Our first down under update with a slideshow!

Well, we're here and we've begun settling in. We just got Internet access at home yesterday, so here's our first blog update from down under!

It's hard to describe the welcome we've received. Suffice it to say that Aussies (or at least these West Epping Aussies) have a real gift for hospitality. We were met by a group at the airport with pink and purple balloons (Erin and Claire's favourite colours) and a big banner sign reading: "The West Epping Uniting Church welcomes the Dacey Family!" They've made a tremendous effort to get everything ready for us, from setting up our furniture to fully stocking our pantry. They do an amazing job at surrounding us with welcome without smothering us.

Claire started last week at her “Kindy” and on Tuesday Erin starts year 1 at the local primary school (wait ‘til you see her in her uniform--very cute).

We had our first Sunday at West Epping last week and we look forward to this Sunday's Commencement of Ministry service which marks the beginning of Rick's call here. We'll have heaps more news and photos to share as this adventure unfolds. But for now we have a few shots of our first week. Click the picture of Claire (below) to see our first online photo album. Once there, you can click "slideshow" in the upper left hand corner to see them displayed in a slideshow. For those of you who are not familiar with the format, you can pause the slideshow, slow it down, speed it up, or advance the frames manually using the buttons at the bottom of the picture. Hope you enjoy it.

First Days in Oz

A Prayer for Packing

An Australian friend offered this prayer for us as we pack up, and I wanted to share it:

I pray that this will feel more like readiness than emptiness, more like joy than sorrow, more like adventure than catastrophe, more like divine calling than madness, more like wisdom than despair and more like going home than leaving.

The Final Packout

So, here we are. It's the second week of January. The big farewells have been made, seemingly constant tears have been shed, and now we turn to the final task of emptying the house and moving on. So we thought we'd share a few images of our Monday- the girls watching TV, posing in the trailer, and getting the car ready for the trip to Oma and Opa's on Wednesday.

We would be remiss if we didn't share with you all our final goodbye today with McAllister, our beloved dog ever since Rick was in seminary. His 14 year-old self couldn't bear a 6-month Australian quarantine. He is going to a wonderful home with good friends, but we will miss him terribly. He has always been the most gentle and loyal friend to all of us. In his earlier years, runs with Anne, walks with Rick, squirrel chasing and endless romping. In his later years, bedtime snuggles, constant companionship and absolute tolerance of the constant tumbling of a one year-old. We love you Mac!