Hours of reading

Josh is a pretty good reader but has struggled to find a book that he could really loose himself in until now.

He came home from school with one of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books. Within a couple days he had read the entire book.

I surprised him the following day with the complete set.

Two weeks later and hours upon hours of reading he has completed nearly 4 of the 7 books.

I love seeing him quietly sitting reading his books. I never expected that he would get through them so fast. Hopefully we can find another series of books after this one that he will love even more. 

January 2014 in review

January was a HOT month.  Aaron was gone for a week as he went back to Utah for his little sister Beth's wedding. In that week the kids and I experienced Melbourne's longest stretch of such an intense heat wave and with no air conditioning.

We really missed not being able to attend Beth and Tanner's wedding but we were thrilled to have seen all that we could through FaceTime. She looked stunning and so happy.

In our intense week we were well looked after by new near and dear friends. Every day we found new surprises on our doorstep. Things from a box of fruit loops and all we needed to make necklaces, fresh blueberries and books, jello cups, ice cream, movies, popcorn, tub full of blue water and animals, cookie dough... we were even fed a delicious breakfast sunday morning.

In effort to survive the heat with a new baby we watched movies inside and in the early mornings before 9am we would head out to the beach before it got too hot. The children cooled off in cold baths and we slept on the floor in my bedroom where we could cool down using fans and a split system on the wall.

Fires were burning statewide and the sun was a constant red for a a few days.  The day that the cooler breeze was supposed to arrive some dear friends of ours let the kids come over and play with water and on their trampoline. I took a much needed trip to the store where I ran into Andrew Bogut's sister. We randomly started chatting in the baby section, she asked me where I was from and when I said Utah she said "My brother played for a university there..." How cool is that. She was awesome and so much fun to talk to, I got to meet her adorable little boy and hear about their family events coming up. Funny how I am now living in the area where Andrew Bogut grew up. 

One day we took a drive down to the Mornington Peninsula visiting different McDonalds . This particular day players and fans at the Australian Open were passing out from the heat and there were fires all across Victoria.

Aaron was busy busy back in Utah...

We were so excited to welcome him back.

One evening after school we took a nice stroll down to Mordialloc Pier. There were sailboats all along the bay and teenagers jumping off the pier into the waters below. It was an enjoyable evening out.

The beach in the fall

Before the cooler weather set in permanently we would take advantage if any fairly dry and warm day and take a lunch to the beach. Joseph loves it there.

Everytime, without fail, he would be into the water fully clothed before I even had lunch out.

Rebecca had her first experience feeling and playing in the sand. We hadn't been to the beach since she was sitting up on her own. She loved feeling it in her hands. I love watching her explore and learn about the things around her. 

This morning Joseph was begging me to go to the beach. It's much too cold now. We huddle up inside staying warm while dreaming of the beach and putting together puzzles and playing with balls. 

Joseph knows his colors an shapes very well. He surprised me when I showed him the shape of a half moon and he called it a crescent. He can also count to 14, he just misses out a couple numbers.

How we see our friends

Isn't it a funny thing how we see others, especially our friends!!
We find ourselves wanting to be like our friends, look like they look, have what they have...

We see it starting at a young age. Rachael has a good diverse ethnic friend circle at school.
Chinese, Indian, Australian... It's been very enjoyable watching her interact and learn more about each other.

At school the children use an app for learning math, as they created their accounts they have to create an avatar of themselves.  Rachael created an indian avatar to represent herself because she loves her new friend Rimjhim.

It made me chuckle but really does bring light to how our children think. I thought it was adorable.

Oh Josh... I laugh...

Picking Josh up from school and he seemed unhappy. I asked him what was wrong. As he began ranting and raving about all the bad and wrong things of his day I began to roll my eyes at the front of the car. "Here we go again" is what I thought. When he then paused and said "then... someone called me sexy... Yeah a girl named Nadi said I have sexy nipples." 

Bhahaha What??? I couldn't help but start to laugh out loud. Probably not the best move on my part but I never expected to ever hear anything like this. 

After Josh realized that sexy isn't a bad or mean word he was laughing with me. I still chuckle every time I think about it.

Josh is in a swimming program with his grade at school and that is where this would have taken place. If he really didn't like what she said he would have worn a shirt today for swim. 

2014 Family Pictures

I've been dying to get some family pictures taken. Aaron works with a great guy that offered to take our pictures with his new amazing camera.

With the warm and nice weather drawing to a close we were running out of time to set a date. Last minute we scheduled in to meet at Brighton Beach.  The weather was perfect and colors vibrant.

Joseph couldn't handle sitting still for even a minute and ended up in the sand making sand angels. 

I am pleased with the pictures and am so grateful for these memories. 

Taking time

Since this move over I feel as if time has sped up. I have blinked and here we are nearly 8 months later. 

I remember as a child and even a teen feeling as if days would drag on and on. I remember the days feeling like weeks in anticipation for something exciting.

Now as a mother of 4 I feel I never have enough time to plan, prepare and do all the things I desire to do. 

The hardest part has been learning what things are most important and what things are of least importance.  Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke about this in a general conference talk. He said: "We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families." 

I have really had to evaluate my life and decide what those good, better and best things are.  I found myself feeling frustrated with minor things. It became such a daunting task when trying to take 4 kids to the beach bringing along bags of all the necessities for a new baby as well as a large beach umbrella, beach toys and my camera. Was I really getting mad at my kids when sand was thrown in the direction of my beloved camera bag? 

Photography is a passion that I have learned needs to be put on hold. It is one of the good or better things. I was worrying more about the perfect picture to capture behind the lens of my camera and then missing out on the memories I could be making with my young children. This doesn't mean I halt taking any pictures it just means I needed to simplify. My camera phone became the easiest way to capture moments with a very active family. I have nearly 4000 photos that are not high quality or professional in any way but are priceless to me. 

Rebecca is nearly 9 months. She has 5 teeth says mama, dada and is already crawling. She LOVES eating apples and cherries. She loves me and it fills me with joy. She is no longer a baby, we are entering toddler stages and this saddens me. I will truly miss having a baby.

Reflecting on this I am making a better effort to rid those good and better things and focus on the best. To be the best wife I can be by strengthening my marriage and relationship with Aaron. I want to be a more engaged mother, to become my children's best friend. 

We are living in a cruel time and watching the world become more wicked. Our children are exposed to the most horrible things and much sadness. I need to create a home where they feel loved, safe and happy. I need to help teach them how to be a hard worker, how to be respectful and to love those around them while keeping their own standards high. 

I have found a better focus and am happy. It will all take time but I am seeing significant improvements. 

I still find time for myself every day and strive to read and educate myself as well as exercise.  Instead of feeling overwhelmed when all 4 kids are screaming for my attention I am better able to spend an hour tossing a ball with Joseph and am more patient as he is learning to speak more fluently and it takes him 5 minutes to explain something.  More willing to find the energy to help teach Rachael to read when she has a small desire to do so. We spend 30 minutes on homework and then can happily color for another 30 minutes.  When Josh is having a melt down I can recognize he is crying for help. I have learned to talk with him differently, I was denying it before but he is older now and needs to be treated so. He feels much more appreciated when I treat him like an 8 year old instead of a 5 year old. I can actually sit down and enjoy doing homework with him or teaching piano for 30 minutes.  These things I honestly struggled with and still do at times.  These things are nearly a daily occurrence and take heaps of my time. But I love it and wouldn't change it for anything.  Little Rebecca is always there to love me and gets so excited to have my attention. Whenever I am having a hard moment I can always turn to her.

Some have said to me that they are amazed at how i've handled moving over here and that it must have been so hard. Yes, it was hard at times but I believe it would have been much harder if I didn't have my little family with me. I am grateful for them!

Time is a priceless thing. How are we all managing and spending our time?

Celebrating 10 Years of Marriage

Tuesday 22 April we set out early for a day trip.

We enjoyed walking the older two to their classes that rainy morning and had wonderful sitters arranged at home for the younger two.
Starting the morning early we drove down to the Peninsula area.
A large breakfast at the Red Cafe in Rye (Banana Bread French Toast was delicious!!) and then we watched a kite boarder. What an incredible talent that must be, all we could think about is how sore we would be afterwards.

 Checking in for our horse ride we found ourselves a bit nervous and questioning why we had decided to do this. It turned out being the highlight of our day. What an incredible and beautiful experience. The horses were amazing and scenery breathtaking. 
We were so fortunate enough that the rain held off our entire 2 hour trip and the sun even came out once we arrived at the beach. 

The famous Peninsula Hot Springs was our next stop. We were excited to relax after all the trotting we did on the horses. It was quite busy but still a beautiful relaxing and fun experience.

Our last stop was at the Spice Indian Restaurant in Dingley Village.  The owners treated us with free drinks and dessert for our anniversary. We were filled with amazing food, I wish I could have eaten more of the cheesy naan bread, we were stuffed. Yumm

The day was amazing, the first time we've had a real 'date' since moving to Australia. We found ourselves reflecting back on our past 10 years and how far we have come. We laughed, cried and pondered experiences we have had together. We asked ourselves the question "if we could start again would we have done anything differently?" well of course we would, but we soon realized that we have to have the 10 years of experience to celebrate a 10 year anniversary. We only know and learn through experience.

We would not change our 10 years together for anything, it has been challenging at times but extremely rewarding. We love our little family and look forward to eternity together!

Lunar Eclipse

15 April 2014

I was aware of the upcoming Lunar Eclipse that the whole of the USA was supposed to see. I did a bit of research and found that parts of Australia would be able to see it as well after the sunset.

I made the decision that we would enjoy dinner in the park while we watched for the amazing phenomenon. We picked up Maccas and met Aaron at the Bicentennial Park in Chelsea Heights.

The kids played as we anxiously waited for the sun to set. It was fun to see others doing the same thing.

The sun set and the moon was no where to be seen. We started walking towards some hills in the park and through some trees ho


ping to catch a glimpse of the moon. It was quite cloudy towards the East.

As it was getting darker and quite chilly we nearly turned back to go home when all of a sudden the moon appeared from behind the clouds. It was amazingly beautiful. Joseph continued to exclaim that the moon was red. Mommy, look look, the moon is red.

Capturing this experience on my camera was by far the highlight for me. What an experience.

Nut allergies can be scary

My advice: Educate, prepare and plan yourselves...

When Rachael was very young she came in contact with Pistachio nuts. A simple touch to her lips and her face swelled. We knew there was a problem.

After further skin test we found that she was severely allergic to Pistachio and Cashew nuts. Cashews being even worse for her. With advice to avoid all Tree Nuts and a prescribed Epi Pen in hand I knew it would only be a matter of time before we had an attack. I didn't know what to expect but knew what I needed to do if it were to happen just hoping that it happened when I was present.

We did our best to educate Rachael in screening food from others and such. But it's such a hard process and something you have to ALWAYS be thinking about when eating outside of your own home.

Moving to Australia has proven more difficult. With the high popularity of Asian, Indian, Thai and other oriental foods nuts are used everywhere. We've had some nice dishes ordered in only to then find out that they were cooked with Cashews or Pistachio. Rachael never complains and if anything has become more cautious towards all new foods.

Wednesday afternoon we began eating some banana bread a friend brought over. It was a flour less, sugar less delight. I made the mistake of forgetting to ask if there were nuts. Rachael ate half a slice and not long after stopped saying that her mouth and tummy felt really full and that she ate too much. She then quickly went into another room and brought back her inhalers. I immediately knew something was wrong.

She then began to cry and pointed to her mouth, she opened and I began to panic quietly. I knew exactly what was going on. Everything happened so quickly, I sent a text to Aaron (he was stuck on a train trying to get home), Josh was at a friends house (I was due to pick him up in 30 minutes), Joseph was running around a massive line of his toys streamed across the floor and Rebecca was now crying on the floor. I rushed Rachael into the kitchen where I tried my best to calm her down.

I said a pleading prayer in my heart and asked Rachael to slowly and calmly open her mouth. I gave her some Benadryl and could see her throat quickly closing up. I felt strongly I needed to administer the Epi Pen. I was terrified. I read the label over a few times and prayed again in my heart for guidance and strength. Rachael was scared but had pleading eyes right on me. She was scared, so was I. My heart rate climbed and was racing, I was shaking and sweating all at once.  Here went nothing...

Not even a minute had passed after administering the medicine and Rachael's eyes widened in astonishment. She opened her mouth and the swelling was completely gone. I had no idea that this medicine worked like this, it was miracle medicine. Knowing the protocol and because Rach has never been given an Epi Pen I called (000) equivalent of (911 in the USA). She became very lethargic and pale in the face. The paramedics arrived at the same time my friend arrived. I left with Rachael in the Ambulance and my friend stayed with the others and picked Josh up for me.

Once at the hospital it was busy and completely different from what I was used to in the USA. Because we are foreign and on a work visa they had to take some different protocols. Rachael was feeling very sick and continued to ask for water, a doctor brought her apple juice. One sip and she started throwing up. It was everywhere :(  Because she threw up they had to admit us to monitor her for 4 hours. Throwing up is a sign of anaphylactic shock and they needed to make sure she wasn't going to have another outbreak.  It was a long and tiring afternoon but all went well and we were released at 8:30pm.

I am grateful for modern medicine and to the knowledge we have of allergies and how to prevent and save lives. I am grateful for the promptings Aaron and my friend had to do what they did. Everything fell into place and went as smoothly as I could have asked for. I knew this would happen some day and I am grateful it happened as it did. We are now all better educated, prepared and can hopefully prevent many future encounters from happening.

The next day Aaron took off from work and we planned for Rachael to stay at home from school. When I asked Josh to get ready for school that morning Rachael got upset with me and said "Mom, but why didn't you ask me to get ready for school, I want to go too". She insisted to attend school.  

When we step back and take a bigger look we can learn so much from our children. Rachael is a great example to me in the ability she has to bounce back. She has incredible resilience and hasn't let this experience stop her. 

I feel incredibly loved, blessed and very grateful!

Dropping Josh and Rach off at school the next morning

 Afternoon break and lunch at Costco

Quick stop at the temple to partake of it's beauty.

The colors were so vibrant!

Last Day in Perth - Cottesloe Beach Art

Our flight out of Perth didn't go until 5pm our last day. So to kill some time we headed down to the famous Cottesloe Beach to look at all the amazing art up for auction.

It was spectacular.

This random half arch seen below was made with hundreds of naked barbies. 

From Cottesloe Beach we drove to the airport. Saying goodbye was hard, especially for Josh and Alfie.  

Rachael and Josh have become phenomenal fliers. They both requested to sit together in the window seats and traveled the 4 hours home like champs. 

We arrived back in Melbourne around 1:30am, collected our luggage and made our way to our car. The picture in the car below was taken just before we left the car park. They were all fast asleep before we pulled out.