Cheers, Australia!

We have but a few days left in Oz so this will probably be our last entry before we are back in the States. We definitely are preparing for this move with somewhat heavy hearts. People have asked if we are excited to go back and I’ve responded that it’s much the same feeling as preparing to go home from a mission. You look forward to being reunited with family and getting back to the life you knew from before … but at the same time you know that you are going to miss those friends and experiences you’ve had here. That said, we do have the luxury of the internet and technology to keep in touch, so hopefully we all do :)

So where do we start with the fiasco of the past 2 weeks since the last entry? How about the fact that Hunter has conveniently started to undress himself from head to toe and loves running around in the buff at each and every opportunity! We did try the potty training a little while back but when it didn’t work we realized our timing wasn’t very good and decided we’d try again when we get settled again. The other day I caught him behind a tree out in the backyard trying to ‘go potty’ and then today after church he had a dirty diaper and decided he was going to remove it himself. This is probably more information that you care to hear about, but it does add some humor to our current circumstances. With all of the house in mayhem he is in heaven with all of the opportunities to get into things. Yesterday it was a bottle of lotion that he decided to use as shampoo (and still has a lovely fragrance following him around!) and today it was a bottle of ‘eclipse’ gum that he thought would be fun to eat like candy. We all know that if he’s quiet for more than a few minutes then you can expect trouble. We just hope there isn’t too much that he’ll be able to get into on the 13 hour flight over the Pacific. A streaking little 2-year old down the aisle might add some comedy to the flight. He has been pretty good in enduring three days of movers in the house, packing and boxing all his belongings, but tomorrow may push him over the edge. We’re hoping he can last one more day, and he has been promised to be able to sit in the “huge” truck the movers are bringing tomorrow. We are a bit sad to be leaving just as he has really gotten settled—he goes to kindy and nursery without crying at all, and loves his friend, Jade, a 12-year-old girl in the ward he loves to be with (he’s spent the last two Sundays on her lap).

Collin has been his usual crazy and entertaining self. The move is affecting him a bit more, as he is unsettled and can have melt downs. But he is doing rather well, especially since he is able to go to kindy most afternoons. He told us today that he wants to sleep naked. He also confiscated my mother’s day flower after church and wore it around, along with his light saber. He is quite interested in football, since we told him we got BYU tickets, and told Jessy, “You be BIU and Savannah will be Port.” A funny mix of Aussie rules and gridiron. He fell getting into the shower on Tuesday and still looks like an abuse victim, with the biggest, nastiest bruise on his thigh, as well as several along his ribs and spine. He is very excited to go for a final play with Savannah’s friend, Keely, and her mom and older sister, Savannah. I’m not sure what he is going to do without their family. He also now looks for someone to go sit with during church. Luckily, the Hanns were sitting right behind us and he went back with Jacob and did some drawings.

Savannah was very lucky to be able to go to “High School Musical on Ice” Friday night with Keely and their family. She had so much fun at the show, and then she and Keely slept on the air mattress at Keely’s, where she is proud to say they stayed up until midnight. She then went with Keely to netball and out to lunch on Saturday. It was her last big shebang, and the Fleet family showed her a great time. As far as the move goes, she has been the least affected. She goes to school just as the movers get here and comes home as they are getting ready to go. Her teacher and class have prepared a farewell party for her on Wednesday, and they are all talking about it. Her teacher and some of the kids from her class last year are preparing to “crash” the party. They all want to wish her well. She is sad to leave her friends, but is sure she will make new friends in our new home. Her teacher is more concerned about the kids she’s leaving behind, as they have been worrying about her leaving for months and telling her and their parents how much they are going to miss Savannah.

Kelli was lucky to have several ladies from school throw a farewell party for her, too. Shauna, Savannah’s teacher from the past two years, and Leanne organized a dinner out and there were 5 other moms and two of Savannah’s teachers who showed up. They each gave her Aussie souvenirs and Kelli was so happy and genuinely touched by their thoughtfulness. She even stayed up way past her usual bedtime—the ladies stayed until they were closing the restaurant and Kelli got home just before 11 to find Jessy asleep on the couch (actually he heard me open the door and groggily jumped up, thinking he was going to protect the family from an intruder, but when he saw it was me, he fell onto the couch, already sleeping again). I also had a Mother’s day to remember today. It started with breakfast in bed. Since everything is packed (we are so grateful to Leanne for bringing over air mattresses, blankets, sleeping bags, towels, and pillows when she brought Savannah home), I probably will never have another Mother’s day quite like this. Jessy and the kids came up to the air mattress to deliver breakfast of toast and orange slices on a paper plate, as well as my gifts of a card and chocolates (I get to buy some clothes when we get to America). My special dinner was a pre-made lasagna and garlic bread on paper plates on the floor (Jessy was thoughtful enough to get us each a pillow to sit on), with our last can of beans and some bottles of ginger beer. That sounds more pitiful than it was, but it was definitely a day to remember.

Jessy has officially completed his assignment here at work, and had his farewell barbecue Friday. He also had a last kick with his soccer buddies from the workplace last Friday, a final game with the 5-a-side team at the Air Force base on Tuesday and a final golf outing with fellas from work on Monday. It has been a dream job with nothing but technical work and little to no ‘extras’ to worry about in the workplace. But, alas, time to go back to the ‘real’ world.

I guess it definitely goes without saying that we are going to miss Australia. I woke up this morning to the laugh of the kukaburra, watched the lorikeets flying through the trees, and the cockatoos gliding gracefully through the air. It is a beautiful place. We’ve been extremely fortunate to see a lot of the beauty of the land down under, but most of all we have made some great friends and we are going to miss hanging out with them. We hope that our Aussie friends reading this blog will always know that they have a place to stay where we are in America and we hope that someday we will be fortunate enough to come back for a visit and ‘holiday’. Until then, thank you for the warm hospitality and opportunity to share in your culture. It was been an amazingly quick 2 years :)