h2o
So, again, we're here! I finally had a moment to upload the pictures off my camera & start a blog posting. In the last few days I have felt even more grateful for Robyn & Rhonda encouraging me to do Babywise when I was pregnant with Jack...to have kids that will lay down & put themselves to sleep (even in a whole new environment), sleep on schedule for hours at a time, wake up happy & raring to go is an absolute blessing. Yay! The kids are over jet lag & sleeping from 8pm-7:30/8am already.
John has been good to remind me of the Israelites & the uselessness & sin of their grumbling & complaining...no grumbles, no complaining...we're forging ahead with thankful hearts for what God has given to us & how He's holding our family in the palm of His hand. He'll give us "just enough" when we need it. We are SO thankful for our trip to Israel a few months ago. To be honest, without that trip & the teaching we received I'm not sure we would have been able to get through some of the tough times of the last few days! Thanks Dad & Mom Whitten...that was a gift that has forever changed our outlook on life & ministry!
Some fun pictures of life these last 10 days. No new housing but we're still hoping. For now we're making the best of the situation we're in.
Packing to leave I hear giggles & squealing coming from the other side of the guest house...I came in to Jack & Violet throwing diapers in the air, ha! I'm sure it's Violet that instigated it...she loves to throw things in the air & over her shoulder. She's such a funny kid, she just has this funny little personality.
Jack's new sleeping area...we've rearranged our room a few times to make it work as well as possible. He looks so sweet here. We haven't put either kid in a shirt since this night...it's too hot!
Violet at the beach. We arrived a couple days early for the kids to adjust to the time change. We know from experience that to get over jet lag quickly is to keep a daily schedule & include sunshine wherever possible so that's what we did... we headed to the beach! Violet absolutely LOVED it! She especially loved the fish & chips we ordered!
At the "choo choo station" (Jack's term)...we are only one stop from downtown Perth & we have student cards that get us there for free! 5 minutes from a city of 1.69 million people! Woohoo!
h2o...the title of the blog! Yes! In near 100 degree heat you find water!! Thankfully we have a hose on our patio!!!
Jack still loves tools! Should have brought his...he found this broken one but still loves it!
Look at those curls. Ah, they melt my heart!! And that profile...ahhhhh!
I don't know if it's all the emotions of a new time in life but Jack & Violet really want to be together. Especially when it comes to sleeping..it's been an all out battle to keep Jack out of Violet's PackNPlay...they giggle & squeal & have the best time! Sweet to see your kids wanting to be together!
Some new friends! These are the children of the Norwegian family that's here. William in the middle is 5 & Philip & Victoria are twins & 2 1/2. Their parents, Birgit (Beer-da-get - said fast) & Olav are wonderful and we've become fast friends with them. Anyone that invites the whole family over to share ice cream on a hot day...c,mon, friends like that rock!
The lady Ingjerd (Ing-yerd) that watches Jack & Violet each morning from 8:30-12:30 while we're in class is also from Norway & she's so happy we've asked her to speak to the kids in Norwegian whenever possible. I'll try to get a picture of her with them soon.
All the schools on the base went to the beach the other day & we had dinner there. About 150 people were there. Here's Violet eating a bag of chips, ha. She sits just like my mom did as a child & the same way I sat as a child. Too cute!
This picture is just too much, I absolutely LOVE it!
Australia barely has an ozone so you burn VERY quickly...these shirts are the way to go to protect the kids' sweet skin! So glad we brought one for each kid because Australia is ridiculously expensive!
Enjoying a sweet cold treat! "Eye cream" as Jack calls it! (ice cream)
Violet insisted on holding her own. When it comes to food Violet gets serious - there's no messing around!
Every last bite of the cold sweet goodness!
Jack's little footprints in the sand.
When I got down on Violet's level I realized how crazy the ocean looked. Violet had no fear - she squealed & would throw herself toward the waves. John took her in for a long time & she went nuts...she absolutely loved it! She's a water baby!
Loving it!
And...in the baby pool at home. We're looking for a swimming pool for the kids but in the meantime the single mom that lives in our "commune" has an 8 month old boy & this is his bathtub. My kids quickly claimed the rights of communal living... everything's up for sharing, right?
The outside of the building where all the main stuff happens. I realize I need to take WAY more pictures of what our surroundings look like, sorry. The main base is really cool actually - it's all industrial but with these gorgeous wide planked worn hard wood floors...I'll take pictures...
Olav & Birgit in class. So nice to have another couple around our age & same stage of life!
Violet is just too cute in this picture...she kept her eyes squinted shut & smiled when I asked her to smile for the picture. Naturally Jack refuses to look. He's 2.
The YWAM base has all these orange buses & they have so much character I love them! Cars with personality are the best!
Ramen, thank the Lord for ramen! Jack's always excited to eat noodles & we're always relieved to simply just need to heat water for a quick snack. Jack & Violet love to slurp their noodles & they get a kick out of each other making the slurping noise as loud as possible. We ask Jack, "how do you eat noodles?" and he makes the funniest face & pretends he's slurping noodles and Violet cracks up at him.
Ahhh, anyone that knows me well knows I love Violet Crumble candy bars. (honeycomb & chocolate). My Auntie Gwenny & cousin Mandy used to spontaneously send them to me when I was in YWAM years ago. We were in the grocery store the other day looking for this really delicious Rolo ice cream we had at Olav & Birgit's house when I spotted Violet Crumble ice cream...it's DEEEEElicious!!!! The Rolo one is SO good too!
The orange buses. Ha! We took this one to the lake this morning to have a breakfast bbq with our school (13 students, 5 staff). Sorry grandparents but what you're going to read is going to shock you...there is no child seat law in Australia. The kids don't even have to be in seat belts...they ride on our laps...they LOVE it. We hold them tight. Here's Jack really excited to be going for a ride in the "orange bus"!
The Slovakian family!! Natalia (9), Stanka, Ivan (Ee-von) & Ninka (11). We're so blessed to be in the school with them - such a lovely & gentle family. Jack LOVES them!
The play set at the lake.
John & Vi in the lake - there were huge jelly fish in the river/lake (it was saltwater)! Violet went bananas in the water again, it's hilarious to watch her!
Ari, our school leader (left). He's from Holland & it was fun to make the ollie bolen, stroop waffle & chocolate letters for Christmas connections. The staff prepared a breakfast bbq for us...I had never been to a breakfast bbq but it was INCREDIBLE! Eggs, pancakes, canadian bacon, pineapple, sausage links, grilled eggplant, fresh fruit, delicious crusty bread & huge chunks of feta & homemade berry syrup for the pancakes! A feast all made on outside grills by the lake as ski boats zoomed around, people tubing & wake boarding. Jack pointed to the ski boat & said, "Papa does!"...I didn't even know Jack knew Papa had a ski boat. Smart kid!
In the striped shirt is Lawrence from Singapore (student).
Adrian - staff member from South Africa with a giant plate of giant pancakes.
Back in the pool!
Something we've discovered in the last 10 days - Violet absolutely LOVES jewelry! Since I don't wear it I've never really thought about if she would like it. Any girl that is wearing anything sparkly, beads, earrings, necklaces, bracelets...she wants to see it, touch it, wear it herself. Hilarious she's such a girl! So weird that Jack loves cars, engines, tools...we never encouraged that! Now Violet loves all things girly & we certainly never encouraged that either - it's just her. She also loves shoes, skirts, dresses...her whole demeanor changes when she sees shoes, cute clothes or jewelry! Here she is wearing my red beads!
So there ya go - some fun pictures of what life has looked like these last 10 days! Funny the camera never comes out when things are tough...things have been an adjustment and we appreciate your continued prayers for us 4. Pray pray pray that we can remain positive, focus on the good, be thankful in ALL circumstances! Praising our Father who knows what we need & when we need it. Pray we can lean on Him & not on our own understanding! We know He has a straight path for us & we want to walk in it!
It's so nice to see you guys in pictures we miss you and love you is there anything we can do for you do you need anything?