The Last Six Months of 2013

July found us FINALLY catching up with our munchkins in Dubbo as well as going to the drive-ins with Suzy & the munchkins to watch Dispicable Me 2, Walking with Dinosaurs, a visit to the museum, finding a great park in Silverwater and some fun yardwork with the dingo :)

August was fairly quiet. Tori had class assembly, bookweek, education week and an excursion to Muru Mittigar. We also took a trip into Sydney to check out White Bay.

September was FABULOUS. We got to take our first cruise and it was to the South Pacific. We had 7 stops in 3 countries- New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji. We discovered a mutual love of snorkeling and spent a LOT of time in the ocean. It was absolutely glorious and can't wait for our next one. Tori got to spend her birthday at a resort in Suva, Fiji :)

October- besides Halloween, most of our action involved Motorbikes seeing as most of the family got one this month :)

November- this month found us Whale Watching for the first time. A few school activites with Class assembly, Talent Quest and Christmas Carols. Brooke & I took Shelby on the 2 bridges walk and Kym celebrated his birthday.

December, as always, was a busy month. School activities were an excursion to The Rocks, school disco, Presentation night and Tori also received a Silver Award. Christmas activities included Mischief coming to visit, touring the Christmas Lights in various suburbs, RSL Xmas party and of course Xmas dinner with the family. Wet'n'Wild opened in Sydney and we got season passes and we finished out the year with a bang wathing the fireworks at Panthers.

2013 brought me lots of things... the joy of my first overseas flight & first cruise, the pain of losing 2 friends, the heartache of losing my grandfather which was bittersweet as it brought the elation of reuniting with my son and his family. We have had additions to the family and the realisation that some family is lost. Happiness at my sons engagement and sadness at my daughters broken heart. Today, this moment, all is well with me and my loved ones and I hope that carries on through 2014 & beyond. This years set to be a big one with my 25th wedding anniversary and my 30th school reunion

2013 Second Quarter

April found me being hit by a garbage truck :( We also had a family get together for Deans Birthday. Tori had a disco at school, met Barbie and we went to a car show.

May sadly was the month my beloved Pop Jack passed away. We had a trip home to Mullaley and caught up with family we hadn't seen in years. On a lighter note.. it was Judd's 1st birthday, Mothers Day, we got to Skype with the girls and Brent was on TV

June was a busy month. We went to watch the Vivid light show in Sydney. Tori went on an excursion to Fairfield City Museum. Kris had a birthday and Brooke, Tori and I had a girl day going to Max Brenner, Aqua Golf and Kaos.

2013 first quarter

January 2013 was a busy one for us. Right off the bat was my birthday and the next day my girlfriend Cathy's so we had a combined birthday dinner with our families. Then Kym, Tori and I went off to Bali for 8 days, what an experience! On our return Tori went back to school, year 3 and a brand new teacher :)

February was a lot quieter. We went to Hooters with Ashlee for his birthday. Tori went to the dentist to get a tooth out as she had an abscess.

March found us doing all things Easter. Easter Egg hunts, the Easter Show. Tori started some longterm treatment at the Denist with lots of visits in the near future :/ And the balloons?? That's just Crazy Hair Day at school, lol :)

2012 in a nutshell...

2012 was another good year for us..

January found us at the beach quite a lot mostly Coogee. We also went to Sarah &Greg's wedding and had a visit from Kris, Adi & Drayden for a few days. Sharni & Brent also got their P's.

February was Ashlee's 21st, Brooke started a new job at Panthers and I was T-Boned.

March found the car being written off and so lots of car hunting. Brent reversed over Toby'scar. We went on an Easter Egg Hunt in St Marys with Julie & her family. 

April found us on holiday at the Gold Coast :)

May was a big month with the birth of the latest addition to our family, Judd. For Mothers Day we went to Mudgee stayed with Kris & saw the girls then drove to Dubbo and saw the boys.

June was Kris' birthday. Went along with Tori's class on a school excursion to Manly. Had a fun day at  Panthers and we also went to the circus.

July was Annalise and Brooke's birthdays. Went to Nurringingy and Go Bananas with Cathy & the kids but the downside was doing chemotherapy cream treatment on my forehead :(

August was a month of visits with both Sharon & Codie and Everton coming to stay. Tori sang at Penrith Performing Arts Festival, went to a car show and Codie and I got matching tattoos.

September is our busy birthday month with celebrations for both Tori and Brent with his being a big milestone, 18 :) Kym's mum and dad came to stay and both Brent and Kym got their first tattoos.

October found Kym starting the back deck. Brooke got her first tattoo and we had lots of Halloween fun with a treasure hunt in St Marys with Julie & co and trick or treating with Natalie B & Cathy and their girls.

Well they say things come in 3's and Ashlee was hit on his way to work one morning and his car was written off.

December was the end of school and Tori got another special award at the end of year ceremony. Lots of Xmas fun from checking out Christmas lights to going to the Carols with the Rochforts. Tori and I went and visited Sharon in Albury and saw out the year there.

Besides the few downs we had with illnesses and accidents 2012 was a good year with lots of time spent with the people that matter most in our life. Here's hoping 2013 will be even better....

The last 3 months of 2011

October found us going back to Wollar for one last time and having a bonfire at the property and briefly getting to see the girls on our way home. Brent got jumped by some guy he didn't know and ended up in hospital overnight and Brooke got to meet Chopper Reid.  Halloween was good this year with Kym taking Tori to St Marys so she could trick or treat with Julie and Co and we also took Ashley trick or treating around our neighbourhood. Tori had lots of fun with Kane and Lilljana at Build-a-Bear for Lillijana's birthday. Family fun found us at Dad's birthday, the park, at Cables and another fab day out boating with the Gatts :)

November found Kym, Tori and I having a great day out- checking out the new Ikea at Tempe, then to the beach at La Perouse and finally to Port Botany to watch the planes landing. Kym had his 45th birthday. We got to meet Jaiden :) Tori had fun in friends pools and I had some great girls time with Sarah. Tori got the day off school for Melbourne Cup day and along with Brooke we spent the day at the Pioneer with Sarah & Lillijana to watch the races. Brent had a job trial which sadly didnt work out but all is not lost and he's back with Kym at work. And last but not least was my wonderful school reunion which I was really nervous about but has a BLAST!!! Cobby, Sharon and Anne all stayed the nite at mine and we were all up til 4am talking! Was WONDERFUL to see my "sistah from another mistah" and I was soooooo sad to see her go.

December was extremely busy as usual.. We got a wonderful overnight visit from 2 of my brothers, Dane and Jake. Tori was really busy at school the last month as Class Gold ran the school assembly, they had Funky Fete Day, Christmas Disco, she won a prize at Red Faces, they had a picnic day and she also won an award at Presentation Day :) Lots of fun with Santas helpers leading up to Christmas Day and lots of Christmas Crafts and baking . We had a great day at the 2010 Class Gold Christmas party at Jackii's again and of course the wonderful Carols by Candlelight. Kym ripped up the kitchen tiles, Tori and I went to the park with the McCalls, and caught up with Rene and Jodie & co a few times. Spent several days getting personalised coke cans, watched Sharni get inked, went to Sarah's dress fitting, to name but a few things we did this month.

And I thought Christmas Day was soooo fab that it deserved its own collage. Just spent the day at home with family. Went across to mum's for an hour or so as Nan was there and she hasn't gotten to see the kids for a while.

Looking back on all the fab things that happened in 2011 and looking forward to 2012 :)

:'(

So end of last year I discovered that when Google + merged with Picasa they obliterated photos off thousands if not MILLIONS of peoples blogs.. mine included :'( I had put off trying to fix it because it was just SO depressing as that was almost 4 years of work. Well this morning I FINALLY sat down to do it and realised what a mammoth task it was. At times I was tempted just to delete the bl**dy thing and start afresh but I persisted. I started reuploading all the photos for my posts on my craft blog and after doing just one years worth in the end I bit the bullet and ended up culling a LOT of posts (from 400 odd to exactly 100!!) 2011 posts have the photos but ones from previous years dont and I only kept the posts with important info like getting on DTs etc. Im not sure what to do about my personal blog as Id like to keep it because it has a lot of info of things we have done over the past 4 years but don't know if I am quite up to reuploading all those photos too yet :/

Another 3 months..

have gone by so it is time to update the old family blog. It often feels like we are just doing the same thing day in and day out so it is good to look back and see we do have a life, lol


July- saw Kym and I go 10 pin bowling with Ashlee, Sharni & Tori, Tori got her Silver Award at school, Kym and I went back to Wollar for a day trip and took Brooke, Tori & Brianna, Tori and I went to Featherdale Wildlife Park with Lillijana and Sarah, we brought a new TV and Brooke celebrated her 19th birthday.

August found Kym's brother Rene back in our lives after many years so there was a lot of weekends spent together. We also had a lovely day out on the river with our wonderful neighbours on their boat. Went to dinner for Paigeand a BBQ for Rene to celebrate their birthdays. Tori had both Education Week and Book Week at school as well as her sports carnival. We went to Gulgong to see Maddison and Lily after dropping in to see Kris and meet his new girlfriend Adi and her son Drayden. I put my hand through Brooke's window and we repainted the loungeroom and pulled the carpet up.

September was also a busy birthday month with Tori turning 7 (dinner at Hogs Breath), Brent 17 (dinner at the Colonial) and a masquerade party for Paige's 21st. Mitch also came home and stayed with us for a week til him & Brooke broke up but before that we went for a lovely dinner at Brooke's work. More assembly and awards for Tori at school. The the first week of the school holidays found us at the Smurfs live. Dr reopened my finger after test revealed there was still glass in it :( Went out for the day with Rene and co to a car show, Cables then dinner at the Colo. Kym and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary. Tori had fun on the Dingo when Kym brought it home to do some work and last but not least, Fathers Day :0)

Life is ticking along relatively smoothly for the most part. The kids are all getting way too big waay too fast but Im happy that we get to spend time together still.

I LOVE my family xoxox