U.S.A.

As you probably know Darren is on assignment here with the U.S. government. We have lived in MD and UT with his job, but this is our first overseas position. And being so, it was my first opportunity to be party to all the necessary "briefings" at the U.S. Embassy upon our arrival. I must say, it has been pretty fun. The US/Australian relationship is quite developed and our embassy here reflects that in its size and beauty. Gorgeous grounds and buildings. It was a treat to walk through and get my badge and mailbox keys and make the rounds to all the appropriate meetings for a few days. Having the kids already in school was a huge help as well as all the prep work and research we'd done on our own prior. I felt like it was sort of a two day date with my husband (which is MONEY when you usually don't get to reconnect 'til all the kids are snoring and you're both hammered.)

This is also my first time experiencing the "expat" culture that accompanies such a posting. Granted, I'm not struggling with any language barriers or many challenging cultural differences, but it's still enjoyable to have a nice, familiar, community feel every time I visit the embassy or attend one of its functions. They have trivia nights, movie nights, massive garage sales, moms groups, parties, etc. I went to the embassy book club the other night and I was shocked by how much it felt like a Relief Society function. All these ladies being gathered with one commonality (citizenship rather than religion) to eat, socialize and share ideas late into the night. The conversations were fascinating. Such rich and diverse perspectives from a myriad of backgrounds and experiences - different cultures, family structures, professional grades. It was so uplifting. I genuinely appreciated the stimulating and political topics that repeatedly came up through our discussions. And of course it was fun to hear the familiar sharing of where to find this or that or who found what at such a low price, etc. It's also fun to see all the different government-owned housing (and that familiar furniture) as we visit others' homes.

We are thrilled with our home here. We are the first American family to move in so it recently had all sorts of required updates and installments like alarm systems, special locks, slash-proof security screens, & high fences. It's just beautiful inside with many lovely extras we didn't expect (kids are taking real advantage of the intercom, central vac and laundry chute.) Security cars drive by at all times of day and night to check the place (one guard even knocked to say our garage door was open - talk about feeling safe. Um, minus the spiders I guess.) It's plenty big for our potentially growing family (5 bedrooms/3 garages) too. So I guess my point is - there's room for visitors!!

Canberra is very "western," and many things feel entirely familiar. There aren't many products I haven't been able to find (admittedly at a higher price) but most can be purchased online anyway. And while there aren't any familiar brands of food, the Australian versions are great. Milk, cheese and chocolate are much tastier due to the high cream content and I'm having a ball trying out lots of randoms that look interesting.

I've been impressed to find how child and family-friendly this city is with all sorts of activities that are kid-centered. Free city-sponsored playgroups and preschools with activities and snacks provided. Many "mums" with small children or pregnant. I even had a hard time finding a seat in the family lounge at the mall - a space provided to nurse and change diapers privately with a little play area for the older sibs too. So many friendly and talkative mums. It's a nice surprise and makes it feel a lot like home.

Un-Settling In

We're still waiting for our household shipment to arrive, but otherwise feel like life is settling in. That will be a whole new whirlwind to handle... moving IN. But we've been enjoying walks around the neighborhood, new friendships and playdates, Darren, Will and Kenna have all given talks at church, the kids have each won an award at school, and we're getting to know our way around these parts. Mama's happy to have our Saturday chores in full swing. The kiddos seem to stay on task longer when we pump up the music and work side by side, so we had some vacuuming races then enjoyed the sunshine together detailing the car, mowing the lawn and spraying the house (after finding friends pictured below.)

Exhibit A & B (Huntsman) is admittedly awful looking but we keep them around because they eat Exhibit C (Red-back) whose bite can be fatal. Found 5 of those on the back patio. Not exactly a happy discovery when you've got a little one starting to crawl and eat anything she can grab. The variety of dangerous specimens that call Australia home is a post of its own...

Followed chores up with a dip in the pool and a fun work party that evening. With Canberra Day being tomorrow, we might hit some festivities to finish off the long weekend. Feeling good.

Biding Our Time

Until our shipment gets in, what's there to do in an empty (albeit furnished) house
when Legos lose their luster? 

There's always the ever-versatile.... underwear.

 (A homemade boxing get-up that proved quite successful actually.)

Little lady sat in here for at least 10 minutes. Kids get a real kick out of her.

 Who needs rattles when you've got these stimulating new age learning toys? And of course, hours of jacuzzi fun.

These guys are getting serious quality time and I've gotta say, I'm kinda digging "the simple life" for a change. They found a section of rope tangled up in our tree and spent two hours scaling the backyard wall on our second day. Now that's good old fashioned creative fun, right? Regardless, they're making good memories together and I thank my lucky stars daily that they're friends.

A Valentine's Day to Remember

Little did we know last year when we were busily staking down our roots with our finally completed "year's supply" and the birth of our fourth child, that we'd be living halfway across the world a short 6 months later. Last fall, Darren applied on a whim for this "long shot" position in Canberra, Australia. He casually mentioned it on the phone one day as we were discussing his application for a position in England (which had been our plan since the beginning.) When that "long shot" actually materialized, along with the England job, we were torn but found we couldn't pass it up and thus began the preparations.

Organizing a move halfway around the world with a nursing newborn and 3 kids in 3 different schools with 3 different schedules is tricksy. And Darren had plenty on his plate fixing up the house and selling cars and such. Fortunately, they provided the men for packing and heavy lifting, but all the prep work fell to little old me. It was choppy at best. Basically, I put off the big, icky stuff (like organizing/downsizing) and zeroed in on the fun, easy stuff like using up all our coupons/memberships/gift certificates that had accrued over the years. Nothing like a good "use it or lose it" to get us out there to Boondocks and IMAX and Children's Museum and doggone ChuckECheese. All that fun mixed in with birthdays and baptisms and holidays and tonsillectomies left the month of January to really get down to business. Which is when I learned of the outrageously specific "restrictions" that the country of Australia enforces upon its entrants. Namely, anything to do with plants or animals, to include baskets, pencils, shells, stone, dirt and all food. Even toothpicks made the list. I went a little nutty rummaging through every last drawer/shelf/closet/bin to remove silly things like bamboo salad tongs, craft sticks, feather dusters, and puca shell necklaces. Bless those kind souls who helped me scrub every last shoe & bike/stroller tire of any dirt clumps to avoid hefty quarantine or disposal fees. I about cried having to sell or give every last canned good and pantry item I'd slaved to acquire affordably. But it was worth it in the end! Here's a look at our intercontinental adventure.

 Clearing out the house was bitter-sweet. We'll miss this lovely home and our cousins across the stream out back.

 Fortunately, our California cousins will be coming soon to replace us here which we're all thrilled about.

 Never cleaned more in my life. We're talking days of hands & knees scrubbing: window frames, baseboards, light switches, vents, walls, the works. Enjoy, Hancocks!

Our staging area got a little tight. If you look close, you'll see I've got a little buddy with  me.

 Hello duffel bags! Dare had this great idea to get a bunch of sturdy, Kirkhams bags for the haul.

 Made it easy for the kids to spot them on the baggage carts as the plane was loaded. Goodbye my Utah mountains~ :(

 They looked forward to the plane ride almost as much as the destination.

 This little trooper was like a machine on the layovers - she volunteered to haul the heaviest load of the bunch and rarely slowed down.

 Two four hour layovers were just about right, actually. Funny thing is, they STILL didn't bust out any of the games and activities I packed their bags full with. Coulda just brought their pillow pets and called it good. Go figure. (Heading straight to the airport from their parties at school with their requisite bags of valentines candy probably had nothing to do with it...)

 This little angel was 100% brilliant. While I was napping and the kids off roaming the airport with Dad, here she is at 11pm rolling around having a blast. (I choked down this forgotten RESTRICTED bag'o'carrots in record time deplaning in Sydney.)

Dad was at his wits end pre-board so he slipped 'em a little melatonin - within 5 minutes they were sawing logs in the terminal. Made it tricky to get them ON board, but we scored big-time with 2 empty seats by us.

 Charmed everyone who passed our rows. Cried a total of about 5 minutes during the 29 hour escapade.

 A spectacle, to be sure. They breezed us right through customs probably to avoid a scene - yes!

Little did we know what blowout was stewing in this bjorn until we unstrapped her for security. Wowsers. Lucky attendants won't forget US anytime soon.

And that's all I got. I misplaced the camera after this pic so didn't capture the boarding or deplaning on the tarmacs of Sydney/Canberra in a warm, refreshing summer downpour. It was a classic end to a really long, but surprisingly pleasant (other than losing our ipod touch) voyage.