After catering bits of bread to the ducks and black swans with flashing red bills around the condo we readied ourselves for church.
Nothing of much signifance happened at church in Ballarat on Sunday. There was one testimony in Relief Society which did strike a cord with me however. The woman had married an inactive or non member and it had been a number of years but they were slowly working towards being sealed in the temple. It was a good reminder that I myself have been promised all the desires of my heart if I keep working on getting myself where I need to be spiritually. The more time I spend with family here the more desire is growing for my own family to be sealed to me forever. It was a nice reminder in the middle of such an intense first week.
After my parents had caught up with a few people from church we drove over to my Uncle Richard and Auntie Cheryle's house to celebrate Sam's (Jess and Michael's boy) birthday party and have a jabber with everyone (includindg my Uncle Tom who I didn't realize would be there!) before heading off to Melbourne (the next leg of our trip). We arrived and learned that morning my Auntie Cheryle had asked Sam and James what their favorite part of yesterday was-they'd both said "Violet". Those three have been having a blast together and I couldn't wish for anything more for Violet. They have been taking such amazing care of her and enjoying some good fun running around with trucks, kicking up heels with the labs Rommie and Pepper, and nibbling on chicken flavored Twisties (equivilant to cheetos). She will miss those little guys badly when we get home- so will I.
Sam had an ice cream Octobot cake (I have no idea what that is but they were all very into it). We ate delicious roasted chicken, feta and sweet potato salad, slaw, bread and butter, then afterwards enjoyed different sponge cakes, hedgehogs (a kind of slice with chocolate and nuts) and pavlova. Over lunch I touched base with my Uncle Tom who I went to Thailand with a few years ago on a Humanitarian Aid program. We chatted about the most recent trip he went on over there which was staff only. I learned the sight managers (Jim, Peripong, Ek-a-chai, and Tai-wah) were all still there managing various well projects. My Uncle Tom is hilariously entertaining and over dessert we all told stories about different ridiculous things which have happened to us while traveling. It sounds like my Uncle Tom and I are kindred spirits in that we both seem to get lost everywhere we go. He also tells a great story about going to Japan with my cousin Matt and feeling like a Turkish bride.
We headed out around 4 o'clock past sweeping strawberry fields to see some people up in Melton (a couple who grew up with my mum and dad) before going on to the city. Violet had a fun time (again) playing with some kids there and we had a delicious Turkish dinner. Honey date chicken, chickpea salad, arugula with pomegranate and radish. It was world-class yummy I tell ya'.
We are now in an apartment next to a boisterous train station in Melbourne. Sitting here typing it's fun to listen to all the trains whistling while going by and then straining to see if any of them have woken Violet up. So far so good. I've been doing my best to find little spaces of time throughout the day for just me and her. It's normally in the morning and those are the moments where I feel most at home. Snuggled up in bed with her going through pictures of daddy, singing songs, and rubbing her tummy (she's like a cat!). The other night I lay down in bed and felt somthing squishy and wet pressing against my back. It turned out being a mushy loose grape from her morning breakfast of fresh fruit. It's little things like this which make me miss Cristian and being home.
Octobot cake with James, Billy, Jess and Michael
Giving the ducks their dinner
Red billed black swans
Checking out our apartment in Melbourne next to South Yarra Station
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