How Did We Get Here?

We've been asked many times how this whole move came about and it's a simple answer - a few casual lunches in Houston ended up in an offer that we couldn't pass up, both for the family and for Matt's career. By the time it was official, Matt was already back in Perth so my last few weeks in Houston were spent dealing with relocation instead of catching up with friends. We will be moving to the Katy area, which is totally new to us, so I spent several days looking at neighborhoods and houses with a realtor and even bought a car before we left. It's exciting to be going somewhere new but sad that we won't be going right back near our families and old friends. That's probably a good thing, though, because after 4 years away we couldn't possibly to expect to pick right back up where we left off. Anyway, by the time the kids and I left to fly back to Perth, we knew it would be a short and very busy trip! We had exactly two weeks to pack up the house, sell our appliances, return the leased car, sell Matt's car, close out our utilities and accounts, say goodbye to friends, and enjoy our last days in Australia. With a lot of prayer, plenty of organization, major teamwork, a TON of work on Matt's part while I cared for the kids (thank goodness he wasn't working this week!), and help from our friends, we have wrapped up our lives here and will get on the plane early Monday morning with one-way tickets to Houston. I'm not going to say it's been easy, but it has gone amazingly well. Saying goodbye to all of our dear friends is definitely the hardest part but we have so much to look forward to on the other end! There are four grandparents with huge smiles on their faces at this very moment anticipating the return of their long-lost grandsons. And those two boys are looking forward to getting back in the new (to us...it's a couple of years old) gold car that they already love.

By the time it was clear we'd be moving back to Houston very quickly, I was dying to get back to Perth and enjoy my last few weeks here! Matt talked me into making the responsible decision to look for a house first (and we may have found one! have to wait and see how it all works out) so we only ended up coming back a few days earlier than planned. It was unfortunate that we lost Easter somewhere in transit, but the Easter bunny visited Grammy and Grumpy's house just before we left.


Once we were safely across the ocean again (and the boys did amazingly well again with the trip and the jetlag...whew!) we wasted no time in getting to the beach. We couldn't wait to get our toes in the sand and Matt didn't want to waste any last few precious surfing opportunites.

I'm pretty sure this is what he'll miss more than anything about Perth!


This is the kind of thing I'll miss - amazing birds everywhere! Cockatoos, parrots, black swans, emus (in the country), kookaburras, magpies, ibis, and these gorgeous rainbow lorikeets.

This is what the kids will miss:

They love nothing more than digging in the sand and playing in the waves.

We will also miss these sweet faces dearly! Brynn, Alex, Ben, Wilder, Austin, and Ansley, the Wednesday afternoon gang.

We moved into an apartment a few blocks away before the movers came to pack everything up and the boys were surprised to find everything in boxes when the packing was done.

It's hard to see all our stuff packed and know it will probably be two months until we see it all again. It's also hard to pack our suitcases with all the things we may want during that time. Thank goodness it will be easy to go to Target and Wal-Mart now for the things we'll need in the meantime! We are definitely going to miss our great view through the windows there.

So long, furniture! See you on the other end...

We are soaking up every last minute down under and really stopping to enjoy the moments. Last night we literally stopped on the way to our friends' house to see the sun go down.

It's been a great run in paradise!

Commencement

When Matt and I first signed up for our overseas adventure it was to have a 4-year duration. Right from the start, I approached it with the mindset of going away to college again - the initial excitement and anxiety about the unknown, the loneliness of living somewhere unfamiliar, the intense and lifelong friendships forged over shared experiences and hardships, the unmatched opportunities to explore the world, the thrill of going back home for Christmas. The nice thing is that there were no exams at this school! But as we've made our way through our fourth year I've noticed that familiar senioritis feeling - restless, anxious to know what will happen next, wanting to enjoy every last minute yet looking forward to the next step. After several months of possibilities and uncertainty, we finally have our answer and it's right along our original plan. Almost exactly four years to the day after we sold our house and cars, closed accounts, packed up the house and set sail for Singapore, we will be making our final flight back to Houston and starting over again. It's time put an end to this chapter in our lives and set down some roots for our boys, who have spent the majority of their lives overseas.

It's exciting.

It's terrifying.

What an incredible journey this has been! It's bittersweet to see it come to an end but we can't wait to see what lies ahead.

How Have We Spent Our April?

Digging in the dirt on an usually chilly morning...

Riding bikes around the pond...

Seeing some bluebonnets...(not exactly a banner year for them so this was the closest we got)

Catching up with old friends and celebrating their babies-to-be...(Patrick, Farah, Christina, me, Matt)

Cuddling up and reading books...

Eating lots of Blue Bell...

Visiting Reid and playing with all of his toys...(naturally, Alex tried this one out first thing but Reid is a bit more size-appropriate)

Using Uncle Jason as a ride-on toy....

Catching a ride with Reid...

Grilling fresh cookies for breakfast...

Suffering through bad hair days...

Making cupcakes and enjoying the spoils...

Drawing pictures of bikes (with training wheels, of course) to say thanks to the neighbor who passed down his bike...

Hiding in the new playhouse...

And hoarding a little in there as well...(do I sense a reality show in our future??)

Playing hopscotch...

And coloring in the hopscotch...

And just enjoying life...

Cousins

We're having so much fun that I haven't spent any time downloading pictures! So I'm taking the lazy route and borrowing a post from my sister since we spent 4 days in Dallas with them last weekend. It was great fun for everyone and thanks to the French family for letting us take over the house for several days :) I can't wait until Reid is walking and all the boys are running around together!

Click here for cute pictures:
Cousins Post

Houston Zoo

Grandma took the day off so we could all go explore the Houston Zoo. I hadn't been in years and this was the first trip for the boys, so we all enjoyed the day. Ben and Grandma got cozy with the komodo dragon.

There were two adorable juvenile elephants.

We got up close to a few of the chimps.

The kids went through the piranha river unscathed.

By far the best exhibit was the giraffes. We happened to be there when it was time to feed them and both boys got to offer a leafy snack to this beautiful animal.




Baby Miles, almost 2 months old, was absolutely adorable! He was nearly 6 feet tall at birth and weighed 100 lbs.

We saw him get some love from his mama from the cafe where we ate lunch.

While Grandma and I were fascinated watching the giraffes, the boys had their sights on a different attraction - the nearby carousel.

I'm pretty sure this was their favorite part of the day!


We rounded out the day at the kids' zoo and found a cute little prairie dog!

Thanks, Grandma, for a wonderful day! The weather was beautiful and the zoo was great fun.

More Fun in Texas

The kids had a great time playing at a full-sized Toys R Us. Ben is already trying to figure out how to bring one of these cars back in his suitcase.

Next stop, Chuck E Cheese and more cars!

Check out our celebrities making faces on the big screen



We met up with the Hesters over a much-needed Freebirds and introduced the kids to the best burrito in the world. The three boys had a great time running around on the patio together while we tossed food their way. Alex couldn't even stand still long enough for this picture, which explains why he's blurry.

The whole gang together:

We've changed a lot since 2004 (at Haleiwa Joe's on Oahu). And added three little people to our lives, which makes it even more fun to get together these days!

Old Friends

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.


How much do I love these girls? We all met in the dorm at A&M in 1997 and have seen each other through ups and downs, weddings, funerals, babies, and lots of laughter and tears. It can be weeks or years since we saw each other last and it's like we haven't missed a day.

Amber, Laura, Stephanie, Lindy (circa 1999, I think...our old scanner makes it look older than that, though) in College Station

Lindy, Laura, Amber, Steph, and Stacey (who joined in the fun after the dorm and when we'd all moved on to apartments) in Gruene, Texas

Lindy lives in Washington state now so we were really fortunate to find a weekend when we were both in Texas at the same time. I hadn't seen Amber in years so it was wonderful catching up with these girls in person.

Now that Stacey lives in the Dallas area I don't get to see enough of her, either!

We had a quick reunion in Gruene filled with food and laughter and some wonderful Texas sights.

It wasn't quite warm enough to go tubing but I can't wait to show the boys how to float the river one day!

Stephanie and I rode together from Houston and made two stops in 24 hours at Buc-ees. God bless Texas and Texas-sized pit stops!