Our Adventures: 2015

Our internet is super slow tonight so I will have to update another night, until then...

Our sweet friend, Kaylin has been blessed with a photographing talent that she is so generous with. She took Christmas pictures for 16+ families and I am so thankful for her ability and love for photography!

Time seems to keep on moving and these kids are growing SO very fast.. short update on everyone:

L- Now a 6 YEAR OLD!!! TALL, sweet, handsome, loving, serving, genuine, snuggly young man. This boy blows me away. His maturity, love for learning and love to help is beautiful! He loves God & we have loved seeing how the Lord is using this sweet boy & growing him in His image. He works hard, LOVES to read, asks lots of questions, super focused (not always on the task at hand), inquisitive, and loves to problem solve. He makes a friend wherever he goes and thank goodness has a wonderful memory (has to help his Momma every so often). He has started soccer at the beginning of this month and it has been so fun to watch him and I'm enjoying getting to encourage him and bring some orange slices :). He is also doing swimming in school and a lesson outside of school and really loves it!

J- Now a 4 YEAR OLD!!! This cheeky boy has grown so much independence and confidence this year, we are SO proud of him. He is hilarious, so sweet, quick, thoughtful, caring, adoring, and encouraging. His laugh is contagious. He continues to shy easily & dislikes being the center of attention. He loves to make people laugh and has a smile on his face more times than not. He is stubborn, but more than that he is SO LOVING. His favorite things to do is get a back rub or foot rub & read books- adores one on one time. He adores his siblings and is always on the lookout for them. He has a knack for sports and we cannot wait to see the path he chooses for that. He plays basketball once a week (little fireball) and loves it as well as takes a sports class (teaches a different sport each session), focuses on learning skills.

H- Now 18 MONTHS OLD!! This girl is precious, she has a bit a sass with a side of sweetness and a whole lot of personality. Her smile is contagious & you just can't help but smile when your with her. She is independent & follows instructions so well and goes with the flow. She ADORES her brothers & wants to be wherever they are and doing what they are doing. She's a climber-- understatement-- and stealthy (you never hear her). She loves to cuddle & give lovins & is learning so many words right now. Some favorites: "momma" (and if she can't get my attention she yells a bit louder, and louder, and adds a stomp in the last time), "Dada" (this girl LOVES her Daddy), Bubba, Please, Ta (Thank you), Up, Down, Ball, Book, Bird, Dog, Pa (Paci), WaWa (Water), Cracker. Keeping us on our toes & our cup runneth over with blessings!!

As for JD & I we have finally started date night back again and have a sitter that comes once a week so we can go out. Phenomenal- cant believe we didn't start doing this sooner! We have LOVED this little bit of extra time each week where we can really sit down and talk as well as "date" each other! I feel like such a lucky lady :) We play volleyball once a week and JD plays futsol once a week as well with a group of friends. I am helping in Logans class with Reading groups once a week, which to me is a huge blessing!! We have begun reading Chronicles of Narnia at night with the boys and they are just eating it up! We have been fortunate to be able to take a few weekend trips lately and so very much enjoyed a house guest. JD has been rehabbing a knee injury and I am getting ready to start training for my first Triathalon (Ultra not full). JD and I have started getting more involved with our church here and joined Bible Studies- huge blessing, as well as the littles and I have been doing a few playgroups during the week and so very much enjoying those!

Because I told Beth if she updated I would... and she did :)

Love you Beth!!

Quick Update from my last post.

We have now lived in Victoria, Australia for 8 months and as you can see it has flown by:

We traveled to Jindabyne, Australia & rode the lifts to the top for Thredbo, Snowy Mountains then climbed to the top of Mount Kosciuszko-- it was cold & windy. Logan & Daddy made it the farthest up there.

We roadtripped to Bright, Australia and experienced our first camping trip as a family of 5. When I say camping, it was true camping tent and all.

1st smores of the year!

While in Bright we did a little hiking on the Rollason Trail and found a lovely waterfall to eat our snacks by.

Our baby girl turned 1 in April.

She is SO happy, smiley, loves music, dancing, & we couldn't imagine our family without her.

Emme & Papa joined us for the 1st Birthday celebrations!

Loves to give lovin's

These 2 adore their Papa!

While Mom & Dad were here we showed them around Victoria.

We took a roadtrip to Metung- which was beautiful. Crystal clear waters with lots of jellyfish. We had a lovely lunch right along the wharf.

We also stopped by Lakes Entrance for some ice cream and checked out the beach there.

Easter 2015

Before Mom & Dad left we took them to Phillips Island and stayed for a few nights.

We toured the Nobbies, which was beautiful!

We saw a few wallabies while we were there.

While on Phillip Island we went to the Koala Conservation Centre and got to see koalas up close (almost like a Where's Waldo activity- the kids loved it though), wallabies hopping all around us and learned a little bit about the wildlife in Australia.

Emme & Logan spotted a koala.

The boys also got to see the pelican feeding on San Remo right outside of Phillip Island.

We did a little family surfing.

Emme & Papa joined in.

Also took in a little shopping on San Remo.

Had to take Emme & Papa to the Victorian Market in Melbourne as well.

Also hit up the Sea Life Aquarium in Melbourne.

The boys colored a shark on paper and then employees at the Aquarium scanned the shark and it appeared in an aquarium on the wall.

Papa & his grandkids

We had 4 super heroes living in our home for 8 weeks- technically 6 weeks since we were travelling 2 of those weeks.

We discovered wineries while Aunt Jenn, Grandpa Weathers and our cousins came to visit.

This was our favorite-- Blue Gables Vineyard. Picture courtesy of Kaylin Booker.

We had lots of fun-loving cousin moments!

Daddy bedtime Bible stories..

Took the cousins to see Golden Beach

Terrabulga National Park

We had an adventure full of beautiful scenery & even some leeches....not my favorite.

We had our first train ride to Melbourne from Sale and made it! :)

Flinders Train Station in Melbourne

First stop on our trip Queenstown, New Zealand

Absolutely beautiful- would recommend to anyone as a MUST see!

The whole Weathers family

Grandpa & H

One of my absolute favorite pictures of our baby girl.

H @ 13 months old.

She learned to walk in Queenstown.

Our family in Queenstown.

MM-4, H-13 mths, J-3, L-5, O-2 (Ages)

Jenn, MK, JD, Tommy, & I did the Shotover.

This was AWESOME- some parts a little nerve wrecking, but overall awesome!

We rode the chair lifts to the top of Queenstown & luged down.

Even H- we had to prove she could stand/walk on her own, good thing she learned how to do that 2 days prior! :)

Our family!

Running into some of our FAVORITE Singapore buddies!!

Love the Comiskeys!

We roadtripped through New Zealand.

Queenstown to the Fiords in Milford Sound.

At this exact spot JD & Jenn were at 11 years prior.

Milford Sound, New Zealand.

We took a cruise through Milford Sound.

Saw seals while we were cruising.

From Milford sound we headed to Tenau.

Beautiful rainbow outside of our hotel.

On our way to Lake Tekapo we stopped by a sheep shearing place.

The kids all got to feed the adult sheep, feed the babies bottles & then they were let loose to run with the sheep. Such a fun stop!

Lake Tekapo.

In front of Lake Tekapo.

Church of the Good Shepard.

JD & Jenn visited here 11 years prior as well.

Love him.

From Lake Tekapo we headed to Christchurch to fly out to Sydney, Australia.

Us in Sydney.

Next to the Sydney Opera house with the bridge behind us.

Us in front of the Sydney Opera House.

Bondi Beach.

Our family @ Bondi Beach.

After Sydney JD & Grandpa had to fly back to work and the rest of us headed to Fiji.

Our Little 14 month old Fiji beach babe!

On a man made island we took a cruise to for the day.

The kids got to feed black tip reef sharks, we enjoyed a bbq, snorkeling, Tommy got to dive, we paddle boarded, & kayaked.

Our resort.

The boys and I kayaked one day.

We went to a show one night illustrating all the different types of ritual dances around the islands of Fiji and other surrounding places. The boys & Grandma joined in on the last dance.

Beach babe.

All the kids in Fiji.

Our cruise in Fiji.

Before the guys left Melbourne & we went to Fiji we hit up the Maritime museum in Sydney.

Our cousins & Aunt Jenn came back to Sale with us to spend a few more weeks before heading home.

We had a few pictures taken in the meantime-- courtesy of Kaylin Booker.

We had some movie nights.

We went hiking and exploring in new towns- Walhalla Gold Mining town.

We toured the Gold Mine in Walhalla.

A friend so graciously invited us over to meet some of her friends- this is Samantha the kangroo.

She was cautious as she had a joey in her pouch.

The boys followed her for a while.

We also met Oliver & Rosie the Wombats and got to love on Oliver for a bit.

I had been training for a half-marathon this whole time and it finally arrived.

Jenn, the kids, & I drove down to the Great Ocean Road and met up with some of our Singapore buddies to run the race. JD came and met us later before the race.

We checked out the 12 apostles.

All the kids at the 12 apostles.

I FINISHED!

Ran 14.1 miles in 2 hours & 28 minutes.

Not a great time, but BEST half I have ever run! So beautiful & just plain fun!

Up to mile 11 it was such an easy run-- after that I had to really push myself.

All my little fans who cheered me on!

We played outside- ALOT!

Only way to get all 5 is to have H walk by in the back!

So thankful for the relationship these kids have!

At Logans school they had a Saturday fun day where we could go and tour a Dairy Farm (a local, classmate's family) & see how milk is processed an the cows are milked. They got to feed the babies as well.

We also had the opportunity to hear about free-range chickens/eggs-- we didn't last very long at this one. Too much area to run and not enough to keep their attention. So we took pictures instead. Fun Saturday though! :)

After the family is all gone we got ourself together for one more week at home and then we followed them!

H playing legos with her Bubs.

The kids and I took off a little early (3 weeks earlier) than JD and headed for some summer heat and family time in the US.

The pilots of our first flight to Sydney were SO kind and requested the kids come and sit up in the front and get their picture taken with their hats on. Totally made the first leg of the trip AWESOME!!

H having fun outside at Aunt Jenn's.

H 15 Months.

We got to go and see a dear, sweet friend Anna get married!

The kids first wedding to go to!

After that we got on another plane and flew to Emme & Papas for a few weeks before Daddy got there.

Of course we did the usual fishing!

WE LOVE fishing at the beach with Papa.

This girl is a beach lover just like her Momma!

Finding shells.

Dock fishing-- another favorite!

H favorite place at Emme & Papas.

First pigtails.

We had the wonderful opportunity to participate in VBS at Emme's church. We had a blast doing it! Jackson got to be in Emme's class as well so that was an added bonus!

We got some super mohawk helmets and scooters for Emme & Papa house.

Enjoyed a lot of wave crashing beach days!

JD & I celebrated 8 years of marriage!

Honestly say it gets better every year!

We enjoyed dinner and an evening out on our own!

Celebrated the 4th of July with the Bulger Family!

Aunt Catie, Andrew and all!

Papa & Emme took us out on the boat to fish!

Logan won Best Angler for his age group in a fishing tournament on July 4th.

Logan also lost his 1st tooth--Papa came to the rescue and pulled it out!!

Yes, the tooth fairy did come!

Fishing with our Daddy!

H enjoyed the boat ride as well.

Logan James at 5.5 years old.

Jackson Paul @ 3.5 years old.

I got to celebrate 32 years of life with my favorite kiddos!

Weathers Family picture before we flew out back to Australia that evening.

Of course you have to have a silly one in there.

Kids with Grandpa & Grandma.

Arrived back in time to start Term 3 of school.

Logan is doing swimming this term and super excited about it. It is amazing how much he has learned in just 6.5 months of school. He is reading, writing, spelling, his creativity and imagination blow my mind, his compassion for others, and kindness have grown! I love seeing him learn and excel at the things he enjoys doing as well as being challenged in the tough areas. He loves to swim, draw, write stories (real & made up), be independent, reason with you & build. What BIG things the Lord has in store for you Logan James.

J misses his brother like crazy during the day, but has gained such an independence and confidence that has taken off this year. So excited to be 4, because that's closer to being 5 that his bubby & cousin are. He continues to make us laugh all the time and challenges us in our parenting! I love his sensitivity and need for affection and am amazed at how tough he is. He has a love for sports and anything that keeps him active. Is a major protector of his little sister & has a sweet tenderness towards her. What BIG things the Lord has in store for you Jackson Paul.

This spunky little girl is now 16 months old and time has just passed us by with her. She is walking, talking (more babbling, but does have a few frequent words: up, down, wwwwwhat??, Mama, Dada, Bub, bubbles, bath, bird), loves music, loves waving her hands to music, loves bathtime (very independent: puts her clothes in dirty laundry & throws her diaper away every time), loves food-- although in the past month gotten pickier still LOVES food, loves to smile- her gappy toothed smile :), is the sweetest snuggler. This girl is just plain happy most all of the time and so very easy going. She loves her brothers and wishes to be with them at ALL times! What BIG things the Lord has in store for you Hadlie Mariann.