Goodbye 2009!

We have spent a happy day at home farewelling the year. I can hardly believe that in 2 short hours it will be 2010! How the year has flown. And how the Lord has blessed us each and every day of 2009.

After a morning of little friends visiting to play, and watching Swiss Family Robinson for quiet time (to inspire the building of a tree house in new year), we headed out into the garden for the last sun rays of the decade.

I harvested the very last of the crop planted by the previous owners here.

And my wonderful husband dug the patch over for me, ready for planting. I can hardly wait!

The children played.

This is one of our 3 passionfruit vines. I'm hoping 2010 will bring some fruit forth from them!

We burnt off our pile of rubble, ready for collecting more sticks and enjoying a campfire with visiting family next week.

We barbequed and gave thanks for a great year together. And I enjoyed looking at the new pot of herbs I planted up yesterday. How nice to be back into the gardening!

Happy New Year Friends!!!! May 2010 bring us blessings beyond our wildest imaginations. :)

I pray it will be a safe and sound one for us all.

We Love GREEN!!!

This is how the view from our front door has looked since we moved here 7 weeks ago........

Beautiful, and Brown.

Since the rain starting moving in on Christmas Eve, a slow transformation is taking place. The view outside my front door as of this afternoon.......

Beautiful, and Green.

Considering how much I love and adore gardening, and green - the hills, the countryside, the pretty villages of England - I am so thrilled to see green outside once again!

Our little orchard

And keeping these guys inside is proving difficult - not that I'm really trying.

And as for this young man?

Well since seeing the clip from the old Gene Kelly classic "Singing in the Rain", he just can't seem to stop himself from doing just that - at every possible opportunity. :)

"He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills."

Psalm 147:8

We've Holidayed.... and We're Home!

After a wonderfully happy and relaxed Christmas morning at home, complete with croissants, and fruit, and homemade bonbons, and presents................

................ we headed south to my parent's unit on the beautiful Sunshine Coast. We exchanged gifts then welcomed all the extended family for nibblies, drinks, dinner and plentiful dessert! It was a great time of catching up, giving and receiving gifts, laughing and enjoying all the festivities my wonderful Mother had prepared for us all. :)

Over the last few days we have enjoyed many hours playing on the beach. It was so beautiful, fun and refreshing being by the sea!

The most beautiful playtime and walk as the sun set on Saturday.....

and our exhausted baby after a beach swim and walk around the markets yesterday morning. :)

So after 3 nights together, many cups of coffee and much conversation, we made the drive home today. We were welcomed home by steady rain (this is very very exciting after such a long drought!), half-full tanks and grass which is becoming greener very quickly! It seems the drought has broken and the rainy season has moved in. Praise God.

Photos of our greener home to come tomorrow.

It's nice to be home. :) Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

It's Christmas Eve!!!

It's Christmas Eve. What a day of festivities we've had!

After lunch we each opened a couple of presents. This was a special time! My little girl has been saving money all year. We don't give the children pocket money, so every bit she has saved has been given by grandparents or has been earned by doing a special job for me. She had $20.65. She had been saving for a dolly but made a decision last week to spend her money on gifts for us. We made sure she was certain, and she definitely was! Stuart took her shopping for mine and the boys' gifts, and I took her this morning to find a photo frame for Stuart - inside which we put a special photo of her and Stu, for his work desk. All Saraya's own ideas, and boy she has discovered something throughout this process..........

Giving is even better than receiving!!

The delight buzzing between these two as William's favourite character "Makka-Pakka" was opened brought a tear to my eye! Such joy.

This afternoon, as tradition stands in our house, we cut our Christmas Cake. I had a helper.

A very smiley helper!!!

We sung happy birthday to Jesus. :)

Tonight we went to church and it was nice seeing the children joining in with all the carols they have got to know so well this season.

Here's Will all ready to go!

After getting home and changing into pj's, watching a little of the carols on TV and reading a special Christmas Eve story.... and hanging their stockings......

..... the children collapsed exhausted into bed. I'm hoping that means they won't be up before the sun tomorrow!

The stockings are now filled and the final presents wrapped.

I love this night. I love the promises tomorrow holds. I love that when I wake up I will make a special breakfast for my family and we will eat and share gifts and give thanks to the One who gave us Jesus.

Merry Christmas friends, thank you for blessing me and I wish you a very joyous day tomorrow!

Happiness Is

Happiness, for me, tonight, is...........

* A home full of sleeping children.

* A husband near me, kind, gentle and loving ... who brought me home a bottle of my favourite wine tonight! And mounted my dryer for me today. :)

* Knowing that tomorrow is Christmas Eve!!

* The fresh smell of last night's RAIN in the air - thank you Lord, it was truly divine! 31 mls in the rain gauge, the dam is up, the frogs are noisy, and the grass is going to get green again, I know it!

* The taste of homemade Coconut Ice on my tongue.

* Presents wrapped and under the tree.

* A day full of promise tomorrow.

A Sight I Know......

....... I will never tire of!

My children, in their pyjamas, fresh from the bath, dinner in their bellies, enjoying the last of the summer day.

This happens most evenings.

Stuart and I clean up from dinner, put the chooks to bed, run the bore hoses on the gardens, and chat. We too enjoy the only truly comfortable part of the daylight hours. It has been a dry, hot summer already.

When Stu brought home this wagon last week for only $30 from a hardware store that was closing down, I knew it was going to be a hit! It was an early Christmas present for the children.

And already they have played and pulled and climbed and rested and exercised and imagined with it.

Thank you Father for healthy, happy children who are growing up so quickly. I will never tire of watching them play!