Wish us luck and say a little Prayer

Hey Every one!

This is what I will be looking at for the next 24 hours or so:

Jealous? I thought so! haha!

Please send up a little prayer as we embark on our long flight back to the states!

Destiny is SO excited to leave and Addi is just not sure what is going on. Dusty saw the suit cases and is in panic mode (lucky for her she gets to stay home and have some pretty cool people taking care of her).

I had Matt run to the bakery for one last treat before we take off...pull apart lemon passion fruit rolls and some sort of custard pie. Amazing!

I'm off...see you state-side!

Enjoy today!

I'm READY!

Hi Friends!

Sorry I've been missing from the blog world lately. I've been busy!

How are you? Things have been going okay here!

Here is something to think about:

A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen. ~Edward de Bono


This is a picture of the sunset a few days ago. So beautiful! This was taken ouside of my laundry room!

The other day, Destiny put on her rain boots and gloves and said, "I'm ready to go to North Dakota now!"...haha!

We are headed there in a couple of days for my Grandfather's funeral. I never thought we would be headed back to the states so soon! It is going to be great to see every body!

I have HEAPS to do today so I'm off for now, I'll be back at you in a few days from snowy and cold North Dakota!

Enjoy today!

The Cracker Jack King

Good morning blog friends,

Today is a bit of a sad day around here. Yesterday my Grandpa Harvey (my mom's dad) died of a heart attack. Recently he had a stroke and hip surgery. He continually said he was ready to leave this world, but I'm not so sure I was ready for him to leave.

I have decided to call my grandpa, the cracker jack king, because when I would visit him as a child, he would always have a box of cracker jacks for me. I loved that special treat from my grandpa.

This is the most recent picture of me and my grandpa in Billings, MT. Matt and I were traveling through in September. Grandpa was so surprised and excited to see us that day.

Just a month before that we stopped to visit Grandpa on our way from Washington to North Dakota. Destiny got in a few really great hugs with Great Grandpa Harvey.

Addi and Great Grandpa Harvey

This is the first time Grandpa met Destiny. This was in Glendive Montana.

I remember his unsteady hands, holding her and me thinking how happy I was that Destiny got to meet her Great Grandpa.

The three of us.

This picture was taken shorty before Matt and I got married. We popped in to visit him in Glendive around Christmas time.

There are so many things I love about my Grandpa, but it's too hard to share them right now.

I'll leave you with a quote:

"Your heart has brought great joy to many. Those hearts can NEVER forget you." -- Flavia Weeden

I love you, Grandpa, I miss you and I know you are in a better place.

My wish today is that I was closer to my family and friends...to give them hugs and cry with them.

Enjoy today!

Al Roker in a Grape Costume

Hey Hey! It's another beautiful Aussie day! {the day after Australia Day}

I bet that title had you interested in this post...too bad you'll have to wait a bit to find out what it is all about!

This week has been crazy and filled with events, but we are still doing a theme of the week. This week is dance and here is my pretty little ballerina!

She has learned about the ballerina costume, a few steps, and we wiggle around to her favorite song every day! Is she ready for lessons? You bet! The first day we talked about the costume that a dancer wears, she asked for toe shoes! Made me laugh out loud! Gotta love this littlie!


To celebrate Aussie day, we did SO many things. First off was a Wiggles concert on Australia Day Eve :)

The concert took place on the Parliament lawns (imagine a wiggles concert on the capital lawns in D.C....funny to picture). We arrived 2 hours early to find almost NO seating. We squeezed our little behinds in between some nice Aussie families!

There is Parliament.

As we were walking in, they gave us these cool blow up seat cushions that the girls enjoyed jumping on, rolling over, and sitting on while we waited in the hot hot sun!

The heat and crowd started really getting to Addi. Just as she started screaming her head off I found our saving grace...AN ICE CREAM VENDOR!!!

Ice cream man to the rescue!

Just as we finished the last bit of our ice cream, the Wiggles appeared on stage! Addi clapped along with nearly every song!

Destiny did the dance moves :)

We were seated so far away that we could not "really" see the stage so we mostly watched the concert on two large screens on either side of the stage. I told Matt, "It's like coming to a crowded place, spending two hours in the sun, to watch the wiggles on tv!"...haha! Complaining aside, I am really happy we went and got to experience the event.

And here he is, folks. The 5th wiggle! Al Roker...I was just as surprised as you! He helped the announcer say "happy Australia day" and then danced with the wiggles (in a grape costume) to the Fruit Salad song! In all my life, I would have never guessed I would see Al Roker in person, let alone in a grape suit in Australia! oy!

As we were returning to our car, 6 jets flew over head. They did amazing formations! They reminded me of the blue angels at SeaFair in Seattle. It was so fun to watch and I'm happy I captured it on film.

Watching to planes fly over the Old Parliament House.

The next day (actual Australia Day) We headed off to Commonwealth Park to participate in some fun FREE kids activities. It was a hot one so we only stayed long enough to see what was going on for entertainment, one jump in the bounce house, and 2 balloon animals. It was fun, but oh so HOT!

Destiny in the bounce house!

Addi and Daddy.




That evening, we headed out to Lake Burley Griffin to see the fire works! Addi cuddled up with mommy

Destiny held daddy tight.

And we enjoyed a whole bunch of this with a couple of our friends from the Embassy! It was a lovely Australia Day and I look forward to celebrating it again next year!

Aussie word of the day: "Good on ya" -- It means what you think it means. Al Roker said that right after he said "Happy Australia Day"...I think it's the only Aussie slang he knows...oy!

Try that one out on your friends today!

Another Aussie word o' the day: True Blue -- Patriotic

Enjoy today!

Happy Australia Day!!!

Hey Guys and Gals!

I suppose you are wondering how my play group went yesterday. It was a huge success; better than I could ever imagine it! I am so looking forward to getting to know some lovely American mommies in my area. There were 5 ladies that came over and 3 of them are pregnant...must be something in the water! **I've stopped drinking water...just kidding!!!

Happy Australia Day! For all the American readers I have...Australia Day is quite like Independence Day in the states. Matt has the day off from work. We celebrated a bit last night and today...I will share the pictures with you tomorrow. We are still in the middle of celebrating so there is no time to upload pictures right now :)

I do, however, have pictures from a recent trip to a park near us. Isn't it amazing to watch the girlies grow via blog?!?!

Addi climbs all over "big kid" jungle gyms at the parks! Her favorite thing to do is swinging!

This is Addi working on her "jump"...the feet don't leave the ground yet, but she squats down and comes up really fast and says the word "jump"!

Cockatoos -- These birds are ALL over here! They make the loudest squawks I have ever heard. By the sound of their squawks you would think they are about to attack you! However, they are rather peaceful birds from what I have found.

Miss Addi found some sheep to play on. Destiny was along for the trip to the park, but she was too busy to be photographed!

Our little garden is taking off. The cucumbers have done amazing, the carrots on the other hand...we don't claim to have a green thumb!

We are really enjoying the fruits...or veggies...of our labor!



I'm off to enjoy the rest of Australia Day with the family! It's a HOT one out there!

Enjoy today! and stay warm! hehe!

EXTRA EXTRA!

Hi Friends!

I have to let you in on a little secret, I'm actually typing this the night prior to posting it. I try to post my blog around the same time each day (I haven't been very good at that lately). I have exciting things happening tomorrow so I wanted to be EXTRA prepared. So here are the big plans.....are you ready for them...I am starting a play group for the U.S. Embassy here! Little old me is starting a play group! I have a great vision for this play group and I can't wait to see how it plays out (pun intended!)! I have invited some mums and bubs (or bubs in bellies) to join in on the fun. I stopped at the bakery today for some goodies and it's amazing that I didn't eat them yet! We will have a wonderful morning tea while the kiddos play! So.Much.Fun! Destiny is going to be so excited to have other kids in the house. Tonight we had the "share your toys" talk! haha!

I pulled some fun pictures off my camera that are kind of fun. Last Friday night we got to attend a Canberra Capitals Woman's basketball match! (that's right...it's a match not a game!) We got comp tickets from a program that they do here to welcome people to Canberra.



We got there super early so we waited outside in the sunshine (with a killer bird waiting to attack the babes...I'm kidding...not really!)


The girls look so summery {in January!!}

Destiny picked up a cigarette and threw it away when we told her it was yucky! -I'm proud of my good action shot on that one!-

Destiny holding a little downy fluffy feather. (maybe from the attacker bird...probably not!)

The kids and Matt ready to attend the game.

The game was held at the Australian Institute of Sport. We toured there a few weeks ago so it was fun to visit again!

Before the match, the coach talked to us a bit about Canberra and about the ladies who play ball. First off, she has lived and coached in Seattle {I felt bonded to her as soon as she said that}. Secondly, she told us that the women who play basketball are about my age and 2 of them are mothers, that made me appreciate the match even more!

Gooooooooo Caps!!!!!

Destiny's experience with watching basketball games has always involved Grandpa Gus, Grandma Sue, Auntie Bekki and Popcorn. She was sad that none of them could be there and when we got to the concession stand she was sad that there was no popcorn. However, they do offer sausage rolls and meat pies! We were happy campers!

Addi loved the game, she just sat on Matt's lap and watched the WHOLE game! What a gal! Maybe she'll grow up to be my basketball star!

I'm going to share with you a new Aussie word o' the day, maybe some of you know it, but when Matt mentioned it to me I had NO idea what he was talking about. The word is: Net Ball.





Sorry for the lengthy video but it is informational and helps you understand what Net ball is.

When I first moved here, we kept driving by what I thought were basketball courts in which they "took off the back boards" so people wouldn't play on them....boy was I wrong. It's a net ball association.

Now ya know something new...maybe you already knew it, but it's still interesting :)

Enjoy today!

No more Separation

Hello Friends!

How is football Sunday going? I see on facebook that some are you are excited for your teams!!! Today is Monday and we are hard at it! We have TONS to do this week! Lucky for me I have 2 little helpers to make things fun!




There are a few things from my life that I don't post in my blog. One thing that I didn't want to post much about is the religious part of my life. I felt like it may offend some, or turn others away from looking at my blog. I have grown accustomed to the separation of church and state in the U.S. and now that I am living here in Oz, I don't feel like there needs to be a separation to such extremes. Now, don't get me wrong, this blog isn't about religion, but I want to share with you some of the fun things that are happening in our lives that revolve around our relationship with God.



We found a church that fits ALL of our needs and wants! We have tried a few other churches here and it was SO fun to find one that works for us! The people are great, the food is wonderful, and we have enjoyed every second of attending the church. Yesterday, Destiny left the church screaming because she didn't want to go home...she wanted to stay and play with her friends! It's funny to hear a child scream, "I want to stay at church!!"




In the afternoon, we packed a picnic and headed off to the Botanical Gardens to enjoy some munching a music.


The girlies danced to the music

We brought salads and other yummy eats

Addi munched the cucumbers from our garden!

Addi tried crawling in the front seat of the stroller with Destiny....unfortunately both of their bummies don't fit in there :)

It's ALMOST Australia Day (a national holiday quite like July 4th in the states) so there were Aussie flags all over!
A sticker Destiny got for donating to the "friends of the gardens"

The entertainment was super family friendly and they sang oldies (blues and jazz) They sang songs like Route 66 and Bewitched! Kinda fun!


It was a lovely Sunday and we really enjoyed it! There's nothing like being together and enjoying a great day as a family!

Here's a quote to think about:

"No day ends if it makes a memory" -- Jackie Erikson

Now go out there and make some memories :)

Enjoy today!