Frank Travels

After our Thanksgiving celebration, we were expecting Frank our elf to arrive.  We searched the entire house (literally) and couldn’t find him anywhere.  We received an email from Uncle Adam and Sydney in Kansas City saying that Frank had arrived on Juniper Street.  Oh no!!  Frank got confused on his instructions from Santa.    Santa told him to go to Sydney.  He thought Sydney the dog, not Sydney the city.  He is on his way (Priority International Express Mail) and should arrive in 3-5 days.   He is enjoying his layover in LA before his late night Qantas flight leaves.  “Silly Frank”

Happy Thanksgiving

I never thought I would say that I miss the Kansas City cold, but it certainly does not feel like the holidays here.  We attended a Christmas service this evening with Cade’s school, which helped, but it is hard to feel festive when it is 90 degrees.  

When I dropped Paige off at school this week, her teachers asked me to tell them about Thanksgiving…what is it about?  How do you celebrate?   It gave me a moment to reflect on the holiday and how special it is as I shared my thoughts with them.    “Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  It is simple.  There are no expectations, no gifts, no dressing up, just enjoying great food with family and reflecting on all that is good.”

We are truly blessed with amazing family and wonderful friends.  Being 9,000 miles away on the other side of the world has made us even more thankful for all the people in our lives and we are so excited to reconnect with everyone in person very soon. 

On this unique Thanksgiving Day when we are away from family and friends on and not having the traditional meal, we spent some time reflecting on what we were thankful for this year.  

Our family list

• More downtime as a family
• Continued professional opportunities that challenge and inspire us
• Living by the water in a beautiful city that has made us more active
• A strong education system for our childrens’ early years
• Traveling to other parts of the world
• Good health

The kid’s list

• The Opera House
• Lollies (Candy)
• Legos and babies
• Sydney (our dog…not the city)

Paige’s school celebrated Thanksgiving today for the first time ever.  They enjoyed an extra special afternoon tea, made hands to put on a big turkey and talked about all of the things they were thankful for.  They said they would continue the tradition in Paige’s honor next year and adopt the new holiday as their own at school. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Nippers Fun

After two rainy and cold weekends, we were thrilled to have a perfect Sunday morning for Nippers.  Cade is in his fifth week and is having a ball.  I am so thankful that we got this unique Australian experience before moving back.  There are over seven hundred kids at our beach alone every Sunday morning participating and thousands across Sydney.  Events include tug-a-war, beach boards in the ocean, swimming with noodles, bull rush games, obstacle courses and beach runs.  We weren’t really sure how he would respond to it, but he always has a smile on his face, even when the water is freezing cold.  The hats are funny, but I appreciate how protective Australians are of kids and the sun.  The kids are broken up by age and gender and have different color caps.  It is very hard to keep track of your child.   Santa is joining the beach activities for the final Sunday in December before the holiday break.   

 

Mom Time

Sweets are everywhere in this town.  I guess people burn more calories because you walk everywhere?  I don’t know, but there is so much temptation literally on every corner.  We have started a Friday after school tradition of getting sweet crepes at Four Frogs Creperie for “afternoon tea”.  It is a cute little French creperie filled with kids from school.  Here are the indulgences. It was so hard for them to wait to dig in for me to snap this quick picture.  It is hard to believe there are only two weeks left of school before summer break so we are enjoying some of favorite traditions, especially as the move is looming.   The kids will get a short summer before starting school again in January. 

 

Kansas City, Here We Come!

Our flight home in early January which was originally scheduled to be a long visit, will not have a return to Sydney.  Cerner offered Matt and new opportunity and we are moving back home one year earlier than expected.  It has been a crazy few weeks working through many details and the next several months will be another state of transition as most of our items will not be back home until sometime in February.   The sudden decision brought a flurry of emotions as we were just finally feeling settled and there were still things to do/places to see, but the professional opportunity and the opportunity to be back with family and friends are very exciting.  We will spend the holidays here (it should make for a very interesting and unique Christmas J) and our last night in Sydney will be spent as a family watching one of the most spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks celebrations in the world.   We are grateful for this amazing life experience and are excited to come home.

All the Kindy Mums. All the Kindy Mums.

Last weekend, I had a fun girls night out with six other Kindy Mums from Cade’s school.  We started the evening out with tapas and bubbly and then we headed to Sydney Olympic Park for the Beyonce concert “The Mrs. Carter Tour”.  She is such an amazing performer.  She performed non-stop for 2.5 hours and was so impressive.  She has come a long way since I saw her perform with Destiny’s Child in Manhattan, KS in 2001.