Goodbye Perth

Our wonderful friends Jade and Doug threw use a surprise going away party the Saturday before we left.  They tricked us into believing we were going to a live Aussie comedy show.  We showed up at their house that evening ready to go to the show, were greeted at the door by jade, then walked into their dark house (we were slightly suspicious at this time), and were surprised by all of our closest friends hiding in the dining room.  They had a dessert bar full of all my favorite American and Australian desserts.  Jade knows I have a major sweet tooth. ;)  Our friend Jacob gave a heartfelt toast to start the evening off, and the rest of the night was spent chatting and stuffing ourselves full of sweets.  It was such a wonderful night, spent with some of the most amazing people I have ever met in my life.  There were a lot of tears that night as we said our goodbyes.  Although it's great to be home and surrounded by family, I still can't help but feel homesick for Perth and wishing our friends weren't so far away.  Dang Australia why must you be so far away!  

The crew

Love the Robinsons

Anouck and I

Sunday before we left we had one last final hoorah with the Williams' and Kendalls.  Dannii, Jade, and I have been the three musketeers since we moved to Perth.  I have moved back to the US, and Dannii is now moving to Karatha this week, so the trio has been separated.  I know that no matter where we are in the world we will always remain close though.  Love these girls.  

Dannii, Lisa, Jade

Ella is going to miss her best bud Maddie 

Charity

~Charity~

This is part of a talk I gave a few weeks ago in church: 

At the time when we were asked to move I was extremely anxious and worried... moving to a different country without knowing a single soul was definitely going outside of my comfort zone. Our first day of church in the Dianella ward was on Valentiens day if I remember correctly. We had to take a bus from the CBD (central business district), because at the time we didn’t have a car. We were greeted warmly by so many friendly faces that day, and were given a ride home from a couple in the ward. That couple went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. Later that week they took us for a tour around Perth, and even made us a map of all the great places to go in Perth. We instantly felt welcome and loved. The relocation agency that was assisting us wasn’t very helpful, and it was actually bishop who helped us find a place to live. In addition to bishop other church members dedicated their time to help us clean the house we were moving into, and donated items such as a tv, a fridge, and a dining table. Brandon and I were overwhelmed with the amount of love, and above all Charity shown to us. These people who we didn’teven know were offering their possessions, and time to help us. From there other members in the ward continued to shower us in love and charity…. Whether it be looking after me and inviting me over for dinner while Brandon was away traveling for work, dropping off a meals or gifts when I had a bad day, or just providing random acts of kindness to show I was cared for... I always felt loved and cared for. We built a home away from home, and even though we were thousands of miles away from our own families, we had a family here in Perth to take care of us. There never was a time where I felt alone. I knew that if there was anything I ever needed our friends here in Perth would be there for us at the drop of a hat.
You have no idea how much those small acts of charity have meant to Brandon and I, and how much it has impacted our lives. I don’t think I have words enough to say just how grateful I am and how I will never forget the love that was shown to us here. These are things that I will remember for the rest of my life.
Because of these experiences I have a true testimony of charity and serving others. I personally have felt how charity can bless a person’s life, and because of my experiences here I strive even more to serve others.

Thank you to all my Aussie friends for your love, support, and service over the past 2 1/2 years. We love you, and will miss you dearly!

8 Days

We leave Perth in 8 days.  8 DAYS!!! How did that happen so fast?!?! It honestly feels like we just barely got here.  I cannot believe how fast the past 2 1/2 (almost three) years have gone!   

On Thursday they are moving all of our stuff, and we will be living in a hotel in the city for 3 nights until we fly out.  We will be making our trip home into a vacation to help break up the flights for Ella, and who wouldn't want to have a vacation in tropical paradise? We will be staying in Sydney for 2 days, Fiji for 4 days and Hawaii for 4 days.  I can't wait!!!  We will be home in Salt Lake for Christmas, then I'll be staying at my parents house until February.  Brandon has to come back to Perth through January to finish things up at his job.  Then we are off to the beautiful city of Elko Nevada.  hmmmm not quite as nice as Perth.  Okay not even close, but we are going to make the most out of our 2-3 years there.  Two great things about living in Elko Nevada is 1. we are only a 3 hour drive from SLC, and 2. Brandon's sister Heather and her husband are there, so we will be close to family!     

Cottesloe beach 

I have so many mixed emotions about leaving. I am SO excited to be close to family, but on the other hand extremely sad to be leaving Perth and all of our amazing friends here.  It's very bittersweet I suppose.  I wish that Perth wasn't so far away, because then at least i'd find comfort in knowing that we would be back to visit soon... but with Ella here, and our family just starting to grow who knows when that could be, 5, 10, 15 years down the road?  I hope not.  We love Perth!  For our thanksgiving party I made a list of 20 things that I'm thankful for in Australia (which I forgot to share at the party, but here they are anyway)... some of them are a joke.

1. Amazing friends
2. Meat pies & sausage rolls
3. Tim tams, lamingtons, pavlova & violet crumble
4. Holidays every month
5. Toilets that have half flush and full flush 
6. Switches on the outlets so that we don’t electrocute ourselves (haha this is a joke because our friend Anouck thought she was going to get electrocuted in the US because we don't have switches on the outlets)
7. The footy referee because he is awesome!
8. Beautiful beaches & amazing scuba diving/snorkeling 
9. Clothes lines... I've actually grown to love them.  When it's hot outside the clothes dry in 10 min.  
10. Perfect weather all year round
11. Veggiemite (on toast with cheese)
12. Han’s café (a tradition with the Williams' and Kendall's) 
13. Sexy accents & Aussie slang (I wish Ella would grow up to have an Aussie accent)
14. Gaytimes (it's a type of ice cream, but the name is also awesome)
15. Ginger beer & lemon lime and bitters
16. Kings Park
17. Sausage sizzles & fish n' chips
18. Koalas, Kangaroos and Quokkas 
19. Killer mag pies (ok not really thankful for these.... more so thankful that mag pies in the US won't try to attack me)
20. San Churros (oh my goodness the best churros and hot chocolate you've ever had in your life)