Settling in here in Bayview NSW. It is a beautiful spot and very tropical. It managed to rain (once again) during our move in here. The move consisted of 6 suitcases and a few other items we managed to borrow from friends here. So, all in all it wasn't that bad. That stint of rain lasted for two weeks, night and day. It is a far cry from San Diego weather. Blake and Kacie loved it. I still can't stand that much rain. It is very tropical here. The birds, trees, lush foliage. It is very beautiful when it isn't raining. It has now been sunny for a full week! YAHOO.

Blake has been asked to play t'ball with a friend from school. His friend is Jesse, and he is a very nice little guy. He has been over for a playdate and Blake went to his house yesterday after t'ball to play and swim. Blake did well at t'ball on his first go. He hit two "homers" (but they don't let you run past 2nd base yet) and he actually got "Man of the Match"!It is so nice to have the kids meeting friends here. It makes life feel more settled here. Kacie has met two really nice girls at school. She also has Nippers with them so she sees them outside of school also which is nice.

We spend lots of time down at the local park here in Bayview. It is called Winneremy Bay-but the kids call it "The Flying Fox Park." They call it this because it has a cool zip line to fly down. It sits right at the bay with bbq's and a huge play area with some really cool other play equipment. We usually take some dinner down and bbq and watch the kids play. It is very relaxing, and makes me appreciate our return to spring--because I was really missing the fall!

Our belongings are still in customs. We think we may get them next week (hopefully). We are sleeping on single mattresses on the floor of our place. Michael and I are really hanging for our bed. What a luxury it will be to get it!! Our backs are in dire need now. It will be so nice for the kids to have their toys and stuff also!!

Blake and Kacie are ending year 2 (2nd grade). They are coming along well. I really hand it to them. The academics are tough!! Next week is their presentation on their favorite jazz or classical composer. I about fainted when I read they had to do that. I had to start from the beginning to explain what a composer was before we could even get started!! Their spelling words have gone from "which" to "temperature". What a blow!! They are doing great though.

Little Lauren is all booked in to start "kindy" which is preschool here in January 21st. She is looking forward to it. She goes with me to the gym now and is used to me leaving her for the 40 minutes that I work out. She is also going to start "bably ballet" in January (that is when the next school year starts -so everything begins again then). Blake will be starting keyboard lessons also. I think Kacie is going to join the choir if all goes well. They are enjoying some new classes at school: chapel, art, chess, music. It is very different.

Michael is doing great at work. He is enjoying it and thinks it may be a very good opportunity for him. I am very happy for him!

I had a tough week last week saying goodbye to my friend Tanya Crabbe who came out for a visit. It was hard to say goodbye. I wanted to jump on the plane with her and come back for some visits with you all. I love and miss you so much. Thanks for supporting us all. I couldn't do this without the love and support of Mom, and friends and of course prayers to God!!

Love to you all.

Sending our Prayers and good thoughts to you.

Hello family and friends. We have been so torn up by the horrendous fires that have bombarded our beloved California. I am personally sickened that I wasn't here to hug, talk to, share a wine with or cry with you that have been affected. I hope you know that I am there and sharing in it every minute. My thoughts have been scattered. I have found it difficult to concentrate on nothing else. I have been praying as have the kids for you all. I am so ecstatic to hear that things are getting better by the day. As I look around my surroundings here in Sydney, I see much of the same scrub brush, plantings, trees that I left in San Diego. I am worried that it may be only a matter of time before I see it all happening here also.

The kids have finished off a great second week in school. Kacie has received an "art of the week" merit award. She had to present her artwork to the entire school at assembly. I was very proud of her. She loves sitting and doing art. Blake has attended his first birthday party here. It was a "By Crikey, Crocodile Hunter Party!" It had snakes, crocodiles, the lot! It was very exciting for him. Michael took him and enjoyed a few beers there too. It was a blast for them. Later that night, we headed over to Ferg and Nicky's house and had a few coldies, and then walked up to the local pub with the kids and ate and the kids played. The pubs here have playgrounds in them!! What a concept huh??
Today we woke early and headed over to the beach for Nippers. This weekend I managed to get some photos of the kids in their outfits. They are adorable. Kacie came in first in flag races and Blake came in a close second amongst the boys flag races. They are quite good at the sprinting. They are on their way to being iron men and iron women! haha
Tonight, Fred watched the kids (all 3 of them) while Michael and I had a nice dinner (again at the local pub). He did well. First time for everything.
We are due to move down to Bayview this Saturday. We are all looking forward to being in our community and making some more friends there.
Love and prayers to you all. Especially you, my brother Dave, sis Summer and beautiful nephews Ian, Jared, and Landon. You are in our hearts...xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Perth Visit with The Western Australia Dennis Clan

Had a great time catching up with our family in Perth. What a terrific family they are. Ian, Yvette, Jack and Amie live in a beautiful community called Brighton. It is literally 2 minutes drive from the beach. It is all self contained with shops, cafes, medical center etc.. There are many English people that have immigrated there (called Poms-short for Prisoner Of Mother England-interesting huh? That is what the Aussies call the English people. Oh, another word for them is Geysers. Not sure what that means?). So during a bbq at Ian and Yvette's, we had 3 English people there along with the Aussies and the one American-me. It is amazing that the English language can be so diverse. It was hard to have a conversation at times! I often find myself nodding and pretending to know what is going on. My sister-in-law Yvette is now on to me. She now stops the conversation and says "right, you don't understand me now do ya?" It is funny-but I like that she knows me so well.

Blake and Kacie had so much fun catching up with Amie (11) and Jack (8) their cousins. They played non-stop. Jack and Blake would sit for hours and play legos. Amie and Kacie would sit and listen to music and talk. It was a match made in heaven. Little Lauren would get in there and play too! During this trip, we had started to potty train little Lauren. Needless to say Yvette and Ian were very patient with our little puppy dog messes! haha

We left there after a week's visit. It was so great to see them after 4 years.

Today was a great day for the kids at school. Both Blake and Kacie had a good time. Kacie has easily made friends. Blake has found it a bit tougher trying to break in. They both were happy when I went to pick them up. It made me feel so good to see them smiling and happy. I know this whole move has been hard on them at times.

Kacie informed me today that she knows about "S.E.X." Oh no, was my first thought! We had a discussion about what she knows. She said "well, it is when you get naked and lay in bed and kiss, and some other details that I don't want to get into right now." So, dad and I decided to have a talk about it all. UGH! It was a toned down talk, and the kids giggled and squirmed. They asked lots of questions and now it is over--at least I think! haha

Well, that is all for now. Goodnight all!

Reminiscing

Just now getting to take some time to look through the pictures of our going away party. What a great group of people we had there. We are so blessed to have friends like we do. It is hard to think that we are so far away from so many good people.

We had a great time at Disneyland. It was very magical and a good and positive finish to an emotional time for us all when we said goodbye.

What's going on Down Under

Greetings to everyone. Here is my attempt at keeping everyone we love and cherish in the loop. We have been very busy as a family these last few months. It seems that the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel" is now breaking through.
Michael has accepted a job here in Sydney CBD (Central Business District) which basically means right down in the heart of the city. It is aSenior Technical Consultant Position, with a presales/Business Development aspect to it. He is excited about it. His first day was today. He took the bus into the city and he wasn't too excited about that, but parking there is a hassle-and very expensive (think Manhattan). So, public transport is the way to go.

Blake and Kacie started school today! They are attending a school called Mona Vale Public. They wear tartan green/white uniforms with big floppy hats. The school has a "no hat-no play" policy. This is all very new for them. They are really taking it all in stride.

Last weekend we signed them up for "Nippers" which is basically a junior life guard type club. They are members of the Mona Vale Life Saving Club. They wear little bathing suits with the name of the club on their bottoms and do relay races which include swimming/running/wading/paddling surf boards etc. The club is a very social atmosphere. Th e families all meet there Friday night for drinks. There is a top deck you sit out on and have a few beers right there at the beach. The kids run around and the dinner is a good ol' Aussie "sausage sizzle." (a bbq with sausages for us Yankees! :) Then on Sunday, the parents gather at the beach at 9am with the kids all suited out in their cozzies -(bathing suits) and watch them have a blast. It is really fun. There were probably around 300 kids there last weekend. It is fun to watch and cheer them on.

As you can see, I have mentioned Mona Vale a few times. We are moving up that way on November 3rd. We are moving to a bordering town that sits right between the ocean and the bay called Bayview. It is a beautiful community. We are excited to be apart of it. It is about 30 minutes from the city of Sydney going northbound. There are beautiful parks, waterways, and lots of fun for you to all come and enjoy here. I hope I am talking some of you into it!!

It is hard to believe that we have only been here 3 weeks. We went all the way to Perth to catch up with Ian and Yvette last week and to check out a job. In the end we decided Sydney was where we needed to be. It was great to get another look at Perth though. There are many unspoilt places there that I wished I could show all of you.

Well, we are getting there with the settling in. There are still many things left to do to feel really settled. The move, finding a good church, getting Lauren involved with dancing--that is her passion right now! She talks about going to dance class all the time. She pretends to call people on the phone and even asks them to dance! It is cute.

Ok, so long post. Will write more soon. Love to you all--------xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
ps. the adventure continues.....