The Hulls

After a teary farewell with the Garrett family we moved onto the Hull family from Downtown Utah!!!  Back home in Onkaparinga Ward Cynthia Hull from Victor Harbor who had recently been baptised kept insisting that we contact her family and stay with them!  She became very forceful one week that I thought I better do it.  I feel apprehensive about asking people if 8 people can stay with them for awhile....but most people are soooooo excited to do it especially when they find out we are Australians.

So through a couple of emails with Cynthia's cousin Dan Hull we arranged to stay with them from April 14th for a couple of nights.  It was just very special to meet these lovely people - Dan and Linda Hull!  They have 6 grown children and live very close to the city in a beautiful older home loaded with lots of history which was great to hear about!  Although it was very cold out we took lots of walks and the children had a great time playing outside and creating games with different toys for awhile....its such a joy to watch them create games and ideas at different times but of course the best game to play in their home was hide and seek!  They had soooooo many hiding spots and nooks and crannies and that's even without using the basement.  One time I was hiding for over 10 minutes before I got bored and laughed and Matty heard me!  I thoroughly enjoyed learning from Dan and Linda.  It is a great experience for our children to meet loads of different people.

Fun Outside Play at the Hull's

 

Dan and Linda Hull

 

Whilst we were there we took day trip into the city to explore all the church buildings and especially the museums.  There was a great kid hunt at the Daughters of Zion museum where they had to find heaps of things so that was a lot of fun and we also enjoyed the Church history building.  Its hard to get everything in because the children did get a little bored at times...actually lets face it ...I got a little bored sometimes as well.  I knew that I was in such an amazing place but at some places when the presenters repeated information it was a little hard to stay awake! - It was surreal visiting Brigham Young 'this is the place' monument.  Very special to read about how people felt being there.

We also had a chance to visit the Bishop Central Warehouse where the church has employed many people to distribute food and other essentials to people all over the world. There are also many volunteers such as missionaries there to help continue the work.  One of the volunteers was Jonny Ellis's mission president!  Small world.  It was amazing to go through this building and see how well it works and learn more about where our tithing goes. I was so impressed when were able to ask questions Matthew asked our guide if all the help goes to anyone or just members....and of course the answer was to people all over the world, members and non members....it was great to know Matthew was thinking about things like that!

Inside the huge Bishop Storehouse

Surprise - Its Elder Norton

On Friday 13th April we joined up with some family to watch Elisha Garrett star in a local production of Saturdays Warrior.  I remember watching the movie as a child so it was really interesting to go and see it live. It was a really really fun night and Elisha was great. Some of the other preformers not as good but of course it was only an amatuer production so for what it was it was fabulous.

On Saturday 14th April Michael and Jason went snow skiing all day which they loved except it was a little blowy.  The rest of the children and I went indoor swimming with the Garrett Family which seemed a little crazy as it was snowing outside.  We had loads of fun though.  Every half hour though the life guards blew the whistle to get us out of the pool to put more chemicals in.  I am not sure if that was a good thing or not!

With Jayden Garrett at Indoor Pool

Anyway that night I had arranged with Shane Farr an elder from our ward back home to meet up again with him and his family.  We knew we would meet his wife Erin and their 1 year old daughter Alice  (I dont think she is named after Alice Springs but it would be a nice coincidence) and also meet Shane's parents and some siblings.  Jason and I can remember mentioning to each other a couple of times when he was serving in our ward that he and his companion Elder Norton were really great missionaries.  They seemed to be really hard workers, very happy to serve others and helped our children feel the joy of the gospel which is always a bonus.  Our children loved it when they would come over for dinner and they also introduced us to scripture baseball which this day we muck up the rules but we still have fun!

Unfortunately we were running a little late which of course puts me in a little tizz (as I really dislike running late) Anyways I cant control everything hey??? So things were a little rushed and then we all excitedly went to the door and were greeted by Elder Farr and as I saw most of the children hugging him I could hear they were a little excited about something else which I thought may have been because of Alice, but further down the hallway I could see another taller figure ....it was Elder Norton!!! Yeah what an absolutely lovely surprise for us.  Thanks Andrew for coming up that way to see us.  Turns out the Farr family sort of just adopted Andrew whilst he had been at BYU (as he is from Arizona) SO he had just become part of the family!!!

It was such a lovely night catching up with these guys and meeting their beautiful family.  Alice was adorable and very friendly which my girls loved! My children enjoyed karaoke and checking out some of the guns they had in the basement and Daniel went absolutely croppo over Shane's mums homemade yeast rolls as he ate 6 and took one for the road.  (Very friendly accomodating people!!!) We found out Andrew was definitely part of the family as a few of them were teasing him about any prospects for marriage and I think he was considering two options at the time but I can now offically say as of November writing this post he is engaged and getting married in January....Good for him.

And of course we finished off the night with a game of scripture baseball which I think everyone totally striked out BUT of course had lots of fun!!!

 

Joanna and Alice
 

 

 

 

 

Mum hits Park City!

Before we left on our trip to America lots of people talked about how much shopping we could do over there!  How cheap everything was and how great the outlet places were!  And Park City Utah did not disappoint.  I am not sure if Jason planned it this way but we ended up only having the afternoon there...where if possible I would have spent the whole day there! 

In the back of my mind I knew we actually didnt have much luggage space for our return trip and we were here for memorable experiences not 'stuff' BUT having time to shop at great places is memorable isnt it???  I knew I was going to buy everyone a pair of Nike's but was amazed at how cheap they were and with the exchange rate at the time it all seemed surreal to be looking at the prices.  It got a little crazy with all of us trying on shoes and wanting everyones opinion but it was so much fun!  Some of us even got two pairs as it was such good value.  Best pair...Michael's $13...cant beat that!!!

Our Nike purchases (mum went back and got three more pairs the day before we left)

Daniel entertaining himself at the Nike outlet store!

 

I was really glad there was a playground (even if it was a little frosty) as the kids could play and relax whilst Raechel and I had lots of fun shopping!  I didnt go too crazy because it was only week 3 into our trip but I do regret leaving a handbag from the Coach Outlet store, as I didnt find another that I liked on the whole trip but hey that's life. I wasnt going to do the same thing in New York!

That night we had a great time catching up with Deb and Matt Pope and their beautiful family!  Matt and Jason and even Deb to a degree grew up with Jason in Adelaide and I got to know them really well in YSA.  Amazing to see how far along everyone has come (and we all still feel 21) and Debbie was pregnant at the time with number 7...amazing! My sister Sarah is actually married to Debbie's brother Andrew which actually means we are related by marriage!  And because of this match we are related to everyone in Adelaide and Tasmania or seems like it anyway.  I can remember being on YW camp growing up in Tasmania and feeling a little jealous over the big families in the church and wanting to be part of it or related to them in some way...and now I am woohoo!  (Very far removed but I am still counting it!)  It was so lovely to reminisce and catch up about old times and life in general.

The Ellis's learn to Ski ...snow ski that is!!!

Wednesday 11th April 2013 we all drove up to Alta Ski resort where we were eager to have the children try snow skiing!  I had dreams of tobogganing with children on the slopes of Utah but unfortunately not all of the resorts offer the hire of the toboggans or do they allow free tobogganing rides and as Alta was the cheapest places to 'have a go at skiing'....I knew that dream was not going to happen (this trip anyway).

Jason was so glad that we were able to have the loan of Robert and Cheryl Laumer's 8 seater car.  It was pretty steep and slippery driving up to the resort!  We were so blessed to have a different vehicle than the huge RV....I doubt we would have even got up there actually.  This was the absolute best day of the week that we could have possibly chosen.  Officially the snow season was to end on Saturday 14th so we were lucky enough to go up that day.  The sun was shining and it was so glorious.  We found the beginner area and went into the hire place to gear up for our day of adventure.  It never ceases to amaze me all the polite stares of amazement we receive from others who may actually be a little shocked that we have 6 children and we are still sane and they are actually pretty well behaved.  The people helping us with the equipment in one word were just 'cool'.  Very trendy young men who made a fuss of all the children and made them feel cool and special as well and after talking with them a little about our trip and our day ahead the children were so pumped to get out there and have a go at skiing. 

 

I had no idea how well everyone would go...we all tenderly went down the first hill to get to the small beginner slopes.  Michael, Jordyn, Matthew and Joanna just went for it and went so far ahead of us so Jason had to go off with them whilst Daniel and Raechel and I took it a little slower...I think I went 20 metres and fell straight onto my backside!  Not a good start. It wasnt long before Daniel was getting really frustrated but unfortunately I couldnt really help him as I wasnt really getting the hang of it either so we sat down together in the snow watching everyone else skiing their little hearts out.  I couldnt believe how brave they were.  Michael, Jordyn and Matthew seemed to get the hang of it really well and even after some really nasty falls just kept getting up and trying again!  Jason spent most of the time going back and forwards between all the children - he was amazing! He came back and got Daniel for some skiing which was so cute to see...Daniel loved it.

Unfortunately my equipment wasnt the best (I am going to blame the equipment anyway) ...and the boots were killing me especially on my left foot which gives me alot of grief - so I gave up pretty early and played with Joanna and Raechel making a small snowman which was loads of fun but of course freezing!  Closer to the end of the day Raechel took the little ones to the car whilst I filmed some action on the slopes....Matthew amazed me so much.   He often shys away from sport but loves outdoor adventure and this was suiting him soooo much!  Jason and Michael decided to brave some of the regular slopes so off they went up on the ski lifts for adventure.  They got a couple of rides in before it was time to go BUT enjoyed it so much Michael was determined to come again which they arranged for the Saturday!  (Mark and Jared Knight joined them as well as Rolf Lawrenz and some of his children so they had a fabulous day!)

                                        

Miracles do happen!

Week 2 in Utah of course started in the snow which is hard to beat but we sure loved staying with Mark and Andrea Knight for a couple of nights as well.  When we came back from Logan we found out that unfortunately the winds the night before were so strong that it blew down some of their fence and also some of the trampoline.  Some of the neighbours also had some of their roofs missing!  So I would much prefer to wake up to snow than the damage of the wind.  Anyway so most of our play on Tuesday 10th April was inside!  Andrea and Mark have three children Jarrod, Esther and Pheobe who had school but came home to have some time with the 'Aussies'.  Esther and Raechel and Michael got along really well and went to mutual that night which they were excited about!

Joanna and Pheobe got along soooooooo well!  It was lovely to see.  Pheobe introduced Joanna to all their animals.  They have a cockatoo and a bunny rabbit and of course Joanna's least favourite animal a DOG.  So Jordyn was elated to play with this gorgeous terrior type dog named Matilda (named after famous Australian folksong -Waltzing Matlida).  As we were staying in Matildas home we try really hard to encourage Joanna and myself for that matter to not be scared and be respectful of the animals as we are the guests.  For all of Sunday night when we had the Aussie reunion poor Andrea or the children had to put Matilda outside.  However on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday Joanna was trying really hard to walk with Matilda and also pat and play with her.  I was really proud of her.  Matilda was such an easy going dog and very soft natured that she would rarely jump or play and she walked so slow it was adorable.  Joanna surprised herself I think and really began to love this dog and kept saying she wasn't scared anymore! Amazing considering a month prior to this she jumped up into my arms on the beach when we saw a pup.

As we travelled around and around she was happy to ask if people had a dog in their home and if so she was like goodie!  (usually she wont even go inside some peoples homes)  In St George when we stayed with one family they even had a fierce looking bull dog (who was actually very tame but still scary to me)  that Joanna patted.  All along our holiday she was saying she was totally not scared - I was amazed but I knew the test would be when we came home to Adelaide to visit her best friend Emily and play with their dog Ned.  Joanna said she would be fine...so when the time came to go around to visit we were all a little anxious as he is not small....But to my amazement Joanna did so well.  He came up a little excited and we thought she was being cautious and she talked and patted him ... it was a miracle.  I am so proud of her that I have to try to overcome this fear myself. It has been easy with Ned but other dogs still scare me especially dogs without owners....but that's another story, this is all about Joanna!

Joanna and Ned - July 2013
 

The Ellis's touch SNOW

On Monday the 8th April we took an hour trip up to Logan Utah to visit with Boyd and Joan Humphreys.  These wonderful octogenarians served one of their three missions in Melbourne Australia and spent about 10 months in Launceston when I was about 15.  I can remember that my parents and the Humphreys became really great friends. When Jason and I were newly weds we were fortunate to take a trip to America where we saw the Humphreys again.  They made us sleep over using their pyjamas.  Jason had to wear a 'onsie'  (this was in 1997 when they weren't popular)... a very unforgettable night.  Anyway 17 years later it was so great to catch up with them again and visit with them and have our children meet such a lovely couple. 

After a very warm snug nights sleep we were so amazed and astonished to arise and see snow every where!!! Apparently snow wasn't forecast all! It was a dream come true for our cherubs.  The excitement and chatter they made as they talked about the snow and telling each other to come and check out this window or that window....then we saw quite a lot of deer run through their front garden.  It was amazing!  So after sooooo much begging and pleading I finally agreed for everyone to go outside at 9am!  (they had been asking since 7am)  I will never ever forget that precious freezing 15 minutes we spent outside together playing and running around in the snow!  It was glorious to see the children having so much pleasure.

 

Reunions

During Conference weekend some missions from all over the world get together and have mission reunions.  Officially anyone can attend as it is just like a fireside but most likely it is people who have served in the mission or maybe people living in the area who happen to be in Salt Lake for general Conference.  On Friday the 4th April we attended the New Zealand Missions reunion.  Jason served in the Wellington/Christchurch Mission but they combine the reunions with Auckland Mission as well.  I was surprised and happy to hear that starting this week (July 2013) there will also be a third mission in NZ - the Hamilton New Zealand Mission and the new mission president and his wife were in attendance.

Close to the beginning of the meeting new members of the 'New Zealand Mission' society were asked to stand and introduce themselves.  Jason was to chicken.  I thought he would have introduced himself especially from coming so far away.  A couple of others from Australia also stood and I obviously wasn't listening too well as Dawn Sayers from Hobart Tasmania stood and talked for awhile.  (Her daughter Amy and my brother Matthew used to be married and have three gorgeous boys)  - After the meeting I was really surprised to see Dawn, Keith and their son Joe. Joe and I had some great activities together in the youth program.  It was so lovely to see some friendly faces as Jason couldn't find anyone he knew! Dawn seemed to be related to everyone there :)

The actual meeting overall, was a little boring, maybe because I haven't served a mission in New Zealand.  However one of the speakers was the son of Matthew Cowley who was a missionary in the 1914-1918 and later as an apostle, who spent loads of time living in New Zealand loving and teaching people.  There are many recorded miracles that happened around his time over there.  So it was really humbling and spiritually uplifting to listen to this mans testimony and his experiences of love that flowed from his father for other people.

Then on Sunday after the morning conference session we were fortunate to meet up with Nathan Hepworth.  He served in Adelaide Australia Mission and had just returned home from our ward about 6 weeks from the day we saw him.  The children were really excited to meet him and Joanna spot him first amongst a huge crowd.  He looked well and happy to chat about a few members with Jason.  I think is was really great for the children to see him home from his mission and still a happy church attendee (even if he is still very newly home).

THEN on the Sunday night of Conference we were able to have an 'Aussie Reunion' of sorts at Mark and Andrea Knight's family and loads of other friends who were mainly from South Australia but there were some other Aussie links there as well.  It was such a great evening and I am really grateful for everyone who made it happen.  One of the best things were just listening to everybody's accents....well lack of American accents really.  Felt like we were at home.  Paula and Rolf Lawrenz moved over to America over 8 months ago so it was so nice catching up with them and their beautiful children. We also saw Michael and Tracey Kemp and 3 boys.  On this night they were preparing for a round trip back to Australia as there visa's were about to run out then a week later back to America where Michael has landed a job at BYU thankfully.  I hope they are happy and safe.  I was so happy to see Josh Smith and his lovely wife, Josie and their three gorgeous little children.  My girls had lots of fun helping, cuddling and playing with these cherubs.  We also caught up with Victoria - who Jason and I knew as Vicki Baker and her husband and two children.  Lovely family!!! She may not know it but she taught me how to say positive things about people even if it is difficult sometimes!!! Victoria also had some friends there from Queensland and during the night Greg Wilson and his cousin, Phil Baker also turned up which was loads of fun!!!