The Journey Home (and my last really long travel blog entry)

Now that I'm back home with a faster internet connection, I can post a few more pictures. The day before we left, we said goodbye to the Smiths (the senior missionary couple that works in the office) and the assistants/office elders. We got ties for all of elders, so they're showing them off. Elder Kroll (the one on the left) has Katie's copy of the notes for "Book of Mormon Stories" that she used to teach him how to play.

The airport goodbye was very sad for all of us. Katie kept going back for one more wave, but eventually we had to head into customs. And then we were off. The trip from Adelaide to New Zealand went really smoothly, and we landed in Auckland with an hour to connect to our next flight.

We got on the flight to LA, put all of our things where we wanted them, and even took off our shoes to get comfortable when it was announced that they had found a fuel leak on the plane and we would need to get off since the repair could take between 2-4 hours.

In case you've forgotten our last 12-hour flight, let me remind you that it was also delayed by 4 hours. In that case, the flight had left Auckland 4 hours late, so we knew when it was going to get to LA and when our flight would actually leave. When I am given a very ambiguous "2-4 hours at least", it's really hard for me to wait patiently. I like to know what I'm in for.

After about 1 1/2 hours, I began hearing rumors that the flight might be delayed up to 10 hours, since the flight crew would have to go rest after 4 hours. That sent me into panic mode--I was not prepared to spend that much time in an airport waiting with my kids, and we had to catch a flight in LA on a different airline, so the connections would be a nightmare.

I went over and planted myself at the gate so that should any tickets come available, I'd be right there. It was a full flight to begin with (at least 250 people), so that would be a really long line to have to be at the back of. There were two other flights going out that night: a 9:30 flight, which all of the business class and elite frequent fliers had already been given tickets on, and an 11:00 pm flight. They finally announced that there was no way our airplane was going anywhere for the next 24 hours, and the flight was cancelled. They were going to try to get hotels for people (which would have required people getting their luggage and going through customs and a hundred other hassels), and hopefully find everyone seats on whatever flights they could the next day.

By that time, I had really started to panic. I couldn't even begin to imagine the nightmare that would be to do that with three already exhausted children. Finally, the woman issuing tickets ran out of business class people to give seats to, and announced that the next people that would get tickets would be those with children under the age of five. I almost shouted "I DO!!" and handed her my old boarding passes, praying my most desperate prayer that she could find five seats on the flight that was leaving.

My heart was pounding and I could hardly breathe while I waited to see if we were going to get the tickets. When she finally printed them off and handed them to me, my hand was shaking when I reached out to take them. The flight was ready to leave, so we had to grab our things and run for the gate. The seats she had found were scattered all over the plane, which is far from ideal when you have children, so the flight attendant who seated us was able to find enough people willing to change so we were able to sit together (she gave all of those people a bottle of wine at the end of the trip to thank them).

I've never been so happy to have a crowded middle seat in all of my life. Our flight over had been so easy and we had each had 2 seats to ourselves. This flight, Andrew only slept about 3 or 4 hours, and I didn't sleep at all. But after having faced the possibility of spending the night either in the airport or having to haul everything to a hotel and hope for a flight the next day, I was not complaining at all. I LOVED my crowded middle seat. So I guess the lesson learned is that once you realize just how bad things can get, you can be so happy with something that is below average at best.

After getting in to LA, we rented a car and got something to eat (In-n-Out again), and then drove to the beach so I could see the sunset. It was a little chilly by then, and we had made it just in time for the sunset. So we watched it, and then got back in the car to figure out what to do. We ended up at a McDonalds that had a playland, just so the kids could burn off some energy, and then we went to the LA Temple. They had all of the Christmas lights up still, and we had a great time walking around looking at them. In Australia, the sun doesn't set until it's time to go to bed, which doesn't leave a lot of time to look at Christmas lights.

We got on our flight at 10 p.m., and the kids slept for the entire 4 1/2 hour flight. Ryan and I tried, but neither of us have had much luck sleeping on planes this trip. Abram timed things perfectly and drove up just as we finished getting our baggage. It's amazing how something that small can make such a difference when you have been travelling so long. Not having to wait was wonderful.

We spent about a half an hour there, and I realized that the short nap I had on the plane was not going to compensate for the 8 hours I had missed the night before. Ryan drove home, and I went in and out of consciousness for the entire 2 hours. I couldn't quite fall asleep, but I couldn't stay awake either.

We spent the morning unpacking, and by 1:00, Andrew and I were both down for naps. I took a solid 3 hour nap, and now that it's 10:00, I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep. I'm not sure I'll get it, since Mason and Katie both melted down at about 5:30 this evening and fell asleep. All I can do is hope for the best--but it could be an early morning!

Goodbye Australia

I stayed up too late last night. The funny thing is, no one else was awake--just me. So there wasn't anything to do, but I just couldn't make myself let the night end. I knew that once I woke up in the morning it would all be over. So I just sat at the kitchen counter hoping that I could just soak in all of the happiness and love I have felt over the past few weeks.

It's hard to leave a place that there is very little chance I will ever come back to. So I had to cry a little just for the sake of all the people I will most likely never see again, the beautiful birds and trees, the mangos that I eat every day, the amazing beaches, the kangaroos and koalas I will never pet again, and of course, KMart (I know that will be back home, but it just won't be the same). Along with that is the fact that it will be yet another year and a half before we'll see Bob and Delsa again. That's a long time, and we miss them so much. It has meant so much for Mason, Katie and Andrew to be here with them. I hope the second half of their mission will go faster for us now that we have seen where they are and know how much the people who work with them love them and love to serve them.

So, goodbye Australia. I hope you continue to take great care of Bob and Delsa.

We leave here at 11:30 a.m., take a 4-hour flight to Auckland, have a one-hour layover, then take a 12-hour flight to LA. We have to spend the day there (I hope we can figure out what to do) and then we fly home Sunday night on a red-eye, and drive home on Monday. I will be very happy to see a change of clothes and a shower by the time it's all over. Our last 12-hour flight was so easy, I think I'm going into this with unrealistic expectations. Wish us luck.

You've Got to Love the Girl

I had two post a couple of cute Katie experiences.

For the Christmas day workshop, Bob let Mason and Katie each play the piano for the missionaries, since that's something they had thought they could give as a gift. Their choices were nothing short of poor for a spiritual Christmas meeting as Mason played "Up on the Housetop" and Katie played "Book of Mormon Stories".

Katie had been practicing the previous day and kept getting halfway through and messing up. She would bang the keys and then start over. She eventually worked herself into a meltdown as she got more and more frustrated with trying to play it perfectly. I sat with her, and cheered her on, clapping for her when she kept going through the song.

On Christmas day, she went first and bravely walked up to the big grand piano to play her song. It didn't end up being perfect, but she made it through, speeding up toward the end like a galloping horse when she could feel the end was in sight. The second she was done, she jumped off the bench, gave herself a clap, and turned to the missionaries in anticipation of their applause (take a second to visualize it). It took me a second to realize why she was standing there looking so expectant, and I had to whisper to her a couple of times, "They aren't going to clap!" before she finally got the message. She was very confused, since at the piano recital she played at everyone clapped. But she eventually took the hint and proceeded to skip back to the bench where she had been sitting.

The second story is from this afternoon when the great missionaries Elder Kroll and Elder Norton had come over to play football with them. Naturally, the subject of Pokemon came up. Katie proudly told the she had "beat Mason TWICE!" And then added "But I cheated the second time." The only difference between her and Mason is that at least Katie admits that she cheats. Mason just conveniently forgets the rules.

Missed Opportunity

Shauri has been asking for a photo of Michael, Garrett's friend here. Had I been the one to go to the airport with him and the two friends he flew with, I would have been able to take one of the best photos possible. All three of them had chosen to wear the same t-shirt , bearing the logo "heaps good" as shown in my little picture here. Garrett, upon seeing the situation, didn't think he could possibly go through with it. Michael let him know there were probably going to be 15 other guys there with the same shirt, so he needed to just get over it. All I know is that I'm really disappointed I couldn't take a picture of the three of them for a "who wore it best" contest. It would have been "heaps good". I never did get a photo of Michael--but Garrett has a camera, so we need to make sure he gets something.

Boxing Day/Proclamation Day

Here in South Australia, it is officially "Proclamation Day" for reasons I won't go into, but for the rest of Australia, it's "Boxing Day", which I also won't go into. Either way, it was another holiday here, and that meant a great day for more meetings.

Ryan took care of the kids while I crammed for the 11:45 a.m. talk I was supposed to give. The meeting had started at 10:00, but I slipped in on the back row some time after 11:00. I talked about what I expect of missionaries when they come into my home. I wasn't very excited to have to do it, but I was amazed at how it resulted in changing my relationship with the missionaries. The sister missionaries especially took the time to come and talk with me after the meeting. I loved getting to know them, and I was amazed at how many memories came back of my own mission.

After the first two hours, there were two hours for lunch and a mission celebration. That was followed by two more hours of speakers, with Ryan, Delsa, and Bob being the last ones. I left Andrew sleeping in his room and went over to listen to that part, which was wonderful. They all did a great job. Then Ryan and I came back home and ended up taking Andrew for a walk. The weather the last couple of days has been nothing but fabulous, with a brilliant blue sky and warm breezes. It will be hard to go back home to the cold weather.

Once Bob and Delsa were done, we got pizza from Dominos, and headed to the park. The original intention was to play kickball, but we settled for sitting around and watching the kids play. After putting the kids to bed, we played (can you guess?) Scrabble. We did the 2-board innovation so we could all play, and Bob came through with an amazing victory with the word "jailers". He cleared his board, which ended the game, but he was also able to nail a triple word score, which ended up sending him from dead last (where he had been the whole game) straight up to the top. I love a little drama in Scrabble.

I kindly gave Delsa a Scrabble dictionary for Christmas so now she can check up on Bob and all of his made up words. I think it will definitely come in handy.

The Rest of Christmas Day

It has been a very busy two days. Not so much for us, but for Bob and Delsa and all the missionaries. After we ate a fabulous breakfast Christmas morning, the kids opened a gift sent from one of the missionary's mothers. How sweet was that? Elder Wong is from Melbourne, and had written his mom about our family visiting, and she sent Pokemon cards for Mason and Katie, a stuffed koala for Andrew, a Mr Potato Head game for the kids, and candy for Ryan and I. She also sent gifts for Bob and Delsa as well. It's amazing to get gifts from someone who doesn't even know us.

After breakfast, we went to get the dry ice for the root beer, and then headed over to the church. Mason and Katie helped Santa Bob pass out gifts to the missionaries and I worked on the root beer. Katie's version of helping soon evolved into seeing if she could throw the presents at Bob. She was quickly demoted from Santa's helper.

I was pretty unsure of how the whole root beer thing would go, but I'm happy to say that I made almost 10 gallons of root beer, and it pretty much gone by the time lunch was over. The missionaries loved it and I didn't blow anything up. So that was a success.

After lunch, Ryan did a great workshop with the missionaries, and then we headed home while everyone else watched the movie "The Nativity". Andrew was asleep all afternoon, and Katie and Mason had been on their own. So we made sure to do a little family time and actually let them open up their presents. We only do one an hour, and we had missed quite a few hours as a result of lunch and passing out presents. They didn't seem to notice. If you've been reading the blog at all, you can guess what they had been doing.

We had a less than traditional Christmas dinner in the church gym with all of the missionaries. Baked potatoes, ham, salad, and rolls on plastic plates and with plastic utensils. Not quite like home, but we won't complain. Our kids were not in a great mental state to be in a crowded gym with lots of tables. Garrett had the fortunate spot of sitting next to Katie and watching her absentmindedly shoving an entire roll into her mouth.

We headed home after that and the missionaries had a testimony meeting. After putting our kids to bed, we had some quality time with Garrett, since Bob and Delsa were busy with the missionaries until almost 9:30. That gave us time for 2 games of Scrabble (both won by Garrett) and a game of Rummikub (a decisive victory for me). That was accompanied by a complete performance of Les Miserable by Garrett and I.

The funniest moment: Ryan came in with Andrew. He was having a somewhat frustrating night, and it showed in his furrowed brow. Andrew was asking for orange juice, as he does roughly 99% of the times he passes through the kitchen. Ryan was going to just tell him no, but I suggested grabbing a cup and just putting a little orange juice in the bottom for him. Ryan reluctantly conceded, found a mug in the cupboard, and put orange juice in it. The next thing we know, we hear a crash, followed by an explosively angry (Ryan gave me that description) cry of "Why did I listen????" Make sure when you imagine him saying that you have both of his hands balled into fists of fury. I turned to Garrett, who was busy beating me in our first game of Scrabble, and said, "Oh, man--I'm in for a serious beating tonight."

It probably won't make anyone else laugh, but let me tell you--it hit a chord with us. A lot of it probably had to do with the fact that there was a part of me that felt like I shouldn't laugh since Ryan was so angry, which always makes me want to laugh more. Either way, we laughed a lot. If it's one thing I can say about this vacation is that I've laughed a lot. And to his credit, Ryan neither beat me or continued to be grouchy. I love my Ryan.

Bob and Delsa eventually got home, and we opened the few remaining presents. Ryan got me a beautiful opal necklace (opals are mined here in Australia), I got Ryan promises of a new flat-screen t.v. for our bedroom, and I got Garrett a sweet "Adelaide Crows" jersey (they are the local footy team).

So overall, not a very typical Christmas. But definitely a memorable one.

Christmas Eve to Christmas Morning

It's 7:00 am Christmas morning, and I have more time on my hands than I had been expecting. My kids have been awake for over a half an hour and haven't even mentioned Santa Claus. So we're off to a great start.

Last night, we had a wonderful Christmas Eve barbecue. The Smiths (the office couple), the Davenports (friends of Bob and Delsa's that are serving a mission here), Elder Jones (one half of a CES couple that is here--his wife wasn't feeling well), Judy and Phil Howes (he's in the mission presidency) as well as their son and his fiance, the three office elders, and two assistants all came. Dinner was great (hamburgers, some amazing baked beans, fruit, a cabbage salad, and an angel food cake imported from Melbourne).

After dinner, Mason was in charge of teaching a lesson. He kept letting Ryan and I know he had it under control. He ended up just reading the entire Luke 2 Christmas story, followed by the scriptures about the wise men. He did read it fast, and was easy to understand, and most importantly had drawn stick-figure illustrations to enhance the story.

After him, Phil Howes told a story about a memorable Christmas Eve on his mission where he basically had to spend most of the night sleeping in a taxi in Peru. His son and fiance followed that up with a duet of "Away in a Manger." They did all three verses.

After they were done, and everyone complemented them, Katie took her chance to say (loudly), "That was LONG. It was like an HOUR."

To her credit, Katie was only looking forward to one thing: opening a gift the office elders and assistants had bought for her (they had one for Mason and Andrew as well). She had to sit through us singing one verse of every single Christmas hymn in the hymnbook, and then she got her chance.

After sitting through many meals with us, the missionaries were very familiar with our kids. I hadn't really thought too much about what they might have gotten for the kids, and was almost as surprised as they were when they opened their gifts and they each had received two packages of Pokemon cards. They were in heaven. Kids have a hard time faking it when they don't like something (like Katie telling the couple their song was long), but they are also very good about letting you know when they really do like something. Andrew also loved his gift, a cute stuffed dog. He kept shaking it and saying "Woof woof" at them and giving it lots of kisses. Well, I think he was actually biting it's nose, but it still looked cute.

Ryan went and put them to bed, but played one game with them with their new cards, as there would be no sleep if he didn't. The rest of us started a game of church celebrity. After the first round we had to take out about 5 Moroni's and a couple Teancums and Brother of Jareds. They were pretty popular. President Hinckley? Not even once, although both his counselors got in. Delsa and Bob added in obscure church history figures just to spice it up. Garrett, Bob and I ended up on the same team, and the scores for the two teams reflected our Celebrity prowess. Delsa showed a competetive side that probably hadn't come out for quite a while (say...a year and a half?), but quickly reined it in.

I'll try to recreate one of the funniest moments, although I won't do it justice. Judy was up, and we were in the only-one-word-clue round. She was doing great, and got to one and gave the clue "dead." If you're only going to have one word to choose from, and you're working with scripture and church history people, that didn't seem like it would narrow it down. But just as I was thinking her Celebrity skills weren't quite as sharp as I had thought, her husband said "Lehi", and he was right. After the round, we were all so curious how he had gotten "Lehi" from "dead". It turns out what she had actually said (in her Australian accent) was "dad", which her Australian husband understood perfectly.

After we had finished the game, the missionaries needed to move all of the Christmas packages from the office to the church (the mission home and mission office are right across the parking lot from the church). So we all went to help and had a great time setting up the packages for the Christmas party the next day. We felt like Santa's helpers delivering all of the gifts. Katie and Mason are going help hand them out at the party, which I'm sure they will love.

We went back to the mission home, stayed up a little longer talking, and then went to bed. When the kids woke up this morning, the only thing they remembered were the Pokemon cards from the day before. Santa who? They finally did remember that it was Christmas and have opened their stockings. So I guess Christmas has officially started.

I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and Delsa did the make ahead breakfast. There isn't any normal bacon here (it's more like Canadian bacon), so she has to use bacon-in-a-bottle. It's just real American-style bacon bits in a small jar. We go through it fast. Then some time before 10:30, I have to go get 15 pounds of dry ice so that we can make enough root beer for 100 people (they don't sell root beer in Australia, except for at the Asian market). The previous mission president and his wife must have liked root beer, because there were 4 bottles of extract on the shelf when Bob and Delsa got here. Since we're having hot dogs and chips for lunch, root beer sounded like it would be great, so I found a place where we can buy dry ice on Christmas day. I've never actually made root beer with dry ice, but I've had it before and remember it being really good. Hopefully I don't blow up the church in my attempts.