No longer a teenager

Today my first born turns 20! She is such a strong , bright and beautiful young woman.

Happy Birthday Amanda

We love and miss you dearly!

More photos from Amanda's visit

We crammed a lot of stuff into the short time Amanda was here and made some great memories.

About to go listen to a live band at the Redland Bay Hotel (Pub)... Amanda was old enough to drink as the drinking age here is 18. She was so excited when they would card her and she would smile and hand over her Texas license! It was super cute. 

If they look a little blurry its because I took this photo~ Whoops!

We rode the big ferris wheel in Brisbane one night. David, Amanda, Allie and I did... Emily opted to keep her feet firmly on the ground!  It was really neat to see everything at night and not scary at all. 

Playing on the beach!

Nat, Emily & Amanda catching some rays!

We had a great time with Amanda while she was here but I already miss her so much and can't wait for her next visit!

Amanda's visit

Here are a few photos of Amanda and Allie at Movie World. We had such a good time while she was here!! I will post more soon.

My wonderful husband turns 45

David got a case of his favorite German beer from the girls and I. He was a very happy boy!

I make baked cheesecake with homemade raspberry sauce.... Man it turned out nice if I do say so.

Happy Birthday David. I love you very much!!!

Emily turns 17

We celebrated Emily's 17th at Raby Bay Oriental with two of her good friends - Vanessa and Natalee. 

Happy Birthday Em!!!

Our first camping trip in Australia

Camping in Australia is a bit different......no RV for starters!!!! We went over Easter weekend - much warmer weather than we usually have for Easter but we made due.... 

Emily & Nat made sausages for dinner....

 Smiling for the camera in her camo suit from Academy... Won't find one of them here.

 The water in the river was deep and clear but super cold! 

The "big kids" hanging out by the campfire. 

Allie and I got a little too much sun

Allie, Georgie and little Emily getting out the sparklers.

We had a nice time but all the work packing, setting up, tearing down and unpacking once you are home really make you appreciate the ease of the RV. I don't expect us to do very many one or two day trips like we use to. You really want to stay for longer to make all the work worth it.

Nice surprise

My wonderful husband surprised me by re-wiring my antique lamp to work on 220 volt. It has been sitting on my night stand for months but now I can actually use it to read by at night! What a sweetheart he is sometimes!!!

Fishing????

Allie has been begging and begging to go fishing but we just have not had the time. Finally I took her to the little pond by our house on Sunday. Well we didn't catch a single fish, but we learned that turtles LOVE hot dogs. We caught 5 of them in about 30 minutes.

On the walk back home Allie looked over and said "we didn't go fishing, we went turtle'in"! Aren't they just super cute sometimes?????

We had fun but can't wait to do some real fishing over Easter holidays.

From the past

Look how cute Amanda and Emily were! Not sure what was up with my hair though.... Haha

Off to camp

Allie left for her school camp this morning. She is going off for three days and two nights full of fun, learning and fellowship. She is excited but a little apprehensive about being away at night. I was not able to go on this trip with her like I did in Florence. I am sure she will have a great time.... Hopefully she will take some photos that I can share.