home time!

all good things must come to an end, and this afternoon we said goodbye to utah and started our long journey home. lisa dropped us off at the salt lake city airport, where boarded a flight to lax. flights around us were being delayed... but we boarded with no issues, until we got to sit in the plane on the runway for the next half an hour before it could take off due to air traffic issues in la. sigh. thankfully we had a long wait between flights, so it wasn't going to affect us.

i know from being told by others that lax is one heck of a large airport, so i made sure that i had worked out where our gate was for our la to sydney flight... but the most wonderful thing happened... as madeline and i made our way from the plane we had been on, to the main areas of the airport, a lady (who had been seated a few rows behind us on the plane and we had spoken to briefly as we waited to disembark) touched my arm and asked me if madeline and i would like to join her in the american airlines lounge as her guests until we needed to board our next flight. of course i didn't need any encouragement, i mean seriously, that is so kind!! so we followed her along and were made incredibly comfortable for the next four hours until boarding.

there are some wonderfully kind people in this world. we were able to have (free!) dinner, use the free wifi, charge my phone, play games on the tablets that are provided for people to check their flight times, watch tv in the kids room and have a shower not long before boarding a long haul! what a blessing. i was so thrilled. we wandered out to our gate not long before boarding nice and refreshed and felt great. thank you mystery woman!

we have had the most wonderful time and i am so sad to be leaving, but am excited to see my boys and to get home. how grateful i am for the opportunity we have had to be here, to see our friends, see new things and to be with people we love.

bye america! here's hoping we will be back sooner than later! ♥

niques is outtie...

my beautiful sister in law has taken off back to brisbane to put her mission papers in and embark on her next adventure... and i don't know how to feel about it. she joined us a week before madeline's first birthday to look after her while i returned to work... now two years have come and gone and she's outta here.

she's been a pleasure to have, she adores the babies (and she and madeline are of course besties after spending so much time together...) and was always willing to help with whatever i needed. i know i'll miss her so much, especially late at night when we used to watch movies, pinterest and gas bag until the wee hours of the morning, but it's time and i know there are other things she needs to do.

i had a few errands to run today, so took both the kids with me, so she could finish up packing and getting all the rest of her things together, but came home to a completely vacuumed house, a cleaned bathroom (including the toilets - we all know that's the worst job ever...) and mirrors, with dinner cooking on the stove and her busily washing the dishes. what a legend. i have no idea how i am going to live without her.

i am going to miss you like crazy, you minga. but i love you and i'll see you soon.

peace out and god bless. x