We've arrived!

That last post was actually posted on Sunday at 5:34pm. We finally made it on Friday (Thursday for you) at about 6:00am into Sydney airport. The flight wasn't too bad. Nathan and Jared slept 8 hours of the 13.5 hour flight, and the sticker books, toys, and snacks kept them pretty busy the rest of the time. Jared was fussy the 1st hour until we got him to fall asleep. He actually got his own seat, which was great because he was able to lie down on the seat. We had 4 seats in a row in the middle section, so we put Nathan on the aisle, with "momma" and her "sleeve" next to Nathan (Nathan likes to rub my arm under my sleeve) and Jared in between me and Alex. It was a nice set-up.

We had reserved bus tickets for 2:30 on Friday, but were able to take an 8:30am bus instead, so we didn't have to wait around. The bus ride was terrible. Jared was incredibly fussy. He did finally sleep 1 hour of the 3 hour ride.

When we arrived at the bus station in Canberra, we had to wait 3.5 hours for a rental car to be ready, since we got in at 11:30am instead of 5:00pm. Long wait, but we finally made it to the house we're staying at.

Our hostess is Gabrielle (mother of 8 and grandmother of 5) and she is really nice. The house has 5 bedrooms, of which we're using 2 of them. Additional things that are really nice are: a big backyard, a piano, computer with dial-up, a bike, and a bathtub (we washed Nathan in the sink last time we were here). The house is very kid-friendly. There's some toys already here that the boys like to play with.

Yesterday (Saturday) we drove around the city a little bit, but it rained most of the day, so we couldn't get out much. We stocked up on groceries and things to start out and mostly tried to get unpacked and settled in.

We went to church this morning, to the Belconnen Ward. Everyone was very friendly and willing to help out if needed. Despite having those willing to help, Alex drove the rental car back to the airport and then rode about 10 miles on a bike (too small and slightly flat rear tire). It was nice having a car for the weekend; now we get to take the bus and walk.

It's been nice so far. Canberra is a pretty place and we're just happy to have a place completely furnished. We get to sleep on a real bed and not an air mattress...