A New Chapter in our Lives

As many of you already know, in March we relocated to Kansas City, MO, saying goodbye to Massachusetts.  This came about when Zenith put his resume online and was almost immediately contacted by a company out in Kansas City.  They did a phone interview and then flew him out to meet him in person.  By the end of that trip, he was hired!  It was a mad dash to find a house to rent, a moving company and pack up, and we didn't know we were officially moving until the week of.  It has been a crazy month, but here we are on the other side!

Roadtrip!

Here we go, on our next adventure!  Leaving Haverhill for the last time. (shout out to Aunty Miriam for their adorable backpacks which they faithfully wore the whole trip)

Goodbye snow! (we got dumped with a bunch of snow before we left, and then just missed another storm that happened a few days after we left and buried New England in a foot of snow!)

We stopped in New York to stay with some friends (one of whom is a fellow Aussie) and their adorable little girls.  We had a lovely stay with them and the boys loved their new little friends.  

One of the hotels along the way...had some really interesting character

Brekky before we head to Niagara Falls!

We decided that since it was only a few hours out of our way, we'd stop to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Niagara Falls! I didn't have high expectations, esp with the time of year, but I was really impressed!

Pictures, of course, just don't do it justice.  Couldn't get any better pictures because of the amount of water coming from the falls and it was absolutely freezing, especially with the moist air.  We literally ran to take a peak and ran away.  

Crossing the boarder from the Canadian side where we viewed the falls

Next up on the journey was the Creation Museum.  We were literally going right by it so we decided to stop and see it and were not disappointed.  What an amazing place.  We were counting on it being a one time thing, but I'd love to go back (preferably with older children and without overtired toddlers) so we can take a better look.

The boys did great considering all the missed naps!

Lots of wax figurines, very well done, and the Garden of Eden was beautiful

The next day we went to the Ark Encounter, which was nearby as well.  Now THAT was impressive.  Built to scale, using the references in the Bible, exactly as it would have been.  You could see it off in the distance and it made me wonder what the people of that time must have thought.

It showed exactly how they might have housed all the animals, and what system of watering and feeding may have been used.

Everyone breaking for lunch

Finally There!

As happy as we were to see some cool places, we were SO ready to be done with the trip.  We'd all caught colds and weren't doing so well in hotels, so when we finally pulled into my parents' house where we were staying for the next week, we were pretty relieved.  We had an awesome stay with them, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

It was wonderful seeing everyone else in the family as well!  My, how the families are growing, and what beautiful families they are.

All the children (minus babies) on St. Patrick's day singing as song for Nana and Bumpa

Boys happily playing at Nana and Bumpa's house

After a week there, our things finally arrived and it was time to move in!  I have to give a shout out to my wonderful parents who watched the boys when the movers arrived, and then came to the rescue when I was lost in boxes, feeling quite overwhelmed and out of my element.  They came over and helped us unload and then finish our living room so we had a place we could relax and feel at home in.  It made SUCH a difference, even down to having pictures on the wall.  

Easter

Before long it was Holy Week and we had a lovely triduum at our new parish, ending with Easter Vigil Mass.  The boys did awesome during the very late ceremonies, and William seemed to understand so much of it.  He was thrilled when they took the cloths off the statues and then when the bells rang at the Gloria, his face showed so much amazement.  It was a beautiful thing to witness, seeing the Faith and the ceremonies set up by the Church through the eyes of a child.  

The boys shared an Easter basket this year, featuring a DVD on the traditional Mass, showing it up close and explaining the significances in simpler terms for children (which they love!).  They also got chalk, bubbles and supplies to start their own little planter as a project for them.

Happy Easter!

Kaite and Dan hosted a lovely Easter dinner at their house, complete with their Missouri cousins

A different day when my uncle Fred was visiting and we all got together at Kaite and Dan's house again.  The boys got their bows out and did some target practice

Lemon on the cup was the last target

My hubby is VERY proud of his last shot of the day...yes that is his arrow through the lemon.  All the guys were actually able to hit it but, shhhh...you didn't hear that from me ;)

My oldest goddaughter, my niece Gianna, just turned 7, and in honor of her birthday, I decided it was time for a godmother/goddaughter day out.  What a joy it was to spend the afternoon catching up with this little lady!  She is growing into such a beautiful girl and I had a wonderful time taking her out for lunch.

A huge perk of where we live is being so close to all my family.  After awhile of being so far from family, it has been a big but welcome change.  I do miss my oldest sister though, and her family who we left back in Massachusetts.  It was a very sad parting and my heart aches when I think about my nieces and nephews there, but we hope to have them come visit soon!

My younger sister, Angie, is only 10 minutes from us, which we having been taking advantage of by doing everything we can together. Dinners at each other's houses, walks in the park, playdates...I can't even begin to say how much we've been enjoying having them so close by.  We've also been able to get together with my older sisters and their families as well and have been enjoying seeing everyone again.

William holding his cousin Emma's hand...he likes to hold it to "protect" her.

Well, I think we've come to a close here.  I'll try to keep on top of the blog more; it's just been a crazy month trying to get settled and we've had a few sicknesses sweep through as well.  

Happy Thursday to all!

~Lindsay

Adventures Down Under: Part 2

Sorry for the delay in this post!  It's been pretty hectic with a lot going on (including just getting over the stomach bug).  Anyway, where were we...ah yes, on the way to Bellingen! I can't even remember how long it took us to get there...maybe 6 hours or so?  The boys did well in the car and before we knew it, we were there!  Fr. Ruben knows a man who has a retreat center in Bellingen and who so generously allowed us all to stay there for about 10 days.  It is a beautiful place, nestled with mountains around it, and fairly close to the coast.

The HUGE wrap around porch was perfect for the kids to run around on

It had a dining room, kitchen, lounge room, and six bedrooms in the section we were staying in and was even decorated for Christmas!

The next day we were joined by Zenith's sister and her lovely family and we spent the next couple days getting settled, relaxing, and getting ready for Christmas.

Christmas Eve after the "children were nestled all snug in their beds"

Merry Christmas!

Miriam, Dan, Jerome and Olivia

The Nonni with all their grandchildren 

Best buddies...these two hit it off right away

Christmas Dinner

Christmas Pudding...the Australia Christmas Dessert!  Compliments of Miriam and so yummy!

The day after Christmas, "Uncle Fr. Ruben" joined us and the Martello family was complete!

Family reunited for the first time in a long time

After Christmas, we made a trip out to Coffs Harbor to see the ocean

We were promptly chased away from the beach by rain and settled on a butterfly house

Everyone loves "Uncle Fr. Ruben!"

This picture pretty much sums up the difference between the US and Australia...we have drive through banks and fast food restaurants.  Australia has drive through liquor stores.

Lunch on our way to try out the beach again later that week...Australia has lots of these little fish and chips cafe/restaurants.

Gorgeous very little known beach that we had all to ourselves!

Another outing included driving up the mountains we could see from the veranda at the house along these windy roads to Dorrigo National Park

Walking through the rainforest in Dorrigo

 View from the boardwalk over the rainforest

With heavy hearts and a tearful goodbye, we left Zenith's parents to travel back to Sydney with Miriam and Dan a couple days before our flight out.

We met up with some friends, Josh and Amanda and their 3 beautiful children, at a park in Sydney and had a nice time catching up

"Aunty Mon" set up a beautiful picnic for us all and it was lovely to catch up with her as well

But alas, our time had come to an end and it was now time to part ways with Miriam and Dan.  Sadly we said goodbye and miss them and those precious little children very much.

Our time in Australia is coming to a close now, so come, pack your bags and get ready for the last leg of the journey.

This one was a double decker!

The attendants gave the boys socks and doodle pads, which were a big hit!

Dominic slept for 7 hours straight on the way home!  The boys did very well, and although I slept less this time, I was just happy the boys were doing ok.

After our 16 hour plane ride to Dallas, we changed planes and flew for the longest 3 1/2 hours of my life (slight exaggeration).  Funny how 3 hours can feel longer than 16 hours when you mindset is a certain way!  We arrived in Boston around 10pm with no issues...until we missed our bus. And it was the last bus of the night.  Thankfully another bus going somewhere else took us to meet our bus at South Station where they both stopped before continuing to their final destinations.

We arrived at the station, where we left our car, at about 11:30 PM.  Being the last bus of the night, the station itself was closed and as the bus pulled away, and we stood with the three boys and all our luggage on the sidewalk in the -2 degree F temperature, I knew we were not in a good situation.  Our coats were in the car and as Zenith ran to get the car, I hugged the crying boys to me to try to keep them warm, all of us only in light sweaters.  It dawned on me then that our van had been sitting in the parking lot for over two weeks in negative temperatures and the odds of it starting after all that time were slim.  I prayed to all our guardian angels (as I found out later Zenith was) and as our fingers and ears started to burn and ache with the cold, lo and behold, there came Zenith, van still covered in snow, driving toward us.  We piled into the freezing car, wrapping up in freezing coats which did nothing to warm us, and I revved the engine like crazy to try to get it warmed up as quickly as possible while Zenith ran around the car with no coat, no gloves or hat, cleaning off the snow and ice.  Finally we were starting to thaw and we made our way home, arriving close to midnight and thanks entirely to the intercession of our guardian angels.  

Bed has never felt so good!  Dominic and I struggled the most with jet lag, taking about a month to get readjusted.  Come to think of it, it's probably because of Dominic that I wasn't able to bounce back as quickly, with him having his nights a days mixed up.  It was a long time before I was able to get a full night sleep and then we all came down with the flu and were out of commission for about a week and a half.  Anyway, we are all currently well (fingers crossed!) and back into the swing of things.

What a trip it was!  It's so difficult to have family so far away and we miss our Australian family and friends dearly.  

It was one of the hardest things we've ever done, but we are very glad we did.  We hope to be able to go back in the future, God willing and provided we are financially able.  At least we know it is physically (and mentally!) possible with little ones.  I would probably never do it during our winter again.  The cold to hot back to cold was quite shocking for all of us, especially my little Dominic, who was pretty sick in Australia and then struggled when we got home as well.

Well, time to wrap this up.  Thank you for traveling with us!  We have a bit of news to share, which I'll save for another post, so stay tuned. :)

~Lindsay