I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Hello Friends!

How is your Holiday season starting out? White? Snowy? Being a North Dakota gal, my ideal Christmas always involves some powdery snow on the ground. While living in Australia, I really miss the snow for Christmas! Lucky for me, my sister sent some North Dakota snow our way!

It comes in a powder form and you just add some water and fluff it! Brilliant! When I told Destiny we were going to make some North Dakota snow, she got wide-eyed and said, "In the house?!?!"

She was completely giddy to make snow in the house. She emptied the flaky white granules into the big bowl.

Addi added the water.

A little bit of stirring and...we have a white Christmas at our house!

A couple of final touches; a snowman and Santa and we are all set!

I hope that no matter where you are, you have a bit of "white" for your Christmas too! (Maybe that means white sandy beaches to you?!)

Enjoy today!

All Things Merry and Bright!

Hello Friends!

It may not look or feel like Christmas around here, but with all of the Christmas activities we have been attending it sure is that time of year! Do we miss the snow? Yes, of course! It just doesn't feel like Christmas without a mug of hot cocoa and a scarf wrapped tightly around my neck when I go outside. Here are some of the things that make it seem a bit more like Christmas time:

I decorated a gingerbread train at a Military Spouse's Christmas Afternoon Tea Party. We also had an ornament exchange!

We attended the Carols by Candlelight again this year. It was so much fun! We even met up with a few other families from the play group.

My candlelight.

The girls had "fake" candles that they danced with. They loved seeing Santa and Addi was so excited to see baby Jesus.

Toward the end of the night. It was so cold that we had to leave before Silent Night (my favorite carol).

Building with blocks at the last Science Time of the year at Questacon.

I hosted a cookie exchange and we watched a bit of Elf (that movie really does put me in the spirit!)

The goodies! It was so fun to have a cookie exchange with my friends. Such good cookies!

How are you preparing for Christmas?

What's your favorite Christmas Carol?

Whatever you are doing to prepare, I hope you are enjoying every second of it and taking time to appreciate your loved ones! What a special time of year!

Enjoy today!

It's just never quite long enough

Vacation...that is! It's never quite long enough. However, on this particular vacation to the Sapphire Coast we had a fantastic combination of relaxing and getting outdoors to do things.





Matt and the girls playing at the playground right next to our cabin.

The whole "resort" was decorated with old tractors and farming equipment. This happened to be a Ford tractor.

A short hike from our cabin was Pooh Corner. This is where Winnie the Pooh and all of his friends lived. Destiny was sorely disappointed that there was no Christopher Robin.

However, they were happy to see Kanga and Roo, Piglet, Tigger, Owl and more.

Walking on a bridge with Daddy over to lake at the resort.

Our only breakie away from the cabin. Destiny trying my glasses out for size.

The lake at the resort with the bridges in the background. It was so beautiful and surrounded with water dragons and other fun lizards.

The girls played their first round of mini golf!

Daddy teaching Addi how to swing the club.

But she would rather hug all of the cement creatures on the coarse. Here she is hugging a sleeping wombat!

A wallaby visited our cabin each evening around dinner time. Matt was able to get quite close to him, however, he never took food from Matt's hand. (That was Matt's goal) One night he brought three friends along with him too. It was spectacular!

We spent a couple of days at the beach. Enjoying the waves and sun shine!

We all tried out the climbing wall.

Addi's first time holding a caterpillar.

Our first canoe ride as a family.

Mr. Wallaby snacking on an apple right by our porch.

A short walk to a beautiful view. The Pinnacles.

A trip to the aquarium. This cheeky octopus opens a jar in order to get his food out! It was so fun to watch him wiggle around! We went to the aquarium at feeding time and had a tour guide the entire time. It was a wonderful time.

Addi looking at some fish.

After the tour, we went upstairs and dined in their cafe. From the windows overlooking the ocean we saw 2 dolphins playing with a snorkeler!

I don't think I've told you all about the standard Aussie burger. Well here it is folks: meet patty, bun, lettuce, egg, tomato, and beetroot. Very different from an American burger!

After a nice lunch, we headed off to Magic Mountain to take in some of the rides. Addi enjoyed driving this car with the nice green fellow in it.

Matt loved that there weren't as many safety measures placed on the rides here as there are in the US. This ride had no seat belts and you controlled how fast you go. He said the water slides he went on were borderline scary! They go underground for most of the ride!

When I was growing up, my grandparents had a swing like this in their yard. I was so excited to get pictures of the girls in this swing because it's a fond memory I have of Summer time in Tioga, ND.

Daddy's birthday cake that was baked in an oven that was the home to a spider who's body was as big as the palm of my hand. It was the biggest spider I have ever seen in the wild.

Heading home, we stopped off at the Bega Cheese Factory to take a peek at their heritage center.

The girls thought that it was so cool that cheese comes from cows.

They also enjoyed some rainbow ice cream, that tasted very "rainbowy"...in the words of a 4 year old :)

With just an hour left to Canberra, we stopped at a little place called the Christmas Barn that is filled with ALL things Christmas. It was a wonderful display that reminded me of home!

As you can see, we had a lovely trip and Matt had a great birthday!

Enjoy today!

Born to Dance!

Hey friends! I hope you enjoyed the videos as much as I do!

The first video clip is Destiny's first official performance at the Play House here in Canberra! The girls did such a great job. The second video is of her "solo" performance in front of the parents, teachers, and other dancers at dance class yesterday!

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow with pictures from our vacation!

Enjoy today!

Blogcation!

Hey Friends!

We are quickly packing our bags and heading out on a vacation. The blog is going on vacation too! I hear he is headed to the Sapphire Coast! There will be much pool time, sun, picnics, swiming in the ocean and such!

I hope you all have a great week! See ya when we get back!

Enjoy today (and the rest of the week)!

What an Advent-ful day!

Hi Friends!

Yesterday was an Advent-ful day...filled with Advent-ure! As the beginning of Advent; it also marked the first day of Summer here in Australia! What a fun time!

As a special gift to the girls, I made a really unique advent calendar. The girls are so excited about it. It looks like clothing hung on a line. Each sock, hat, mitten contains a special gift and a bit of the Christmas story.

We started with the little red sock last night.

The girls squealed with excitement as Matt grabbed the sock from the "clothes line".

Addi got to open the first gift! *ignore the eye roll! haha!

Little green lollies! (Don't tell the girlies that it's left over Halloween candy! shhhh! That's our little secret!)

I hope this Advent season finds you and your family making memories together :)

Enjoy today!