Hello 2010

Christmas 2009 was our first Christmas in Australia since 2001, right before our wedding. Since it was our first year back, and we have a new addition to our family, we decided to travel north to Brisbane to be with my family. The road trip was uneventful. Sadly, Noah is not a huge fan of riding in the car.

We enjoyed the week with my family and friends. (wish I had pictures of everyone...sorry!) Michelle hosted a great Christmas morning breakfast, and Mum pulled off a great Christmas lunch (complete with prawns...mmmmm!) Its a joy to see our kids interact with their four cousins as well as aunts, uncles and grandparents on this side of the world. The kids got quite a bounty of gifts! Sleepless nights and diapers aside, we officially feel like we have kids now with all the toys in the house!

Aussie Christmas with hats from the bonbons




A Daddy's girl for sure



We tried (and failed) to get a picture of all the cousins together (aged 8 weeks 13 years) This was the final trick - bubbles.


Blankets from Clara Mae and her sister


Love my university friends. Catching up with a couple


We left Brisbane on Boxing Day and headed for Camp Challenge in Western Sydney. The drive south was a little tougher. More crying, wrong turns onto expensive toll roads and a royal puke from Noah (all over me). Needless to say we were thankful to arrive and spend the week in one place. We enjoyed some great classes and fellowship with Christians from different parts of Australia.

Jason leading a kids song at Camp (12 young men . . . )


Ella likes Wayne!


Bible class friends


On New Years day we drove back home to Wollongong. Home. The sentiment surprised me, but I am thankful for it. This beautiful beaches and mountains, the friends we have here, our little rental home and even our familiar local Woolworths supermarket all combine to help make this place feel more and more like home. We sure miss our friends and family who live elsewhere, but that will always be the case no matter where we live.

And for those of you wondering what the kids are up to these days, here's a rundown on them (and a little on us):

Ella: is almost 18 months old. She's basically running, loves being outside and loves to climb. This makes her dad super proud. They'll be at the rock climbing gym before I know it. Ella LOVES to go to the park and play on the slides (the "weeeeee" as she calls it), and loves hats of any kind! She is a wonderful communicator with a combination of baby signing, words, pointing and facial expressions. She is also a great helper and can take cloth diapers down the hall to their pails, trash to the trash cans, and hand me burp rags. We're also learning to put toys and books away. The most wonderful part is that she does all of the above JOYFULLY! She also does other things that she shouldn't and does them with GREAT joy and glee. Like pulling Coke cans out of the recycle bin and drinking the last drops of coke. Sigh. She is even pretty good at laughing herself out of the mini temper tantrums she tries to throw at times.



The first thing she does when she wakes up is ask after her brother and the other parent. She adores her brother still and showers him with kisses throughout the day. When he cries in the car, she often reaches her arm into his carseat to hold his hand. She will "gift" Noah with things throughout the day. I find all sorts of things in the pack-n-play where he sleeps, and resting on his belly while he plays under the baby gym (like puzzle pieces and books). Ella begins most days perched on her pink sofa with a cup from her tea set. She holds it by the tiny handle, so daintily and sips it while saying "hot". She still has just six teeth (soon to be outdone by her 10 month old cousin!) but ladies and gentlemen she has hair! Soft, fine and blonde though it may be. Thankfully her mullet survived her aunts in Brisbane!

All this to say Ella is such a joy and continues to amaze us.







Noah: I've lost count of how many weeks he is . . . 11 or 12. He will be three months on the 27th of this month. THREE MONTHS? How is this possible? Once the newborn we hardly knew we had, boy do we know we're alive now. The poor little guy seems to suffer from colic. We're praying that he will outgrow it sooner than later. Very soon would be good. The best money spent recently has been on chiropractic care for the colic, and a baby wrap where he spends large parts of his day. In spite of the colic he is chunking up quite nicely (anyone remember how chunky Ella was?!), feeding great, and delivers some heart melting smiles and coo-ing sounds. He is beginning to enjoy more time playing under the baby gym or swinging in his swing. Thankfully when all else fails, he is always happy to be carried around in the wrap (where he has been for more than four hours today). He won't take a pacifier and is trying his hardest to be a thumbsucker. May that day come quickly also! Oh and he's quite the royal baby. Noah starred TWICE as baby Jesus in two separate Nativity plays/scenes this holiday season. And he was a very quiet, calm and peaceful baby Jesus. Phew.





Performance #1


Performance #2




What a blessing to have two beautiful kids. (And a loving, handsome husband!)





Us: We're alive!!! Our days are busy and by night we're often exhausted. We have joy in each day though. We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary (our first in Australia) on January 5th and enjoyed a meal at the only Japanese restaurant in Wollongong. This is the best we could do for an anniversary picture.



Jason is enjoying experimenting with some permaculture gardening in our backyard and continues to be involved in Bushcare and a men's group here in town. Not to mention all he does with the kids and here at home. I'm doing my best to keep the home fires burning! I'm looking forward to getting back to working out at Contours, and also to when MOPS starts up again in February. We're enjoying simple things together like tea and Monk/Heroes or Seinfeld once or twice a week. We both have plans to be involved in some new ministry related events in the first half of this year. More on that to come. All in all we're doing well. Its an intense time in our life but God sustains us and there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not aware of and thankful for this promise in Lamentations 3:22-24:

"Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

He forgives, sustains and renews! Thank you, God!

Happy New Year!