March 15th - 31st

After church on Sunday we had a picnic lunch at King’s Park. Back in Prosper, a turkey sandwich made at home never really sounded good but put a little greenery at King’s Park or add in the waves of the beach and it is amazing how good a turkey sandwich can be. We are quite partial to the turkey at “Farmer Jacks”, actually it is the only place we will eat it. Again, I start off about food. Seriously, what is wrong with me? Sunday night we were back at King’s Park for the last outdoor movie of the season – The Wizard of Oz. I don’t think I have ever seen the entire movie all the way through and this time was no different. It got cold so I left my chair for a place under a blanket between Reid and Luke. Nice and cozy. We met John and Jackie and their 2 kids, Haven and Bronson. They are from Canada and John works for the same company as Clint (Smith International) but in a different client’s office. They had Clint over for dinner when he was here at the beginning of January. Super nice people! Overall, another good week here in Perth! The boys were both in school on Monday so I enjoyed the gym and then decided to meet God at the lake for some alone time with Him. I had my IPOD with some great praise and worship music and just really enjoyed just “being”. I have really been praying about my relationship with the Lord, desiring something bigger…more intimate. I have been a bit frustrated as I haven’t been confidently hearing His voice. Sometimes I think I do and He may have been but I question it, pick it apart, analyze it and then get so frustrated. I’m not sure what I expected at the park that day but I left a bit disappointed. Throughout the week I really focused on hearing His voice. I read in John 10:3-5: “The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” I take great comfort in the promise that I will KNOW His voice. I have heard him at times throughout my life but unfortunately not in a while. I desire a two-way communication with HIM at all times and I know that is God’s desire as well. It is hard work though. I just spent a couple of hours sitting on my bed asking God about something and finally, I got an answer. It was not the answer I wanted initially but I really think He was just making sure my heart was right. Listen to this…its super cool – so after I prayed I really thought the Lord told me that my sister would send me an email from HIM…sounds crazy, I know! So I immediately got up and checked my email. I must have checked it a hundred times that day and by evening I was frustrated because I really thought that I heard HIM but there was no email from my sister. The next morning a precious email from my sister was in my inbox with the answer to my prayer. AMAZING!!!! I am so enjoying this time “away” as it is really keeping me focused on HIM. I think I got so caught up in “my life” (like it is mine anyway!) that God had to take me out of my “comfort” zone to get my attention. IT WORKED! My relationship with the Lord took a new direction Friday March 20th and I am so thankful. It’s a bit much to describe in a blog but I will tell you that I am excited to see what is in store because I know that he is preparing me for something…not sure yet what that is but it is SOMETHING! And now that I think about it I did receive that email from a friend that the Lord directed her to email me that He had “bigger plans”. At the time I did not find that word from the Lord all that exciting but now my heart has changed! What a blessing this adventure has been. Thank you GOD! The biggest excitement of the week for the family was Harmony Day. It was like being at the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The kids marched in carrying their country’s flag. When the United States of America was announced I seriously got chills seeing my girls represent our country. The announcer then joked, “…and also the United Republic of Texas…they are taking over the world!” It was so funny as there are more Texans in the school than any other city/country combined. Mackenzie’s drawing was turned into a beautiful mosaic that the entire school helped assemble. She did great giving her speech about the meaning of her drawing …it was really just a beautiful event. We were three for three in eating out this weekend. Friday night tradition – Cottesloe Beach – but this time instead of “fish and chips” we dined at the “Blue Duck”, Saturday – “Hogsbreath Saloon” (we found American food!!!) and Sunday – “That Little Mexican Place” – we went for brunch and it was soooo good…yes, we found good Mexican food…at least for brunch! YEA! Not so sure about the dinner menu…it definitely wasn’t texmex! Before we went to Hogsbreath we stopped at this incredibly beautiful cemetery, where we saw a field of about 30 kangaroos. It was amazing! It was right at dusk so the pictures did not turn out but we will get there a little earlier next time so we can share pictures. They were playing around and “boxing” one another. Saturday night before dinner we went to City Beach and had so much fun. We bought an Australian football and played on the beach and the kids played in the sand as well -simple, cheap, family fun! Everyone was on Spring Break back home so it was a little quieter around here…less emails and phone calls. The boys have really taken to the movie “The Little Rascals”. They know every line of this movie and I admit some of it does not sound so nice coming out of their sweet mouths. But I do find some of the lines quite funny. For example, I hear this from the front seat of the car: “Dear Darla, I hate your stinkin guts. You make me “bomit’ (vomit). You are the scum between my toes. Love, Alfalfa”. Reid has changed his name to “Buckwheat” and Luke is now “Spanky”. The sweet thing is that they have (on their own) changed the words to “I do not LIKE your stinkin guts”. I love how God has made them sensitive to the words they use. Our words are so incredibly powerful…it is quite frightening actually. But equally important are our thoughts. 2 Corinthians 10:5 has recently become somewhat of a life verse for me – “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ”. Trust me in this – the devil DOES have the power to place thoughts in our heads and if we do not “reject” them then he is able to wreak havoc on our lives!!!! With those exclamation points I must be speaking from experience.

The month of April is approaching and I will have kids home most of the month. The girls are out the 6th – 13th and the boys are out the 13th – 28th. We had hoped to take advantage of the Easter holiday to travel somewhere but it is hard to find affordable accommodations for a family of 6 during holidays. We did schedule our first big vacation for “Foundation Day”, which I think is like our Memorial Day. We leave May 29th for Bali, Indonesia!!! We are considering this our 14th anniversary trip – just a bit different than years past as far as anniversary trips go but I am positive that we can make our trip with the kidos romantic. We have a “short” list of the places we want to be sure to go to before God brings us back to the US – New Zealand, Brisbane, Sydney, Fiji and the Great Barrier Reef.

I went to a “welcome coffee” this week with the American Women of Perth organization and there are several new women that have arrived here in Perth in the last few weeks, all from the Houston area of course! I am happy to report that I have another new friend. Her name is Stephanie Waggoner. She is newly married, no kids, from Houston but moved here from Malaysia. We just hit it off and I know we will do a lot together in the days ahead. I love making friends! Stephanie and Steve came over for dinner the other night (Reid introduced himself as “Buckwheat” to our new friends) and we really had such a nice evening. We grilled shish-k-bobs and enjoyed our new outdoor table with a built in “lazy susan”. Clint was so patient putting it together since he had 4 kids helping. I loved hearing him explain to them what each type of tool was but my favorite lesson was “Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey”. I’ve made it 37 years without ever hearing that!

Reid added another Australian word to his vocabulary. The other night he asked if the tortilla soup had “capsicum” in it. Capsicum is a bell pepper in Australia. Every day at school each kid brings in a piece of fruit or a vegetable to share with the class during their morning “tea”. It is a great way to get kids to try things they wouldn’t otherwise. Evidently he tried “capsicum” at school. It is also great because everyone gets a healthy snack and I don’t hear, “Mom, why don’t you pack me a _____ for snack like ______’s mom.” I was able to meet many of the “mums” at Reid’s school at a birthday party for one of the boys in Reid’s class. When talking with many of them I found out that their sons had come home talking about Reid and how funny he talks. Reid is really taking in the Australian way of life; sometimes we have no idea what he is talking about!! The other day he called me “mum” and now calls his bottom his “bum”.

Each kid got their own care package from “Gramps and Grammy” this week all containing a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and some winter clothes! THANK YOU!!!! We labeled each box of cereal and Clint and I took bets as to who would finish their box first… REID!!! And yep, we were right. Luke ended up second but only because his sisters talked him into “sharing”, even though they still had some! Those stinkers! My time with Luke has been so precious. I love his sweet heart! The other day he asked if he could use his allowance to go buy Reid some RED sunglasses. After purchasing them he could not wait to go pick up Reid to give them to him. We did not find red ones (actually, the red ones were twice as much than the silver ones and since they would likely be missing in a week I talked him into the silver ones) and I was just praying so hard that Reid would show a thankful heart. If only he could have seen what I saw that day. Luke wanted to please his brother so badly. On the way to get Reid at school he kept asking “Are we almost there?” and “I can’t wait to give these to him, mommy.” Thankfully, Reid’s response was good and I get to cherish that afternoon forever! One evening Luke broke Reid’s sword and the next day he wanted to use his money to go buy him another one. We only had about 45 minutes to shop for this sword and as we were getting out of the car Luke said, “Mom, I think we are going to need to split up!” TOO funny!

When it comes to overseas assignments in the oil and gas industry I think Australia is probably the closest to the USA as one could get but there are still so many differences! Funny things like there is no “legal” paper here. The day we closed on our house our instructions were that the documents HAD to be on legal size paper. So Clint had to cut the paper to size in order to meet these requirements. Who knew?!! Driving while talking on the cell phone is illegal, which I have really come to appreciate. I’m sure if I had more people to call I might feel differently but I have really enjoyed listening to what the kids talk about. Back “home” I would use drive time as my phone time since it seemed the only feasible time to talk but who knows what little conversations I missed out on! You have to carry cash with you at all times because there are so many places that only take cash. This has been a difficult transition since we are “points” people! We use to charge every single thing so we could earn airline miles. Instead of “How are you doing?”, Aussies say “How are you going?”. We are surviving with one car and this is typical of “expat” families since public transportation is really good. We are eager to get our bikes so Clint can ride home rather than take the bus. Not sure how this will all work out during “rainy season”. Poor Clint! Can’t remember if I have mentioned that the grocery stores close at 5pm so there is no calling Clint asking him to pick up a missing item to complete the evening meal but then again, he rides the bus now and I’m pretty sure the bus driver would not stop long enough for him to run in and get a can of rotel…oh, but there is no rotel here so basically the whole situation just wouldn’t happen! I do like the idea of this but inevitably I seem to always need something after 5pm. But there is Thursday night “late trading hours” - they call opening hours “trading hours” and most stores are open until 9pm on Thursday night. Also, would you believe they have “layaway” here??!! I haven’t seen that option in years!!! I remember as a kid going to JC Penney and putting school clothes on “layaway”. Here they call it “lay by”. Also you don’t get a rental car you get a “hire car”. We are getting use to the driving but perhaps not the “walking”!!! I never thought I would need to pray for Clint not to get run over, the kids for sure, but Clint???? Yes, he almost got run over the other day since he is use to looking to the left before crossing the road. Scary! People here seem to be a bit more “free”. Let me explain – the other night at Cottesloe Beach this older gentleman changed right there in the parking lot. Yes, completely changed…not between the car doors, not IN the car but right out in the open!!! We all saw his BUM! I took a picture…not of his “bum”…after he was dressed of course – just for the memory of being completely shocked by it. Also, one day when I went to get the boys at school this “mum” had her shirt lifted up, no covering whatsoever, and she was breastfeeding her baby as she walked to the classroom to get her son. Now I can’t think this is too weird because I do recall a time that I was feeding Luke in the driveway (very discreetly though!) while watching the other kids play outside. I had to take off running after Reid because a car was coming and suddenly I remembered that Luke was still eating (embarrassing!!).

Well that pretty much sums up the month of March. We are looking forward to getting our “stuff” in April. We just received an email that it was delayed another week. I’m not sure what the deal is. There are so many people that have been here less time than us that have already received their shipment. Maybe we just need more time to learn to be even MORE thankful for all that “stuff” God has blessed us with. Last night at dinner I asked the kids, “If you could have one thing from the US right now, what would it be?” You will be happy to know that the girls said “family and friends” and the boys’ answers were just way silly! Besides family and friends Clint said his bike and his bed! I have to agree with the bed but I really want my ATM blanket to curl up with on the couch at night. I have learned that you can make it without a lot of things that seem to be necessities. I am, however, thankful that my lesson will be short lived because at some point in the near future we will get our things. For the past several years we have participated in the “shoebox” ministry during the Christmas season through our church. We purchase these plastic shoeboxes and fill them up with all kinds of things for a little boy or little girl. We’ve been told through the organization that most of the children that receive these boxes cherish them in such a way that they carry them around everywhere. For many of them, these boxes contain ALL of their belongings. I can only imagine the day they receive that box. I am sure their precious hearts are beating so fast as the truck drives into their village. I am not suggesting that I can even fathom this kind of poverty or hardship but I do feel I have tasted just a bit of what it feels like to receive a “shoebox” through our air shipment, care packages, letters, emails and phone calls. We all can’t wait until the “big” box arrives at the end of the month…hopefully! And I assure you that we will be sending out more “shoeboxes” this Christmas.