< community >

I continue to be amazed at the rich friendships & realtionships that I have formed in Toowoomba. I dropped in to visit my old workplace, Young Women's Place, this morning & although I left my position there before Jamin was born, in a lot of ways it was as though I had never left. It was the same feeling when I crashed a Fresh Hope graduation last week. I just feel overwhelmed by the friendship & community that keeps meeting me as I reconnect with people & places around here.

Professionally, I am being reenergised in myself to begin thinking seriously about where & how I would like to practice when we return to Toowoomba. I continue to be greeted by the networks that I have built & the need that is around this area. And it amazes me how all of my previous work is coming together to prepare me for what the next step might be in my work as a counsellor.

My role as a mother is the most important thing that I will do in my life but I also have this desire within me to use the other skills that I have. The skills that I have developed over many years of study and experience. I want to become an integral part of this community again & reach out with what I have.

It will be an interesting journey... and I am feeling just a bit excited!



:: an afternoon by the creek ::


Sunday afternoon in Boonah was hot & humid - the typical Australian summer day that I have been hanging out for. The kind that can only be found pleasurable when sitting in water or in the breeze wearing as little as possible. We decided to go for a drive with Brian & Lara to swim & picnic at Mt Barney Lodge creek with the kids & it was a beautiful fun afternoon that I will remember for a long time.

There is really something special about making memories with family & friends that you know will be around for many more years, the rest of life even. Seeing the kids at this young stage makes me want to remember & cherish them now, rather than my usual "This too will pass" mantra about nappies, tantrums & sleepless nights. And being in Australia is also made even more meaningful because of our time spent in another country.



Ava Blaise - as gorgeous as ever

Our two little boys, who despite only 7 months in age difference are about the same size!

Here's to many more afternoons spent hanging out with the ones that I love...

:: one of those days ::

Today has been one of those days...

You know the ones where you get up on the wrong side of the bed & just cant seem to shake that grumpy feeling all day.

My day started around 5:30am with Kael screaming in the next room. And even though Danny's precious mum got up for the first 15 minutes with him I must have needed more sleep because my attitude wouldn't shift despite some serious selftalk.

Ainz & I had a busy morning mediating between the boys at the farm, leading to a abandonment of afternoon plans when my tired Jamin couldn't control his barracuda jaws from biting his cousin. I survived the afternoon with the help of Danny's parents & just made it to the boys bedtime without making too many parenting mistakes I would regret come morning.

Although blogging was the last thing on my mind I just wanted to make sure that mine wasn't a blog of happy, smiling kids all the time.
We have tough, rough days & I make lots of mistakes with my kids along the way. I think that on these days you just survive & try to make it to the next morning to start all over again.

All the best with your next rough day. Hope you survive as well!

:: a busy weekend ::

It has really been a different change in pace since we arrived in Australia almost a week ago. We have been friends & family hopping most days. I found myself thinking "Wow, people really do like me. I have friends!" I have been finding it so hard to make genuine friends in Utah because getting out & having a real conversation whilst trying to look after 2 boys is quite difficult. But underneath that I must have been starting to think that maybe I just wasn't someone that people were really interested in being friends with. Anyway, it was lovely to come back & experience the benefits of all the long term friendships that I have cultivated over the years.

Here a few photos that I took over the weekend.

A delicious dinner at Greg & Chrissy's house, complete with a kid's table!

Kael & Asher bonding over a cup of tea in the wading pool on a hot Saturday afternoon.

Hope you all have had a lovely weekend making the most of your friends & family.

< Frank the Header >

By all reports, Jamin's favourite part of the day at the farm was getting go for a ride on Frank, the yellow header with Isaiah. Both boys love the movie Cars, but up until now Jamin has not been all that fond of the header scenes in the movie. But it was love at first site for him when he saw that Uncle Scott was driving a yellow (his favourite colour) header to harvest the sorghum. All during the ride he kept on saying "I love Frank the Header so much! Do you love him Isaiah?".

The boys are now at an age where they have a friendship independent of their parents & it brings me endless amounts of joy to hear their conversations about random 3 year old things. This visit is going to be so bittersweet knowing that we need to leave again... but I won't dwell on that right now... sigh

They have also entered into that amusing almost 4 year old stage of being silly just to make eachother laugh.

After the ride on Frank they got to drive back to the house in the tractor with Dad, towing a load of sorghum. More fun, especially because the tractor has yellow wheels! Isaiah showed his beautiful kind heart & let Jamin borrow his green tractor with yellow wheels to take back to Gran & Grandads for a few days. I love these boys with my whole heart!

+ a day at the farm +

After a phenomenal night's sleep, with no waking from jetlag through the night, we made our way out to the farm (Danny's brother's in-laws) this morning for another play & visit. This has been one place that I have been dreaming of coming back to while we have been far away in Utah. There is nothing quite like a cotton farm with fields stretching for miles. I was also dying to see our boys trying out the grand fort that Scott & Ainz have built. It exceeded my expectations & the boys loved it! 

We got to read lots of books, mediate been a few fights & have loads of kisses & cuddles. Just what I was dreaming of all the way over in America!

Danny got to fulfill his dreams & play farmer with his brother, driving the tractor while Scott harvested some sorghum with the header. He decided after an hour that he wanted to quit his stressful job & go farming. Of course we all know that farming comes with its own type of stress but for Danny this morning, it was just what the doctor ordered.

A lovely day...



:: some lost days... ::

We got to fly in one of the amazing painted Qantas planes!

Sorry for my absence but I do believe that losing a day in the air is a good reason for not posting. We arrived at Danny's parents house about 30 hours after we started travelling, feeling very tired but happy to be here. It is all so green & so deliciously familiar. It is just so wonderful to be somewhere where I know the streets & where to go to get whatever we need. It is something that you take for granted when you have been living somewhere for a long time.

The plane trip went well. We had no screaming fits or meltdowns in the air. Jamin watched non stop dvds for about 8 hours, only stopping for 5 hours sleep because Danny forced him. Taking the car seat for Kael was a great idea, especially when Oma created a little cubby house for him so that he could sleep. It was so wonderful to have an extra set of hands. We could get used to that kind of travel! Saying that, it is still an exhausting 30 hours that I could do without but this was definately the best one so far.

We had wonderful reunions with my sister & Danny's brother, Scott, Ainsley & their 3 boys. I got to meet Eli for the first time & had some very special cuddles with him & his older brothers. Jamin & Isaiah are two little peas in a pod & have finally grown up enough to play without getting into punchups after 2 minutes. Kael & Jai both have these gorgeous little cheeky smiles that must be some shared gene. Yes, I do wonder what they will get away with whilst flashing those smiles at us.



Jai, Eli & I - happy Aunty Al!

Must go & have a short nap now, It's 2 o'clock here & we are all fading. But it will only be a quick 15 minutes... I promise!