Our Trip to Australia! Part 1

Time for my Australia trip blog update!!! I hear ya; when is she going to put it up? Well, at last, I'm done jetting around the world and visiting all the relies and can now focus on the blog!

Last August, 2015 I found a good deal for flights to Australia in March. I looked because it was my parents' 45th wedding anniversary. As I hadn't been back since leaving in 2013, I really wished to be there to celebrate this event with them. So with lots of prayer and support, I was able to get tickets for the two little girls and myself. However, it was to be a secret and so we kept it from the little girls too. On a number of occasions, when speaking with my parents or family members, it was very hard to not let the secret slip!

And just as well we never said anything to the girls. Mum ended up coming after visiting Alex and Megan in February, and had the girls known, they would have let the cat out the bag. The day after mum left, we set up some clues, and let the girls figure it out!

But before I could leave the country, we needed to leave USA, go to Canada and visit the USA embassy in Vancouver, have an interview and await our renewed visas. So we left Thursday evening and 'camped' with the RV at Anthea's place. Our interview was 8am Friday in Vancouver. We finally got out of of there at 10am. Lots of security and lots of waiting. We headed back to Yarrow and filled our forced holiday with taking the kids to the park, going for walks, and the girls even attending the John Calvin school for a day with Anthea. They loved it!

And on Tuesday, the passports were ready for pickup. A huge relief when we had them in our hands! And an even bigger relief when we were allowed back in the States!

A week before departure, Janice and myself spent a day with the little kids as they wouldn't be seeing each other for three whole weeks! 

Perch and Play!

And then Menchies!

And finally March 15 arrived. We packed 4 suitcases (and incidentally, came home with 6!). I left at 4am Tuesday morning with two very excited girls!

We arrived in Hong Kong after a long 13 hour flight. The girls were very good! They enjoyed the food that was served, doing activities and watching movies. We had a 5 hour layover in Hong Kong which was great to let the family back in US know we had arrived and just chilling.

And then it was back on the plane for a 7 hour flight to Perth. I love this photo. Both girls slept and both were sleeping in the same position!

And we safely arrived in Perth. We were greeted by a number of family members and after a quick catchup and trying to get used to the drastic change in weather even at 11pm, we headed to our hosts John and Caren for the next two nights. It was good to acclimatize and of course, the girls loved the pool!

Catching up with Jerry and Em at the Dome!

During those three days of arriving from Thursday till Saturday we were in hiding from my parents because it was still a surprise! So going to the shops and driving around, we had to be careful where we went, just in case!


One of the first things we did was catchup with an old family friend, Mrs Gregory! She even recognised us!

And then we moved to my sister Teresa's where the 'reveal' would be! It was wonderful to catchup with them and meet their little boys again! The girls had a blast!

Sisters!

That's it for now! The next update will be the big 'reveal'!

Thanks for checking in!