Home coming Two weeks

The countdown is on. Two weeks to go . Thats 14 sleeps. It is so exciting for us back home. To think two years have gone in the blink of an eye. We are all going to want to see them as much as possible. For them it will be very overwhelming I am sure. To be faced with life again in the real world will be amazing. All I know is we can't wait and I am sure I am speaking for Evas parents and brother also. Roll on those two weeks for us...how selfish is that.

photos

Ryan at the Book Week parade... impressed the principal she took his photo. It was a dare carried out with aplomb

Our new playground

Papas lovely pair of broccoli

Rachel and her "echidna" icecream cake

our new status symbol.. thanks guys for all your help with cementing and your strength


Ella is 6

Lucy is already one...how did that happen

Thanks guys for our Christmas present .We had a fantastic weekend in the hills

A trip to the circus...how lucky are we to be able to take the kids to the circus.

Christmas in July at the Yacht Club ...Sue [Evas mum] looks like she had too much mulled wine. She didn't. It was great to spend time with Chris as well

The whole family went to the Rec Centre for the Roller skating.

Home coming

Eva and Adam are coming home in 3 weeks. Yahoo! Yahoo! Yahoo! Poor old Rufus, he is need of a good brushing. Only Eva can do that, and it has been 2 years. They finally will get to meet their youngest niece Lucy who will be 15 months old then. Nicole can finally celebrate her 30th. She is about to turn 32 along with Adam who is also 30 now. So much has happened in the two years since they left to travel and work overseas. Because of blogger we have all managed to stay in touch and they have been able to see first hand their family changing and growing. The children have also seen many photos of them as well so they remember what they look like. Eva's parents will be hanging out to see them as will Chris her brother. Adam's sisters are so excited that they will get to see their brother and their sister in law again. It will be so weird for us to have them back in the fold. It will be even weirder for them to come home to this country after so long away. To come home to a normal life..I wonder if they will be off again soon. I know we would be if we had the chance. Either way if they are here for the long or the short term we welcome them back with so much joy. Can't wait for those hugs. They will miss Scotland and The George and they will be missed there as well I am sure, as they have worked and lived in the same place for nearly 2 years. But it is our turn. Come on those 3 weeks.

Our perfect grandchildren

Nick and I have just had the best evening out. We were invited to a school play..you might think ho hum.. it was fantastic. The Gawler East Primary are blessed to have a wonderful and talented Arts and Drama teacher. Somehow he pulled together a performance of some 240 kids for a very memorable play called A MidWinters dream. The music was haunting , the costumes extraordinary and the dance disciplines were so inspiring. These children were between 7 and I think 11 and 12. It was very emotional to see the the kids having a ball. Talk about teamwork . Bethany was a harlequin and was in one of the dance scenes. We were seated on the other side to where Bethany was performing so we couldn't see her personally. It was beautiful to watch and very colourful. Ryan was a principal drummer..yes drummer. Until the auditions he had never played before but was selected. he was seriously brilliant. Now I know we might be biased but I had many people come up to me at work today and after tonights event raving about his performance. They had three performances all up. It was fantastic to see his dedication. He really is a great and natural musician. He plays piano as well.Well done kids. It is late now . I will post some photos and video later.

Sophie is 3

Sophie is three going on 10. A very clever little person.She is very confident in some ways such as her language skills and her place in her family as the youngest of four. She is very frightened of animals particulary our dog Rufus ....who is very aged he is waiting for Adam and Eva to come home before he goes to dog heaven... and Nicoles' cat Harry. The other day she said she only likes Lump... their cat that died a couple of years ago. She is so cute as all the grandkids are. She had a prolonged birthday which was great for her. It is fantastic going out for dinner with everyone as we did for her birthday. The chidren are so well behaved. The older ones helping with the younger ones. They all adore Lucy...nearly one and about to walk .

My baby

Well, the time has come. Nick and I no longer have any children in their twenties. On 19 th. May Adam is going to turn thirty. How did that happen? I remember so clearly his birth. I remember only the good bits.. The best good bit is the day he met Eva. Even though you are off on your travels, I hope our love is coming through to you loud and clear. Have a 'wee' dram on us on your birthday. We will celebrate when you return. Nicole still hasn't turned 30 yet. She is still waiting for you to come home. Happy Birthday to you. xxxx from Mum and Dad. See you soon.

Jekyll and Hyde

I found this gem from Bethany [7] written for Hannah[5] her sister. I don't think she gave it to her. Sometimes you shake your head in amazement at what comes out of kids heads not long after world war three was happening with the very same person. Love the blessing!Bethany is going through a very interesting time with me . She is testing me out constantly. Seeing how far she can push the boundaries. Very interesting times to say the least. It makes me think how it must be for grandparents taking on the parenting role full time. Maybe I need to go back to parenting school. Somehow I don't think much has changed since her Mum was her age. Never a dull moment. Love them all to bits. P.S. In case you can't read it . dear Hannah you are a good sister I bless you a fantastic life when you grow up. if you have any children I hope they are as helpful as you are. Love Bibby

Had to share this with you.

please don't dribble on me

Not sure what pearls of wisdom Ryan is passing on to Lucy

Today I had a flat out day with grandkids and catering. I picked up Ryan, Bethany, Ella and Hannah from school and commenced to fly through the catering I had to deliver to Riverton. I was running an hour behind most of the day. I managed to cut up a pile of fruit for the kids and took it outside to the girls to see what they were up to. They had been coming in to ask some very odd questions . One of those questions was "What can we pick up a dead bird with?" and "We need some cardboard"They had been digging a hole with a garden trowel after they found a dead galah in the garden. They came in asking where they could find some flowers. I was intrigued but didn't have time to go see. Rachel came home to pick up the kids and went to see what was up in the back yard. She beckoned me to come and look. This is what we found. The bird was buried in a very shallow grave. The cardboard was used for the headstone . The flowers surrounded the grave and a "lemon"?Ella was walking around pretending to cry. It was so funny. The weird things kids do to amuse themselves. But you know that it is great to have them here and making their own fun. i love them dearly. Meanwhile Ryan kept asking if we had any Harry potter movies or games. He has read the entire series in literally days. It was a priceless day. Charlotte is recovering nicely from her tonsilectomy and her adenoids removal. Lucy is very happy to be looked after by us now which is great. We treasure every moment. Thanks for the loan of your kids.

HAPPY 5TH. BIRTHDAY HANNAH.

The time has come at last for Hannah. She turned 5 0n last friday. She has been at school since the start of the year, soI felt she was already 5. She is still a young 5 but is doing so well at school. She is reading and writing and is certainly keeping up with even the year one kids. She is a reception student. Last week the school had an open night we were able to go and visit the kids classes. We have 4 grandchildren at the same school so we had to get our skates on. We were able to meet the teachers properly and look at their school books. It blew me away how well they are all doing. They are all respected by their teachers. It is the same as when our kids were at school. The flash backs we were having were incredible. They were all proud to show off their work even Ryan our nearly 10 year old. It is a fantastic school. They are lucky to be able to be there. We are proud of our kids and their children they are a credit to the school community. it was a buzz.

End of the heat wave

It was Bethanys choice to have her 7th. birthday at our home. It was a glorious day. Sunny skies and only 22 degrees C today after suffering through 15 days of above 35. Thirteen days were above the old 100 degrees F. Rachel spent last weekend in Melbourne so we had the children for a few days, their Dad a couple and Nicole for odd nights and looking after Sophie for me. We had some unexpected visits to the hospital for my Dad to have some tests done.They are trying to find out what is wrong with his throat ,gullet etc. Long story . Hopefully it will have a good ending. It is unbelievable to think it is already Easter weekend. Eighteen months have flown by so fast since Adam and Eva have left to travel the world. We can't wait for them to return. it is hard to believe they havent met Lucy yet and she is already 9 months old. they will have the rest of thier life to get to know her.Lee and Paul have been gone a feww weeks already and are in Vietnam at the moment but soon to go to Japan.I can't imagine what julie is going through with both her kids gone for so long. We still manage every now and then to talk to Adam and/ or Eva every now and then. Thanks to Skype for the free calls. Happy Easter to all. Happy birthday to Bethany who is 7 but says she is 10.

Update of family photos

Lee and Pauls Farewell

Happy Families

Megs and Paul showing the dental work they had done.

You would not have any idea how long it took to get everyone together in this photo

Three Little Pigs

Oh my god! They are leaving for how long?