Once again I have let way too much time pass since updating the blog. I have so many photos on my phone and quite honestly take dozens of photos each day. If you follow me on instagram {julie schill finch} you have probably seen a few bit of these photos. It's my photo journal & a fun way to look back on memories. So as I scrolled though hundreds of pics I decided to pics a bunch of my favs from the past few months.
Each year I usually do a back to school feast & and end of school year feast.
It's dress is totally up to you...so this year Lucy decided to come in jammies, winter ones I might add, on a scorcher of a day. Jack is a pretty casual guy and prefers undies.All are welcome at the table.
The older two are pretty excited...Lucy is still deciding whether or not she is excited, sad, half & half....
During the holidays before Christmas we hit Wet N Wild, a new water park here in Sydney. We had a blast with the 4 million other people who were there. We went on some fun rides, screamed our faces off and enjoyed the complimentary wedgie that comes with some of the slides.
The wave pool was a favorite. They have a beach that leads into the pool. It's my idea of a beach...I can see what is under me, there are no sharks and I know my kids are not going to be swept off to China by a current. Okay, I know I am a bit dramatic, but it could happen. :)
Jack was tired and wanted the royal treatment. I wrapped him up and got him all cozy and then he informed me that he needed sunglasses & a hat because his head and eyes were hot. Umm kay sweetheart.
The kid lazy river was also a bit hit for the little ones.
Listening to Jack's excitement on this ride was pretty priceless. Everything was "so awesome"!!
The man in the
yellow red hat was there to help us out of the pool. Not sure where Curious George was hanging out?!?
After Wet N Wild we rushed home, fed the missionaries a fancy Domino's pizza dinner, showered and headed over to the temple to see our friends Cid & Lewin sealed in the temple. It was beautiful. Loved it!
This is Sam's hangout while the kids are in the pool or playing in the backyard. He squeals and yells. It's adorable.
And munches on his corn...
Rex caught a blue tongue lizard at the church while we were there cleaning. I think he died & went to heaven. He was soooo excited! It really truly has a blue tongue. Crazy! We had to let the lizard go because he was getting a bit cranky.
Our home teachers from church are so great! They hosted a fun Christmas party at their house and put on a fun program.
cutest lil wise man
This little chubber bum was found rearranging the bathroom in the nude. Thanks for your help, Sam!
Merry Christmas from us! We wish we could send cards to everyone but know that we still love you! :)
Sam is an awesome helper during Sunday school at church! He enjoys his own personal, giant walker. Good on ya, mate!
Lucy Jean Jelly Bean with her class visiting our Bishop. I'm pretty sure they left his office with a lollie & most likely the reason for the visit!
We are still working on opening a shave ice shop here. A few locations have fallen through so we have been doing some taste testing at home. It's delicious & refreshing.
The lights at the temple are always a fun way to get ready for Christmas. It's fun to see so many friends and enjoy the warm summer night together while enjoying the beautiful lights.
{no matter where we are, Lu always has a cartwheel to share}
Lucy with her friend Reid {not her boyfriend...she always lets me know that they are just friends..wink wink}
My friend Tara used to live in our ward but decided to move far away to Melbourne but was up with her cute family for Christmas. We always have a great time and laugh lots when we are together. She is really great!
Shave Ice and swimming with friends. Thanks Prep's for inviting us over to enjoy your amazingly warm & fun pool.
Jared always takes the kids to work with him during the holidays. Usually one at a time but this time he took both the girls so I got to spend some good time with my boys.
Jack is becoming such a good helper. The choking, poking and sitting on Sam days are slowly fading and he is loving his big brother roll and asking to help. He sis a fab job feeding Sam for me.
This happened a lot............
Christmas Eve is usually spent at the beach but this year it was rainy and soggy out so we kept it low key at home. After a fun, memorable day together the kids went to bed. I caught Lu sleeping in Rex's room peeking out the window in hopes of spotting a certain someone.
They were generous and left a carrot a piece for the reindeer.
Jared scored this awesome get up at a white elephant party with friends. We laughed so hard, for obvious reasons. He had some awesome poses.
I call this look,"big eyes".
The kids were a bit weirded out when Jared woke them up looking like Santa with a dodgy beard. Classic!
Sam's first Christmas!
Santa returned that afternoon looking a lot like Jack.
My friend Amanda has magic in her fingers. She can make the most amazing, mouth watering, delicious cookies on the planet. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating. Well on finding out that I am Celiac, one of the first things that came to mind was..."oh man, I can't eat Amanda's cookies anymore. Depression set in. These cookies are called, "Christmas in your mouth." There are no words. For reals! Well they dropped off a gift and a box of these cookies for Christmas and I had mentally & emotionally prepared myself upon looking at them that I could not be able to partake. Lo & behold I was informed that she made them GLUTEN FREE for me. Tears...lots of them. I am not kidding. They are that good and my whole world became better with the news that I could eat them...& no joke, I probably ate 20 within 24 hours & I didn't feel bad at all.
I made a pavlova cake for Christmas day....feeling the Aussie love.
On Boxing Day, which is the day after Christmas, we went as a family to see the movie Frozen. Loved it and now want a pet snowman.
Not sure why everyone looks like a deer in the headlights...
Glasses buddies....
Jack is into posing on the floor these days...looks real comfortable.
After the movie we thought it would be an awesome idea to work off some of the popcorn we stuffed our faces with and go on a family bike ride. It was fun except for the fact that it was 3pm and blazing hot outside.
I had some free shake vouchers so I took the kids to a little cafe for some chippies and shakes. All was fine and dandy until Jack stood on his chair to shake his booty and fell and everyone in the cafe glared at me and wondered why I had so many kids. Maybe they weren't thinking that but it sure felt like it. Oh well, I love my cute, accident prone children.
Me and the Mr. celebrated 12 years of married bliss. We were able to go out the night before with friends but our actual anniversary fell on a Sunday so the kids decked the table out, prepared food and even wrote a little tender speech.
New Year's Eve was fun. We Schill styled it up with way more food then we could eat,played games, had a burping contest and stayed up until midnight. I don't know why I can't let anyone go to sleep.
The hour count bag bags. I did balloons last year but it was pretty tricky shoving the candy in them so I opted for an easier way.
Fun game
No New Year's Eve is complete without some Wii action.
Jack trying to convince me that it had been an hour, 5 minutes after we had opened a bag.
Stretchy pants
Too many mozzies outside so we did sparklers inside at midnight.
This little bug turned 10 months.
Our friends Baron & Jason went to the US for a few weeks and let us stay at their place in the city for a few nights. It was the perfect little vacation. The pool was amazing and we spent a lot of time in it.
This kid loves his selfies.......
There is a fire station around the corner and the firemen always let the kids sit in the truck every time we are in the area.
The view of the pool from B & J's balcony. The little black dots are my children swimming.
Jared & I sat on the balcony and ate a treat and talked for hours after the kids had gone to bed. It was so nice and peaceful & seriously...the view. We feel so lucky to be able to live in such an amazing place right now. We love you Sydney!
She wants to be a cougarette one day.
Yep, that's me. Cannon ball time. Yep, my kids laughed their faces off....yep, I still have to plug my nose just before I hit the water & then I doggy paddle my way to the edge. So embarrassing!
We went to Clovelly beach later during the day. Jack is having a fun little meltdown.
Jared & Lucy relaxing after going a fun snorkeling adventure.
The next day we went to see Circus Oz. It was a lot of fun.
There were lots of "catching flies" moments. The kids really enjoyed it. Thanks Prep's!
On that same day we celebrated our 5 year mark in Australia! We can hardly believe how fast the time has gone by. It's been a great 5 years! We are grateful we took the leap of faith & moved here. It will be a hard place to leave.
my little reader
This handsome young fella graduated from nursery & is now a Sunbeam. He likes to say "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam to shine for him each day" quite often during our family prayers.
Sam is growing up too quickly and has decided to take up standing on his own as a hobby these days.
Summer night bike rides have been fun.
Lucy likes to tell me that she has in fact not gotten into my mascara...hmmm
We had a slipping while swimming incident where Rex's head and the concrete met and he cracked his head open. His extremely tender hearted little brother was there by his side the whole time while he got his head stitched up. It was honestly the most heart melting sight. He stood there stroking his arm and telling him he was going to be okay. At one point he stood there showing Rex pictures of lizards on my phone to distract him from the pain.
I keep telling Rex that he is a stitches survivor. He is in the stitches club. I am actually surprised he made it to age 9.
Jack with his favorite mate Daniel who is known as Daniel Bench ba kuhn
Rex & Lucy made a temple
I told Rex I would take him to the park to go lizard hunting. While he was hunting the others rode their bikes and scooters.
Sam ate some leaves.
About 20 minutes later Lucy fell while zooming down a hill, going to fast to stop. Luckily she still has her front teeth.
One of their favorite spots.
And Sam's other fav spot...
Hey boys, stop being so ridiculously cute! Okay, more pics to come. Goodnight!