We went to James' baby blessing a few weeks ago. He is a beautiful and sweet little boy.
My three favourite Joshuas
Saturday, 22 January 2011
Walking the Dogs
We bought a treadmill for the dogs not long after we got them. We tried several times to get them on it but couldn't do it. Then, about a week before Christmas, we decided it was time to try again. I'd watched an episode of Cesar Millan that showed really well how he did it and I felt confident we could. Maybe the dogs are more comfortable with us now too.
The first day we got them on for about 10 minutes each. Josh and I both had to work together for it. The second day it was enough for Josh to hold their lead sitting in front of them. After a couple more days we were able to tie the lead to the treadmill and just be nearby. Now, we put them on without a lead and we don't even have to be in the room. They walk for an hour each morning and jog for 30 - 40 minutes each evening. I love how much exercise they get now! I don't plan on this being a substitute for our outside morning walk, but it has been really nice to use the treadmill over the last few weeks when it has been freezing cold and I haven't wanted to be out in the mornings. It's definitely relieved some of the time pressure of dog ownership too.
Christmas 2010
Christmas Eve dinner, a tradition carried on from Josh's family, was a lovely evening for us. Josh prepared most of the meal and it was delicious. Since we ate at Mum and Dad's house on Christmas Day it was nice to have leftovers from our own meal that we got to enjoy for a few days afterwards. 
Maya was very excited to get Felicity's horse Penny and Felicity's riding outfit for Christmas. Penny was the gift Maya asked for and she really loves having her.
A surprise gift for Maya was this Barbie Glam Jet. Even Josh and I have had fun playing with this!
Maya loves her new Nintendo DS.
Josh and I loved our new goodies too.
Lucy and Drover enjoyed a little treat for Christmas.
Gymnastics
Maya began gymnastics last November. She loves it. These are some photos from the show they did for parents just before Christmas.
I need to tell Maya to always look up for the camera while performing!
Train Ride to Temple Square
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
There were some people dressed up, but our favourite thing was the train station outside the movie theatre - it was turned into Platform 9 3/4!
Monday, 17 January 2011
Halloween
Maya dressed up as an "Eighties Girl" for Halloween. She wore my old dance costume that I had from my Year 6 Dance Group. Her favourite TV show these days is Full House (as we were heading out to go trick-or-treating she started telling people that she was Stephanie from that show) and she thinks the 80's were really cool. Well, obviously that's correct - just look at this rocking outfit! 
Josh has decided to go with an Australian theme for his Jack-o-lantern each year. This year he did the Harbour Bridge and even added a small shark fin below it. Maya went with a happy face and I did a spider in its web.
There are not very many lollies that Maya got that she really likes (she is way more particular about her lollies than I am!). So at the end of the night she took out what she wanted to keep (mostly chocolates) then we took the rest to a local orthodontist who gives kids $2 per pound of Halloween candy they turn in. She ended up making $4 which she was much more excited about than the lollies.
Kate dresses up as Mrs. Figg, a character from Harry Potter.
I think the main reason Maya wanted to be an Eighties Girl is because she would get to wear make-up. Love that blue eye shadow!
With Bumblebee Alyssa and Grandma
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Working on the Wall
One of Dad's big summer projects was rebuilding the retaining wall in front of their house. Here's Dad (sporting his favourite sun protection) and Mum working on the finishing touches.
My favourite kind of wheelbarrow
Maya had a photography assignment for school last weekend and McKinlay and Annabelle agreed to be her models for the project. While we were outside with the camera I asked Luke and Annabelle to make a wheelbarrow. Are these not some of the most adorable kids ever?!
Inner Hobbit
After a late start on our garden due to the dogs' digging habits, we finally got things going. This was my first garden and I discovered that I really enjoy growing a garden. Yes, I am a hobbit at heart.
My tomatoes grew wonderfully. I have more cherry tomatoes than I would normally buy in a three years. Maya loves cherry tomatoes and it's great having an endless supply. My roma tomatoes have grown beautifully too - I love having fresh tomatoes to eat all summer long! I even attempted canning some last weekend and I got 5 jars of diced tomatoes. I know, that's a pitiful quantity to you canning experts, but I felt good about it as my first attempt.
I wanted to plant some herbs but the only one I got as a seedling was parsley. It grew super well but I hardly used it! Maybe I'll have to figure out how to dry and preserve it before winter comes... If you look closely in the below photo you can see my basil to the right of the parsley. Basil was the main herb that I wanted but I had to grow it from seed. I only got 2 plants and neither grew very big. Next year I'll get that growing much earlier in the year and plant a lot more of it so I have a chance to fulfill all of my summer basil needs.
The rest of my harvest was not quite so abundant...
My tomatoes grew wonderfully. I have more cherry tomatoes than I would normally buy in a three years. Maya loves cherry tomatoes and it's great having an endless supply. My roma tomatoes have grown beautifully too - I love having fresh tomatoes to eat all summer long! I even attempted canning some last weekend and I got 5 jars of diced tomatoes. I know, that's a pitiful quantity to you canning experts, but I felt good about it as my first attempt.
I wanted to plant some herbs but the only one I got as a seedling was parsley. It grew super well but I hardly used it! Maybe I'll have to figure out how to dry and preserve it before winter comes... If you look closely in the below photo you can see my basil to the right of the parsley. Basil was the main herb that I wanted but I had to grow it from seed. I only got 2 plants and neither grew very big. Next year I'll get that growing much earlier in the year and plant a lot more of it so I have a chance to fulfill all of my summer basil needs.The rest of my harvest was not quite so abundant...My hobbit-sized capsicum (it didn't even do one whole salad)
The largest and smallest of my beet root
Teeny tiny carrots
Largest and more typical-sized strawberries. I got about 6 mushy strawberries in total, but I am optimistic they'll do better in the years to come.
US Postal Service
This is how I received a letter recently. Inside this partial envelope is a piece of a check I wrote. Luckily my address was on this portion so they were able to get it back to me. This is the second time that I've had a partial piece of mail delivered since I've been back in the US. I guess sometimes when people say the check got lost in the mail it's true.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)