Birthday Celebrations & Finding a Caravan

Birthday Celebrations tonight. I think having a birthday cake made my Husband's day. It really didn't feel like his Birthday - He had to go back to work and it was the kids first day today. But we celebrated in style tonight.
Tonight they are enjoying playing a game of this.
We purchased Steve's Birthday present on our last day of our holidays, we managed to buy our Caravan. So many expensives this Christmas, we decided that rather than spent extra money on presents this year, our birthdays, Mother's and Father's Day presents etc would all revolve around preparing us for our holiday. All being well we head off to Brissie tomorrow to bring it home.This is to be our home for a few months when we hit the road later this year on our big adventure. Getting excited now - buying the caravan makes it a reality. Mind you it is working out to be quite an expensive exercise. One of the other girls I work with has also just bought a caravan and they are planning on taking off on a big trip this year too so we have had fun comparing notes and ideas.

I also picked up another bargain whilst I was on holidays. I have been looking for a new bedspread for a little while now. Whilst shopping with Sarah we found this one on display at "Snooze". They had a 20% sale on so I decided to buy it. Sarah thought we should get it a little cheaper since it was displayed on a bed. I really didn't think there was much chance of that happening, but she decided to ask. Imagine my surprise when they decided to give us a 40% discount. I literally bounced out of the shop with a huge smile on my face. I also learnt a valuable lesson - it never hurts to ask.
I also managed to pick up these gorgeous cushions to compliment my new doona. Just love it.

We have had a lovely week since arriving home. We have had house guests since we arrived home and are enjoying having them with us. Our good friends the Vanderduys are home from PNG on furlough for six months. The have four of the most wonderful children. You can tell we are very biased. They are our adopted Grandchildren. They plan to move into their own home in the next week - we will miss them but plan on spending plenty of time with them and having the kids over for sleepovers.How could you not loved these gorgeous pair. Saturday evening we packed a picnic tea (sausauge sizzle) and headed to this amazing park for the kids to have a play. THEY LOVED IT. then we had dinner there before heading to Macca's for ice-creams before comin home. Places like Macca's are a bit of a novelty for these guys. You just find take away shops in the highlands of PNG.
Whilst we were home enjoying the company of these guys, Chloe went on a road trip with her friend Fiona. Chloe got the Monday off work, so the girls headed out to Emerald for a long weekend. They stayed with my good friend Karen and her family and they spoilt the girls rotten. They fitted so much into their four days - it was amazing. Here are the photos to prove it.
Mud fights in the River.
A Picnic and photoshoot at Fairburn Dam.
Breathtaking scenery at the Dam.
Looking for gems at the Gem Fields.A bit of sking and wakeboarding on the dam. Action packed four days is all I can say.

I have been busy making some tags for the Scrap of Faith, hope tins. Hope to have them posted this week Gail. I will leave the photos for another day though.

Once again I have so many things to be thankful for this week.

1. Answered Prayer.
2. Provision of a Caravan at a really good price.
3. Increase in wages this year - help cover costs
4. Working with great teachers who are not afraid to show their appreciation.
5. Shopping trips and bargains.
6. The Rockhampton Grammar School
7. Promptings of the Holy Spirit
8. Being loved by our adopted Grandchildren.
9 Sales
10. Cuppas and quality time with friends.

Well it is late and I can hardly keep my eyes open- got to hit the sack as we have a late night ahead of us tomorrow night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY AMAZING HUSBAND

TO my Amazing Husband. I hope that you have a wonderful day today. Looking forward to our little get away this weekend. So blessed to have you in my life.Love this photo of you - the one thing that drew me to you 35 years ago were your wonderful sparkly eyes. They still give me goose bumps. They show the happiness that comes deep from your soul. Love you more every day.

Be Warned a Huge Photo Share

It has been a crazy crazy week. Most of our week has been taken up looking for one of these
We are hoping to go on a little adventure later this year for about 4 months, and since there is a lot more choice in Brissie of finding a van, our days have been pretty busy searching the internet looking for one and then going out to check them out.
However we have managed to catch up with a few friends during the night and on Saturday our really good friends Dan and Jenni from Rocky ended up coming on a road trip with us to Kingaroy (their old stompin' ground) to check out what we thought sounded like the perfect van. Unfortunately, it was a little overpriced for all the extra work we would need to put into the van to make it suitable for us to live in for 4 months. Still it was an enjoyable day out in the country.
We have also managed to catch up with our adopted missio family from PNG who are home on furlough at the moment. They will be heading up to Rocky to stay with us for a week of two next week, and before moving into the house they will spend the next 3-4 months in. It was so exciting to catch up with them. WE love their kids and think of them as our adopted grandkids. It was so exciting to get some cuddles and hear all their stories. We met up with them at mutual friends, and whilst we were sitting at the table chatting, Joel made this.
Thought it was ever so cute.
Of course I had to take a photo of him with it too.
Emma was only a baby when they went back to PNG last time, so were not sure whether she would remember us too much.- but we got cuddles and lots of chatting from her as well. Wondering if it had something to do with the fact that her older sister was telling her how that at Uncle Steve's and Aunty Karen's we get lollipops, and iceblocks when it is hot, and they have Fruit Loops for us too. (Got to be able to spoil grandkids sometimes, especially when we only get to see these guys every 3 years or so)

Sarah has a friend who is studying to be a Personal Trainer, so late Friday afternoon but Steve and Sarah had a boxing session with him.
Steve got a compliment once he had finished in that the PT commented that he hoped he was as fit as Steve when he was his age. Mind you Steve is still feeling the after affects of that workout today.
Sarah got right into it too. She is also having trouble sitting down. Obviously they have both used muscles that they don't normally use. Both enjoyed the work out heaps though and it was nice doing it in the cool of the evening in the front yard.

Whilst we were touring the countryside yesterday, Sarah got creative and did these paintings for her newly done up bedroom. The photo is not good but they look AWESOME in real life and I am so proud of her. She really has got their home looking lovely.
This morning we had our last sleepin for the holidays, Steve is at a work conference for the next couple of days, we need to leave early on Wednesday to head home, and then it is back to work. We slept in until 9am this morning, and then went to PERK's at Garden City for the BEST Banana Pancake Brunch ever. Sarah and Colin introduced us to them when we visited in early December.
Pete was heading off to the BDO with a new hair cut today. Bit of a drastic shock for us. Then really I don't know why we should ever be shocked by Pete. He dropped in to give me his elephant costume to mend. He attended a fancy dress Birthday Party last night and his tail fell off.
Finally a Photo Collage from 2009. Some of the highlights of our year, month by month.

JANUARY 2009

FEBRUARY 2009
MARCH 2009
APRIL 2009
MAY 2009
JUNE 2009
JULY 2009
AUGUST 2009
SEPTEMBER 2009
OCTOBER 2009
NOVEMBER 2009
DECEMBER 2009
And finally just to dust off the end of 2009, a few of my favourite single layouts from the year.
And now for a quieter couple of days, to shop and do some girlie things whilst Steve is at his conference before we head home.

Full on couple of days.

Since arriving in Brisbane, and in the midst of our caravan hunting, we have managed to fit in a night rock climbing.
Just for the record - Steve wants it to be known that even though he was the oldie, he still managed to climb the most difficult and highest walls. None of the others could equal him.

This afternoon we joined Sarah and her friend and spent the afternoon in Oxford Street at Bulimba. We went and saw "Sherlock Holmes" at the cinema there and then wandered around looking at all the little shops. We found this gorgeous little apron which Sarah scored in one of the book stores. We both fell in love with it. Loved the material - just perfect for hosting those little girlie afternoon tea parties.
I just really fell in love with the fabric with all the little tea cups and tea pots. It reminded me of a couple of tea sets that I have at home.

This evening, Pete invited us out for dinner, so we joined him at "The Beach House" at Mt. Gravatt before going off to watch the kids play Beach Volleyball. They played an awesome game and won of course. Steve and Sarah used to play in a tea together during her last couple of years at school and her first year at Uni. Great to see Pete and Sarah doing something together down here too.
Sorry that the quality of the photos isn't that good - Have just been using my hand bag point and shoot camera, but these are the memories from our holidays this year.

We have another busy day lined up tomorrow. We are off to see a couple of caravans in the morning, catching up with the Vanderduys (our friends from PNG) in the afternoon and then tomorrow night, Steve and I have tickets to see a movie at the Gold Class Cinema. We're looking forward to that one.

It is getting late and I still have a book to finish reading, so I'm off to bed to have a read.