Being Thankful--With or Without the Pilgrims!

 Well we couldn't very well just ignore the Thanksgiving holiday altogether...not with all the blessings we've been given this year!  When Sydney asked why they didn't get Thanksgiving off from school, I told her they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here.  She said, "Well that's weird.  They're just not thankful?"  Parker promptly told her, "Syd there were no pilgrims here.  Plymouth rock...not the Gold Coast, remember?"  I thought it was a decent explanation, but truly felt sad to not have a recognized holiday.  What to do???

We didn't have to fret long.  Apparently the ex-pats here in our ward have a huge Thanksgiving dinner the weekend of Thanksgiving in the states.  All Americans are invited and we included Canadians as well.  We offered to host at our house this year so the kids could enjoy the pool and we seemed to have the biggest space for eating.  Most of the families live in apartments or small homes.  While ours is not huge, it does have an awesome outdoor space that worked great for the long tables.  We had an ENORMOUS feast.  There was probably around 40 people there and the food assignments went great.  Homeade roles, turkey, stuffing, salads and oodles of pies.  But my favorite part was the tradition the Americans have here of bringing a little home to the party.  You'll notice in the pic a huge yellow cooler in the back.  It's homeade rootbeer!  It's very difficult to find rootbeer here and if you do, you'll pay out the nose for it.  Every Thanksgiving a member of our stake presidency, President Adams and his family, make homeade rootbeer for the ex-pat Thanksgiving.  Someone also makes rice crispy treats to be set out with the pies for dessert and of course...rootbeer floats!  I told Lex, I think homeade rootbeer and rice crispy treats just became a new Allen family Thanksgiving tradition as well.  It will remind us of our year in Brisby but also it will remind us to always be thankful for the little things.  Things we take for granted-- ya know, like root beer and marshmallows!

It was such a fun day.  It was awesome visiting with other ex-pats and remembering things about home.  What Thanksgivings were like for them then and now and the things they miss most about the states.  We laughed a lot about the adjustments you have to make when moving internationally and the awesome things you learn about yourself.  It was a special Thanksgiving...it made me feel truly thankful for friends and ward family.

A Song from Across the Ocean!

The strangest thing happened the other day, and I mean strange.  I was getting my kids loaded into the car, when I got the weirdest feeling.  Like warm and happy and lonesome and far away all at the same time.  I couldn't even put my finger on it or why I was suddenly feeling it.  I was overwhelmed with thoughts of my little sis.  I sat there for a sec outside the car wondering where it was all coming from when I suddenly realized I could hear music playing. I hadn't even noticed it before.  It wasn't very loud.   It was soft at first but was getting louder with practiced dynamics.  It was piano music coming from a house somewhere on the other side of my street.  I finally put my finger on the song.  I stood there with tears streaming down my face (honestly) and closed my eyes while I listened to Jon Schmidt's "All of Me" piano solo floating around in the air from some stranger's house to my own ears.  I was enjoying the song so much it didn't even hit me til later how really crazy that was.  I mean, I live in Australia?  I didn't realize Jon Schmidt was all that international. (A Mormon guy from Utah that does firesides, EFYs and concerts around the state).  I'm pretty sure it was a recorded CD-- although I guess it's true that some people (ie; my little sister) really can play it live on the piano that well.  I loved it.  I got in the car and the kids asked why I was crying.  I told them they were happy tears because I love Aunt Justi so much.  And I miss her.  I know, I know, I'm a very cheesy cheeseball, but I believe 100% that that was a little tender mercy from the Lord to do my heart some good.  It brought a little bit of home to me when I didn't even realize I was needing it.  I wasn't feeling homesick or sad or anything.  But man, hearing that familiar song (a family fave that my little sister has played for many audiences) reminded me how lucky I am to have such an awesome family.  Living this incredibly far away has made me really want to commit to staying in closer touch with family.  See people more often, chat, text, email whatever it takes.  I can't take my family for granted.  I really believe that is one of the biggest lessons I was meant to learn during my year here.  Family is so important!  My relationships with them are worth any amount of effort or work.  They are worth it! They mean so much to me.  I thought that was a very sweet way for  Heavenly Father to keep this idea in the forefront.  My parents were here for all of December (more on that coming) and when they left, I told them, "The only good thing about you guys leaving is that it is reminding me that I have things to be excited about when going home--it helps me remember how great it will be to be closer to family." Because honestly, sometimes I feel very sad to leave here.  Our time is going too fast and I love the growth and changes our family has made here.  But we are far away from cousins, sisters, parents and grandparents.  It will be awesome to be close enough to visit on weekends!  My kids have great relationships with their cousins.  I know those relationships are important to them.  And that's the way it should be.  Eternity looks pretty good from oceans away!  Thanks Jon Schmidt for bridging the oceans and bringing me home for a bit!

family....

family... 

 family!!!

Fascinating Fascinators!

 Back in November...(yes, I'm that far behind on my blogging!!!) Australians all around hunkered down, got sloshed (any occasion is a good occasion for drinking in Aus) and cheered on their favorite equestrian!  It was the Melbourne Cup!  I guess it's a pretty big deal horse race here.  Lots of people take the day off work and the pubs are simply impossible to get in to...believe me I tried, I thought Oaks and I would enjoy throwing a few back while we watched the cup.  :)  

 Anyway, it's really fun because people dress up in fancy clothes and especially fancy hats or fascinators!  They are head pieces that you put on to add a little fascination to your look.  They were on sale at all the stores in a variety of colors, flares and feathers!!!  Oaks had a ball shopping for fascinators and getting geared up for the Melbourne Cup!

 Oh yes, the fuscia shoes with the black hat...fascinating darling!

 This girl makes me roll.  She was all about a serious pose with this fascinating little number!  The fascinators reminded me of my Grandma Great's old hats and some of the ones we used to try on out of her old trunk.  The netting and pearls were awesome! This one was my fave!

When we took the kids to school on the day of the cup, most of the school teachers were in their fancy clothes with long strings of pearls, heels and of course...fascinators!

I had to get a picture of Ms. McGuire, Syd's teacher.  I seriously love her.  She is so adorable and was decked to the nines for the Cup.  Of course they weren't watching it or anything, but the teachers here are great and wouldn't miss a chance to have a little fun.  

She is such a fun teacher and never misses a moment to have fun and make things exciting.  But the reason I love her most is because she adores Sydney.  And has a special place in her heart for Oaklee, who comes with me every week to help in Syd's class at art time.  She is always allowed to participate and sit with the class.  Ms. McGuire just treats her like one of the other year 2's.  How lucky were we to get her for half a year here in Brisby?!

HAPPY MELBOURNE CUP!  MAY YOUR HORSES BE FAST AND YOUR HEAD PIECES BE...FASCINATING!!!!

Belly Dancers and Fire Batons!

 There is a large Indian population here in Brisbane and so when we saw Diwlali being publicized we were super excited to go check it out!  Diwali is the celebration of the Indian New Year, the Hindu Festival of Light.  It was a really cool night.

 They held the celebration at Chinatown in downtown Brisbane, so we took the train in.  There were all kinds of booths set up selling souvenirs and fancy Indian jewelry etc.  The Indian people in attendance were all wearing their beautiful saris with jewels pressed into their foreheads and sparkling designs on their shoes.  It was so colorful and beautiful.

  The people were so happy to share their culture with us.  There was a stand painting free temporary henna tattoos and women all around willing to fit you into a traditional sari or sell you a shimmery scarf.  They were all so friendly and I think they were

 truly happy to have us there celebrating with them.
  Probably similar to how the Mormons feel
 when guests  of other faiths attend our
 Hill Cumorah Pageant  or visit the streets of Nauvoo.


  It was fun to feel their pride in their culture and hospitality!

There were all kinds of performers on the street and on the stage.  Lots of belly dancers and because it is the Festival of Light, they traditionally do a lot with fire.  So we got to see lots of belly dancers with fire batons.  It was pretty awesome.  We ate some yummy Thai food (we ordered curry to at least "pretend" we were eating "Indian"...we couldn't resist the Thai.  It's an awesome restaurant in Chinatown.)

The night was so much fun.  It has been really great to get to know so many different cultures here.  Brisbane caters to many nationalities and cultures that we don't see as often being on the side of the planet.  The kids have participated in lots of different Mulslim, Indian and Asian traditions and holidays.  That is something I will miss so much about Brisbane.  And of course...getting to taste the different foods that go along with these traditions--that's been fun too!!!

So raise your glasses and sing "Auld Lang Syne"...here's to another fabulous New Year in India--or anywhere!

Lolly, Lolly, Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here...

Hmm, I better explain, "lolly" is the word for "candy" here.  And after I picked the title of this post, I realized some people may not have such fond memories of the School House Rock movies that I do.  I so remember watching those videos in elementary (videos...good old fashion, bulky VHS tapes) of School House Rock.  Teaching me all the basic fundamentals of grammar-- like the Lolly, Lolly Adverbs song and Conjunction Junction What's Your Function?  And many other educational ditties that gave my teachers (I realize now) a much needed 30 minutes to collect themselves and hopefully have a cold Coke-- or perhaps something stronger :) to get through the rest of the day!  Anyway, back to my post.

 Ok, so Halloween here is strange.. and not in a spooky strange Halloween way.  Halloween is in it's early stages of growth here.  How weird to be witnessing the beginnings of holiday traditions in a nation?  It's so odd to hear people say, "Yah, Halloween is just kinda starting to catch on here in Australia.  It's never really been an Aussie holiday.  But in the last few years it's kind of started to get recognized."  Anyone who knows me well, realizes there would be no love lost for me if Halloween disappeared...but alas, my children.  I have to love it for them!  I normally love it only for the traditional neighborhood soup party I host in an effort to more fully enjoy the holiday, but I didn't even have that here.  Halloween here is warm and tropical.  And Aussies ONLY know about zombies and death and blood when it comes to celebrating the holiday.  To start us into the Halloween spirit, we carved....our watermelons!  It's spring/summer here, remember?  So pumpkins are out of season and very expensive to buy as such.  So, we went with the more seasonal fruit and carved a melon. Why not? When I bought it I told the cashier what I was doing with it and she laughed and laughed and said, "You Americans and your carving at Halloween!"  She then proceeded to give me all kinds of advice on how "she" would carve a melon.  She gave me a very novel idea, "I would cut a hold in the top, like a hat, and remove it to scoop out the insides. Then you could put the top back on like a lid.  It would be so much easier to scoop the fruit out the top rather than through the holes you make for eyes and nose."   Thank you oh wise and ob-wan carving one!  She, my friends, is ahead of her time in this Australian world of Halloween traditions!  I just nodded to her and thanked her for the advice....saved me tons of headache trying to scoop watermelon out of Syd's jack-o-lantern star eyes ;)  Oh Australia...you have a ways to go to catch the morbid Americans that love the season of the dead.   And fyi... watermelon is 1000 times more fun to carve!  Softer rinds, and way, way, better guts to eat!  If I can find watermelons, I'll be carving them every year.  

 

 We ended up borrowing "dress ups" from a family in our ward, who laughed and said, "You're kids are wearing our dress ups for Halloween?  Don't spill red blood paint on our princess dress!"  People here don't think it's a Halloween costume without some death and gore involved.  Or at least a broom to make it a little witchy.  Oaklee was just thrilled to have some new lovely locks.  And may I just say-- this wig was ten times heavier than her.  It only lasted about half of trunk or treat.  She could barely hold her head up.  And Syd opted for a kimono we found and some bamboo sticks for her hair.  There is such a huge Asian population here, I wondered how it would go over...hopefully they are as flattered to see a Caucasian blondie dressed as a geisha as I am to see their children in cowboy hats and chaps dressed as an American Western cowboy!!!  :)  Parker was really on the fence this year.  He said, "Man I so don't want to dress up but I really want the lollies!"     

In the end, he couldn't leave the idea of the lollies and opted for your basic construction worker.  Just enough to get some lollies not enough to draw attention.  Except that here...if you weren't a zombie, vampire or witch...you were standing out.  It was so funny to see little 3 and 4 year olds at a church sponsored trunk or treat (we finally found one about 30 minutes away from us) dressed as zombie cheerleaders (blood dripping from red lips on white faces) or a witch and if you wanted to be a princess...you could, but wear a pointy hat with your gown and carry a broom.  There were princess witches, superman witches, batman witches etc. It was hilarious.  I couldn't believe the gore at the church function.  My kids were the only ones not in masks, not carrying weapons and not having gory make up...boy did we feel sheepish!  Lex and I were just chuckling the whole time.  The lady in the car next to me ran out of lollies and said to me, "I cannot believe how much bigger it is this year.  Trick or treating is really catching on here.  I mean I bought 80 pieces of candy and they are gone!"  I thought about last year in Albuquerque buying 500 pieces and knowing I'd run out.  In Brisbane I bought 200 and felt nervous.  I knew trick or treating wasn't big so I was hoping 200 pieces would be enough.  I guess I'm ahead of my time still.  In fact, trick or treating doesn't really happen here at all without a lot of pre-planning. Some wards (those with American families) set up a trunk or treat.  Like I mentioned, I could only find one that was within 30 minutes of us.  There were tons of Aussie families there too getting in on the action.  But trick or treating in neighborhoods usually doesn't happen.  I was told, "If you want your kids to trick or treat, you usually have to ask your neighbors if they want to participate.  Leave a balloon with them, then if they decide they are willing, they will blow up the balloon and tie it to their porch so you know they are up for the trick or treaters.  Also, you would need to provide the lollies for them to give your kids."  Wellllll, that's way too much work for one that is not a true lover in the first place.  We opted for trunk or treat.  It was funny to see the treats my kids got.  Some unwrapped gummy worms, big gum balls (no wrapper) and homemade cookies-- yah, the new "rules" for Halloween still haven't reached the Down Under.  It was just like being back in the good old days when people handed out homeade doughnuts and hot cider or hot chocolate to warm you up at the doorstep.   I guess at the end of the day, Halloween was a night of memories for us.  And let's be honest, it was worth it just to see Oaklee's tiny little face peering out of that sea of blond, Dolly Parton curls--synthetic locks swallowing her whole!  Hooray for last minute costumes!

Celebrating Our Own Kind of Fall!

 

Well it's usually around this time of year that Lex gets homesick for Utah.  He misses his true Fall season.  When the mornings are crisp...I call them "cold" he often uses words like "crisp" or "brisk" to kind of take the edge off.  He misses getting ready for the hunt and of course the anticipation of what the season will bring to the mountains.

But, I have to say it was hard to feel homesick for Fall this year.  Mostly because it's very much Spring here.  Our trees are changing colors just like those in the states...only different hues!  This Spring has been incredible. Definitely going down as the most beautiful, transformative Spring I've ever seen.  The trees in these pix are called Jacaranda trees.  They are very popular here and literally line the parks and the streets.  They are huge and when they blossom, it's called "Jacaranda Season".  There is park just a block from our house called Jacaranda Park, named for the trees that line its edges.  The Jacarandas have just painted Brisbane.  They are bright purple and they splash color everywhere.

Around the big buildings downtown, you'll just see these bright blobs of purple mixed in with the concrete business landscapes.  I think it's a good reminder to all those stuffy suits that yah...we live in Brisbane-- don't take things too seriously!  The blossoms on the Jacarandas fall just like leaves in Autumn. So the roads, yards etc. are covered in purple too.  And yes...they get tracked into your houses just like fall leaves do!  It's just sheets and sheets of purple.  Even my car gets sprinkled every night!

But Jacarandas aren't the only beauty of Spring. Everything is flowering!!!  There are just massive amounts of color everywhere.  Purples, reds, yellows, oranges, pinks-- it's crazy and the smell...it's so incredible.  The air is hot and getting a little humid so the smell just hangs around you.  It's so fragrant, sometimes I feel like I'm going to pass out from breathing in so much through my nose on our bikes to school!  I just can't get enough of the smells!

On our way to school we pass heaps of these huge flowering shrubs.  They just take over yards!  We have loved walking through the botanical gardens in Brisbane.  They have a couple different gardens and they are all so beautiful, especially this time of year.  It's so weird having Halloween and Thanksgiving upon us and yet...the weather is warming up and life is starting to bloom even more.  The switched season thing makes it hard to miss home.  I just cannot picture anyone putting on layers of flannel and an orange vest for hunting right now!!

 Just on our driveway and admiring our neighbors blooms.  Of course...NO ONE has sprinkler systems here.  Unheard of!  Coming from Albuquerque, NM-- that's pretty crazy.

 This is the view on our way home from school.  If you look just above the flowering orange tree you can see a bit of the Brisbane sky line.  It's a great ride home-- climbing this beastly hill on the way there....it's a killer!

On our bikes and carriage on the way to school

We love how the blossoms fall off the trees and line the streets, sidewalks, lawns and everywhere just like leaves in the Fall.  There are literally heaps and heaps of blossoms everywhere.  And of course once Oaklee gets her hands loaded I will be picking them out of her hair all day!  

I still don't know what this blossom is.  It's one of my faves.  It's so weird and interesting. They grow all over the trees here.  Gorgeous!

I wish I could capture the brightness of the Jacarandas.  They really do kind of take your breath away.

We have loved Spring in Brisbane!  The colors and the smells will be one of the things I will miss most when we leave.  I'm so sad to only have one Spring here!  Simply Beautiful!!!!