Aussie Christmas

In some ways it felt like any other Christmas!  The stockings were hung, the tree was lit, presents were wrapped, and Christmas programs were had!  The month itself was a lot slower than the normal crazy December.   No family parties, or work parties, or neighborhood parties.  We were missing the snow a little....for a minute.  The kids got out of school on December 21st and they do not go back until January 31st.  It is our "summer break!"  January is equivalent to our July.  It is a hot month and super busy.  Literally, Australia pretty much shuts down for 3 weeks or more.  Nobody goes back to work and everyone is on "holiday!"  It is a very different way of life but one that we could easily get on board with!  

Here are some shots from the kids programs.  It was a fun night.  It was outside.  The kids wore shorts, thongs (flip flops...geesh..get your mind out of the guitar), and t-shirts!  They sang Christmas songs and non-Christmas songs.  For example, Payphone, Skinny Love, and 500 Miles!  {insert a pic of me and jared looking at each other confused}  The kids did such a good job.  

Bostons class taking part! 

Lillie and her teacher Mrs. Emonson -- We love her!!

Boston and the School Captain, Riley Smith

{Thanks to this young man Boston loved his school}

{Boston started to cry after the program was over because he realized that Riley goes onto "High School" next year and won't be at school...Boston has such a tender heart}

Lillies class! I know I am biased but she is so CUTE!

CHRISTMAS EVE

Christmas Eve came and it was weird.  So so weird.  They do not really celebrate Christmas Eve in Australia and so we did what we would have normally done if we still lived in Utah.  Normally, first thing in the morning we head to breakfast for one of my oldest friends, Julies Birthday.  We started this tradition 8 or 9 years ago and it is something we look forward to every year.  From breakfast we go to a movie with Jareds family.  So this year we took the kids to see Rise of the Guardians.   Then we came home and watched Christmas movies, baked, and tried to stay busy!  When it came time to make dinner me and Jared were both feeling down and just could't do it and so we took the kids out to dinner.  Random!  Some Italian place that was actually really yummy and the kids were aMazing at dinner!  

We came home and instead of acting out the Nativity scene Jared read it to them and showed them a clip from lds.org.  It was really good and the kids listened intently to what he had to say!

CHRISTMAS MORNING

 Man the kids are just getting so big!  Boston is my brother Tyler to a T!!!  He was so excited for Christmas this year.  He came into my room at 4 am and said mom is it time yet?  No, bud go back to bed!  Off he walked back to bed...shoulders slumped and all!!  Times passes.  Not much time.  5:10 comes and I hear his footsteps coming...no Boston go back to bed!  It's almost time and you don't want Santa to miss us!!  He then came in at around 7:30 and at that point I thought he should be put out of his misery!  I let him go wake up his brother and sister!  So excited!!!

Loving this age!  If you look closely Boston is about ready to swipe that 1D book away from him.  :)

We spent most of our morning FaceTiming!  It was a good thing and a bad thing.  Sure did make us homesick but it also kept us in the loop!  Technology really is an amazing thing and we feel so so so blessed that we can have anyone at the other end for practically FREE!!!  

We got invited to our friends house for Christmas dinner.  The weirdest part about the whole thing is that it was a BBQ and we hung out outside all day!!! Far out!!!  

Here is the hostess with he rmostess!!  Serious need to give a shout out to them for letting us barge in on their Christmas!

Getting everything ready.  You will see on the table a "bon bon" this is a tradition thing at Christmas here in Australia.  The ones that you will find in all the stores are full of candy, a joke, and a hat made out of paper.  Deb and I made ours ourself.  We put in yummy candy, pops, and a dare!  Everyone had to go around the table and do some type of dare!  It made it really fun!

Lovely day for a Christmas BBQ!

Here are some of my favorite shots of our 1st Aussie Christmas! 

My sweet friend Kerri, Dane, Lincoln!

Hutch trying to tell the kids its not about the gifts even though they were so excited!

Paxton and Hunter

Lillie and Em

Kayla and Kerri

Paxton and Lincoln are best buds!  This was really serious little boy talk!

The yummy desserts selection!

Me and the Hubby!

A piñata on Christmas!!! So foreign to us but he kids LOVED IT!

Another shot of the dessert table.  I made the cute banner to hang above it!  Seriously yummy food!

All in all it was a great Christmas!  A big shout out to Deb and Hutch for letting us be a part of your family.  Buying us gifts and making us feel like we were right at home.  I know that you were an answer to not only our prayers but our mums as well!  Also, a huge shout out to DHL for getting our packages to us on time!  My mom and Jareds mom sure spent a lot of money to get us presents and we are so thankful for that!  Also, to the few other people who sent us packages!  Thank you!  It is seriously such a nice thing to do.  Especially, when we get the package and see what you spent on postage!  So THANK YOU!!!  We also loved the Christmas cards we got in the mail.  We only got like 10 this year but those 10 are cherished!  By cherished I mean carried around, hung on kids walls, taken down to another kids rooms, we ate breakfast with them, and well you get the idea! So thank you for all being a part of our 1st Christmas away from home.  

And just for your entertainment...here is cute Boston!  The last number at his Christmas program was for "Choir Members  Only!"  Me and Jared were a little shocked when we saw Boston get up and go up on stage.  Neither of us knew he was in the choir!  You be the judge?  :)

Merry Christmas!

Mama I'm a Big girl Now

I went to bed with a pit in my stomach.  It was gong to be a very hard day.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!  It always has been.  I love to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while I helped my Mom bake.  I knew that whenI woke up in the morning that it was going to be a hard day.  We did get a call on Thanksgiving Eve telling us that our container would be delievered the next day!   It was music to my ears!  We woke up Thanksgiving morning and called home to Jareds family.  They were just about to sit up to eat.  My mother-in-laws decorations made us homesick!  The food looked amazing!  I could feel that pit getting bigger.....  

When what to my wondering eyes did appear....

a container of stuff from the U.S. to here!!! 

We got the kids off to school and we unpacked our hearts out!

We giggled and laughed at the things that we found!

A shot glass from Nashville Tennesse, a mason jar without a lid, a broken snow globe (that was broken before it left Utah), and of course a neighbors cup!

The kids were in love with their "new" toys!

From capes

to salt and pepper shakers

to decorations

it was starting to feel like home!

Much thanks to the wonderful people who lent us bedding, cookware, and toys! 

You were all little angels in our life!

We unpacked late into the night and at the same time started our Thanksgiving baking!  We found two families in our Ward to help us celebrate.  One family in our ward the Mom is from California and so that was fun and the other family in our ward lived in Utah for a few years while he did a Masters Program.  Jared took on the turkey which turned out so yummy!  

It would not be Thanksgiving with out the best Cranberry Salad EVER!

It felt like Thanksgiving!  There was food had by all!

a kids table

an adult table

movie watching by youngsters

Aussie teenagers wondering what in the world we are celebrating

adults that love food and never stop talking

more bored teenagers hehe

seriously...what is Thanksgiving

The whole crew who helped me not miss home too much!  

Amazing people that we are so lucky to know!

Healsville Sanctuary

A couple weeks ago my kids had a public holiday!

The Melbourne Cup

It's kinda like the Kentucky Derby

Prince Charles came from England among other celebs.

So we left the city and went to a little slice of Lake Shore!

Not really!

Felt like it though.  It was the first that we have seen cows,

sheep, and farms!

Love the scenery!

Grape Vineyards

And more vineyards.  

We got to our destination after one or two minor complications

with Gloria (our GPS)!

Healsville Sanctuary is a zoo like. 

Mainly just Australian animals!

The kids got to meet.........

ZOOPERMAN!

Fell even more in love with Koala bears!

It was a rainy day but that didn't stop us!

Kangaroos in the background.

Lizard, for Hunter!

Kangaroo, that the kids got to feed!

Beautiful!

If you let rainy days stop you in Melbourne,

well you wouldn't be going anywhere!

It goes from rainy to sunny to windy 

in a matter of minutes!

oh and in case you were wondering

Siblings

Boy oh boy did I have one "poopy" (literally) weekend last week.  Jared left on Thursday morning to head to Queensland for a doTERRA convention.  I am used to Jared traveling and that is nothing new to me.  Some might even say I am a pro!  He has traveled a lot over the last couple years and I have grown from it.  Normally when he leaves I have heaps of neighbors and family and friends that take care of me.  They feed us dinner, they would make us cookies, they would watch my kids so I could go out, they would have my kids come and play so I could get a break, they would come sleep over with me if I got scared or let me sleep at there house.  So yes I was a pro at Jared leaving but I was a "pro" because I had an army of amazing humans behind me to hold me up!  

Thursday was a great day.  My sweet friend Deb came over in the evening and made us dinner and I had collected some stuff and we made a very cute Christmas Wreath from pinterest.  It was a great day and an even greater night!  Then Friday came...Lillie had a birthday party after school at Mackers (McDonalds) and I took Boston and Paxton to the party as well.  Didn't really have a choice since Jared was gone.  Long story short...Paxton pooped his pants and while going into the bathroom it went all over the floor.  The tears immediately sprung to my eyes.  Why?  As my good friend Ross Gellar would say, "why do bad things happen to good people!!"  So here I am cleaning up his poop off of him, the floor, etc.  I then take my shirt off (luckily I had on an undershirt) and wrapped him in that.  I went out and told the Mom of the birthday girl what had happened and I would be back soon.  She was very sweet and told me not to worry she would keep an eye on Boston and LIllie.  So off we headed home to clean up Paxton.  He screamed the whole way home that he wanted to go play at Mackers.  I got him bathed, new clothes, did his hair and then I headed to my room to clean myself up and change my clothes.  Meanwhile he starts watching a movie on the iPad  I finish cleaning myself up and go and get him and he screamed bloody murder because he wanted to stay home and he did NOT want to go back to Mackers.  For the love!

Enter sibling #1

Isn't she pretty.  Luckily, for me with the time difference of us and Hawaii she was awake and listened to me rant, rave, and cry.  She is a mother of 5 and so she has been where I have been.  She didn't interrupt or try to defend Jared for being out of town or defend Paxton for being a toddler (both of those things she could have easily)! She sympathized with her little sister.  She simply listened and listened and then said..yep...it sucks!  She didn't give me any "fluff!" She told me how it is and for that I will be forever grateful!  She's my tough sister.  Some might even call her a hard A!  A true Shepherd!  She has been through everything I'm going through and she has set the bar high for me!  I love her and so grateful for her example to me.  Thank you sis for being a good sister with a big heart!  

Next, come Saturday!  Oh boy!  It was a little rainy and overcast and so I decided to get out of the house.  We went to an indoor play centre.  It is full of germs but man alive do my kids have fun there!  We had been there for a little over an hour.  I was prepared this time for an accident.  Every ten minutes I kept asking Pax if he needed to go potty.  Over and over!  He went once and then the rest of the time he was good.  About 20 minutes later he comes waddling over to me and says "mom I poopy!!!"  Oh boy did I want to die!  I didn't even try to clean it up.  I got my other two kids and headed home.  In the car Paxton put his hand in the poop and kept asking if he could lick it!  I repeatedly told him NO NO NO!  He kept asking so I finally said I don't care what you do.  His hand got right next to his lips and he started to GAG (he gets that from my side)!  I got him home cleaned him up, me up, took the carseat apart to wash it!  And thenI called my sister!

Enter sibling #2

Isn't she pretty!!  It was kind of a repeat of the same conversation I had with my other sister.  I cried and cried.  I told her I wanted to come home.  I needed family and friends.  I needed them!  I went on and on and on!  Poor picked on me!  Once again my sister...being a mother of 4...to kids that would have never have done anything like this!! :) (inside joke!)  She didn't interrupt.  She didn't defend (which looking back both of my sisters could have easily have done).  She cried with me.  She wished she could come and help me.  She has a heart as big as Texas.  She told me to stay strong!  She asked me if she could help book our tickets! Wink!  She would do anything for me and my kids.  She's my oldest sister and is all of our 2nd mother!  She takes care of us and always has.  I know all of my siblings value her opinion the most because she's always been there for us!  A true 1st child!

Believe it or not I survived until Sunday!  Rock on me!  Our church is at 9am and I got us all there on time!  Jareds flight got in at 11:30 and we would get home about the same time.  Three more hours of being a single mom (to those of you real single moms..I salute you).  I should have known better than to get my hopes up.  We got new callings on Sunday and the Bishop asked if Jared could come straight to church after his flight to be set a part and then go to Bishopric meeting (executive secretary).  Tears sprung to my eyes once again and I said sure!  Jared went to his meetings and I went home and tried to put on a happy face.  Made lunch, played uno, made cookies.  It was a pretty good afternoon but my little Boston was just testing my nerves all the way through the day.  Jared walked in door at 5 pm. I had survived my poopy weekend and so did the kids.  I still felt bad for myself.  And for the kids.  We went to dinner at a ward members house.  If you can't tell we have the best ward ever and they are so nice to us!!  And we had a great evening.  Great food and great company.  We got home and Jared put the kids to bed.  I went in my room and cried.  At this point I don't even know what Im crying for anymore.  My cries turned into a prayer...To be a better mom, a better wife, more patient, more understanding, and praying for help to not miss home!

Enter sibling #3

It was 9:30pm on Sunday our time and my brother Tyler texts me to see how my Sunday was.  I found this a little odd since it was 3:30am his time.  He was having a hard time sleeping and so he thought he would text me and see how my Sunday went.  We sent some texts back and forth.  He had gotten word about my "poopy" weekend and was checking on me.  It was 3:30am and my brother wanted to see if I was okay!  My favorite part was that he was watching a Christmas movie and eating some dessert!  So Grandpa Johnson like!  It melted my heart.  He then sent me this text and it was truly a direct answer to my prayers!

Perspective!  You bet!  Answer to my prayers!  You bet!  All I was thinking about was ME!  I loved his text.  I loved everything about it.  Even the parts that are hard to hear and even harder to put into motion!  Thanks big brother!  

Monday was a lot better day.  Jared was here and that makes the world a lot better place.  He literally is my everything.  My best friend.  My world just spins a lot better when he is here.  My kids were great, school was great!  I still felt a little exhausted from my weekend but I was in a much better place.  Boston did a super cute FHE lesson and drew this picture for all of us.  

He said it was our house in Salem and he knows one day we will get to go back there!  My favorite part of the picture was that he wrote mum!  I love being his mum!  

It was a good day!

Enter sibling #4

Isn't he cute!  Sorry bro! Ha! Bet you didn't know I did a screen shot of our FaceTime!  He had been in Brazil for a couple weeks and he got home on Monday and heard about my "poopy" weekend!  If you can't tell my family doesn't have much secrets!!  He was calling to tell me how proud he was of me.  That he knows its hard but he wishes he could be here having the same experiences I am having.  We are growing as a family!  Our own little family.  He is my mom's "Sunshine" and that is exactly what he is.  If you know him you can't help but not only smile when you are around him but LOVE him!  He is a father to 5 children and a pretty good one!  He gave me a pep talk!  Told me he loved me I think 60 times and at the end of the talk he kissed his iPad!  A big slobbery kiss!  I love him!  I am so grateful for him and for what he has taught me in life!  Never to give up!    

I looked up on google the definition of sibling:  A sibling is one of two or more individuals having one or both parents in common. A male sibling is called a brother, and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together, facilitating the development of strong emotional bonds such as love, hostility or thoughtfulness. The emotional bond between siblings is often complicated and is influenced by factors such as parental treatment, birth order, personality, and personal experiences outside the family.

I am literally the luckiest girl in the world to have my siblings!  I would agree with google, we

 have a strong bond!  We were raised in the same house, with the same parents!  We each

 turned out a little different!  I am the baby of the family and I wouldn't want it any other 

way.  I get to look up to the most amazing people!   get to learn from their example, 

mistakes, and influence.  I have the best nieces and nephews and that came from them as 

well!  In a three day period they all took the time to reach out to me and show me how 

much they love me! I LOVE them with all my heart!  Even though we are a little crazy!  And 

sensitive.  And miss each other like crazy!

 I. LOVE. THEM!

Testimony

Happy Sunday to everyone. I bore my testimony in church last Sunday and it was scary. I want to remember these early months here, the good, the bad, the hard, the Victories!

I told myself I would not cry, I think I got out good morning bro..... And then the tears came. I feel like the Lord has blessed me and my family so much in the last month that I needed to Stand and publicly thank Him.

We have gone through so many changes since being here. Learning to adjust being away from family and  friends and getting used to new schools.  Those are obviously the big things.  Learning to drive on the other side of the road! Keep left! Learning the Aussie slang,  It is the rubbish man and the one I will never get used to...asking a stranger where the nearest toilet is. I just feel like my mama taught me no manners when I say that!!  Like I said we have just had change after change.  I get really homesick.  I cry a lot.  I miss things a lot.  My kids get homesick and they don't know how to deal with these big feelings.  Change. Change. Change.  The ONE thing that has stayed constant and 'normal' and feels like home is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I have immediate friends, people who believe the same things as me, and I have a ward family.  I ran into a lady at McDonald's who is from New Orleans.  She has lived here a little over a year.  Somehow we got talking about religion and she said her church is a lot different here in Australia.  She was naming some differences of the two and she asked me if my church was the same.  With a smile on my face I told her that mine is EXACTLY the same.

I have a greater respect for missionaries.  What a hard thing.  These kids pack up and do at such a young age.  They leave everything they know to go and spread the word of God.  Also, to all you moms out there with missionaries... they are okay.  Wherever they are they have a ward family.  They have something that is familiar and truly amazing.  What an amazing church we belong to.  I am so grateful for my knowledge of my Savior.  I am so grateful he knows me and knows my little family and knows what we stand in need of.  I am grateful for his perfect example.  I am grateful for the people in our ward that have taken our family in so generously.  We truly feel loved by all of you.