Washington part 1

So in May we realized that Lindsay was supposed to be out of town for 7 straight weeks. I was having a little bit of a hard time and that time seemed daunting so we decided very last minute to fly back to Washington to spend those long weeks with family. In the end, Lin's work all got changed and he desperately needed a break from it all and ended up joining us last second for a few of the weeks. So fun!

 

One of the first things we did upon our arrival was Erik helped Papa mow his lawn. With Erik's asthma symptoms and allergies we put a bunch of protective gear on him.

 this picture came on out of order and I didn't want to mess with changing it all up. But Papa had an awesome scooter that the kids loved getting pulled on and riding on their own down small inclines.

 Some of the things that Erik loved when we got to Washington was that he was not confined to our 800 sq. ft. apartment (that includes our balcony). He could be on an entire different level than me, outside while I was in, etc. He thoroughly enjoyed the space and freedom to roam. It really made me excited for the time that we get to live in a neighborhood again. But I have absolutely no regrets about living in our little flat in the city. I have loved every bit of it.

 We had a weeny roast in Nana and Papa's back yard for dinner.

 Nana wasn't grumpy but she was mesmerized by the flames!

 An American hot dog! It had been a long time since we had indulged in one of those. Hot dogs in Oz are longer and a bright orangey pink color, or you get a sausage. Even when you find one that says "American Hot Dog" on it, it's not quite the same. So this was a great treat.

 Then cousins came for the long Memorial day weekend...

 Erik shows off his newly acquired skill of rolling his eyes.

 one of the favorite play spots at the house is the old fashioned mail slot that goes into the house. Before Church the kids were delivering goods to one another. THey loved to pass things through and ring the door bell.

 We had to get some cute pics of them all dressed up for church.

 On Memorial day we attended a traditional bbq at the park with members of Nana and Papa's ward at church. And that evening he held a special family night lesson about the meaning of Memorial Day

 He spoke about the members of the family who had served and why its important to be patriotic. We said the pledge of allegiance and sang some patriotic songs. It was lovely!

 Loved the look on Erik's face on this one! We had fun singing some old school songs like Yankee Doodle Dandy and waving flags.

 The kids tried on Lindsay's grandpa's uniform from World War II

 Then we held a small parade. That part was lots of fun too!

It was a great end to a great weekend. Just writing this makes me miss family....and it's only going to get a bit worse while I document the rest of our trip. I absolutely love it here in Oz, I really and truly will miss my friends and so much of this place. But family is where it is at my friends. There is something so fulfilling about being around family. One day we will live closer (and that's not too far away)

Family Preparedness

 For a long time I have wanted to get our 72 hour kits ready, and I mean fully ready. Not just we have everything or most everything but its in a billion places around the house, I wanted it ready to grab and go. When we first moved to Oz major floods has just happened. Our building had flooded, all the units were safe and dry (although the power went over for a time) but our car park had flooded and our lifts (elevators) were not working. Knowing that we were in the flood zone and just having the urge I finally put my foot down this year around April. It's hard when you move every few years to want to put them together to only pull them apart and start over but I wanted to put a plan into place that would help with that in the future.

 when looking online into what you can put in, the options and advice are endless. I read through a few and then turned everything off and just started making a list of food that would be easy and that our family would eat. I made a master meal list and master shopping list. We had nearly everything on hand but all the food. So Erik and I went and did the shopping and for Family home evening we assembled one night.

 First we did the food. I layed everything on the table and we did one grocery sack for each day for each person. I called out what to grab and everyone filled their bag. We put a sticky note on it to say who's it was and what day. Lindsay and I each took a bit of extra food for even snacks and what have you.

Next we did clothes and other necessities. Erik loved this part as well because we had gotten him a rolling suitcase for his pack that was spiderman. He was asking for an emergency so that he could use it.

 It's hard with a child with clothing because they grow so fast. But we just made sure it was all a bit big. And plan to change out or pack food and check things each General Conference time (april and October) and so we can reassess then.

 This assembly process took us longer than I thought, you can see we started in daylight and ended in night) but I think it will only take that long this initial time and from now it will just be rotation of things.

And since it was family night we had a treat after the activity. And there is nothing that can stand between this little man and his chocolate.....Don't even try

 What a goof

Funnily enough, our complex had a fire alarm happen late at night, and the building evacuated. Erik was pleased as punch that there was an 'emergency' and Lin let him take his emergency pack downstairs with him. Then they practiced a few more times over the next week to time and see how well he could do toting it around. It was super cute!

Reunited!

A week after we got back from Hawaii we had the fortunate event of having Alex and Haley come out with their kiddos to visit. Unfortunately this post is not going to serve the trip well as all the pics are on our iPad which is currently on a trip with Lindsay but there are a couple here from the trip. I picked them up on my own, so that we could all fit in our one car (plus Lindsay was out of town the first couple of days they were here).

 These two silly goofballs pick up right where they left off which was so nice and Little Landon even just fit into it all. It was such a great time and creative with sleeping but it was like one big slumber party basically for the time they were here.

 We exchanged Christmas gifts when they came so you can see Zoey with her Bon Bon hat on.

 And I think this bottom picture is one of my favorite random pics from the trip. We were headed to the beach and the kids were ready and we were finishing getting everything packed that we needed. I love it because Zoey's hair is all done nice and uniform-similar to her personality, and Eriks is absolutely crazy (we had put a bunch of sunscreen through it to protect his scalp)- also like his fun loving personality. They both are similar in a lot of ways and so different by the same token.

We packed in so much while they were here, we were all completely exhausted each and every night. Alex and Haley tried their hardest to stay up to 10 pm each night, but unless I am mistaken -- I don't think they ever made it. We had lots of sushi, made a couple of different beach runs, had a yum-cha dinner in China town where 200+ young adults came in for a birthday party that turned the place into an eabsolute mad house. Seriously almost every person who walked in had a bottle of alcohol in their arms and the drinking age here is 18, it was so crazy! The look on the staff's face was priceless. I am so glad that I didn't work there that night. We also went to the Koala sanctuary, went to New Farm park for the markets, the playground, and for Lindsay and Haley to do a 5k run. We rode on the city cat, did a little shopping, went down to our favorite fish market, and spent a day at South Bank among other things. It was so fun to share our life with some of our family. I took Haley grocery shopping with me to show her how different it was here and we all just had a blast. We are so happy they came!