A Legend!

I have a friend who 4 months ago lost a son. Charlotte and Noah were at school together and it was sad knowing that Charlotte and Noah would no more get the chance to dance together in there wheelchairs and share glances at each other as they did there work!

Less than a week ago Lisa also lost her husband Aaron, who was such a wonderful guy and was also someone that I know Ryan had a lot of respect for as a husband and a father. Today I was able to listen as brave Lisa shared her memories of a wonderful husband, father to four boys and a son and son in law as well as a brother to many. One of the stories she shared was about how Aaron enjoyed his music and how he LOVED to dress up in his ACDC gear which reminded me of a great photo I captured a church dance!

Aaron was a great guy who was a giver to all, the stories I have read and heard either on facebook or through friends have all been the same. He was someone who was admired and respected for his ability to make people feel good about themselves as well as to make them laugh. I will always remember the funny side of Aaron as I fondly think back to the many times he was the M.C at many a church dance and the way he would have everyone having a great time and including all in the many games he played!

I hope that Lisa and her three boys will know that we all are thinking of them at this time and that we pray that  they may feel peace knowing that Noah and Aaron are together watching over them and being able to run together!

A friend of Lisa's has set up a fundraiser page and I ask that you may consider making a donation big or small it can all help. To read more click HERE!

A Wedding in Sydney

A few back I was lucky to travel with the Crossin family to Sydney to see Abby marry her man Adam!
They have such a special love for each other and you can see it in the way they look at each other that they are truly in love and just adore each other.

We flew up on the Thursday and after missing our connecting flight from Melbourne to Sydney we had to wait in the airport in Melbourne for 2 hours! So the whole plan of what we needed to do was thrown out the window! I will blog more on Sydney later but for now I will share the Wedding Day!

We all stayed in accommodation together with the girls having joining rooms so on the morning of the big day we all were able to help together get each other and importantly the bride ready.

The bride to be as she awoke!

Makala and I went flower shopping early in the morning and found these so we made these for the bride to carry!

Getting all the pretty's done!

The pretty dress!

The Cake made by Jai, and flew all the way from Launceston!

The groom waiting for his bride!

Grandma and Auntie waiting for the bride to arrive!

Coral doing a great job to make the groom a little less nervous!

Here come the bride

Some little fix ups before people see the dress!

How cute is she!

I think Dad is a little proud.

How cheeky is this look!!!! 

Signing to make it all official

The Happy Couple 

The Bishop who married them

Mak, Annouk and Mr and Mrs Rouse

The Crossin family gained a son!

Can always rely on Auntie Yvette to make you laugh!

I love this photo of kissing Grandma!

Sisters, just missed Zoe!

Just remember Adam that the Aunties are going to come for you if you make our Abby sad!

Sooo in love!

Don't mess with the father in law or his daughter!

Thanks Annouk for coming Abby loved having you there.

Mother and Daughter!

It was a lovely day, well apart from the weather Sydney out on a little Thunder and rain which did wreck the original plan for a wedding outdoors BUT I think it was still lovely where we had it in the end.

Thanks to Adam and Abby for letting us share your special day with you.

Wishing you all the best for your growing old together and being sealed in the temple this time next year!

Protein Balls

So I decided to make some protein balls the other day which were really good. I got the recipe from the Body Science web site but I did slightly change it. So here is the recipe I made pretty simialr just slight variation:

500 g dates

1 cup water

200g LSA (linseed – sunflower seed – almonds)

3 scoop Chocolate protein powder

150 g desiccated coconut

2 tablespoons cacoa powder

3 tablespoons tahini

Place the dates and water in a saucepan and place over medium heat until soft and water has been evaporated. Allow the dates to cool. Place all the ingredients into a food processor and mix together until the mix comes together. Roll the mixture into balls and place onto grease proof paper and place in fridge. May I also suggest to place some in the freezer as they taste really good on a hot day!

These are gluten free, low gi, protein and omega 3!

New Years Eve 2011

Well we had a quiet New Years Eve this year as it was just our family spending time together. IN the past we have had family stay the night and sat up and chatted and had the kids run around and have a ball but this year everyone had other things planned, which was nice for a change as it gave us a chance to go and check out New Year's on Royal held at Royal Park in Launceston. It was a really great night and was very family friendly as it had a fireworks display at 9.30 for the children to enjoy and then another display when the clock hit midnight. There was a variety of food vendors selling a variety of eats as well as wine and beer stalls. The best thing about it was that people could also take in a picnic if they wanted to as well. We took a lovely selection of salad and cold meats for some wraps.

The night was a great one as not only did they have musicians playing some groovy songs to dance to, they also had a area set up for the kids to play including a jumping castle, jumping slide, playgroup equipment and a bull ride along with the playground and gym equipment they already have down at the park. Amelia and William both begged to have a ride on the mechanical bull which was funny! William stayed on pretty well but Amelia was off as soon as it pretty much moved, plus she needed Ryan to help her get on which was not all that easy!

The only photo I got of Amelia is the falling off, seriously that's how quick the ride was for her!

After a bit of a play we got the kids a dagwood dog each which they LOVED! Ryan and I enjoyed a pancake one with blueberries and one with Raspberries and the kids enjoyed sharing a maple syrup one. After eating we moved positions to the front so the kids could get in and have a dance and it was really fun as the music was good and both William and Amelia loved it. At dead on 9.30 the fireworks went off and it was pretty good.

When the fireworks had finished we packed up and headed home as the kids were pretty tiered from the warm day as well as the late evening. All in all we had a great night and all were in bed before midnight, mind you the kids pretty much had their heads hot their pillows and were out to it and Ryan and I were in bed just before midnight and listened to the midnight fireworks going off. I just hope that they organise the same thing as it was heaps of fun next New Years!

Christmas Camping 2011

Well our family did something a little different this year and planned a little trip away camping. We ventured on a trip to Bicheno on Friday evening and set up camp with the Crossin family. We were pretty lucky as the Crossin's had arrived early and set up there tent and our tent which was great otherwise it may have been a very late night!
On Christmas eve we enjoyed a little walk to look at the local shops and also a few of the local sights. William enjoyed a walk to the blow hole and then a walk to the playground with Amelia and Dad where they also ventured out on the beach and ended up paddling.

Christmas day was all about waking early, and then having to wake the kids and we did all the presents. It was really funny as the night before we had the kids set up a treat for Santa in the back of the van so the next morning the kids got a shock to see the van full of gifts.

We drove to Hobart for Christmas with family we started off lunch at my Mum's which was lovely as the three boys got on really well playing with their DS games and then Will's new scooter from Santa. It was also lovely to catch up with my sister who had her little baby on the 14th and I hadn't met as yet. Was lovely having so many cuddles!
In the afternoon we visited Ryan's family and stayed there a short while before we ventured back to the camp site, which made the day extremely long! We all slept well Christmas night I think it may have been a mix of long driving and way too much good Christmas food!

Boxing day William was excited to use his Christmas present he got from Adam and Abby which was a fishing line. Will was keen for the first 5 minutes and then he ditched the rod and was keen to ride his scooter. We had a few lines in and it was fun watching the boys catch the fish, Ryan only managed to catch little baby ones which had to go back in where as Rob caught one that was apparently huge! Amelia even caught a little fry! Another trip to the park then we ventured back for a BBQ with fish caught and some sausages. We took a drive to Aspen park and even though we did not go on the walk we thought we may do it some other time. That night when the kiddies had gone to bed some of us ventured up to the blow hole and to see the little penguins come in. We managed to see three come in and waddle up to the safety of the bushes for them to rest for the night. Mind you we got there a whole hour before hand and got eaten alive by mozzies so when we saw the three we thought that was enough and then walked back to the tent to recoup from the mozzie invasions!

On the Tuesday we packed our stuff and drove up through Elephant Pass and stopped for some pancakes at a cute little place. We then continues our trek home with a stop at St Marys to look at a place where a guy has set up his collections on many things from cars to computers to you name it!

After a busy few days we were excited to get back to our own beds, down side to camping is that we had so much washing and airing to do of our clothes and camping stuff, but we would do it all again as it was fun!