. We met a nice family that morning and I happened to ask her where her kids went to school. She explained that they were at Kingsway Christian College and that it was the best “Christian” college in Perth. Over the following months I constantly heard advertisements on the radio about Kingsway and it being a “Christ centered” education. It always stood out to me for some reason. Then we had a little “situation” at Reid’s school which pretty much “sealed the deal” for us to make a move. So I began calling around to make appointments to tour some schools. I called Kingsway and the sweetest lady, Charmaine, helped me. We decided to drive to the school over the weekend to see where it was and after the TOM TOM took us around the world (it seemed) to get there, we ruled it out because it was simply too far!!! I had also set up an interview at Scotch College, which is where so many “ex-pat” kids go but got online to look at the fees and cancelled the appointment immediately. Oh my!...we are obviously not on the same “ex-pat plan”! So back to the drawing board! We decided to go ahead and tour Kingsway. I prayed that God would make it very clear to us that Kingsway was the place for our kids. And THAT he did! All six of us went on the tour. The kids were certainly hesitant to let their excitement show but I could see it in their eyes. We saw the fruits of the spirit on the wall, memory verses on the chalk board, positive character traits displayed…for a second I felt I was back at Legacy Christian Academy and it was REFRESHING! And then we walked in a first grade class and the class says “Good morning Smith family…and GOD LOVES YOU!!!” How precious is that? Then the most “God thing” happened. A little boy came up to Reid (it was explained to the class that Reid would be in 1st grade) and gave him a knuckle high five! Thank you God for being so involved in our lives and arranging something like a little knuckle high five for Reid! You see, out of all the kids Reid was the one I was/am most worried about. He loves his school and really, I do too! It has a real nice feel to it and I have made friends with a few of the moms from his class. The kids accepted him from day one and found him to be interesting with the “funny” way he talks and that he is from America. He has been invited to so many birthday parties and play dates. I love that when I walk him to his classroom each day he says hello to everyone we pass along the way and refers to them by name. So when we told him we were considering moving him to another school he said he did not want to!! I feel for him…my heart hurts…but I know that Kingsway will be a great environment. We handed in all of our paperwork and the earliest we could get an interview was mid-October. I made the comment to Charmaine that if by chance someone cancelled to please give us a call, that we were eager to get moving on this. Would you believe she called me back in less than a minute and explained that she was making a comment after we hung up and as the principal walked by that she wished all the families were as eager and excited as we were. The principal told her to call us back and work us in for Thursday! From start to finish I think God has directed us here. I have wondered myself why God didn’t just direct us to Kingsway from the get go and spare us some of the hardships the kids have had to go through. BUT, I trust HIM and know HIS ways are HIGHER than our ways. Oh…and I haven’t even told you about the other blessing. The fees for international students at Kingsway are much like the fees we were use to paying at LCA. However, considering the “food factor” in Australia we were “sweatin it” just a bit as Clint’s company will not pay for Luke since Kindergarten (called pre-primary in Australia) is not a required grade. Thankfully, during our tour Clint mentioned the type VISA we are here on and Charmaine informed us that we would not have to pay the International rates. I about fell on my face! How could this be??? So get this…all 4 of our kids will go to a private Christian College (School) for less than $10,000 per year! Crazy isn’t it?!! Oh what a blessing. And with making the decision to change schools we will be forced to move! DARN! I am sure you can tell how sad I will be about that! Just so you know it’s not just me…one of the guys from Clint’s office came over for dinner and nicknamed our house “Cell block A”…since it looks so much like a prison and we are at 39A Connolly! Nice huh??!!!
Steve and Stephanie came home September 21st and brought back lots of goodies for us from the US – vitamins, clothes, velvetta and chocolate chips!!!! They tried to recover from jet lag quickly before we left the kids with them for four days while we enjoyed a romantic getaway! We had a great time in Sydney. We have been so blessed in the past to be able to take at least one trip a year while family members have watched the kids. THANK YOU for that. We knew upon taking this assignment we would be giving that up. Even regular date nights are hard here since the cost of babysitting is $20 per hour for one kid. Fortunately, we have sweet Hannah who is from the US that is not accustomed to making quite that much!!! Anyway, when Steve and Stephanie offered we just could not believe it…but that is just the kind of people they are – very giving! The day before we left, the crazy dust storm hit Sydney and the entire city was orange. The pictures we saw online were incredible. The news reported that people were being forced to stay indoors and that everyone was wearing masks. We didn’t care…we were going! The first morning we were there we dressed as we would in Perth but had to return to change because we were HOT! We toured the opera house and even decided last minute to actually go to an opera just to say we did I guess. Operas are not my thing. People were laughing hysterically and frankly, I just didn’t get it. We went to Bondi Beach (there is a show on TV here about this beach) early on Saturday morning and then climbed the Sydney bridge. Our warm weather did not last long. It was soooo cold and so incredibly windy! The guide told us he has never experienced it this windy in the 3 years he has worked there. What is it with us being a part of so many “it’s never like this” situations??!! On Sunday we rented what we called “our Ferrari” for the day so we could go to church, outback steakhouse and drive into the Blue Mountains. This meant I had to navigate using a map! UGH! I would have chosen the driver’s seat but it was a stick shift. We went to Hillsong Church. We thought we were going to the big church but ended up at one of their many satellite churches. The service reminded us a little of what we have seen on TV of Joel Olsteen’s church in Houston. After church we FINALLY made it to Outback after several wrong turns. You know it is very hard to start off not knowing where you are on a map and as soon as you find yourself on the map, within seconds you are off the map and on another map. Can’t we just be on one map!?! Clint did really good keeping his cool but I will admit but there WAS a little tension in the car on our romantic getaway! Outback was a treat, even though it was still a little different. One thing was the exact same…the “Sinful Sundae”! YUM! YUM! We thoroughly enjoyed our meal. We then drove into the “Blue Mountains” and had we started the day earlier and had it not been so cold, it would have been great for hiking. We made it to the main attraction “The Three Sisters”. There is a legend behind the formation of this mountain. We enjoyed a “Raiders of the Lost Ark” kind of experience riding down the side of a mountain in this tram/rail cart. I think they said it was the steepest tram in the world. It was very cool, literally! Afterwards, we had hot chocolate at this little chocolate factory. Not your standard cup of cocoa. They served you a platter with a bowl of big chocolate chips and a large cup of milk sitting over a tea light. Make your own hot chocolate I guess. It was yummy. That night we stayed in. Since our hotel was located in the business district, many of the restaurants were closed on Sunday night so we picked up a pizza and watched a movie. Fun and relaxing. We enjoyed many nice meals with great service, much different than what is typical in Western Australia. I had one of the yummiest meals I have ever had the first night we were there. I am just hungry thinking about those raviolis. It was a taste in my mouth I will probably never experience again. Kind of like how I feel about my granny’s chicken-n-dumplings. The hotel was great but the best part was the shower and the “Westin” smell. I love their bath products and I think they filter that smell throughout the entire hotel. One of the days we were there, I must have taken 4 showers!!! HEAVENLY! We got up early the next morning, picked up krispy kreme and headed to the airport. Oh…and don’t be mad at me…we had seats in FIRST CLASS! I felt a bit silly sitting in first class at first but quickly got over it. It was the only type seat we could get using points. It was nIIIIIIIIce! I had my computer so I could work on my recipe project. One of the flight attendants noticed what I was doing and asked me if I wrote my own recipes. I left her the paper copy I had of all the ones I had typed. She was thrilled and just think, there is a little piece of you in Australia since most of my recipes came from YOU!! It felt so good to miss the kids and it was nice to see their smiling faces when we walked out of the airport. Our sweet friends even dropped us off AND picked us up at the airport, took us home and had dinner prepared so we didn’t have to worry about that. Upon returning, the girls had a couple of days of school left and the boys were off for Spring Break.
I guess these last two months may have very well been the loneliest months so far. With the weather being so nasty, people just aren’t out as much and with Stephanie gone it was just lonely. I am so thankful to have gone through this journey with my precious kids. They have certainly made it much easier for me in many ways. But most of all, I am thankful that the Lord offers his companionship to me. I have enjoyed having HIM right beside me, helping me get through the hard days and enjoying His presence on the good! I would choose to do this all over again. It has been a blessing and I have seen God work in amazing ways and do wonderful things in the lives of our children. Would you believe one of their most favorite restaurants is called “Nine Mary’s”…Indian food!!! Reid had sushi at school one day and Luke frequently asks if he can have Japanese noodles for lunch. Who are these kids? The girls are growing up! They have both grown several inches and Mackenzie’s hair has gotten so long. We even had “the talk” with Mackenzie and all she could say was “Can I go now?” Then just watching them go through the trials of moving across the world away from everything that is familiar, well, I’m just in awe of what God has done. We started a thing called “family conversation” each night at the dinner table. We pull a card out of a box and on this card is a sentence we have to complete. The other night it was, “I’m most proud of…” and Luke finished with “my adventurous family!” Praise God that He made us the way we are to accomplish what He has planned for our lives. He has used so many of you to help us through this first year of living overseas. When we were going through something really hard a month ago many of you emailed me and simply said that God had placed us on your hearts and you were praying. What an incredible way to feel God’s love. We are counting the days until we come home – 65 days to go. See you soon!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
June / July 2009
Wow…nearly two months have gone by since my last update and so much has gone on that I don’t even know where to begin. So I guess I will begin after we returned from Bali. We had just a few days before my sisters came. We received an email from the school that if any student has had contact with an American that they would need to be in “quarantine” for 7 days due to the swine flu pandemic. Fortunately, the girls’ school ended up asking us to keep them out one day since it was their last week of school but the boys’ school required the full 7 days. I picked up my sisters and Cassidy (A.K.A. “THE DIRTY AMERICANS”!!!) from the airport, dropped them off at the house to shower and rest and took Kennedy straight to the hospital to begin the rabies shots from the monkey bite in Bali. That afternoon we enjoyed seeing all the goodies they brought to us from home. I am pretty sure that we had queso and chips within the first 24 hours of their arrival! The next day we went to Caversham Wildlife Park, one of the first places we went when we arrived in Perth. The last day of school was the awards assembly and Mackenzie won the “Read around Australia” contest for 3rd grade and 4th place for the entire school. The school year ended with a “sausage sizzle on the oval” in typical Aussie style. That weekend Clint and I celebrated Steve and Stephanie’s birthdays at a restaurant called “Alure” in the Burswood casino here in Perth. It was a fabulous time (met new friends Jacqui and Cam) and it was the first and LAST time I will ever eat sushi! No thanks! Not for me. The Caesar salad was so yummy that I plan on going there for lunch next week. Oh…now I remember what you might find of interest about that story. You know me - it was a birthday so it was a great excuse to find an INCREDIBLE cake! So I sent out an email to the moms of Reid’s class. I got a lot of responses back so I started calling all of these places and asking them so pretty detailed questions about their cakes. I am SURE they thought I was crazy. I even explained that I am a CAKE SNOB and that I like a really moist, fluffy cake…but that was a bad thing to say because then they thought I wanted a sponge cake. I went into the texture of icing I was looking for and the described the taste of butter cream (my mouth is literally watering as I type this) and on and on I went. I really liked the sound of the cakes at this one place but was quoted $150 so I moved on. Finally, I made the decision. Saturday came and Clint went to pick up the cake for me…I had cash in hand to give him since of course, they don’t take cards! Not the way we are accustomed to living! Funny how organized and “on the ball” I can be when it has to do with cake!...anyway, I was so excited all day about getting to eat this cake. It looked good…it smelled good. After dinner they brought it out. We sang, we took pictures and then the moment came…the cutting of the cake. Oh no…this can NOT be happening. It doesn’t look right…it’s not fluffy…it‘s soooo dense. It was AWFUL! Five months without cake and THIS is what I picked! I wanted to cry…seriously!! Later Clint said, “Honey, I felt so bad for you!” He totally gets me!...at least most of the time! The next day we went to Serpentine Falls and did some hiking. We saw lots of kangaroos in the wild, which is so much cooler than in a park. Steve and Stephanie went with us as well. We stopped in Mandurah on the way home to try a Mexican restaurant...oh well, we tried!
The following week I went to Angie Junker’s house to learn how to make an authentic Venezuelan meal for Clint for Father’s Day. This was a meal we had a few months ago at Tom and Angie’s and we thoroughly enjoyed it. So after an afternoon of cooking I was carrying everything to the car. It was pouring down rain and as I was going down the stairs outside I slipped and ATE IT!!!! It was one of those pains that nearly caused me to pass out. I guess the reason why I ended up getting hurt so bad is that I somehow broke the fall with various parts of my body in efforts to save the meal I had just spent hours learning to make. It is really amazing that I did not break my arm AND leg! The next day I was so black and blue down one side of my body. I did not want to tell Clint where I was and what happened so that I did not ruin the surprise “Fathers Day” meal so he was very confused as to how in the world I hurt myself so badly. Father’s Day weekend was one Clint will never forget, or any of us for that matter. We drove to Lancelin, which is about 1 ½ hours from Perth, to go sand boarding. TOO MUCH FUN!!!! It was extremely exhilarating. I am not sure the pictures do it justice! At times it really felt like the Prado was going to flip over. We were all screaming like we were on a roller coaster. Apparently this crazy adventure has left its’ mark on our car…there will always be a layer of sand on the dash board! Clint enjoyed his surprise Father’s Day meal and his gift, which was “barbeque school” with the “Urban Griller”! Clint is lucky that he will actually get to celebrate Father’s Day twice this year since Australians celebrate it in September.
Cassidy turned 20 on June 25th so we had a birthday party at McDonalds! I felt I had to explain as you might be shocked to find pictures of my family eating at McDonalds. I am sure you knew there had to be some explanation for the madness. Well, honestly…in a way, I was glad to have an excuse to eat there…but shhhh don’t tell anyone! We gave Cassidy Dr. Pepper for her birthday…a real treat here in Perth!
The next weekend we drove north hoping to escape the rain. We have learned that Perth winters are very wet! We stopped at a place called the Pinnacles on our way to Kalbarri, which is about 3 hours north of Perth. It's believed the Pinnacles were created millions of years ago as seashells were broken down into sand and then eroded by water and wind. It was a beautiful site!! We continued on our journey four more hours to Kalbarri. We arrived at our “resort”…maybe what Western Australians call a “resort” but let’s just say it was NOT the Westin. You will not find 4 and 5 star resorts that I am embarrassed to say we have become accustomed to staying at on vacation. Sure, they call it a resort…even luxurious; they even call some places a “chalet”…sounds glorious doesn’t it??!! Our luxurious 4 star resort was straight out of a Chevy Chase vacation movie. Notice the picture of the pool in the slide show and you will get an idea of what I am talking about. However, after the initial shock we made it “home” for the next three days. Kalbarri was definitely what I pictured Australia to look like before we actually made this country our “home”. We did a lot of hiking with Kennedy leading the pack most of the way! For the most part, the rain cooperated with us and when it didn’t, we simply got wet! I loved watching the kids roll up their britches, build waterfalls out of rocks and simply enjoy nature! No TV, no computer, no IPODS…very nice! There had been so much rain that the roads leading to one of the best hikes in Kalbarri National Park was closed. We also found many things closed due to strong winds. We were thankful that we were able to do the “Canoe Safari”. It was a great time. We canoed for about 45 minutes and then stopped for “brekkie” on the bank of the river. We had cereal eggs, toast, baked beans and vegemite!!! Okay, so not ALL of us had vegemite! This is where the $10 buck dare began. A couple of years ago and when I was in Colorado visiting my friends, the Klaus family, they introduced me to this simple but funny, daring game. So we “$10 bucked” anyone to eat a piece of toast with vegemite! So Rachel, Cassidy and Mackenzie took on the dare. Cassidy gave up after smelling it, Rachel took one bite and spit it out but Mackenzie was so determined to do it since she is saving for a Kindle, that she got half of a piece of bread down but started gagging as if she was about to vomit and called it quits. It only made sense to her that she earned $5 since she ate half of the toast! After breakfast the girls asked where the restrooms were. HA! So the girls and I had a lovely Mother Daughter moment. We snuck off, stood in a circle, dropped our pants and squatted! Lovely! The girls thought it was hilarious! I guess in our case, you can take the girl out of the Westin AND you CAN take the Westin out of the girl! We loaded back in our canoe, with Clint reminding me along the way that he did take canoeing in college! We also reminisced about our first canoe experience when we were in college. I moved to Hawaii for the summer and he saved his money to come visit. I surprised him with a short trip to Kauai. We canoed to this place called “Fern Grotto”. After that excursion it is a wonder that we ever even got married!!! I think that was the summer right after he took canoeing so he WAS the expert!
We got up fairly early the next day, which is necessary for 10 people sharing one bathroom, to go see the Pelican feeding. I guess only one Pelican was hungry that day as that was all that showed up. We packed up all of our wet clothes and shoes and started the seven hour journey home. I was looking forward to our king size, therapeutic mattress! We had a great time in Kalbarri, saw some incredible sites and did some great hiking. I found it humorous that when we walked in the door of the house in Perth we all went our separate ways until morning. Unfortunately, Rachel and Samantha’s birthday fell that day but we decided to celebrate it on the 29th in the U.S.! I made one of their favorite meals, Kristine and Cassidy baked a cake (it was far better than the one I bought!) and Rachel and Samantha received their very own Camelbacks (for those of you who don’t know…it is a “BPA free” water bottle and all 6 of us are proud owners). I actually have two different sizes! It is my déjà blue water bottle replacement!
The following Friday was Mackenzie’s birthday. We carried on with the “ice cream for breakfast” tradition and then headed to Margaret River. You couldn’t miss us!! We were decked out in the most USA wear you’ve ever seen. My mom had sent us a box full of 4th of July stuff…shirts, hats, beads, shoe clips, tiaras, Uncle Sam hat, sun glasses and the list goes on and on. We had planned on attending the American Women of Perth 4th of July picnic (actually held on June 28th) but decided to head North to Kalbarri instead to escape the rain. I am sure we would have won the “costume contest”. So we wore all of the USA stuff to celebrate Mackenzie’s birthday…kinda her 9th bday theme! We decided to stay at the same place we did last time (in March). It is a really cute place and very comfortable for the 10 of us! We stayed in Margaret River for 2 nights and visited wineries, cheese factory, chocolate factory and did a lot of site seeing. One of my favorite things we did was “THE MAZE”. It was straight out of a “SURVIVOR” episode. We divided up into teams and tried to make our way through the maze. There were four platforms at each corner of the maze that you had to reach. Talk about a cardio workout!!! Unfortunately, Clint and I came in last! Bummer, huh??? Doesn’t sit well for two people that like to think they are still in their 20’s! I guess we just THINK we can still hang! Oh well, there is always next time! On July 4th we drove to Augusta and supposedly went to the place that is said to be the farthest point from Washington DC. Not sure if this is true but it is what we’ve been told and we are going with it since we drove 1 ½ hours just to get there! It is where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meet (who knew there was a Southern ocean??!!)! We stood proudly on top of this rock overlooking the ocean in our USA T-shirts, said the pledge of allegiance and sang the National Anthem. The next morning we left for Pemberton to go to the “TREE TOP WALK”. This was one of my favorite things we did. It was so beautiful…the trees were MASSIVE! Plus the drive to this area was INCREDIBLE! Much different than the previous weekend as far as the colors…this drive was very lush and green and last weekend we saw low brush and lots of brown. After the Tree Top walk we came across “Green’s Pool”…AMAZING! I can’t wait to go back there during the summer to swim. Who am I kidding??...I don’t swim in the ocean!!! It is way too cold for me!...I can’t wait to go lay out on the beach and watch the kids swim in the ocean! We were the only ones there and had fun doing relay races and handstands on the beach. I can still walk on my hands!!! That night we stayed at a very “interesting” place. It looked like a double-wide to me. It was funny to read the comments of previous guests in the “guest book” and quite concerning as well. Sooo many entries spoke of not having hot water. We were cold, wet and sandy…HOT water would be nice. Fortunately, we did not experience any problems at our “4 star luxurious chalet”. We played our last round of spades, a continuous tournament from the previous weekend. Samantha and I came out on top! The next day it was WINDY, COLD and RAINY! We had stopped to see a site called “The Natural Bridge” and it started POURING…so hard that my pants were SOAKED. We had to pull over and get dry clothes! One of Albany’s main attractions during this time of year is whale watching tours. Needless to say the whale watching tours were cancelled. However, we saw some amazing scenery in Albany but since the weather was really terrible we called it a day and headed back to Perth. We will definitely return to this area of the country and if we have any more visitors this would be a “MUST DO”!
We knew the next week would fly by as my sisters and Cassidy would be leaving in just over a week. We had a couple of things left on the list of things to do – one being “fish and chips” at Cottesloe Beach. So we had a wonderful afternoon in Cottesloe and then that night sisters and Cassidy offered to babysit. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed myself. We had an incredible meal at a place called the “Witches Cauldron”. Not sure I care for the name since I really don’t like the idea of witches and halloween…kinda creeps me out…but I pass this place every day on my way home from the gym and I have always wondered about it. It was INCREDIBLE! Then we went to see a movie, our first one since being in Perth! We shared the evening with our friends Steve and Stephanie…a very nice night indeed!
We finished up rabies shots for Kennedy and were very glad to have that behind us. We had "girls night out" and went to a gymnastics meet, with some of the Australian women's olympic team competing. I was in my "element". I just love the sport and really hoping it becomes Kennedy's passion. Wednesday came all too quickly and we said our good-byes to “The Aunts”, that is what the kids call them. I guess it is too much to say “Aunt Rachel, Aunt Samantha, Aunt Kristine and now Aunt Cassidy” so they just lump them all in one! It cracked me up on the canoe safari in Kalbarri when the director of the tour asked Kristine her name. Kennedy quickly answered for her and said, “It’s Aunt Kristine”. We are so thankful they came and that we got to be a part of their adventure.
We can cross going to a “footy” game off the list! You can actually see the stadium from our house. We had planned on walking since it is a pretty short walk. We got down the street and it started pouring so we turned around and got the car! Fortunately, we were able to find a parking spot. Have I explained how parking works here??....well, first of all they really don’t have parking lots. Most of the time we have to find places to park on the side of the road, which makes for quite a game of “Frogger” when driving around Perth. It is my goal to make it through our stay in Perth without getting a parking ticket. The other day I almost blew it. I was at “Farmer Jacks” (grocery store) and when you park in their tiny lot you have to park, walk to a ticket machine, go back to your car and place the ticket on the dashboard. I simply forgot! When I returned, this grumpy man told me he was in the process of writing me a ticket! Thankfully, he gave me a stern warning and let me go. Whew…that was a close one. So back to “footy”! First of all we were under the impression that we had box seats. (We later found out that the box seats were for rugby…bummer!) Also with our “box” seats we thought we would be getting free food, which we totally sold the kids on! Well, they weren’t box seats, it was pouring…I wish you could know what I meant by pouring!....and upon sitting down in our seats the man behind us screamed out the worst foul word you could possibly say in front of a woman. I turned around and simply said, “Wow…Kennedy cover your ears!!!!” The man got the hint and really did a great job of calling the players “girlies” instead for the rest of the evening. I thanked him upon leaving. He was super nice about it and I appreciated that! “Footy” – Australian Rules Football- is interesting and without knowing a thing about it you really can’t follow it. The ball looks like a funny shaped football…longer maybe and not quite as round. They do not wear any protective padding and it appears as if players can grab, punch, slap, shove, tackle and hit without getting penalized. It also looks like a cross between basketball, football and soccer. They have a goal post but it has 4 poles that go straight up that the players had to kick the ball between. They also “punch” the ball rather than pass it. Anyway, the kids were hungry, it was pouring, the language around us was terrible and we didn’t “get it” so we left! It was one of those things we felt we had to do while we were here and now that we have, don’t see a need to do it again…unless of course box seats and free food is involved!
Monday was a very cold and rainy day so I took the kids to see “Ice Age 3”…very fitting because that day it actually hailed so much that it looked like snow. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera. This doesn’t happen that often in WA so everyone was really excited about it. Mackenzie pointed out that she felt like we should be getting ready for Christmas!
The boys started back to school the following week which left the girls and me some time to do girlie things before they started back. Can’t think of anything girlier than going to see Hannah Montana! So that is what we did and we had the best time. We were the ONLY ones in the theatre so we sang…and we sang LOUD…we danced…we laughed! It wasn’t until the end of the movie that we realized that we actually had “company”. OOPS! The girls enjoyed getting pretty much anything they wanted that day and I had fun saying “yes” to everything…almost everything! They also wanted a repeat of “get everything we want for a day” on their last day of “winter” vacation. So we ate lunch at The Blue Duck on Cottesloe Beach and then went searching for seashells along the beach.
We experienced sadness this week as we had to say “good-bye” to our friend Karis. Tyson has to return for 6-8 more weeks but since Karis is a teacher she did not want to miss out on teaching this upcoming school year so she had to leave a bit earlier. I met Karis my first week here in a “body pump” class at the gym. We quickly figured out that we had both actually heard of one another through our friends Jen and Amanda and that we had a lot in common – our faith, fitness, friends and Texas A&M…couldn’t come up with another “F”…oh…just thought of one – Fightin’ Texas Aggies!!! Saying good-bye brought me to tears but the great thing is that I know I will see her again. Karis gave me a hug and said “I’ll pray for God to send you a new friend right away”. So the same day Karis left I went to the gym and saw a girl wearing an A&M t-shirt and I thought “Oh GOD…you really are going to provide me another friend RIGHT AWAY!!!!” I thought WOW!!! Here she is! …so I went over and talked to her and found out she is STILL AT A&M!!!! She was here visiting her parents! OH MY!!! HOW FUNNY that I thought so highly of myself that a 19 year old would want to be my friend! HAHAHA! Seriously, I knew she was young but did not expect her to be THAT young! So I’m still looking!!! But it hit me today while I was praying for Mackenzie. When I took her to school this morning I found out that there are only 2 other girls in her class and I was just so sad for her. Then I thought about telling her this speech: You know Mackenzie there are times in your life when God is going to ask you to make sacrifices in order to complete His work in and through you. God teaches us to put others before ourselves. While I think it is certainly okay to pray for a good friend - perhaps we should first pray that God uses you to touch someone else’s life in a big way!” …HEEEELLLLLLLOOOOOOO!!!! Right back at me!!!! So THAT is now my prayer…Lord, show me someone that I need to serve!
Aussie vocabulary:
We were at Bible study with our small group and the man leading it was about to call on a woman to answer a question and said, “Oh…the baby is on the T_T!” My mouth dropped and I am sure the expression on my face said it all. Can you even fathom Pastor Graham or any of the ministers at Prestonwood saying that??!!! Unbelievable!
I am not sure I have mentioned this before or not but here you don’t ask for a restroom or a bathroom. You have to ask, “Where are your toilets?” For whatever reason I can’t do it. I think it sounds so “un-lady like”. I have also asked my children not to conform to the “aussie way” but when they ask for a bathroom or restroom, people don’t seem to know what they are saying. I just imagine my kids coming back home and asking for the “toilet” and people thinking what rude children we have!
The other day the girls and I we were waiting to be seated at the Blue Duck and the lady says, “It won’t be but a tick”. Hmmm…took me a second to process but I got it.
The other day Kennedy got in the car and asked, “How are you going?” Slowly but surely they are becoming “aussie-fied”.
Precious times with the boys:
I am so blessed to have had such amazing times with kids since being here. One great thing about life here is that it is at a much slower pace. Therefore, I don’t miss these precious moments because I am going 90 miles an hour! I also love that we can’t use cell phones in the car because otherwise I would miss some really funny yet wise conversations that go on in the backseat. The other day Reid told Luke, “God is sooo rich!” and Luke’s response was “Yeah…and he shares it all with us!” What wisdom from a 4 and 5 year old!
I have to tell you about an incredible moment with sweet Luke. I know I am biased but he is so stinkin cute…so sweet…so precious!!! It was late one night and he stumbled into our bedroom with “ball ball” blanket in hand. I am pretty sure he was sleepwalking. He asked if I could come lay down beside him. I have to admit in a much faster paced life I would have been too tired to find the joy in that moment. So I said sure and then he asked if I could rub his back. Of course I would rub his back. So we walked to his bedroom and I met all his sweet little requests and then he says, “Now mommy, will you sing to me? Will you sing “Lullaby?” I was so moved I started to cry…but I was laughing at the same time because he was so out of it. He had the biggest grin on his face as I sang and then he said “I love you mommy!” I could cry again just thinking about it!!!
One morning Reid got up earlier than the rest of the kids and found me coloring my roots. Lovely!!! So he started asking me a lot of questions like “Why are you coloring your hair?”, which led to a discussion of what genes are vs. the jeans you wear. This went on for about 5 minutes or so and then there was total silence for a good 30 seconds. Then Reid said, “I guess, then, GOD wanted you to have grey hair!” and walked off! I wanted to say “But (something)!”…but I was taken back for a minute. What do you say to that? I got over it real quick and went on with my coloring job and concluded that God really wants me to use the color that HE gave someone out there the wisdom to make! But it was such a fitting comment that really goes along with what God has been teaching me lately. We have just gone through our first winter in Perth and let me tell you - we were NOT prepared for how much it would RAIN! It was a bit challenging since the girls were out of school for their “summer/winter” vacation during this time and we found ourselves stuck inside a lot! We would talk to people back home and hear the problem was quite the opposite…temperatures over 100 degrees day after day causing everyone at home to be stuck inside as well. SO while we were here wishing for warmer weather and sunny skies, people back home were hoping for some relief from the heat. In Philippians 4:11 Paul said he had learned to be content, whatever the circumstances – whether in need or to have plenty, whether well fed or hungry. I just want to be satisfied in the moment. I think back over the last 7 weeks and realize I really did enjoy waking up to the sound of rain. Knowing we really had nowhere to be at any specific time (a blessing within itself) I would just lie in my bed, pray and read. One morning I actually laid in bed until I finished the second book in the series “Mark of the Lion” by Francine Rivers! I have NEVER done that! The kids slept in later because it was dark outside and the cold temperature kept them all snug in their beds! So while I am not ready to embrace grey hair, I AM going to be content that there is the option of coloring and thankful that I have hair to color! I am ALSO going to be content with the winter weather we have left in Perth knowing that it needs to rain so we have enough water during the 9 months it doesn’t rain! We have also caught ourselves dreaming of our return back to the US, wondering where we are going to live (what restaurants will be nearby…ha-ha) and sadly enough I have dreamed of the house I will live in when we return (especially the kitchen!!!). I have expressed my feeling about this house to many of you and while it is not my favorite house, it is “home” for now. Clint and I have often (jokingly) said we sure hope this isn’t God preparing us for a mud hut in Africa, which was home to my sister Shauna and her husband Peter for 2 years!!!! I really have a new respect for them and the sacrifices they made while serving the Sudanese people, although I bet they wouldn’t even call it a sacrifice. 39A Connolly is not a mud hut by any stretch of the imagination but for now it is my “mud hut” and God is teaching me to be content in all circumstances. Thank you God for this house…thank you that sweet Mrs. Angela lives next door and that my kids bring her so much joy since her own husband doesn’t even know who she is most days!...thank you that we have not had to buy a second car because Clint can take the bus to work…thank you that we did not have to buy a refrigerator, washer/dryer and televisions because this house came with them! Thank you that had we not moved into this particular house I would not have had a gym membership at the Fitness First in Subiaco where I met my precious friend, Karis! There are so many reasons to be thankful for 39A Connolly!!!! SO hold me accountable sweet friends. And come December when it is 40 degrees Celsius, stop me from complaining about the heat! Yes, Candi Smith is going to be content in any and all circumstances! (Oh Lord, here’s where the devil comes in…keep me strong!)
The following week I went to Angie Junker’s house to learn how to make an authentic Venezuelan meal for Clint for Father’s Day. This was a meal we had a few months ago at Tom and Angie’s and we thoroughly enjoyed it. So after an afternoon of cooking I was carrying everything to the car. It was pouring down rain and as I was going down the stairs outside I slipped and ATE IT!!!! It was one of those pains that nearly caused me to pass out. I guess the reason why I ended up getting hurt so bad is that I somehow broke the fall with various parts of my body in efforts to save the meal I had just spent hours learning to make. It is really amazing that I did not break my arm AND leg! The next day I was so black and blue down one side of my body. I did not want to tell Clint where I was and what happened so that I did not ruin the surprise “Fathers Day” meal so he was very confused as to how in the world I hurt myself so badly. Father’s Day weekend was one Clint will never forget, or any of us for that matter. We drove to Lancelin, which is about 1 ½ hours from Perth, to go sand boarding. TOO MUCH FUN!!!! It was extremely exhilarating. I am not sure the pictures do it justice! At times it really felt like the Prado was going to flip over. We were all screaming like we were on a roller coaster. Apparently this crazy adventure has left its’ mark on our car…there will always be a layer of sand on the dash board! Clint enjoyed his surprise Father’s Day meal and his gift, which was “barbeque school” with the “Urban Griller”! Clint is lucky that he will actually get to celebrate Father’s Day twice this year since Australians celebrate it in September.
Cassidy turned 20 on June 25th so we had a birthday party at McDonalds! I felt I had to explain as you might be shocked to find pictures of my family eating at McDonalds. I am sure you knew there had to be some explanation for the madness. Well, honestly…in a way, I was glad to have an excuse to eat there…but shhhh don’t tell anyone! We gave Cassidy Dr. Pepper for her birthday…a real treat here in Perth!
The next weekend we drove north hoping to escape the rain. We have learned that Perth winters are very wet! We stopped at a place called the Pinnacles on our way to Kalbarri, which is about 3 hours north of Perth. It's believed the Pinnacles were created millions of years ago as seashells were broken down into sand and then eroded by water and wind. It was a beautiful site!! We continued on our journey four more hours to Kalbarri. We arrived at our “resort”…maybe what Western Australians call a “resort” but let’s just say it was NOT the Westin. You will not find 4 and 5 star resorts that I am embarrassed to say we have become accustomed to staying at on vacation. Sure, they call it a resort…even luxurious; they even call some places a “chalet”…sounds glorious doesn’t it??!! Our luxurious 4 star resort was straight out of a Chevy Chase vacation movie. Notice the picture of the pool in the slide show and you will get an idea of what I am talking about. However, after the initial shock we made it “home” for the next three days. Kalbarri was definitely what I pictured Australia to look like before we actually made this country our “home”. We did a lot of hiking with Kennedy leading the pack most of the way! For the most part, the rain cooperated with us and when it didn’t, we simply got wet! I loved watching the kids roll up their britches, build waterfalls out of rocks and simply enjoy nature! No TV, no computer, no IPODS…very nice! There had been so much rain that the roads leading to one of the best hikes in Kalbarri National Park was closed. We also found many things closed due to strong winds. We were thankful that we were able to do the “Canoe Safari”. It was a great time. We canoed for about 45 minutes and then stopped for “brekkie” on the bank of the river. We had cereal eggs, toast, baked beans and vegemite!!! Okay, so not ALL of us had vegemite! This is where the $10 buck dare began. A couple of years ago and when I was in Colorado visiting my friends, the Klaus family, they introduced me to this simple but funny, daring game. So we “$10 bucked” anyone to eat a piece of toast with vegemite! So Rachel, Cassidy and Mackenzie took on the dare. Cassidy gave up after smelling it, Rachel took one bite and spit it out but Mackenzie was so determined to do it since she is saving for a Kindle, that she got half of a piece of bread down but started gagging as if she was about to vomit and called it quits. It only made sense to her that she earned $5 since she ate half of the toast! After breakfast the girls asked where the restrooms were. HA! So the girls and I had a lovely Mother Daughter moment. We snuck off, stood in a circle, dropped our pants and squatted! Lovely! The girls thought it was hilarious! I guess in our case, you can take the girl out of the Westin AND you CAN take the Westin out of the girl! We loaded back in our canoe, with Clint reminding me along the way that he did take canoeing in college! We also reminisced about our first canoe experience when we were in college. I moved to Hawaii for the summer and he saved his money to come visit. I surprised him with a short trip to Kauai. We canoed to this place called “Fern Grotto”. After that excursion it is a wonder that we ever even got married!!! I think that was the summer right after he took canoeing so he WAS the expert!
We got up fairly early the next day, which is necessary for 10 people sharing one bathroom, to go see the Pelican feeding. I guess only one Pelican was hungry that day as that was all that showed up. We packed up all of our wet clothes and shoes and started the seven hour journey home. I was looking forward to our king size, therapeutic mattress! We had a great time in Kalbarri, saw some incredible sites and did some great hiking. I found it humorous that when we walked in the door of the house in Perth we all went our separate ways until morning. Unfortunately, Rachel and Samantha’s birthday fell that day but we decided to celebrate it on the 29th in the U.S.! I made one of their favorite meals, Kristine and Cassidy baked a cake (it was far better than the one I bought!) and Rachel and Samantha received their very own Camelbacks (for those of you who don’t know…it is a “BPA free” water bottle and all 6 of us are proud owners). I actually have two different sizes! It is my déjà blue water bottle replacement!
The following Friday was Mackenzie’s birthday. We carried on with the “ice cream for breakfast” tradition and then headed to Margaret River. You couldn’t miss us!! We were decked out in the most USA wear you’ve ever seen. My mom had sent us a box full of 4th of July stuff…shirts, hats, beads, shoe clips, tiaras, Uncle Sam hat, sun glasses and the list goes on and on. We had planned on attending the American Women of Perth 4th of July picnic (actually held on June 28th) but decided to head North to Kalbarri instead to escape the rain. I am sure we would have won the “costume contest”. So we wore all of the USA stuff to celebrate Mackenzie’s birthday…kinda her 9th bday theme! We decided to stay at the same place we did last time (in March). It is a really cute place and very comfortable for the 10 of us! We stayed in Margaret River for 2 nights and visited wineries, cheese factory, chocolate factory and did a lot of site seeing. One of my favorite things we did was “THE MAZE”. It was straight out of a “SURVIVOR” episode. We divided up into teams and tried to make our way through the maze. There were four platforms at each corner of the maze that you had to reach. Talk about a cardio workout!!! Unfortunately, Clint and I came in last! Bummer, huh??? Doesn’t sit well for two people that like to think they are still in their 20’s! I guess we just THINK we can still hang! Oh well, there is always next time! On July 4th we drove to Augusta and supposedly went to the place that is said to be the farthest point from Washington DC. Not sure if this is true but it is what we’ve been told and we are going with it since we drove 1 ½ hours just to get there! It is where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meet (who knew there was a Southern ocean??!!)! We stood proudly on top of this rock overlooking the ocean in our USA T-shirts, said the pledge of allegiance and sang the National Anthem. The next morning we left for Pemberton to go to the “TREE TOP WALK”. This was one of my favorite things we did. It was so beautiful…the trees were MASSIVE! Plus the drive to this area was INCREDIBLE! Much different than the previous weekend as far as the colors…this drive was very lush and green and last weekend we saw low brush and lots of brown. After the Tree Top walk we came across “Green’s Pool”…AMAZING! I can’t wait to go back there during the summer to swim. Who am I kidding??...I don’t swim in the ocean!!! It is way too cold for me!...I can’t wait to go lay out on the beach and watch the kids swim in the ocean! We were the only ones there and had fun doing relay races and handstands on the beach. I can still walk on my hands!!! That night we stayed at a very “interesting” place. It looked like a double-wide to me. It was funny to read the comments of previous guests in the “guest book” and quite concerning as well. Sooo many entries spoke of not having hot water. We were cold, wet and sandy…HOT water would be nice. Fortunately, we did not experience any problems at our “4 star luxurious chalet”. We played our last round of spades, a continuous tournament from the previous weekend. Samantha and I came out on top! The next day it was WINDY, COLD and RAINY! We had stopped to see a site called “The Natural Bridge” and it started POURING…so hard that my pants were SOAKED. We had to pull over and get dry clothes! One of Albany’s main attractions during this time of year is whale watching tours. Needless to say the whale watching tours were cancelled. However, we saw some amazing scenery in Albany but since the weather was really terrible we called it a day and headed back to Perth. We will definitely return to this area of the country and if we have any more visitors this would be a “MUST DO”!
We knew the next week would fly by as my sisters and Cassidy would be leaving in just over a week. We had a couple of things left on the list of things to do – one being “fish and chips” at Cottesloe Beach. So we had a wonderful afternoon in Cottesloe and then that night sisters and Cassidy offered to babysit. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed myself. We had an incredible meal at a place called the “Witches Cauldron”. Not sure I care for the name since I really don’t like the idea of witches and halloween…kinda creeps me out…but I pass this place every day on my way home from the gym and I have always wondered about it. It was INCREDIBLE! Then we went to see a movie, our first one since being in Perth! We shared the evening with our friends Steve and Stephanie…a very nice night indeed!
We finished up rabies shots for Kennedy and were very glad to have that behind us. We had "girls night out" and went to a gymnastics meet, with some of the Australian women's olympic team competing. I was in my "element". I just love the sport and really hoping it becomes Kennedy's passion. Wednesday came all too quickly and we said our good-byes to “The Aunts”, that is what the kids call them. I guess it is too much to say “Aunt Rachel, Aunt Samantha, Aunt Kristine and now Aunt Cassidy” so they just lump them all in one! It cracked me up on the canoe safari in Kalbarri when the director of the tour asked Kristine her name. Kennedy quickly answered for her and said, “It’s Aunt Kristine”. We are so thankful they came and that we got to be a part of their adventure.
We can cross going to a “footy” game off the list! You can actually see the stadium from our house. We had planned on walking since it is a pretty short walk. We got down the street and it started pouring so we turned around and got the car! Fortunately, we were able to find a parking spot. Have I explained how parking works here??....well, first of all they really don’t have parking lots. Most of the time we have to find places to park on the side of the road, which makes for quite a game of “Frogger” when driving around Perth. It is my goal to make it through our stay in Perth without getting a parking ticket. The other day I almost blew it. I was at “Farmer Jacks” (grocery store) and when you park in their tiny lot you have to park, walk to a ticket machine, go back to your car and place the ticket on the dashboard. I simply forgot! When I returned, this grumpy man told me he was in the process of writing me a ticket! Thankfully, he gave me a stern warning and let me go. Whew…that was a close one. So back to “footy”! First of all we were under the impression that we had box seats. (We later found out that the box seats were for rugby…bummer!) Also with our “box” seats we thought we would be getting free food, which we totally sold the kids on! Well, they weren’t box seats, it was pouring…I wish you could know what I meant by pouring!....and upon sitting down in our seats the man behind us screamed out the worst foul word you could possibly say in front of a woman. I turned around and simply said, “Wow…Kennedy cover your ears!!!!” The man got the hint and really did a great job of calling the players “girlies” instead for the rest of the evening. I thanked him upon leaving. He was super nice about it and I appreciated that! “Footy” – Australian Rules Football- is interesting and without knowing a thing about it you really can’t follow it. The ball looks like a funny shaped football…longer maybe and not quite as round. They do not wear any protective padding and it appears as if players can grab, punch, slap, shove, tackle and hit without getting penalized. It also looks like a cross between basketball, football and soccer. They have a goal post but it has 4 poles that go straight up that the players had to kick the ball between. They also “punch” the ball rather than pass it. Anyway, the kids were hungry, it was pouring, the language around us was terrible and we didn’t “get it” so we left! It was one of those things we felt we had to do while we were here and now that we have, don’t see a need to do it again…unless of course box seats and free food is involved!
Monday was a very cold and rainy day so I took the kids to see “Ice Age 3”…very fitting because that day it actually hailed so much that it looked like snow. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera. This doesn’t happen that often in WA so everyone was really excited about it. Mackenzie pointed out that she felt like we should be getting ready for Christmas!
The boys started back to school the following week which left the girls and me some time to do girlie things before they started back. Can’t think of anything girlier than going to see Hannah Montana! So that is what we did and we had the best time. We were the ONLY ones in the theatre so we sang…and we sang LOUD…we danced…we laughed! It wasn’t until the end of the movie that we realized that we actually had “company”. OOPS! The girls enjoyed getting pretty much anything they wanted that day and I had fun saying “yes” to everything…almost everything! They also wanted a repeat of “get everything we want for a day” on their last day of “winter” vacation. So we ate lunch at The Blue Duck on Cottesloe Beach and then went searching for seashells along the beach.
We experienced sadness this week as we had to say “good-bye” to our friend Karis. Tyson has to return for 6-8 more weeks but since Karis is a teacher she did not want to miss out on teaching this upcoming school year so she had to leave a bit earlier. I met Karis my first week here in a “body pump” class at the gym. We quickly figured out that we had both actually heard of one another through our friends Jen and Amanda and that we had a lot in common – our faith, fitness, friends and Texas A&M…couldn’t come up with another “F”…oh…just thought of one – Fightin’ Texas Aggies!!! Saying good-bye brought me to tears but the great thing is that I know I will see her again. Karis gave me a hug and said “I’ll pray for God to send you a new friend right away”. So the same day Karis left I went to the gym and saw a girl wearing an A&M t-shirt and I thought “Oh GOD…you really are going to provide me another friend RIGHT AWAY!!!!” I thought WOW!!! Here she is! …so I went over and talked to her and found out she is STILL AT A&M!!!! She was here visiting her parents! OH MY!!! HOW FUNNY that I thought so highly of myself that a 19 year old would want to be my friend! HAHAHA! Seriously, I knew she was young but did not expect her to be THAT young! So I’m still looking!!! But it hit me today while I was praying for Mackenzie. When I took her to school this morning I found out that there are only 2 other girls in her class and I was just so sad for her. Then I thought about telling her this speech: You know Mackenzie there are times in your life when God is going to ask you to make sacrifices in order to complete His work in and through you. God teaches us to put others before ourselves. While I think it is certainly okay to pray for a good friend - perhaps we should first pray that God uses you to touch someone else’s life in a big way!” …HEEEELLLLLLLOOOOOOO!!!! Right back at me!!!! So THAT is now my prayer…Lord, show me someone that I need to serve!
Aussie vocabulary:
We were at Bible study with our small group and the man leading it was about to call on a woman to answer a question and said, “Oh…the baby is on the T_T!” My mouth dropped and I am sure the expression on my face said it all. Can you even fathom Pastor Graham or any of the ministers at Prestonwood saying that??!!! Unbelievable!
I am not sure I have mentioned this before or not but here you don’t ask for a restroom or a bathroom. You have to ask, “Where are your toilets?” For whatever reason I can’t do it. I think it sounds so “un-lady like”. I have also asked my children not to conform to the “aussie way” but when they ask for a bathroom or restroom, people don’t seem to know what they are saying. I just imagine my kids coming back home and asking for the “toilet” and people thinking what rude children we have!
The other day the girls and I we were waiting to be seated at the Blue Duck and the lady says, “It won’t be but a tick”. Hmmm…took me a second to process but I got it.
The other day Kennedy got in the car and asked, “How are you going?” Slowly but surely they are becoming “aussie-fied”.
Precious times with the boys:
I am so blessed to have had such amazing times with kids since being here. One great thing about life here is that it is at a much slower pace. Therefore, I don’t miss these precious moments because I am going 90 miles an hour! I also love that we can’t use cell phones in the car because otherwise I would miss some really funny yet wise conversations that go on in the backseat. The other day Reid told Luke, “God is sooo rich!” and Luke’s response was “Yeah…and he shares it all with us!” What wisdom from a 4 and 5 year old!
I have to tell you about an incredible moment with sweet Luke. I know I am biased but he is so stinkin cute…so sweet…so precious!!! It was late one night and he stumbled into our bedroom with “ball ball” blanket in hand. I am pretty sure he was sleepwalking. He asked if I could come lay down beside him. I have to admit in a much faster paced life I would have been too tired to find the joy in that moment. So I said sure and then he asked if I could rub his back. Of course I would rub his back. So we walked to his bedroom and I met all his sweet little requests and then he says, “Now mommy, will you sing to me? Will you sing “Lullaby?” I was so moved I started to cry…but I was laughing at the same time because he was so out of it. He had the biggest grin on his face as I sang and then he said “I love you mommy!” I could cry again just thinking about it!!!
One morning Reid got up earlier than the rest of the kids and found me coloring my roots. Lovely!!! So he started asking me a lot of questions like “Why are you coloring your hair?”, which led to a discussion of what genes are vs. the jeans you wear. This went on for about 5 minutes or so and then there was total silence for a good 30 seconds. Then Reid said, “I guess, then, GOD wanted you to have grey hair!” and walked off! I wanted to say “But (something)!”…but I was taken back for a minute. What do you say to that? I got over it real quick and went on with my coloring job and concluded that God really wants me to use the color that HE gave someone out there the wisdom to make! But it was such a fitting comment that really goes along with what God has been teaching me lately. We have just gone through our first winter in Perth and let me tell you - we were NOT prepared for how much it would RAIN! It was a bit challenging since the girls were out of school for their “summer/winter” vacation during this time and we found ourselves stuck inside a lot! We would talk to people back home and hear the problem was quite the opposite…temperatures over 100 degrees day after day causing everyone at home to be stuck inside as well. SO while we were here wishing for warmer weather and sunny skies, people back home were hoping for some relief from the heat. In Philippians 4:11 Paul said he had learned to be content, whatever the circumstances – whether in need or to have plenty, whether well fed or hungry. I just want to be satisfied in the moment. I think back over the last 7 weeks and realize I really did enjoy waking up to the sound of rain. Knowing we really had nowhere to be at any specific time (a blessing within itself) I would just lie in my bed, pray and read. One morning I actually laid in bed until I finished the second book in the series “Mark of the Lion” by Francine Rivers! I have NEVER done that! The kids slept in later because it was dark outside and the cold temperature kept them all snug in their beds! So while I am not ready to embrace grey hair, I AM going to be content that there is the option of coloring and thankful that I have hair to color! I am ALSO going to be content with the winter weather we have left in Perth knowing that it needs to rain so we have enough water during the 9 months it doesn’t rain! We have also caught ourselves dreaming of our return back to the US, wondering where we are going to live (what restaurants will be nearby…ha-ha) and sadly enough I have dreamed of the house I will live in when we return (especially the kitchen!!!). I have expressed my feeling about this house to many of you and while it is not my favorite house, it is “home” for now. Clint and I have often (jokingly) said we sure hope this isn’t God preparing us for a mud hut in Africa, which was home to my sister Shauna and her husband Peter for 2 years!!!! I really have a new respect for them and the sacrifices they made while serving the Sudanese people, although I bet they wouldn’t even call it a sacrifice. 39A Connolly is not a mud hut by any stretch of the imagination but for now it is my “mud hut” and God is teaching me to be content in all circumstances. Thank you God for this house…thank you that sweet Mrs. Angela lives next door and that my kids bring her so much joy since her own husband doesn’t even know who she is most days!...thank you that we have not had to buy a second car because Clint can take the bus to work…thank you that we did not have to buy a refrigerator, washer/dryer and televisions because this house came with them! Thank you that had we not moved into this particular house I would not have had a gym membership at the Fitness First in Subiaco where I met my precious friend, Karis! There are so many reasons to be thankful for 39A Connolly!!!! SO hold me accountable sweet friends. And come December when it is 40 degrees Celsius, stop me from complaining about the heat! Yes, Candi Smith is going to be content in any and all circumstances! (Oh Lord, here’s where the devil comes in…keep me strong!)
Friday, June 12, 2009
May 2009
I am sitting on the airplane headed to Bali and it has the feel of a Funjet Vacation charter headed from Houston to Cancun. There is a large group of Victoria AFL supporters all wearing matching shirts and drinking a lot…A LOT of alcohol. I have to say the longer we’ve been here the more disgusted we have become with the overuse and misuse of alcohol. It is really quite disturbing to me. I can’t believe we are going to Bali. About 10 years ago we planned a honeymoon for a co-worker to Bali. It was quite an expensive trip and I remember thinking how exotic it sounded and here we are, on our way. Who knew??!!! For Australians it is like going to Mexico. It is a shorter and cheaper flight for us to fly to Bali than Sydney.
SOCIAL LIFE:
The month of May proved to be a very “social” month. One of the first days of the month I called Clint and left a message that I was having such a great day. I met a new friend, Machelle, for morning tea, had lunch with Ragan (another new friend) and got a call from Karis that she wanted to come over the “play” that afternoon. In addition, I was driving down the highway along the beach and feeling very blessed that I get to see the ocean every day. I am so grateful how God has brought each of these people into my life in such weird random ways. I got an email from Marybeth Rubinacci with Machelle’s contact information. I’m so glad I made the effort to get in touch with her. She is an amazing person with such an interesting and wonderful testimony. Through this experience we may have found Luke’s wife. Machelle’s daughter Phoebe is absolutely precious and she and Luke played so well together that first morning we met. Thankfully, Luke is use to Kennedy making him play all sorts of things and he went along with whatever Phoebe wanted to do. They had a “tea” party on the trampoline and while she dressed up as a princess, Luke put on a Buzz Lightyear costume. Our families got together one Friday night and we enjoyed sharing stories about our lives in the US and comparing it to life in Australia. Machelle and Chris are Australian but lived in Chicago for 4 years and absolutely loved their experience there. Machelle has introduced me to the THERMOMIX. It is this crazy cooking machine that makes everything you can imagine. She makes her on butter, mayonnaise, grinds her own sugar, wheat, etc…. Her kids haven’t had a preservative (at her house) in YEARS! Of course I became extremely interested but this fancy machine costs $2K and fortunately Clint is off the hook because the voltage won’t work in the US. BUMMER! The thermomix has become somewhat of a joke now but oh, how I would LOVE to have one. It is amazing. So that night she made the entire meal in the thermomix. We had INDIAN food. It was really good. The kids were so gracious…Luke even said, “This is DELICIOUS!” in the middle of dinner. WOW! Proud Mommy!!!
We went bowling with Steve and Stephanie and had such a great time. Some of you have noticed that, at times, we have a “divided household” and it is even obvious in the game of bowling! You will see a picture of the scores from that night and Luke and Kennedy almost had the same score and Mackenzie and Reid were just 2 points apart. I don’t want to embarrass Clint but my score fell in line with Luke and Kennedy’s! We’ve always been told that Kennedy and Luke resemble my side of the family and Mackenzie and Reid resemble Clint’s side. Clint and I see it in all types of situations - what they eat, attitudes, personalities, quirks, preferences, etc. Clint likes to call “his team” the adventurous ones and “my team” the sleepyheads! I hardly think this fits! Last night I expressed my dismay over being given the name “sleepyheads”. He said it was just a polite way of saying “the boring ones”. HA! Luke and Kennedy boring!?! Maybe he needs a refresher – I think a full day alone with the two of them would do the trick. And this is what I get after bungee jumping, scuba diving and moving across the WORLD! BORING??? HA!
Another social event we attended this month was QUIZ night at the church. QUIZ nights are very popular here. This particular one was raising money to put African kids through school. I didn’t know the answer to one single question but it was certainly an experience. Clint knew the answer to two questions in the Bible category so at least he was able to contribute! We went with Tyson and Karis and a few of their friends from their “small group” at church. Again, we found it interesting to see bottles of wine on the tables for a church function. We joined a “small group” at the church as well; but honestly it is a really hard thing for us. It is on a Saturday afternoon at 2pm we find it hard to concentrate on a lesson with 12+ kids running around.
My friend Stephanie and I started a Supper Club this month, with the first one held at Stephanie and Steve’s house. It’s a bit smaller than the supper club we started in Cypress, especially with all the kids. It makes me so happy that the group in Cypress is still together! When we were packing up the house I came across the kid predictions we did at one of the supper clubs. There are 16 kids between the original group…can’t remember who but one of the guys predicted 19 kids…someone better start having some babies!!! Our supper club has only 6 kids, 4 of which are ours. But Steve and Stephanie are expecting so our numbers will grow to 7 in November.
Right before leaving for Bali we had the Meiers and the Posells over for dinner to thank them for helping us with our transition upon arriving in Perth. We had Clint’s yummy fajitas - chicken AND BEEF! We were able to find a butcher that knew what “skirt steak” is and he ordered it special for us. These were the best BEEF fajitas Clint has EVER made. What a treat!
MOTHER’S DAY:
Mother’s Day was extremely special for me this year. Clint and the kids made me feel so loved! They were super excited to give me their gifts. All of them made me something at school. Luke made me a tea cup, Reid decorated flip flops (so painful to wear but I wore them with pride…the little stars were cutting into the side of my feet and literally taking off the skin – OUCH!), Kennedy made me coupons and Mackenzie made me a clay pot, which I put my rings in, and a bracelet. They ran into our bedroom and yelled “Surprise, Happy Mother’s Day!!” They jumped in bed with us and showered me with gifts. They also got me a kettle and a tea pot. I can’t believe that I wanted a kettle AND that I actually use it. Yes, things are a changin’ in the Smith household. “Afternoon” tea has become the norm. When we first moved here I saw the “biscuits” at the store but refused to buy them since they were just hard cookies. I am a soft cookie type and the only cookie in my world is a chocolate chip one. But with the tea comes biscuits and so if you opened the pantry you would find 2 large family packs of Australian “biscuits”. After we talked to our moms back home we went to church and then spent the afternoon at Kings Park with Kyle and Ragan and their two kids, Chase and Taylor. Kyle works with Clint and I met them at the party I spoke about in my last blog post. Kings Park was filled…and I mean FILLED with families sitting around on blankets and sharing a meal together. It was absolutely beautiful. Take a look at the pictures…it truly gave me chills to see it. I think this year was probably the BEST Mother’s Day yet! I am so thankful for the gift of Motherhood. It is my hope that one day my kids can say that, to them, I was the “Proverbs 31 Woman”.
EXPERIENCING DIFFERENT CULTURES:
The month of May proved to be a very cultural month for the Smith family. We tried Indian and Thai food, attended the “Spanish Flameca” at the International School and International Day at the boy’s Australian public school. A bunch of the moms at Reid and Luke’s school laughed at how ironic it was that the American lady made the Australian dish for International Day. Unfortunately, the USA did not even have a “booth” at International Day. I made Lamingtons for Reid’s class, or should I say “WE”, for International Day and they were very good. It was one of those things that I told Clint “it shouldn’t be that hard”…I mean the school provided all the ingredients…all we had to do was dip the cake in chocolate and roll in coconut. It was the night of the American Idol Finale (yea Kris Allen!! And we also loved Danny!...we were NOT Adam fans!) and of course I waited until after the show to start the Lamingtons. We ran out of ingredients before we even got all the cake dipped and keep in mind stores close at 5pm. I managed to find some stuff in the pantry that would work and I think we finally made it to bed by midnight with Clint reminding me “it shouldn’t be that hard!” Last Christmas we had an Australian themed Christmas Party in Prosper. I think someone even made these for the party. It is funny now to think back at what we made. Some of the dishes were right on but from our experience so far we should have all made some sort of Asian dish and then it would be exactly what you find in Perth. Reid absolutely LOVES Lamingtons! While I am thrilled with the kids trying new things and my diet has also improved to include onions, bell peppers, etc., none of us can stomach VEGEMITE! I have to “tip my hat” to the boys because at least they have tried it (at school)! I can’t get past the look or the smell. It looks like tar and there is nothing I can think of that I could compare the smell to. Evidently, Australians start giving this to their kids at a very young age and it is pretty much a staple…perhaps like our peanut butter. Vegemite is a dark brown food paste made from yeast extract, used mainly as a spread on sandwiches, toast and “biscuits”. For the International Day Reid’s class made “bush walker hats”. They took corks from wine bottles tie them on a string and place them around the brim of the hat. Australians wear these when walking in the “bush” to get rid of the flies in their face. All you have to do is shake your head from side to side and the flies leave you alone. Pictures are on the slideshow.
MISCELLANEOUS:
This month we also started extra-curricular activities. Mackenzie and Luke are taking swim lessons, Reid is taking Karate and Kennedy is doing gymnastics. The place where Kennedy is doing gymnastics reminds me so much of my first gym, TWISTERS, in Hattiesburg. Kennedy has been moved up to advanced and still amazes us with how strong she is. Mackenzie and Luke are learning proper techniques for swimming although they were adamant that they already knew how to swim. Australia is a great place for them to take swim lessons! I think Reid has already lost interest in karate. Glad I didn’t buy the outfit!
Clint and I celebrated 14 years of marriage on May 27th. We got “take-away” from Wagamama, which has to be our favorite restaurant in Perth. Clint gave me a new water bottle. Many of you have asked me about my water situation. No, I have not had a déjà blue water since January 27th. Within a few weeks we bought a water filter and the blue water bottle has been replaced with the “black camelbak”. It is too big for the water holder on my bike so I am also the proud owner of a red camelbak. You guys may find it humorous that I am leaving my mark on Perth. Several of my friends are now the proud owners of “camelbaks” and they even take it to restaurants too!
Sweet Luke is so precious to his mommy. One day after working out, we were getting in the car and I thanked him for going to the gym with me. His response, “Sure mom, anytime!” LOVE THAT!
I started the Ester study by Beth Moore this month and it is perfect. So many of my friends back home have recommended it and once I found out I could view the talks online I asked my mom to send me the book. There is a verse in Ester that says, “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” I am not considered “royalty” in the eyes of the world but right here, right now I represent the KING. Beth pointed out that in Acts 17:26 God “determined the times set for (us) and the exact places that (we) should live”. I know God has a purpose for us being here, some of those have already been revealed. I pray I represent the KING well to those living here in Australia. It is so comforting to me to know that God orchestrates every detail of my life. I love how when you are going through something and once on the other side of it, you can see how HIS hand was on the situation all along. For example, a year before we actually got the assignment to move to Australia, the job was open but Clint was not chosen for the job. It was in that year that Kennedy was diagnosed with scoliosis and we were able to get treatment for her at Scottish Rite Hospital. God’s perfect timing! Ephesians 1:11 says “In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will.” Another example of God’s perfect timing has to do with my company. Last year was the busiest year we have ever had. There is no way I could have left Rachele and Marletta to handle all the business we had last year. With the downturn of the economy my company has lost a lot of business yet with me here, it is probably for the best. In addition, I know that He has brought certain people in our lives here in Australia, that had the timing been different we would not have had the same “God designed” experiences. God has revealed so many things about the perfect timing of this adventure. I would like to share one more interesting point about his timing. Remember how we signed the contract for our house at 4pm on our last day in Prosper! WOW! Well, had the sale of the house gone through any earlier we very well might not be in this house. You see, we chose this house thinking we would be paying a mortgage back home. We did not want to stretch ourselves in out of pocket expenses and this house seemed to be the best choice considering the expected financial situation. Many of you know that this is NOT my “favorite” house but “I know” (NOT “who knows”!!! - for those of you who have done the study) that we are here for “such a time as this”. I am so grateful that HE is in control.
BALI:
The adventure started at the airport. I was in the bookstore and all of a sudden I heard a child screaming and I recognized the scream…LUKE! I ran out and with bloody tissue in hand Clint says, “We were just playing”. Luke had hit his top front tooth (the one that is left!) on the chair. Yep, this one is going to die too…it is now very loose and appears to be turning grey. But the fun was just getting started! What an amazing trip! After enjoying the most extravagant breakfast EVER (can’t say I have ever had baked beans and fried rice for breakfast), we spent the first day relaxing by the pool. For the first time since we’ve been gone I was able to get in the pool without turning blue. It was HOT! The kids enjoyed the waterslide for 7 hours straight!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are wondering if complete exhaustion was the reason for Luke’s vomiting that night. This was a first for us to have a sick kid on vacation. I was emailing back and forth with a friend from Houston and she said that her family has never had a vacation where one of the kids wasn’t sick. So I feel very blessed that this was a first and we definitely did not let it ruin our trip. The next day Luke wasn’t feeling great but he was a trooper. More than anything I think he was weak from not eating. We had a driver for the entire day, our first stop being “Monkey Forest”. Little did we know that this little adventure would create quite a scare for us. The monkeys are incredibly friendly and quite smart. You will see a picture of one that jumped on Clint’s back and started unzipping his backpack because that monkey knew where the bananas were. They were so cute, especially the babies. We had to keep getting on to Kennedy as she was getting too close and was teasing them with the bananas until one bit her. We immediately cleaned it with hand sanitizer and while she did cry, we thought it was because Clint got firm with her about getting too close. Honestly, we really didn’t know she got bit…we just thought it scratched her. But, the next day she had a huge bruise on her leg and asked her what happened and that is when she told us the monkey bit her. Honestly I was not all that concerned until we got back to Perth. I mentioned what happened to a friend and she told her when her son got bit in Thailand that he had to have a series of rabies shots. By that afternoon I was on the phone with the health department and they said it was unlikely that she would get rabies but there have been cases of rabies in Bali, but in dogs. They encouraged me to see a doctor in order to make a decision. I saw my friend Loraine at the school Monday morning and her husband is a pediatrician. She phoned him immediately after I explained what had happened and within hours we were at the ER getting the first rounds of the vaccine. We prayed about it and really felt that she was fine, but we simply couldn’t take a chance. I was told that if she were to get rabies she would die. Not a chance I was willing to take. Since then she has had one more round of the shots with 3 more to go. She is such a trooper and hardly BORING! After monkey forest we went shopping, which we rarely do on vacation. However, it is really inexpensive and I want to bring back things to remind me of this adventure. I bought salt and pepper shakers, dipping bowls and a platter made out of cinnamon. After shopping we went to HARD ROCK CAFÉ! I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful it was to eat American food. We had to go all the way to BALI to get it but it was well worth it! It was also nice to let the kids get their own things and not have to share. We went to a Circle K and got 6 bottles of water and a coke for $2.20. Very nice. The next day the kids and I stayed at the resort and Clint went diving. He was supposed to be gone from 10-1 and by 2pm Mackenzie started pacing. She was so worried about her daddy. She kept saying, “Mom, aren’t you worried? I mean think of what could happen to him out there!” Struggling with my own fears and concerns (not letting the kids know); she was just adding fuel to the fire. Finally, by 3:30 I had ENOUGH! Clint doesn’t know we did this but we went to the dive shop and were informed that they had just received a call from the boat and they were on their way in. When Clint returned he was pleased that I was so calm and relaxed…little did he know that we took that trip to the dive shop. Shhhh! Mackenzie sure gave him an earful! That night we went to an amazing restaurant – BUMBU BALI…authentic Balinese food. It was INCREDIBLE! The night was cut short as Luke threw up in the bathroom. The other kids were excited to report back to Clint the color of the vomit and by this point the entire restaurant knew what had happened. Clint could tell from the looks on their faces what they were about to announce and tried to stop them but they could not contain their amazement and pride in what their brother was able to produce! LOVELY! So after I cleaned the bathroom we left! Oh but it was such a great meal!! That night Kennedy threw up not only in her bed but in ours too! She came to tell us she had thrown up and wasn’t quite finished. What memories! The next day we went on the “Bali Safari”. We saw all kinds of amazing things…white tigers, zebras, cheetah, tigers, elephants, camels and even touched and held things like orangutans, turtles, puffer fish, etc. Clint got chosen to go up on stage for one of the shows and got kissed by an elephant. The kids were so proud of their daddy!!! That night Kennedy and Reid fell asleep at dinner.
Our final day we played up until the last second. The kids went down the slide “just one more time” until it was time to get ice cream for the last time. Usually by the last day of vacation I am excited to go home but whatever reason I did not have those feelings. I found it funny that for the first time all the kids were old enough to go into the Westin Kids Club and it was FREE, yet we did not use it one time. We enjoyed the kids and didn’t want to be without them! (Luke did enjoy his breakfast in the kids’ area each morning.) I guess that is an indication of a GREAT trip despite the dead tooth, vomiting and a monkey bite. I’m sure the housekeeping department was glad to see the Smiths leave. I find it so humorous that when leaving FOR Bali we were at the airport 3 hours early yet when leaving to go HOME we cut that time in ½. I think both of us were struggling with the fact that the “home” we were going back to really doesn’t feel like “home”. I’ve heard the saying “Home is where the heart is”…guess our hearts are with all of you! We love you all so much and miss you like crazy!
SOCIAL LIFE:
The month of May proved to be a very “social” month. One of the first days of the month I called Clint and left a message that I was having such a great day. I met a new friend, Machelle, for morning tea, had lunch with Ragan (another new friend) and got a call from Karis that she wanted to come over the “play” that afternoon. In addition, I was driving down the highway along the beach and feeling very blessed that I get to see the ocean every day. I am so grateful how God has brought each of these people into my life in such weird random ways. I got an email from Marybeth Rubinacci with Machelle’s contact information. I’m so glad I made the effort to get in touch with her. She is an amazing person with such an interesting and wonderful testimony. Through this experience we may have found Luke’s wife. Machelle’s daughter Phoebe is absolutely precious and she and Luke played so well together that first morning we met. Thankfully, Luke is use to Kennedy making him play all sorts of things and he went along with whatever Phoebe wanted to do. They had a “tea” party on the trampoline and while she dressed up as a princess, Luke put on a Buzz Lightyear costume. Our families got together one Friday night and we enjoyed sharing stories about our lives in the US and comparing it to life in Australia. Machelle and Chris are Australian but lived in Chicago for 4 years and absolutely loved their experience there. Machelle has introduced me to the THERMOMIX. It is this crazy cooking machine that makes everything you can imagine. She makes her on butter, mayonnaise, grinds her own sugar, wheat, etc…. Her kids haven’t had a preservative (at her house) in YEARS! Of course I became extremely interested but this fancy machine costs $2K and fortunately Clint is off the hook because the voltage won’t work in the US. BUMMER! The thermomix has become somewhat of a joke now but oh, how I would LOVE to have one. It is amazing. So that night she made the entire meal in the thermomix. We had INDIAN food. It was really good. The kids were so gracious…Luke even said, “This is DELICIOUS!” in the middle of dinner. WOW! Proud Mommy!!!
We went bowling with Steve and Stephanie and had such a great time. Some of you have noticed that, at times, we have a “divided household” and it is even obvious in the game of bowling! You will see a picture of the scores from that night and Luke and Kennedy almost had the same score and Mackenzie and Reid were just 2 points apart. I don’t want to embarrass Clint but my score fell in line with Luke and Kennedy’s! We’ve always been told that Kennedy and Luke resemble my side of the family and Mackenzie and Reid resemble Clint’s side. Clint and I see it in all types of situations - what they eat, attitudes, personalities, quirks, preferences, etc. Clint likes to call “his team” the adventurous ones and “my team” the sleepyheads! I hardly think this fits! Last night I expressed my dismay over being given the name “sleepyheads”. He said it was just a polite way of saying “the boring ones”. HA! Luke and Kennedy boring!?! Maybe he needs a refresher – I think a full day alone with the two of them would do the trick. And this is what I get after bungee jumping, scuba diving and moving across the WORLD! BORING??? HA!
Another social event we attended this month was QUIZ night at the church. QUIZ nights are very popular here. This particular one was raising money to put African kids through school. I didn’t know the answer to one single question but it was certainly an experience. Clint knew the answer to two questions in the Bible category so at least he was able to contribute! We went with Tyson and Karis and a few of their friends from their “small group” at church. Again, we found it interesting to see bottles of wine on the tables for a church function. We joined a “small group” at the church as well; but honestly it is a really hard thing for us. It is on a Saturday afternoon at 2pm we find it hard to concentrate on a lesson with 12+ kids running around.
My friend Stephanie and I started a Supper Club this month, with the first one held at Stephanie and Steve’s house. It’s a bit smaller than the supper club we started in Cypress, especially with all the kids. It makes me so happy that the group in Cypress is still together! When we were packing up the house I came across the kid predictions we did at one of the supper clubs. There are 16 kids between the original group…can’t remember who but one of the guys predicted 19 kids…someone better start having some babies!!! Our supper club has only 6 kids, 4 of which are ours. But Steve and Stephanie are expecting so our numbers will grow to 7 in November.
Right before leaving for Bali we had the Meiers and the Posells over for dinner to thank them for helping us with our transition upon arriving in Perth. We had Clint’s yummy fajitas - chicken AND BEEF! We were able to find a butcher that knew what “skirt steak” is and he ordered it special for us. These were the best BEEF fajitas Clint has EVER made. What a treat!
MOTHER’S DAY:
Mother’s Day was extremely special for me this year. Clint and the kids made me feel so loved! They were super excited to give me their gifts. All of them made me something at school. Luke made me a tea cup, Reid decorated flip flops (so painful to wear but I wore them with pride…the little stars were cutting into the side of my feet and literally taking off the skin – OUCH!), Kennedy made me coupons and Mackenzie made me a clay pot, which I put my rings in, and a bracelet. They ran into our bedroom and yelled “Surprise, Happy Mother’s Day!!” They jumped in bed with us and showered me with gifts. They also got me a kettle and a tea pot. I can’t believe that I wanted a kettle AND that I actually use it. Yes, things are a changin’ in the Smith household. “Afternoon” tea has become the norm. When we first moved here I saw the “biscuits” at the store but refused to buy them since they were just hard cookies. I am a soft cookie type and the only cookie in my world is a chocolate chip one. But with the tea comes biscuits and so if you opened the pantry you would find 2 large family packs of Australian “biscuits”. After we talked to our moms back home we went to church and then spent the afternoon at Kings Park with Kyle and Ragan and their two kids, Chase and Taylor. Kyle works with Clint and I met them at the party I spoke about in my last blog post. Kings Park was filled…and I mean FILLED with families sitting around on blankets and sharing a meal together. It was absolutely beautiful. Take a look at the pictures…it truly gave me chills to see it. I think this year was probably the BEST Mother’s Day yet! I am so thankful for the gift of Motherhood. It is my hope that one day my kids can say that, to them, I was the “Proverbs 31 Woman”.
EXPERIENCING DIFFERENT CULTURES:
The month of May proved to be a very cultural month for the Smith family. We tried Indian and Thai food, attended the “Spanish Flameca” at the International School and International Day at the boy’s Australian public school. A bunch of the moms at Reid and Luke’s school laughed at how ironic it was that the American lady made the Australian dish for International Day. Unfortunately, the USA did not even have a “booth” at International Day. I made Lamingtons for Reid’s class, or should I say “WE”, for International Day and they were very good. It was one of those things that I told Clint “it shouldn’t be that hard”…I mean the school provided all the ingredients…all we had to do was dip the cake in chocolate and roll in coconut. It was the night of the American Idol Finale (yea Kris Allen!! And we also loved Danny!...we were NOT Adam fans!) and of course I waited until after the show to start the Lamingtons. We ran out of ingredients before we even got all the cake dipped and keep in mind stores close at 5pm. I managed to find some stuff in the pantry that would work and I think we finally made it to bed by midnight with Clint reminding me “it shouldn’t be that hard!” Last Christmas we had an Australian themed Christmas Party in Prosper. I think someone even made these for the party. It is funny now to think back at what we made. Some of the dishes were right on but from our experience so far we should have all made some sort of Asian dish and then it would be exactly what you find in Perth. Reid absolutely LOVES Lamingtons! While I am thrilled with the kids trying new things and my diet has also improved to include onions, bell peppers, etc., none of us can stomach VEGEMITE! I have to “tip my hat” to the boys because at least they have tried it (at school)! I can’t get past the look or the smell. It looks like tar and there is nothing I can think of that I could compare the smell to. Evidently, Australians start giving this to their kids at a very young age and it is pretty much a staple…perhaps like our peanut butter. Vegemite is a dark brown food paste made from yeast extract, used mainly as a spread on sandwiches, toast and “biscuits”. For the International Day Reid’s class made “bush walker hats”. They took corks from wine bottles tie them on a string and place them around the brim of the hat. Australians wear these when walking in the “bush” to get rid of the flies in their face. All you have to do is shake your head from side to side and the flies leave you alone. Pictures are on the slideshow.
MISCELLANEOUS:
This month we also started extra-curricular activities. Mackenzie and Luke are taking swim lessons, Reid is taking Karate and Kennedy is doing gymnastics. The place where Kennedy is doing gymnastics reminds me so much of my first gym, TWISTERS, in Hattiesburg. Kennedy has been moved up to advanced and still amazes us with how strong she is. Mackenzie and Luke are learning proper techniques for swimming although they were adamant that they already knew how to swim. Australia is a great place for them to take swim lessons! I think Reid has already lost interest in karate. Glad I didn’t buy the outfit!
Clint and I celebrated 14 years of marriage on May 27th. We got “take-away” from Wagamama, which has to be our favorite restaurant in Perth. Clint gave me a new water bottle. Many of you have asked me about my water situation. No, I have not had a déjà blue water since January 27th. Within a few weeks we bought a water filter and the blue water bottle has been replaced with the “black camelbak”. It is too big for the water holder on my bike so I am also the proud owner of a red camelbak. You guys may find it humorous that I am leaving my mark on Perth. Several of my friends are now the proud owners of “camelbaks” and they even take it to restaurants too!
Sweet Luke is so precious to his mommy. One day after working out, we were getting in the car and I thanked him for going to the gym with me. His response, “Sure mom, anytime!” LOVE THAT!
I started the Ester study by Beth Moore this month and it is perfect. So many of my friends back home have recommended it and once I found out I could view the talks online I asked my mom to send me the book. There is a verse in Ester that says, “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” I am not considered “royalty” in the eyes of the world but right here, right now I represent the KING. Beth pointed out that in Acts 17:26 God “determined the times set for (us) and the exact places that (we) should live”. I know God has a purpose for us being here, some of those have already been revealed. I pray I represent the KING well to those living here in Australia. It is so comforting to me to know that God orchestrates every detail of my life. I love how when you are going through something and once on the other side of it, you can see how HIS hand was on the situation all along. For example, a year before we actually got the assignment to move to Australia, the job was open but Clint was not chosen for the job. It was in that year that Kennedy was diagnosed with scoliosis and we were able to get treatment for her at Scottish Rite Hospital. God’s perfect timing! Ephesians 1:11 says “In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will.” Another example of God’s perfect timing has to do with my company. Last year was the busiest year we have ever had. There is no way I could have left Rachele and Marletta to handle all the business we had last year. With the downturn of the economy my company has lost a lot of business yet with me here, it is probably for the best. In addition, I know that He has brought certain people in our lives here in Australia, that had the timing been different we would not have had the same “God designed” experiences. God has revealed so many things about the perfect timing of this adventure. I would like to share one more interesting point about his timing. Remember how we signed the contract for our house at 4pm on our last day in Prosper! WOW! Well, had the sale of the house gone through any earlier we very well might not be in this house. You see, we chose this house thinking we would be paying a mortgage back home. We did not want to stretch ourselves in out of pocket expenses and this house seemed to be the best choice considering the expected financial situation. Many of you know that this is NOT my “favorite” house but “I know” (NOT “who knows”!!! - for those of you who have done the study) that we are here for “such a time as this”. I am so grateful that HE is in control.
BALI:
The adventure started at the airport. I was in the bookstore and all of a sudden I heard a child screaming and I recognized the scream…LUKE! I ran out and with bloody tissue in hand Clint says, “We were just playing”. Luke had hit his top front tooth (the one that is left!) on the chair. Yep, this one is going to die too…it is now very loose and appears to be turning grey. But the fun was just getting started! What an amazing trip! After enjoying the most extravagant breakfast EVER (can’t say I have ever had baked beans and fried rice for breakfast), we spent the first day relaxing by the pool. For the first time since we’ve been gone I was able to get in the pool without turning blue. It was HOT! The kids enjoyed the waterslide for 7 hours straight!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are wondering if complete exhaustion was the reason for Luke’s vomiting that night. This was a first for us to have a sick kid on vacation. I was emailing back and forth with a friend from Houston and she said that her family has never had a vacation where one of the kids wasn’t sick. So I feel very blessed that this was a first and we definitely did not let it ruin our trip. The next day Luke wasn’t feeling great but he was a trooper. More than anything I think he was weak from not eating. We had a driver for the entire day, our first stop being “Monkey Forest”. Little did we know that this little adventure would create quite a scare for us. The monkeys are incredibly friendly and quite smart. You will see a picture of one that jumped on Clint’s back and started unzipping his backpack because that monkey knew where the bananas were. They were so cute, especially the babies. We had to keep getting on to Kennedy as she was getting too close and was teasing them with the bananas until one bit her. We immediately cleaned it with hand sanitizer and while she did cry, we thought it was because Clint got firm with her about getting too close. Honestly, we really didn’t know she got bit…we just thought it scratched her. But, the next day she had a huge bruise on her leg and asked her what happened and that is when she told us the monkey bit her. Honestly I was not all that concerned until we got back to Perth. I mentioned what happened to a friend and she told her when her son got bit in Thailand that he had to have a series of rabies shots. By that afternoon I was on the phone with the health department and they said it was unlikely that she would get rabies but there have been cases of rabies in Bali, but in dogs. They encouraged me to see a doctor in order to make a decision. I saw my friend Loraine at the school Monday morning and her husband is a pediatrician. She phoned him immediately after I explained what had happened and within hours we were at the ER getting the first rounds of the vaccine. We prayed about it and really felt that she was fine, but we simply couldn’t take a chance. I was told that if she were to get rabies she would die. Not a chance I was willing to take. Since then she has had one more round of the shots with 3 more to go. She is such a trooper and hardly BORING! After monkey forest we went shopping, which we rarely do on vacation. However, it is really inexpensive and I want to bring back things to remind me of this adventure. I bought salt and pepper shakers, dipping bowls and a platter made out of cinnamon. After shopping we went to HARD ROCK CAFÉ! I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful it was to eat American food. We had to go all the way to BALI to get it but it was well worth it! It was also nice to let the kids get their own things and not have to share. We went to a Circle K and got 6 bottles of water and a coke for $2.20. Very nice. The next day the kids and I stayed at the resort and Clint went diving. He was supposed to be gone from 10-1 and by 2pm Mackenzie started pacing. She was so worried about her daddy. She kept saying, “Mom, aren’t you worried? I mean think of what could happen to him out there!” Struggling with my own fears and concerns (not letting the kids know); she was just adding fuel to the fire. Finally, by 3:30 I had ENOUGH! Clint doesn’t know we did this but we went to the dive shop and were informed that they had just received a call from the boat and they were on their way in. When Clint returned he was pleased that I was so calm and relaxed…little did he know that we took that trip to the dive shop. Shhhh! Mackenzie sure gave him an earful! That night we went to an amazing restaurant – BUMBU BALI…authentic Balinese food. It was INCREDIBLE! The night was cut short as Luke threw up in the bathroom. The other kids were excited to report back to Clint the color of the vomit and by this point the entire restaurant knew what had happened. Clint could tell from the looks on their faces what they were about to announce and tried to stop them but they could not contain their amazement and pride in what their brother was able to produce! LOVELY! So after I cleaned the bathroom we left! Oh but it was such a great meal!! That night Kennedy threw up not only in her bed but in ours too! She came to tell us she had thrown up and wasn’t quite finished. What memories! The next day we went on the “Bali Safari”. We saw all kinds of amazing things…white tigers, zebras, cheetah, tigers, elephants, camels and even touched and held things like orangutans, turtles, puffer fish, etc. Clint got chosen to go up on stage for one of the shows and got kissed by an elephant. The kids were so proud of their daddy!!! That night Kennedy and Reid fell asleep at dinner.
Our final day we played up until the last second. The kids went down the slide “just one more time” until it was time to get ice cream for the last time. Usually by the last day of vacation I am excited to go home but whatever reason I did not have those feelings. I found it funny that for the first time all the kids were old enough to go into the Westin Kids Club and it was FREE, yet we did not use it one time. We enjoyed the kids and didn’t want to be without them! (Luke did enjoy his breakfast in the kids’ area each morning.) I guess that is an indication of a GREAT trip despite the dead tooth, vomiting and a monkey bite. I’m sure the housekeeping department was glad to see the Smiths leave. I find it so humorous that when leaving FOR Bali we were at the airport 3 hours early yet when leaving to go HOME we cut that time in ½. I think both of us were struggling with the fact that the “home” we were going back to really doesn’t feel like “home”. I’ve heard the saying “Home is where the heart is”…guess our hearts are with all of you! We love you all so much and miss you like crazy!
Friday, May 8, 2009
April 2009
April 2009
What a month! The girls had a little over a week off and the boys had 2 ½ weeks off and we had two holidays…EASTER and ANZAC Day (Australia/New Zealand Army Corps). It felt like we were on summer vacation already. Here, the school year is divided up into terms. There are four 10-week terms and in between the first three terms there are 2 weeks of “holiday”. The last term ends in December followed by 6 weeks of “holiday”. All of the sports activities follow the same schedule. For example, the kids all just started an activity for this term (Mackenzie – swimming; Kennedy – gymnastics; Reid – karate and Luke – swimming). Various camps take place during the two week “holiday”. The girls’ schedule doesn’t exactly follow this since they are in the International School but it worked out fine. I had a few days with just the girls, days with all 4 and then it was just me and the boys.
We did a lot of fun stuff this month. The last week of school was Spirit Week and they dressed up in PJs, 70s, Twins, Super Heroes and on the last day there was a “hat parade”. The girls decorated an Easter hat and marched in two parades, one at the school and one at the American Women of Perth Easter Egg hunt and both girls won! Friday night we made nachos and ate outside on our new table. We love to eat outside! Afterwards, we went to the beach for this “Sci-tech” event. They had set up a bunch of telescopes at this place on the beach and you could go look at the stars (free!). Sounds fun, right? So we load up, head over to City Beach and get in line at the first telescope. There were tons of people there and if you know anything about my sweet husband then you know he likes his personal space. Well, many people (cultures) do not respect “personal” space. He’s trying to teach the kids how to use the telescope and he can feel the breath of the guy behind him on his neck. The kids couldn’t see anything at all through the telescope; Clint’s personal space is being invaded and then Luke says the words, “My stomach hurts” and we had to make a mad dash to the bathroom. Needless to say the “family bonding experience” did not go as we imagined. We got back in the car and headed home hoping that it would not be a night of washing sheets and scrubbing carpet. Thankfully it wasn’t!
Saturday we went to an Easter Egg Hunt hosted by the American Women of Perth. It was at this event that Kennedy and Mackenzie won the hat contest (They had almost duplicate hats). Pictures are in the slide show. The kids enjoyed a bounce house, a really nice playground, an Easter egg hunt and taking pictures with the Easter Bunny – for Mackenzie and Kennedy it was TORTURE! I guess they are past the age of the Easter Bunny. Funny how they still expected an Easter basket on Easter morning! We enjoyed a nice family picnic at the park.
Saturday night we went to a dinner party at Tom and Angie Junker’s house. Tom is the manager at Apache. I got to meet all the guys (and one girl) that Clint works with, as well as their spouses. Angie made the most amazing Venezuelan meal – beef, rice, black beans, corn biscuits and fried bananas. I plan on taking a lesson from her on how to make the entire meal. She also made tres leches for dessert and someone else brought a chocolate cake. There is not much better than getting a slice of “white” cake and slice of chocolate cake on the same plate. Love that about weddings! Tom did such a great job of getting people to interact with one another. He split us up into teams for darts and pool and after each round the teams changed. I was never on a team with Clint but these guys and their wives were all so nice and fun it was never awkward or uncomfortable.
Sunday after church we went to Swan Valley with Lisa and Phillip Mier and Lisa and Tom Possell to have lunch at the Sittello winery. I love that we piled into one car and enjoyed each other’s company all the way there, while we were there and all the way home. It was a very relaxing afternoon.
Monday it was just me and the girls. They had to go to the gym with me which they do not like one bit. They took clothes pins for their noses in case one of the babies had a stinky diaper. I had to remind them that they once pooped in their pants. Afterwards I took them to an indoor water park. It only costs $3.70 per kid and I had a coupon for one free entry. My grocery bill in Australia is about $600 per week but by golly we can go to a water park for less than $5.00!! Tuesday, the girls and Luke and I went to the zoo with Pam and her kids (Reid was in school). Wednesday the girls and I went on Luke’s field trip to a park where he did his Easter program. PRECIOUS! Pictures in slide show. That afternoon we went to the beach and Thursday the girls went to the Welkner’s house to play with Tori and Gabrielle, leaving Luke and I to do some grocery shopping for the weekend. I had to plan ahead since everything would be closed for the Easter holiday.
OUR FIRST HOLIDAY IN PERTH:
Most people are off work from Good Friday until Tuesday. Friday was quiet. I went to the church to work the nursery for the “Good Friday” service. When I arrived there were only two kids so they said they did not need me. Honestly, I was kinda glad as I really wanted to be in church. But as I am enjoying the praise and worship music and singing away, the children’s director taps on my shoulder. When I went up to the children’s area I found that 2 kids had turned into 30 in about 5 minutes. So I spent the next hour with these precious kids. I have to admit I had a favorite. I was on the other side of the room and this precious little Australian boy came over to me and asked, “Will you help me?” So I sat with him and helped him make his Easter basket. He had the very cute, surfer boy look. HOT CROSS BUNS (which replaced Cinnamon Roll Friday for the Smiths) were EVERYWHERE! I had no idea that it was a “religious” tradition here and that after Easter we would no longer be able to buy them. This is quite the bummer for the Smith family since “Cinnamon Roll Friday” became “H.C.B. Friday”. I am not sure what we are going to do for Friday morning breakfast now! Someone said I needed to learn how to make homemade cinnamon rolls so if anyone has a good, EASY recipe send it my way. Keep in mind that they do not have biscuits, croissants or anything like that in a “tube”. We could not find Easter egg dye. However, all of the eggs are brown so dying them would not really turn out all that pretty. We spent Good Friday at Sorrento Beach, one of our favorite beaches. Clint actually got Luke on the boogie board! PROGRESS! Saturday we went to John Forrest National Park. We hiked for just a bit but it was a really warm day so that did not last long. We look forward to getting our bikes because there are so many parks with trails for riding. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then headed back. On the way back we stopped at the “BRITZ” dealer. This is a RV type thing that we plan on renting at some point…maybe to “Monkey Mia”, which is about a 10 hour drive. We’ve been told one of the most spectacular things about this area is that the dolphins come up to the shore. I honestly can’t imagine traveling 10 hours in this thing and then sleeping in it for 3-4 days. Really close quarters for a family of 6 but it is ALL about the adventure, right??!!! We ended up back at the beach but only lasted about 45 minutes before we called it a day. However, I heard something so precious on the beach that day. We had been talking all week about the meaning of Easter – Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and three days later he arose! Reid and Luke were digging in the sand and Reid says “Luke, I would die for your sins” and Luke responded, “You’re the bestest brother I ever had.” PRICELESS!!!!
Another Luke moment was when he was in the shower and he yelled he needed me. I went up stairs to the bathroom and asked him what he needed. He pointed to his wet hair and said, “I need some air conditioning”. It took me a minute to figure it out but the sweet boy wanted “hair conditioner”. Also, Luke pointed to the moon and said – “Mom, look! It’s a toe nail moon!!” That boy keeps me laughing. And for those of you who have seen him dance to Alvin and the Chipmunks soundtrack…he’s STILL got the moves and then some! That bottom can shake sooo fast and with such rhythm!! One of Reid’s funny moments this month was during his break from school. He asked if we had to go to yoga and I said “Yes, it makes mommy strong”. He replies, “Why can’t we do a pattern…go to YOGA, don’t go to YOGA, go to YOGA, don’t go to YOGA??” By the way, YOGA simply means going to the gym to the boys. I did YOGA a lot in Dallas so that is what they called the gym but the YOGA here is not for me.
Steve and Stephanie went to Easter service with us. During the service the worship leader read her interpretation of the crucifixion and resurrection from Peter’s point of view. It was moving. I began to put myself in Peter’s shoes and overwhelmed with the anguish he must have felt when he heard that rooster crow.
If you have seen the movie “Hope Floats” then there is probably one scene that tore your heart to pieces. Birdie (Sandra Bullock) and her husband are getting a divorce because he had an affair with her best friend. There is a scene in which the dad is explaining to Bernice (the daughter) that he needs to be happy and that he needs his own time to foster his new relationship (blah!blah!blah!). Bernice has packed her suitcase and keeps putting it in the back of his car and he keeps taking it out during this entire scene. She is crying that she wants to go with him and he is not budging. The scene ends with Bernice crying her little heart out as her daddy drives off. But there is also another scene in this movie that tears me apart. Birdie was obviously having a hard time moving on with her life after finding out on national television that her husband was having this affair. She had moved back home with her mom and could hardly get out of bed. One morning Bernice forgot her lunch for school. Birdie headed up to the school in her bathrobe. She appeared as if she had not showered in days or even been out of bed. She is hollering for Bernice who was headed back inside after recess. She keeps screaming “Bernice!!”…”Bernice honey!!”….”Bernice!!!” and the little girl ignored her ashamed of what her mother had become. One of the kids asked, “Is that your mom?” and Bernice said “No”. It was a “rooster crowing” moment. I can’t imagine the pain of one of my children disowning me. And to think that Peter disowned Jesus, the maker of the universe, not once but three times! I can’t imagine how this must have saddened Jesus. In addition, I feel for Peter and how absolutely sick he must have felt to have let his Father down. He was so sure of himself when Jesus predicted that it would happen. I can read this passage and think “How could he have disowned Jesus?” He had walked with HIM, talked with HIM, ate supper with HIM…what in the world would cause him to do such a thing. BUT then I take a look at my own life and haven’t I done the same thing??? I looked up the definition of deny and this is what I found: to declare untrue, contradict; refuse to grant; refuse to let have; refuse to recognize or acknowledge. I have certainly acted in ways that contradict who Jesus is (Whoever claims to live in Him must walk like Jesus did (I John 2:6). I have also refused to grant him authority over my life. I have refused to let HIM have HIS way with my life, which never works out for my good that’s for sure! And I have refused at times to acknowledge that He is the reason for ALL the good things in my life and that it has NOTHING to do with me. Sadly, I have denied Jesus and unfortunately, more than three times! Thankfully, his grace and mercy covers me.
After church we went to Steve and Stephanie’s house for Easter lunch/dinner. A couple from South Africa joined us as well. We had an amazing meal – roast and gravy, potatoes in three different forms – mashed, roasted and boiled (in the green beans) LOTS OF STARCH – yum yum, carrots, cream style corn (a recipe from Paula Deen so you know it had good and unhealthy), sour dough bread, salad and RANCH dressing (thanks mom and Brian & Colette)!!! We also had strawberries and fruit dip, tres leches and a carrot cake with white chocolate icing that was INCREDIBLE (Stephanie’s specialty). We ate so much that I literally made myself sick but it was worth it! Steve and Stephanie got our kids all kinds of stuff for Easter. Clint and I were talking about how the Easter bunny really cut back this year (Easter baskets made out of paper – yep, I had a crafty moment only out of necessity…our Easter stuff did not make the “cut”!!) but Steve and Stephanie made up for it that is for sure! The kids enjoyed their heated pool and we enjoyed some adult time. Cristelle and her husband (never could understand his name) told us about living in South Africa and the horrific living conditions. It rained on Monday and so we went to the aquarium. By the time we left it looked like the kids were IN the aquarium! They had this pool where the kids could touch starfish and other little creatures. They LOVED it, so much that they were practically in the pool. We may go back so Clint can scuba with the sharks while we watch underneath. YIKES!
The girls went back to school the 14th and it was just me and the boys again. One of the days we went to this park in a suburb called “Applecross”. They have a playground area shaped like a pirate ship and the boys had a blast! Every morning the boys ask Clint, “Daddy, is today your half work?” So by Friday, when Clint finally said, “yes” that it was his “half work” they were SUPER excited. I left them at home to go get the girls from school and found them watching STAR WARS when I returned – TYPICAL! On Friday, Karis met us at the beach to take a picture of us for my 20 year reunion. It is in June so I am not going to be able to go. I am so bummed to miss it. They are making a DVD of pictures of everyone so at least I will get to see that. Karis and Tyson joined us for dinner and we had what we always have with them – fajitas. They brought the most amazing appetizer –QUESO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tyson’s parents recently visited and they brought velvetta and rotel. The kids were so excited and thankful that they shared it with us!
Monday I had to get my hair done and the boys went with me and were so good. I am so thankful that I am able to take them to get these kinds of things done. I spent Monday afternoon cleaning to prepare for “Christmas in April”. That night we stayed in a hotel and got up early the next morning to get back to the house for the arrival of our shipment. I took the girls to school and headed to the house. When we turned the corner the boys started screaming when they saw the big truck. There was something in every box that I unpacked that day that made me so incredibly thankful. We are still unpacking but for the most part everything made it safe and sound. There were only 4 items that really mattered to me most– our family photo and my platters made with the kids’ handprints. They made it just fine so I can’t really complain that we got a lampshade without the lamp and lamps without the lampshades. I have also just determined that our “Thanksgiving” decorations did not make it. I am a little bummed by that because I love fall décor almost as much as Christmas. We had a few things broken and one piece of furniture damaged but overall it went well. The rest of the week we unpacked and tried to find a “home” for all of our things.
AGGIE MUSTER
On Tuesday, April 21st we went to AGGIE MUSTER! What a special A&M tradition we were able to take part of on the other side of the world. There were probably 40-50 people. We sang the war hymn; we called out some of the names of the deceased and lit candles for each of them and then sat around and told stories about our days at A&M. And of course, we ate (Texas style barbeque)!!! Luke took a nap that day since we would be out late and he was “on” – full force! I wish I had the video camera to capture this moment. Our friends Karis and Tyson were there. The kids absolutely LOVE them. So Luke and Tyson are sitting on these steps having what appeared to be a serious conversation. At one point I walked by and Tyson is saying to Luke, “…to make a long story short…” and I am thinking Luke has NO idea what that means but Luke nods and listens and adds in his own comments. This conversation went on for at least 20 minutes. Luke was cracking jokes and was quite the comedian that night. I am just thankful for men like Tyson who give children time and their full attention to make them feel so loved.
TONY ANTHONY
Kennedy likes to go to big church with me and Clint. I think she considers it HER time with mommy and daddy. This particular Sunday we had a guest speaker, Tony Anthony. When he first started giving his testimony I was a bit concerned that Kennedy was with us. His story is amazing but perhaps a bit startling to a 6 year old. I prayed and asked God to protect her ears from anything she shouldn’t hear but Tony had her full attention. He told about being taken from his parents at the age of 4 to live with his grandfather in China. His grandfather was a Kung Fu Master and had plans to turn Tony into a Kung Fu champion. Tony described how his grandfather beat and tortured him but his horrific methods worked and Tony became a three-time World Kong Fu champion. He eventually used his training to become a body guard to some of the world’s wealthiest, most powerful and influential people. Later he fell in love with a beautiful blind woman and was engaged to be married. Sadly, she was killed in a car accident. Tony’s life was shattered and his life spun out of control. He became a “bloodthirsty, violent man” and ended up in Cyprus’s notorious Nicosia Central Prison. You can only imagine the horror he lived day in and day out until one day God sent Michael Wright to Tony. Michael Wright was a missionary who picked up a newspaper one day and saw a story on Tony’s arrest. God led him to write Tony a letter asking for Tony to grant him permission to visit him in prison. Tony granted him permission but not because he truly wanted to hear about Jesus but because he would be allowed to have a coke during the visits. Michael Wright visited Tony week after week and truly showed him the LOVE of Christ. Eventually Tony asked Jesus to be his Lord and Savior. He began to minister to the other prisoners. He was a new man. He served his full sentence and upon his release he went to live with a family that was friends with Michael Wright, the missionary who visited him in prison. He got his life together, met his wife and began serving in the church. His life could not have been more changed but the story doesn’t end here. One night he was driving home, ran a stop sign and hit something. He got out of his car and found nothing. The front of his car had been struck by something but he saw nothing. He assumed he had hit a deer and the deer took off running. He got back in his car and drove away. A few days later he read in the paper of a hit and run accident that had thrown a lady on a bike into the bushes and killed her. It was the same day, the same time and at the same place. Tony was horrified. He thought of the family of the lady whom he had killed, he thought of his wife, his unborn son, his criminal record and thought “I do not want to go back to prison”. So he made the decision not to go to the police. The police finally caught up to him and when they questioned him, he lied. Eventually the truth came out and Tony ended up back in prison. This time he had much more at stake. He now loved his life, he had a family…he was a Christian and Christians aren’t suppose to go to prison. Well, God had an assignment for Tony in prison and I was AMAZED how God used him. Why should I be amazed? “Is anything to hard for my Lord?” (Genesis 18:14) At the end of his testimony he laid out the plan of salvation and prayed. He asked if anyone had made a decision for Christ that morning and sweet Kennedy raised her hand. He then asked everyone who had to step forward. Kennedy wouldn’t do it. We later asked Kennedy why she wanted to be baptized and she really didn’t know. She has expressed that she doesn’t like that she has to skip the crackers and juice each week. We know God is tugging at her heart and who am I to doubt that God had her there that morning for a reason. I am so thankful she was there…I am thankful I was there. I really took away two important things that day. First, I pray I that I am so aware of God speaking to me so that when HE tells me to “write a letter”, I “write the letter”! Secondly, no one is too far out of reach for the Lord. In addition, He can and will use anyone…Anyone…ANYONE to accomplish HIS purposes, even me!! I pray that despite my faults and lack of skills in many areas that He uses me for “SOMETHING BIG” – “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
Our last big adventure for the month was a trip to Penguin Island. We took a boat out to this Island where we saw penguins, sea lions, humongous pelicans, skinks (lizard/snake looking thing) and many other birds. There were also several dolphins swimming along side of our boat. It doesn’t matter how many times I have seen a dolphin, they are always spectacular to see. We had a nice picnic on the island and the kids played in the sand. It was a very simple and quite pleasant day.
We got lots of exciting news from home this month. First of all my sister Paula is expecting TWINS!!!! Twins run in our family and it was bound to happen to one of us. Paula and Allen already have a beautiful little girl, Kyleigh, and were set on having two kids…and only two! God certainly has a sense of humor. We also found out that Allen will be starting seminary in the fall. We are so excited to see how God will use him in ministry work. We will be having our first visitors in one month!! My sisters (Rachel, Samantha and Kristine) are coming for 6 weeks and also bringing their friend Cassidy. It is going to be crazy fun and we are looking forward to it.
FUNNY AUSTRALIAN WORDS we learned this month:
The other day a guy asked Clint, “Do you have any chewies?” I can only imagine the look in Clint’s face when he said, “Do I have any what??” Turns out the guy wanted some gum.
“No dramas” means don’t worry about it.
You know the sprinkles you put on cakes or find on donuts. Well here you would have to ask for the donut with “100s and 1000s”…they don’t know what sprinkles are!
Well, I guess that about sums up the month of April. Enjoy the pictures. Be sure not to miss the one of Reid doing YOGA! I am so glad I had my camera right by me so I could capture that. Luke did have a busted lip for Easter. He fell down the stairs. Don’t miss me wearing my hat!!! It is my first one! “Mums” have to wear hats to school to if they want to volunteer.
CHEERS!!!
What a month! The girls had a little over a week off and the boys had 2 ½ weeks off and we had two holidays…EASTER and ANZAC Day (Australia/New Zealand Army Corps). It felt like we were on summer vacation already. Here, the school year is divided up into terms. There are four 10-week terms and in between the first three terms there are 2 weeks of “holiday”. The last term ends in December followed by 6 weeks of “holiday”. All of the sports activities follow the same schedule. For example, the kids all just started an activity for this term (Mackenzie – swimming; Kennedy – gymnastics; Reid – karate and Luke – swimming). Various camps take place during the two week “holiday”. The girls’ schedule doesn’t exactly follow this since they are in the International School but it worked out fine. I had a few days with just the girls, days with all 4 and then it was just me and the boys.
We did a lot of fun stuff this month. The last week of school was Spirit Week and they dressed up in PJs, 70s, Twins, Super Heroes and on the last day there was a “hat parade”. The girls decorated an Easter hat and marched in two parades, one at the school and one at the American Women of Perth Easter Egg hunt and both girls won! Friday night we made nachos and ate outside on our new table. We love to eat outside! Afterwards, we went to the beach for this “Sci-tech” event. They had set up a bunch of telescopes at this place on the beach and you could go look at the stars (free!). Sounds fun, right? So we load up, head over to City Beach and get in line at the first telescope. There were tons of people there and if you know anything about my sweet husband then you know he likes his personal space. Well, many people (cultures) do not respect “personal” space. He’s trying to teach the kids how to use the telescope and he can feel the breath of the guy behind him on his neck. The kids couldn’t see anything at all through the telescope; Clint’s personal space is being invaded and then Luke says the words, “My stomach hurts” and we had to make a mad dash to the bathroom. Needless to say the “family bonding experience” did not go as we imagined. We got back in the car and headed home hoping that it would not be a night of washing sheets and scrubbing carpet. Thankfully it wasn’t!
Saturday we went to an Easter Egg Hunt hosted by the American Women of Perth. It was at this event that Kennedy and Mackenzie won the hat contest (They had almost duplicate hats). Pictures are in the slide show. The kids enjoyed a bounce house, a really nice playground, an Easter egg hunt and taking pictures with the Easter Bunny – for Mackenzie and Kennedy it was TORTURE! I guess they are past the age of the Easter Bunny. Funny how they still expected an Easter basket on Easter morning! We enjoyed a nice family picnic at the park.
Saturday night we went to a dinner party at Tom and Angie Junker’s house. Tom is the manager at Apache. I got to meet all the guys (and one girl) that Clint works with, as well as their spouses. Angie made the most amazing Venezuelan meal – beef, rice, black beans, corn biscuits and fried bananas. I plan on taking a lesson from her on how to make the entire meal. She also made tres leches for dessert and someone else brought a chocolate cake. There is not much better than getting a slice of “white” cake and slice of chocolate cake on the same plate. Love that about weddings! Tom did such a great job of getting people to interact with one another. He split us up into teams for darts and pool and after each round the teams changed. I was never on a team with Clint but these guys and their wives were all so nice and fun it was never awkward or uncomfortable.
Sunday after church we went to Swan Valley with Lisa and Phillip Mier and Lisa and Tom Possell to have lunch at the Sittello winery. I love that we piled into one car and enjoyed each other’s company all the way there, while we were there and all the way home. It was a very relaxing afternoon.
Monday it was just me and the girls. They had to go to the gym with me which they do not like one bit. They took clothes pins for their noses in case one of the babies had a stinky diaper. I had to remind them that they once pooped in their pants. Afterwards I took them to an indoor water park. It only costs $3.70 per kid and I had a coupon for one free entry. My grocery bill in Australia is about $600 per week but by golly we can go to a water park for less than $5.00!! Tuesday, the girls and Luke and I went to the zoo with Pam and her kids (Reid was in school). Wednesday the girls and I went on Luke’s field trip to a park where he did his Easter program. PRECIOUS! Pictures in slide show. That afternoon we went to the beach and Thursday the girls went to the Welkner’s house to play with Tori and Gabrielle, leaving Luke and I to do some grocery shopping for the weekend. I had to plan ahead since everything would be closed for the Easter holiday.
OUR FIRST HOLIDAY IN PERTH:
Most people are off work from Good Friday until Tuesday. Friday was quiet. I went to the church to work the nursery for the “Good Friday” service. When I arrived there were only two kids so they said they did not need me. Honestly, I was kinda glad as I really wanted to be in church. But as I am enjoying the praise and worship music and singing away, the children’s director taps on my shoulder. When I went up to the children’s area I found that 2 kids had turned into 30 in about 5 minutes. So I spent the next hour with these precious kids. I have to admit I had a favorite. I was on the other side of the room and this precious little Australian boy came over to me and asked, “Will you help me?” So I sat with him and helped him make his Easter basket. He had the very cute, surfer boy look. HOT CROSS BUNS (which replaced Cinnamon Roll Friday for the Smiths) were EVERYWHERE! I had no idea that it was a “religious” tradition here and that after Easter we would no longer be able to buy them. This is quite the bummer for the Smith family since “Cinnamon Roll Friday” became “H.C.B. Friday”. I am not sure what we are going to do for Friday morning breakfast now! Someone said I needed to learn how to make homemade cinnamon rolls so if anyone has a good, EASY recipe send it my way. Keep in mind that they do not have biscuits, croissants or anything like that in a “tube”. We could not find Easter egg dye. However, all of the eggs are brown so dying them would not really turn out all that pretty. We spent Good Friday at Sorrento Beach, one of our favorite beaches. Clint actually got Luke on the boogie board! PROGRESS! Saturday we went to John Forrest National Park. We hiked for just a bit but it was a really warm day so that did not last long. We look forward to getting our bikes because there are so many parks with trails for riding. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then headed back. On the way back we stopped at the “BRITZ” dealer. This is a RV type thing that we plan on renting at some point…maybe to “Monkey Mia”, which is about a 10 hour drive. We’ve been told one of the most spectacular things about this area is that the dolphins come up to the shore. I honestly can’t imagine traveling 10 hours in this thing and then sleeping in it for 3-4 days. Really close quarters for a family of 6 but it is ALL about the adventure, right??!!! We ended up back at the beach but only lasted about 45 minutes before we called it a day. However, I heard something so precious on the beach that day. We had been talking all week about the meaning of Easter – Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and three days later he arose! Reid and Luke were digging in the sand and Reid says “Luke, I would die for your sins” and Luke responded, “You’re the bestest brother I ever had.” PRICELESS!!!!
Another Luke moment was when he was in the shower and he yelled he needed me. I went up stairs to the bathroom and asked him what he needed. He pointed to his wet hair and said, “I need some air conditioning”. It took me a minute to figure it out but the sweet boy wanted “hair conditioner”. Also, Luke pointed to the moon and said – “Mom, look! It’s a toe nail moon!!” That boy keeps me laughing. And for those of you who have seen him dance to Alvin and the Chipmunks soundtrack…he’s STILL got the moves and then some! That bottom can shake sooo fast and with such rhythm!! One of Reid’s funny moments this month was during his break from school. He asked if we had to go to yoga and I said “Yes, it makes mommy strong”. He replies, “Why can’t we do a pattern…go to YOGA, don’t go to YOGA, go to YOGA, don’t go to YOGA??” By the way, YOGA simply means going to the gym to the boys. I did YOGA a lot in Dallas so that is what they called the gym but the YOGA here is not for me.
Steve and Stephanie went to Easter service with us. During the service the worship leader read her interpretation of the crucifixion and resurrection from Peter’s point of view. It was moving. I began to put myself in Peter’s shoes and overwhelmed with the anguish he must have felt when he heard that rooster crow.
If you have seen the movie “Hope Floats” then there is probably one scene that tore your heart to pieces. Birdie (Sandra Bullock) and her husband are getting a divorce because he had an affair with her best friend. There is a scene in which the dad is explaining to Bernice (the daughter) that he needs to be happy and that he needs his own time to foster his new relationship (blah!blah!blah!). Bernice has packed her suitcase and keeps putting it in the back of his car and he keeps taking it out during this entire scene. She is crying that she wants to go with him and he is not budging. The scene ends with Bernice crying her little heart out as her daddy drives off. But there is also another scene in this movie that tears me apart. Birdie was obviously having a hard time moving on with her life after finding out on national television that her husband was having this affair. She had moved back home with her mom and could hardly get out of bed. One morning Bernice forgot her lunch for school. Birdie headed up to the school in her bathrobe. She appeared as if she had not showered in days or even been out of bed. She is hollering for Bernice who was headed back inside after recess. She keeps screaming “Bernice!!”…”Bernice honey!!”….”Bernice!!!” and the little girl ignored her ashamed of what her mother had become. One of the kids asked, “Is that your mom?” and Bernice said “No”. It was a “rooster crowing” moment. I can’t imagine the pain of one of my children disowning me. And to think that Peter disowned Jesus, the maker of the universe, not once but three times! I can’t imagine how this must have saddened Jesus. In addition, I feel for Peter and how absolutely sick he must have felt to have let his Father down. He was so sure of himself when Jesus predicted that it would happen. I can read this passage and think “How could he have disowned Jesus?” He had walked with HIM, talked with HIM, ate supper with HIM…what in the world would cause him to do such a thing. BUT then I take a look at my own life and haven’t I done the same thing??? I looked up the definition of deny and this is what I found: to declare untrue, contradict; refuse to grant; refuse to let have; refuse to recognize or acknowledge. I have certainly acted in ways that contradict who Jesus is (Whoever claims to live in Him must walk like Jesus did (I John 2:6). I have also refused to grant him authority over my life. I have refused to let HIM have HIS way with my life, which never works out for my good that’s for sure! And I have refused at times to acknowledge that He is the reason for ALL the good things in my life and that it has NOTHING to do with me. Sadly, I have denied Jesus and unfortunately, more than three times! Thankfully, his grace and mercy covers me.
After church we went to Steve and Stephanie’s house for Easter lunch/dinner. A couple from South Africa joined us as well. We had an amazing meal – roast and gravy, potatoes in three different forms – mashed, roasted and boiled (in the green beans) LOTS OF STARCH – yum yum, carrots, cream style corn (a recipe from Paula Deen so you know it had good and unhealthy), sour dough bread, salad and RANCH dressing (thanks mom and Brian & Colette)!!! We also had strawberries and fruit dip, tres leches and a carrot cake with white chocolate icing that was INCREDIBLE (Stephanie’s specialty). We ate so much that I literally made myself sick but it was worth it! Steve and Stephanie got our kids all kinds of stuff for Easter. Clint and I were talking about how the Easter bunny really cut back this year (Easter baskets made out of paper – yep, I had a crafty moment only out of necessity…our Easter stuff did not make the “cut”!!) but Steve and Stephanie made up for it that is for sure! The kids enjoyed their heated pool and we enjoyed some adult time. Cristelle and her husband (never could understand his name) told us about living in South Africa and the horrific living conditions. It rained on Monday and so we went to the aquarium. By the time we left it looked like the kids were IN the aquarium! They had this pool where the kids could touch starfish and other little creatures. They LOVED it, so much that they were practically in the pool. We may go back so Clint can scuba with the sharks while we watch underneath. YIKES!
The girls went back to school the 14th and it was just me and the boys again. One of the days we went to this park in a suburb called “Applecross”. They have a playground area shaped like a pirate ship and the boys had a blast! Every morning the boys ask Clint, “Daddy, is today your half work?” So by Friday, when Clint finally said, “yes” that it was his “half work” they were SUPER excited. I left them at home to go get the girls from school and found them watching STAR WARS when I returned – TYPICAL! On Friday, Karis met us at the beach to take a picture of us for my 20 year reunion. It is in June so I am not going to be able to go. I am so bummed to miss it. They are making a DVD of pictures of everyone so at least I will get to see that. Karis and Tyson joined us for dinner and we had what we always have with them – fajitas. They brought the most amazing appetizer –QUESO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tyson’s parents recently visited and they brought velvetta and rotel. The kids were so excited and thankful that they shared it with us!
Monday I had to get my hair done and the boys went with me and were so good. I am so thankful that I am able to take them to get these kinds of things done. I spent Monday afternoon cleaning to prepare for “Christmas in April”. That night we stayed in a hotel and got up early the next morning to get back to the house for the arrival of our shipment. I took the girls to school and headed to the house. When we turned the corner the boys started screaming when they saw the big truck. There was something in every box that I unpacked that day that made me so incredibly thankful. We are still unpacking but for the most part everything made it safe and sound. There were only 4 items that really mattered to me most– our family photo and my platters made with the kids’ handprints. They made it just fine so I can’t really complain that we got a lampshade without the lamp and lamps without the lampshades. I have also just determined that our “Thanksgiving” decorations did not make it. I am a little bummed by that because I love fall décor almost as much as Christmas. We had a few things broken and one piece of furniture damaged but overall it went well. The rest of the week we unpacked and tried to find a “home” for all of our things.
AGGIE MUSTER
On Tuesday, April 21st we went to AGGIE MUSTER! What a special A&M tradition we were able to take part of on the other side of the world. There were probably 40-50 people. We sang the war hymn; we called out some of the names of the deceased and lit candles for each of them and then sat around and told stories about our days at A&M. And of course, we ate (Texas style barbeque)!!! Luke took a nap that day since we would be out late and he was “on” – full force! I wish I had the video camera to capture this moment. Our friends Karis and Tyson were there. The kids absolutely LOVE them. So Luke and Tyson are sitting on these steps having what appeared to be a serious conversation. At one point I walked by and Tyson is saying to Luke, “…to make a long story short…” and I am thinking Luke has NO idea what that means but Luke nods and listens and adds in his own comments. This conversation went on for at least 20 minutes. Luke was cracking jokes and was quite the comedian that night. I am just thankful for men like Tyson who give children time and their full attention to make them feel so loved.
TONY ANTHONY
Kennedy likes to go to big church with me and Clint. I think she considers it HER time with mommy and daddy. This particular Sunday we had a guest speaker, Tony Anthony. When he first started giving his testimony I was a bit concerned that Kennedy was with us. His story is amazing but perhaps a bit startling to a 6 year old. I prayed and asked God to protect her ears from anything she shouldn’t hear but Tony had her full attention. He told about being taken from his parents at the age of 4 to live with his grandfather in China. His grandfather was a Kung Fu Master and had plans to turn Tony into a Kung Fu champion. Tony described how his grandfather beat and tortured him but his horrific methods worked and Tony became a three-time World Kong Fu champion. He eventually used his training to become a body guard to some of the world’s wealthiest, most powerful and influential people. Later he fell in love with a beautiful blind woman and was engaged to be married. Sadly, she was killed in a car accident. Tony’s life was shattered and his life spun out of control. He became a “bloodthirsty, violent man” and ended up in Cyprus’s notorious Nicosia Central Prison. You can only imagine the horror he lived day in and day out until one day God sent Michael Wright to Tony. Michael Wright was a missionary who picked up a newspaper one day and saw a story on Tony’s arrest. God led him to write Tony a letter asking for Tony to grant him permission to visit him in prison. Tony granted him permission but not because he truly wanted to hear about Jesus but because he would be allowed to have a coke during the visits. Michael Wright visited Tony week after week and truly showed him the LOVE of Christ. Eventually Tony asked Jesus to be his Lord and Savior. He began to minister to the other prisoners. He was a new man. He served his full sentence and upon his release he went to live with a family that was friends with Michael Wright, the missionary who visited him in prison. He got his life together, met his wife and began serving in the church. His life could not have been more changed but the story doesn’t end here. One night he was driving home, ran a stop sign and hit something. He got out of his car and found nothing. The front of his car had been struck by something but he saw nothing. He assumed he had hit a deer and the deer took off running. He got back in his car and drove away. A few days later he read in the paper of a hit and run accident that had thrown a lady on a bike into the bushes and killed her. It was the same day, the same time and at the same place. Tony was horrified. He thought of the family of the lady whom he had killed, he thought of his wife, his unborn son, his criminal record and thought “I do not want to go back to prison”. So he made the decision not to go to the police. The police finally caught up to him and when they questioned him, he lied. Eventually the truth came out and Tony ended up back in prison. This time he had much more at stake. He now loved his life, he had a family…he was a Christian and Christians aren’t suppose to go to prison. Well, God had an assignment for Tony in prison and I was AMAZED how God used him. Why should I be amazed? “Is anything to hard for my Lord?” (Genesis 18:14) At the end of his testimony he laid out the plan of salvation and prayed. He asked if anyone had made a decision for Christ that morning and sweet Kennedy raised her hand. He then asked everyone who had to step forward. Kennedy wouldn’t do it. We later asked Kennedy why she wanted to be baptized and she really didn’t know. She has expressed that she doesn’t like that she has to skip the crackers and juice each week. We know God is tugging at her heart and who am I to doubt that God had her there that morning for a reason. I am so thankful she was there…I am thankful I was there. I really took away two important things that day. First, I pray I that I am so aware of God speaking to me so that when HE tells me to “write a letter”, I “write the letter”! Secondly, no one is too far out of reach for the Lord. In addition, He can and will use anyone…Anyone…ANYONE to accomplish HIS purposes, even me!! I pray that despite my faults and lack of skills in many areas that He uses me for “SOMETHING BIG” – “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
Our last big adventure for the month was a trip to Penguin Island. We took a boat out to this Island where we saw penguins, sea lions, humongous pelicans, skinks (lizard/snake looking thing) and many other birds. There were also several dolphins swimming along side of our boat. It doesn’t matter how many times I have seen a dolphin, they are always spectacular to see. We had a nice picnic on the island and the kids played in the sand. It was a very simple and quite pleasant day.
We got lots of exciting news from home this month. First of all my sister Paula is expecting TWINS!!!! Twins run in our family and it was bound to happen to one of us. Paula and Allen already have a beautiful little girl, Kyleigh, and were set on having two kids…and only two! God certainly has a sense of humor. We also found out that Allen will be starting seminary in the fall. We are so excited to see how God will use him in ministry work. We will be having our first visitors in one month!! My sisters (Rachel, Samantha and Kristine) are coming for 6 weeks and also bringing their friend Cassidy. It is going to be crazy fun and we are looking forward to it.
FUNNY AUSTRALIAN WORDS we learned this month:
The other day a guy asked Clint, “Do you have any chewies?” I can only imagine the look in Clint’s face when he said, “Do I have any what??” Turns out the guy wanted some gum.
“No dramas” means don’t worry about it.
You know the sprinkles you put on cakes or find on donuts. Well here you would have to ask for the donut with “100s and 1000s”…they don’t know what sprinkles are!
Well, I guess that about sums up the month of April. Enjoy the pictures. Be sure not to miss the one of Reid doing YOGA! I am so glad I had my camera right by me so I could capture that. Luke did have a busted lip for Easter. He fell down the stairs. Don’t miss me wearing my hat!!! It is my first one! “Mums” have to wear hats to school to if they want to volunteer.
CHEERS!!!
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