FOOTY!!!

We are one step closer to making our move back to the States. We somehow managed to get our house in pristine condition to pass our pre-moving house inspection. That included washing all the walls (pen and pencil marks gone!), scrubbing the carpets with water/white vinegar (that stuff is amazing if you’ve never used it), vacuuming, and organizing all of our stuff. The first moving company came to do an estimate for all the first load of stuff to go on 7 May. The rest gets moved on the 12^th. We also got an estimate for getting rid of our vehicles and had a ward party at the church for another family and ourselves that are moving shortly (still 3 weeks out and they are already trying to get rid of us!) It’s been frantic … but it will all be over soon … hopefully J

The kids have been doing very well. It has been school holidays for the past week so Kelli’s been dealing with them all day, every day. Except Friday when Leanne, Keely and big Savannah took the two older ones downtown--more later on that one. They were in swimming lessons at 4 every afternoon which knocked them out for the evening. That was good, but they still haven’t managed to get used to the time change. Hunter got up at 4 this morning and kept giving us the ‘I wan’ go downSTAIRS!!’ We finally just put him back in his crib and after 5 minutes of crying he was willing to go to sleep in our bed.

Collin had a special day at church today. He was asked to give the scripture in primary and did an awesome job. He was dressed to the hilt. We didn’t realize he’d outgrown his pants, but he really wanted to wear his matching vest and orange tie (which was too big for his vest), but alas he won over the argument. He also got a haircut the night before and was very particular that it was combed just right. He was very handsome sitting up there on the front row waiting for his turn. He kept sneaking a peak at Kelli and I in the back row and giving us a wave and a smile. When it was finally his turn he went up the microphone and as I was kneeling down to help him with the words he put his mouth right up to the microphone and as clear as day said, “Good morning, brothers and sisters!” Who knows where he picked that up, but maybe they are paying more attention in sacrament meeting than we thought! He proceeded to give an excellent scripture and we were very proud of him. It was one of those moments as a parent that you wonder how your kids are getting so big so fast. Kind of brought tears to the eyes.

Savannah has had a productive week. I wouldn’t say that she is enjoying being home because she really loves school. She’s been a big help around the house. I would say also that she must be growing because she is eating like a champ these days. She had one and a half sloppy joes (and asked to have them the next night), and double and triple helpings of lasagna and shepherd’s pie (which is her favorite.) Savannah has been doing incredible at swimming. She has a wicked backstroke, but her freestyle is starting to catch up as well. In fact, she did a full length of the pool and back (~35 meters!) all by herself. Collin graduated from the platypus and spent a full week with the starfish group. The teacher took his floats off and let him flounder in the water. He did a pretty good job of trying to keep himself afloat. They are both turning into water mongers!

Hunter is full of his usual antics. We are just trying to keep him from destroying the house until we leave. We don’t know how we’re going to survive on the airplane, but hopefully somehow, some way it will all turn out ok. He’s full of one liners right now and it’s hard to keep up with the kid. The other morning we were reading scriptures and talking about how if the Lamanites didn’t repent then they would be destroyed. Well, Hunter was repeating after her and instead of destroyed he said, “FRIED!!” Ok, that works, too. We’ve also mentioned in week’s past that he is our little inquisitive and creative one with getting in to things. That has a good side as well, though. We have some of those building blocks of different shapes. One is an arch with another block that fits inside the arch. Kelli said that one day he was sitting there looking at both of the blocks and had this studious look on his face. Then it was like a light came on. He looked over at Kelli with this sort of ‘Eureka’ look on his face. He then looked back at the blocks, picked up the two of them and placed them right together. Right now he’s sitting on Kelli’s lap with his lips sticking out trying to figure out how to button up his pajamas. He’s pretty determined. One other funny story with Hunter – the other night we were watching the move, “An Unfinished Life.” He was dozing off towards the end, but then there is a part in the movie that is kind of scary where a bear comes walking down a path and face to face with this guy. The way the lighting and stuff is done is quite amazing and sends chills down your spine. Well, all of us are sitting there watching the drama unfold on the TV and then Kelli gets my attention and points toward where Hunter is lying on the floor with his head propped up on one of those foam chairs. His eyes are wide open and he is literally petrified looking at the TV. His face was all scrunched up and lips were sticking out. He did not move from that position or change his facial expression while we looked and talked to him until the bear was out of the scene. I think we definitely scarred the kid for life in terms of bears. I guess we’ll have to get a camper or something if we want to venture into the woods.

We also went to our first full-fledged, professional footy (Australian football) game between the Adelaide Crows and another team from around Perth (Fremantle). Collin was counting the days down all week until we would go. They did pretty well through the first half, but it’s the type of game that isn’t real good for kids because the pitch itself is enormous and the seats and stands are not at a very steep incline relative to the field. So, unless the action is right in front of you, it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on at the other end of the field. Nonetheless the kids did well through the first half. The 3^rd quarter they lost complete interest and were just goofing around with each other. We decided to leave at ‘three-quarters time’ to beat the rush and get to the ward party. The kids were okay with that until Collin realized that nobody else was leaving with us and were still in there seats. That’s when we started the floodgate of tears and the, “I want to stay!” It didn’t matter that the he hadn’t watched any of the 3^rd quarter, the game was still going on and he wanted to be a part of it. (Sound familiar?) Of course, even though I was getting my own dues for what I pulled on my parents as a kid, at least Collin had clean language throughout the tirade :)

So, yea, that’s us for another week. We’ve been told that an official offer is in the final approval stages and should be forthcoming early next week. We'll keep our fingers crossed that all goes as well ...