The Beginning of a New Adventure!

Where to begin. I want to document as much as we can so we're able to look back and remember everything. Ryan was offered a job opportunity here with some friends of ours in Australia. I guess it began before that... President Smibert fell ill with cancer back in the Spring. He wasn't doing well and thought he wouldn't make it more than a few months. Ryan and I discussed the possibility of his coming for a visit and decided it was important to go. He had an expired passport and visa and was wanting to leave in a matter of days. He found a company to rush the order of both and was in Australia within a weeks time. He had a wonderful visit. He was expecting to stay on his own and steal a few minutes of Presidents time IF he was feeling up to it and IF Ryan didn't get sick in the interim. He spent all of his time there with president and his family. They had him stay with them and spent a wonderful week together. Ryan was very close with he and his wife and this meant so much to him. He received a blessing before flying home. It has changed Ryan and, in someways, changed his view of life. The trip was more than worth it. When he came home I got to here all about the great experiences. They were special for sure. He told me, almost in passing, that he was able to catch up with an old mission companion. He told me what a good man he was and what a great time they had with president, together. A while later Ryan mentioned that they Richard had talked about Ryan coming to work with him in Australia. We smiled at the thought and moved on. A few months later Ryan came home and said that Rich had asked about the possibilities of him coming on board a new project he was looking into. Something about Ryan that many don't know is his LOVE of the business world. He has always wanted to start his own business. When he was ten, maybe twelve, he had his paper route (that he took extrememly seriously. Around Christmas one year he went and bought a bunch of candy canes to put inside the newspapers of all on his route. :) ) and since then has always had a job. He is constantly proposing great ideas that I haven't ever had interest in. :) So, when he came home and said, "Jess, we need to talk", I figured it was another proposal. My response to this was, "if it means leaving CES then, no." He watched for my response so I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and smiled. He took that as the go ahead and went off about an idea I could tell he was excited about. At the beginning of this new proposal, it seemed like the others. We had very powerful experiences leading us to CES and knew that was where Heavenly Father wanted us when we began, so the thought of leaving was scary to me. He shared the proposal and we just kind of left it at that for a day or two. I didn't have any feelings either way regarding the job offer and then I remembered an experience he had had a few weeks prior that seemed to be related to this. Without the experience he had shared three weeks prior to the job offer, I don't think we would be here. I think heavenly father knew I needed a big push to get us here and he gave it to us. So we began really discussing the possibilities and what this would mean in all the different aspects of life; our house rentals, the boys and school, leaving the bishopric early, CES, book writing for Deseret Book... it seemed that there would be a seriously disruptive uprooting in order for us to do this. But, things started falling into place. Everything that needed working out, was worked out. We were packed up and Ryan left three weeks after the initial discussing. It all happened very quickly. Things that fell into place were renters back home, getting a house in Australia, help from the U of U (as he is in the middle of his PhD and having to finish it overseas). There have been many people that have helped and things went very smoothly. There were ten applications on the home we wanted (and that is how it is EVERYWHERE on the sunshine coast) and we thought there was no way we get into a house here. Everyone that was looking to rent were older couples with no children and we have four little boys. We had been in the country 1 week when he was trying to apply for housing. The agent didn't like us, so ryan went over him and talked directly with the owner... and for those that know Ryan we know he is good at schmoozing and getting his way. :) We ended up getting the house, thanks to a friend that wrote and awesome letter of recommendation. It has been a whirlwind of a move, but we are here and getting settled. I want to attempt to document our journey. SO... here we go.