haylee's new word

Haylee seriously cracks us up with her vocabulary. She is quite advanced in her speech and it's so dang cute!

Her new word is: "shaget" = jacket.

It's hilarious to hear her yell, "Mommy!! I need my shaget! I too cold!!!!!!"

a very happy birthday

I had a fantastic 30th birthday! (I still can't believe I'm 30...) I woke up to my sweet baby Ava just cooing and giggling in her crib - which is the best sound ever. Then I came into the family room and opened my birthday presents.....well, Grace & Haylee opened my birthday presents :) We then ate McDonald's for breakfast, Bruce took the girls to the park for the morning, and when they got back, I went out shopping all by myself! It was perfect!

We had cheese, strawberries & crackers for our lunch and then my yummy cookie cake!

Bruce got our regular babysitter, Michelle, to watch the girls while he took me out for dinner at this beautiful place right on the ocean at sunset....little did I know.....

.....he had planned a surprise party for me!!!!!!!!!!!! How great is he??!?!?! We had such a great night and I was VERY surprised. Bruce is so wonderful!!!!!!

I was so glad our new - and great - friends, Jim and Kristen, came. They recently moved here from Tasmania and go to church with us. Their little baby, Levi, is going to marry Ava we've decided :) They also have a little girl who is Haylee's age and the two of them adore each other. We love them!

little sickie

Miss Ava has been our little sickie this past week. She had bronchitis which turned into a systemic bacterial infection. Bruce and I felt just terrible for her. It's such an awful feeling to see your baby so sick!

Anyhow, she is much better now and I'm so grateful for good hospitals and doctors and modern medicine.

I just had to post these pics because like my sister-in-law, Angie, said, "Ava looks pathetically cute!"

The doctor had to give her a "boxing glove" on her other hand because she kept trying to take out her IV. Poor baby!

Mama Mia!

For an early birthday present, Bruce surprised me with tickets to Mama Mia! How great is he?! We went last night and it was fantastic. We both loved it! The costumes and the music were amazing.

I had never been to a Broadway production, so it was super exciting for me.

Whaaaa!!!!

I'm turning 30 in ten days. I might as well go book myself a room at the aged care facility....

Good-bye 20's....it's been good knowing you. *pout*

We LOVE Fiji

We're back! We're sun-kissed, golden brown and feeling like our trip to Fiji was more like a dream than real life! It was, to say the least, the perfect first family vacation. We were so glad Bruce's mom was able to come with us. She was great company and fantastic help....and she made it possible for Bruce & I to sneak off by ourselves!

We stayed on Yunaca Island at the Shangri La Resort and it was amazing. Our rooms were literally steps from the ocean. The food was absolutely fantastic and the Fijians were so friendly there. They loved our little fair skin, blonde girls and were always kissing on them. In fact, one time a Fijian woman came over to Ava, took her out of the stroller and kissed all over her!

Fiji was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I couldn't begin to take in all of the beauty - and neither could photos, but here's a small preview.....enjoy!

The view we enjoyed every morning while we ate breakfast

Grace straightening Haylee's necklace before the luau began

Ava dreamt about Fiji most of the week

The water was incredible!

Playing on the beach during an afternoon rain

Oh, Grace and Haylee were in love with the "hula dancing girls" - as they called them :)

The firedancing was insane. We loved it! Grace & Haylee kept saying "too hot, too hot!"

Hula girl Gracie

We were surprized at how large the Fijians were...like tree trunks! They were very tall and quite built. The kindest and most genuine people I've ever met - and they loved, loved our little girls!

Our room was just to the left...we strolled down to this beach every morning in our pj's....it was maybe 20 feet from our door to the sand.

The breakfast entertainment. So much fun!

Much more to come.....

forever a wedgie

I can't get enough of this picture...I think it's so funny. Haylee always has a wedgie. It's hilarious! It doesn't seem to bother her in the least bit. I've decided that one bum cheek must be smaller than the other because the girl is always showing off that cutie little behind :)

In other news.....I haven't blogged lately because we've just been so busy. The past month has been a whirlwind....good, but super busy. My house is a disaster, I have mountains of both clean and dirty laundry piled everywhere, sheets need to be changed, groceries need to be put away, bathrooms need to be scrubbed,......

...but most important: I need to start packing our bags because we leave for Fiji in 6 days!!!!!!!!!! WhooHoo!!!!!

happy australia day

To celebrate Australia Day this year we went to a park and had a picnic with our church. It was a really fun day and the weather was perfect! Everyone loved that we had our little American girls dressed in Aussie clothes :)

our little school girl

Today was Grace's first day of school! The school system here starts at age 3, so we thought we'd enroll her, but only 2 days a week. Thanks to ExxonMobil, she gets to attend a fantastic private girls school and her studies will include: classical ballet lessons, Italian, German, & Chinese language classes, art, pottery, music, horticulture, PE, and yoga.

She had a great first day and was as sweet and friendly as could be!

She also has a PE uniform. I'll post pics of her in that next week. It's super cute, too :)

Prince William & The Australian Open

Bruce and I got to go on a fantastic date last night. Thanks to ExxonMobil & its affiliates, we got corporate tickets to The Australian Open and got to watch the world tennis champion, Roger Federer play! How fun is that?! Also, as if the night wasn't already exciting enough, mid-way thru the match in walks Prince William and his Royal Entourage....talk about bringing the house down! I've never heard so much applause in my entire life. It was very exciting - especially because Prince William sat only two sections away from us.

Very, very cool!

Our seats were amazing! Only 4 rows from the court.

Prince William (front row, second from the left of the woman in the orange jacket) and the Royal Entourage all around and behind him.




Roger Federer after his win taking off his sweatband and throwing it into the crowd.