August Vacation

James Lachlan Rashed Curtis

We welcomed our new son on July 12.  Both mother and child are healthy and strong.  We named him James Lachlan Rashed Curtis.

Arriving in Riyadh

I left the family behind in Arizona after we found a house in which we can have the family live while we wait to move to Riyadh. I then got on the plane to Riyadh leaving on Tuesday evening 17 May.








I took the British Airways flight from PHX to London Heathrow. On the flight to London, I sat next to a kind Swiss couple. They own a home in Paradise Valley. They were able to buy the home in Arizona because of the depressed real estate market and the continued devaluation of the US Dollar versus gold and the Swiss Franc. One of the things that I like about the travel that I get to do is how I travel. I must confess to having become a "Business Class" snob. The lounges are very convenient and there are plenty of opportunities for conversation with interesting people of varying backgrounds.

These Boys Like to Fly!

Our boys got to sit in the cockpit after our flight from LAX to PHX landed.



Pretty cool, eh?!

Watch Out for What?

We've enjoyed the different types of road signs in Australia and now New Zealand.  In New Zealand when there is something that requires the drivers attention, it's presented as a large exclamation point with some text underneath.  WASHOUT!!!!! is our favorite though we've also seen others.

I guess we should watch out for this wash out of the road.

This has led to a silly road game where the family tries to be the first to see sign and then yell -- yes yell -- the accompanying text.  More than once I've been startled while driving when this happens but end up laughing anyway.  Sometimes, there is only an exclamation point with no text.  In this case, someone will yell "Auuggghhh!"

I've tagged this as funny but I guess you'd have to be there.

Turn Left Off Mountain

Oh the joys of modern technology!  Computers and electronics are often so good and productive.  On the other hand, a computer is only as good as the algorithms it runs and the data it has available.  Take for example the wonder of GPS-aided navigation or SatNav.  We rented this lovely unit from Avis to aid us in our journey.  It's been a big help but it's still not perfect.  We directed our SatNav to guide us to our destination for the day at Skyline Rotorua.  Skyline Rotorua is a place on the side of a hill with heaps of fun things to do.  The SatNav wants us to turn left.

Should we turn left?

Given what we saw when we look left, I'm guessing that it wasn't the right call to blindly obey the SatNav's voice instructions.  It turns out that Skyline Rotorua was actually about 50 meters to the left of where we are when we stopped the car.  Of course it's 50 meters to the left and 250 meters off the cliff.  This is what happens when the algorithm doesn't take elevation into account and assumes that a distance of 50 meters must just be a driveway.

Te Puia Geyser & Maori Culture

Our evening activities in Rotorua, New Zealand on Wednesday 27 April 2011.

A very chilly Jennifer standing near the Te Puia geyser as it erupts.

For our Wednesday evening we'd arranged a booking at the Te Puia Cultural Experience.  I must admit that I'd expected that this would be a "Put a checkmark in the 'Saw Maori Culture' box" type of activity.  However, my expectations were exceeded by a far margin.

The Playground or a Helicopter?

A continuation of New Zealand events on Wednesday 27 April

I'm continually surprised about the insights that my children teach me.  When we arrived in Rotorua our hotel room wasn't quite ready.  We decided to get lost and drive around a bit.  We found a nice shopping district down by the Lake Rotorua.  On the lake's shore, we found a brilliant park and playground.  After so much driving in the car the day previous, our kids were more than happy to get out and play on the playground.

So, the next day we had some free time and considered taking a rather expensive helicopter tour.  The consensus from the kids was "Why would we spend an 40 minutes on a helicopter when we could just go back to that cool playground?"  Well, with that input, we'll just have to wait for another time before trying a helicopter tour.

New Zealand -- Day 2

Day 2 had so many different things that I'll break it into several different posts.

On our second full day in New Zealand, we went from Whangamata to Rotorua.  Rotorua is a popular location for those interested in geothermal activity in the region.  More importantly, it's the homeland of one of our good friends, Pete.


View Larger Map

Loving New Zealand -- Day 1

We're on our third night in New Zealand and I found a decent internet connection so I decided to post to the blog about our first 24 hours in New Zealand.

We'd heard about New Zealand ice cream so we had to try it out.  Orange chocolate-chip was a big hit.

After some tough and tearful goodbyes in Australia.  We got on the plane and came over to New Zealand.  Guess what?  It rains in New Zealand in late April -- heaps of rain.  However, we've found some spots that aren't so rainy.  Our kids are experienced travelers and quite comfortable with the idea of packing up and exploring.  I guess they are good at it because they've had so much practice in their short lives.

Ready to go?

We are going to leave Australia in about 10 hours.  We can't believe that it's already here.  Jennifer and I have put the kids to bed and are reviewing our suitcases.  We've had a great time as tourists here in the downtown area.  Yesterday, we went to the South Bank Parklands area and did the tourist thing.  We rode around on the Wheel of Brisbane -- a Ferris Wheel gondola thing.  Then we went to the Max Brenner Chocolate Restaurant before a nap.  We walked everywhere.  Jennifer did great even as we walked about 5 miles.

After the nap, we went to the Rugby match at Suncorp Stadium.  It was the Queensland Reds against the New South Wales Waratahs.  We enjoyed the game -- especially since it was a Reds win.  They've now won seven in a row -- or 'seven on the trot' as they say here in Australia.  I'll have to post more about sports some other time.

Today, we went to church on Easter Sunday.  It was likely our last time to attend Chermside Ward as residents of the area.  It hit us pretty hard as we said 'Farewell' to more good friends.  At the service, Inga Wrigley spoke did a great job of addressing the benefit of Christ's atonement.  Bishop Black then talked about how to involve that atonement as "Christ turning bad men into good men and making good men better."

Roy and Debi Woodward are also in town.  They are an expat family that were in Chermside Ward when we arrived.  It was the first time we'd seen them since they left in mid-2009.  They were a big help to us in trying to adapt to the local area and culture.  They joined us for dinner today and we enjoyed catching up with them.

Anyway, it's time for us to get some sleep.  We've got a flight in the morning.

Packed Up?

It's Monday morning and the packing company showed up earlier than expected.  We were pretty much ready for them.  We've spent our last night in our home in Australia.  We move into a furnished apartment this afternoon.  The moving company will come again tomorrow to load the shipment into two different containers.  One of the shipments (1100kg) for air freight to Arizona and the rest of the stuff (e.g. furniture, etc.) via a surface shipment across the Pacific Ocean and on to Arizona.

We got our flights confirmed last week.  We've been fortunate enough to arrange a stopover for a week of leave in New Zealand.  We are excited to tour around a bit there and see some friends.  We are going to be limited to only the North Island but it should be a good week of fun.

We leave Australia next Monday on ANZAC day and arrive in AZ on the following Monday 2 May.  Jennifer has been doing really, really well.  I'm a very lucky man.

A 'Free-Range' Son Goes to Get Some Eggs

So ... we've been working to give more and more independence and accountability to our oldest son Zachary.  He's done really well with this increasing freedom.  On Thursday (14 April 2011), he decided that he wanted to make some cookies.  He's pretty good at that too.  On this day, he wanted to make some snickerdoodles but we were out of eggs.

He asked Jen for permission to go get some eggs so he could finish the cookies.  It's under a kilometer to the closest market so Jen gave him some money and let him go.

Anyway, 30 minutes passed and he hadn't returned.  Next, it was an hour so Jen started to get concerned.  She loaded up the other kids in the car to go find him.  As she pulled out of the neighborhood, he walked into the neighborhood.

When Jen asked what had taken him so long.  He explained that when he got to the Oriel Park IGA market that he couldn't find any eggs.  Rather than ask for help at the IGA market, he decided to go further to the Coles supermarket on Racecourse Road.  While all is well and we don't regret his independence, we've strongly suggested that he ask for help in the future.

Here is a map of the route that he took with 2km each way.


View Larger Map

The Beginning of Goodbyes

Or, at least farewells and 'see you later's.  It's Tuesday morning on 12 April.  This means we likely have less than two weeks left in Australia.  We said 'so long' to the Brouwer family the other night as they are going to be out of the country for the next two weeks.

We are *still* waiting to hear from the moving company about scheduling the packing and shipment of our household goods.  "Household Goods": Does anyone really use that expression?  We just think of it as our home, our stuff, our things, our earthly possessions, etc.  Once we hear from the movers --  any minute now -- we can push the buttons to book our airfare back to the US.

We plan on stopping for a week of leave in New Zealand's North Island.  We'd be sad if we spent 2.5 years in this part of the world and didn't get there other than the airport.  Our boys are excited about this -- and the time they will have in the US.  At FHE last night during Family Business, we talked about all of the logistics.  I then asked the kids whether they were excited or sad about the move.  I was glad to hear that the answer was 'both'.

Jennifer was asked to speak in Church for this coming Sunday; Zachary too for a 5-minute talk.  He's 11 but mature beyond his years in matters of gospel knowledge.  He's been quite the missionary here and been good a helping to teach some of the lessons we've had for investigators in our home.  He spoke at Dallin's baptism last June and then at the McKenzie boys baptism in February.  Jennifer is a bit nervous but she'll do great.

"And All Things Shall Be in Commotion"

Over the last few months, this passage of LDS scripture has weighed heavily on my mind:

And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people.  -- D&C 88:91

As I look at the world around me with wars, famine, destruction, indebtedness, petty jealousy, and calamities everywhere, there is certainly commotion.  I've thought a great deal about commotion and the way people react to it since the September 11th events.  As I travel the world for fun and for work, I've noticed an increase in the failure of the hearts of men.  The fear and resignation that I see in the faces of many people (particularly in the US) indicates that "hearts" have failed.

Back to AZ

What our home looked like packed up to go into storage.

So, we are moving again.  When we found out that we were going to leave Australia, we knew that the time was coming soon.  Now we know that we will be leaving Brisbane before the end of April.  The family will go to Arizona to live while we wait for Baby #5 and to get our visas for Saudi Arabia.

Anyone in Gilbert near the Mercy Gilbert Hospital know of any houses for rent?

First Visit to Riyadh

So, I've been traveling westward around the world for the last three weeks.  I left Brisbane to go to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  I had stops in Singapore (love that place) and Dubai.  My time in Riyadh confirmed even more to me that we've made the right decision.  I won't share everything on this blog about my visit but here are some photos.

This is a closer look at Kingdom Tower from the freeway.

Self-Censorship

So, I'm guilty of a bit of self-censorship recently.  I've been writing drafts of blog entries and then abandoning them to deliberate on whether to publish them.  Of course, then I nit-pick over whether I'm saying too much or being too open.  I hereby resolve to do a better job.  You'll see some posts from me in the next few days that have been drafts for quite some time.

Lost Toof

First Lost Tooth

Dallin lost his first tooth tonight.  It's been a long time coming for him as he's turning 9 this year.  For several months, he would occasionally imagine himself having lost a tooth.  We would check and then he would be disappointed.

Tonight, we celebrated his lost tooth with some ice cream.  Rebekah heard that we might go get some ice cream.  She said, "Let's go to IKEA!"  Great to know that our kids associate the furniture store with its snack bar ice cream.

How Does My Religion Make a Difference in My Life?

So, in the myriad of diverse information sources that I try to consume is the blog and twitter feed of an Economics Professor named Art Carden.  I found him from his work at the Mises Institute.  Anyway, I guess he has a Kindle reading thing.  What's more is that I guess it integrates with Twitter such that he can share passages of what he's reading with some comments.  On one of these occasions, he shared something that got me asking the above question.

"Dad, what's a penny?"

So, our kids' mathematics (maths for the non-Americans) courses in our home school have a unit that does story problems with money.  One of the questions for Dallin (8) went something like this:

Susie has 3 quarters, 2 dimes, 5 nickels, and 3 pennies.  How much money does Susie have?

Dallin's response was "Dad, what's a penny?"  He was just 6 years old when we moved to Australia and had barely started the 1st Grade.  So, he wasn't too familiar with the US money denominations.  Here in Australia, the smallest coin is a 5-cent coin.  All cash transactions are rounded to the nearest (higher or lower) 5-cent interval.  Don't get him started on a quarter!

Roll Away Your Stone

I've really been enjoying the band Mumford & Sons.  The musicianship is solid and the lyrics maintain depth and paint pictures of character.

The song that's sticking with me the most is called Roll Away Your Stone.  There is an obvious religious reference in the song title and the conversational tone of the lyric encourages the theme.

You told me that I would find a home,
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal,
And all the while my character it steals.

 Later ...

It seems as if all my bridges have been burned,
You say that’s exactly how this grace thing works
It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart,
But the welcome I receive at the restart.

Enjoy the song for what it's worth.

'First Day of School' Pictures

Queensland schools went back to school this week after Summer Holidays.  We've always done pictures when the kids go back to school.  This year, it's a bit different.

Our classroom -- It doubles as a dining table but that's okay, right?

They were excited to begin school again -- especially Rebekah.

We are glad to be back in a rhythm after all of the family traveling and floods.

Our School Rules

School Rules at The Curtis School for Curtis Children

These are our school rules.  They are simple and few.  Simplicity makes it easy for everyone to understand.  Few means that the children take ownership of the rules as they helped to create them.  There is only one negative -- or "don't" -- rule.  It's the rule about yelling.  We could have just left that in the 'Respect People' rule but felt like it was important enough to pull out as a separate rule.  Note that the rules apply to the parents as well as the children.  :)

These rules make a great difference in the family dynamic and spirit.  Since we decided to home school, our kids' self-esteem and confidence have flourished.  The 'honor your father and mother' aspect of life has been better too.  After all, the kids knew how to respect teachers at school.

By beginning and ending each task with a prayer, we reinforce the principle that it is by the Holy Spirit that we learn most effectively.  We are glad that our children love to learn and that their enthusiasm for learning is so effusive again.

Jiminy Cricket!!

The ball comes of the flat willow bat from a defensive swing.

So, this is our 3rd Summer in Australia and we haven't been to a cricket game (match?) -- until Monday night. 

The New Job, The Next Move, & The Winds of Change

So, we've been silent on this subject in our journals, facebook, etc but it's time to record my thoughts on the subject while it's still fresh.  If I wait too long, I'll either forget or 'self-edit' even more than I already do in these posts.  As some of you know, we moved to Australia in November 2008.  The secondment (expat assignment) was expected to last around 2 years.

As we got close to the 2-year mark, I posted on facebook:

AJ Curtis "is feeling the winds of change again in my life. I don't know what that will bring but I'm sure it will be good. (29 September 2010)."

The Fortnightly Fort

About a week ago, Zachary came and said, "Dad, I've got an idea.  It's been a while since we've built a fort.  How about we schedule fort building in our rooms to happen every two weeks.  That way we can have a fortnightly fort.  (grinning) Get it?"

Dallin standing at the epicenter of the fort.

The New Baby Doctor

I know that one is supposed to call these types of physicians 'obstetricians' but the term gets obfuscated in my head so I just remember them as 'baby doctor'.  We've had the same practice of baby doctors for each of Jennifer's pregnancies.  In each case, the doctor was very kind and straight forward with us.  Now living in Australia, it's a whole new thing to which Jennifer -- and to a lesser extent me -- must get comfortable.

We met the new baby doctor for the first time on Wednesday.  It was supposed to be the previous Wednesday but with all of the flooding in the area, nobody was driving anywhere.  He was actually very nice and complimented Jennifer on her condition and how she's taking care of herself.  I love hearing other people compliment Jen.  It's one thing to come from me but a whole separate issue to have it come from someone else.

It looks like we'll take our new baby out of the window on about 12 July.  That sounds like a cool day for a birthday.  Of course, with everything else going on in our lives, it will be 'fun' for all of us to see how we travel toward that goal.

Wake Up

One of our family's favorite songs is Arcade Fire's "Wake Up".  One can argue all day about the meaning of the lyrics -- which to me is the sign of a great song.  Mix in a simple rhythm and a powerful refrain and it's a modern anthem.

Here is a clip of the band ( all 26 of them? ) performing the song live in Spain.

Rebekah likes to dance to the song.  The other kids are able to sing along which is kind of funny.  Anyway, the song lifts my spirits and brings me a smile.

Silly Dinner Faces & FHE

We had a great dinner tonight.  The kids were very helpful in getting the dinner done as Jennifer was indisposed.  We teamed together to get it done.  Autumn peeled the carrots with Rebekah's help.  Zachary took care of peeling and preparing the garlic.  Dallin cut the zucchini, mushrooms, and carrots.  I cut up some chicken breast while the girls peeled the shallots and two different types of onions.  The onions were very strong and it made the girls cry.  We steamed some rice and then started in with the wok.  It turned out pretty well.

While eating dinner, the kids got a case of the giggles and decided to have a funny face contest.  The results had us all laughing -- though the photos

Oh the Fashion of It All!

Can you believe that we let this kid dress herself and then go out of the house?  "I do it MYSELF!" is a convincing statement even if the results are a bit questionable.

What do you think of these socks?!?!

Ultrasound

So ... we had our first ultrasound appointment today.  We aren't far enough along to learn the gender of the child.  However, it was great to hear a heartbeat and to see the little gymnast doing the gyration dance in the womb.  A key takeaway is that the baby appears healthy.  Oh, that and there is only one child in the womb.

Floodwatch

The rain over the last month has been amazingly steady and consistent.  Yesterday, there was some horrific flooding in Toowoomba.  It can only be described as an 'inland tsunami'.

Farewell to the Benders

Our first Sunday in Australia, we met another family attending Chermside Ward for the first time -- Paul and Bety Bender with their son Antonio.    Paul became our family's home teacher and I became their home teacher.  Later, Jennifer became Bety's visiting teacher.  Antonio is only a few weeks apart from our Rebekah in age.  They became very good friends.

This week the Benders moved to Melbourne where they will be closer to Paul's family.  We will miss them greatly.  None more so than Rebekah will miss Antonio.  They are fast friends at church.

During the last Sunday of December, the Benders were asked to speak in Church.  They have young baby Christian as well.  So when Bety was speaking, Antonio wanted to come up on the stand with his mother.  Antonio became a bit upset.  Rebekah was sitting next to me and said, "Why is Antonio crying?" After Antonio went into the hallway area, Rebekah decided to go get him so that he could sit with her.  She declared, "Antonio come sit be ME." to me and I got up to go with her.  When we found Antonio, she grabbed his hand and they came back to our pew and shared some of our 'reverent' books.  When it came time to go to junior Sunday School classes, she walked hand in hand with Antonio on to their class as happy as can be.

We already miss the Benders but wish them well in their new assignment.