Xmas 2008!!

We had a lovely Xmas - Kaitlyn woke at 5.45 and decided to wake Noah as well so we had a very early start. Noah loved opening his gifts and loved the gifts from NZ including the money from new nanny - I think he had it spent immediately. Kaitlyn got a Rip Stik as in the photo - a bit like a skateboard but less stable - she has had a lot of fun with it and Molly loved it from afar. We had Xmas lunch with the Phillips a lovely family we have met this year also from New Zealand and it was so nice to spend the day with them.

We have moved!!

After being in our house in Seaforth for a year we decided to move to a new suburb ten minutes up the road. Frenchs Forest is lovely and we are very settled here already. It is a very leafy suburb and very much for families. Molly is thrilled there is a friend over the fence with three brothers and sisters. Thankfully they are as loud as our children! Also this house has grass so we can put the tramp up which is exciting for the kids.

Andy upgrades!! ;)

Seems it was time to upgrade from the scooter now that we are about 10 minutes further from Andy's work - takes him about 30 to get to work now from Frenchs Forest.

Two new additions to the family.

We welcomed Jet and Rocket (Noah named them) to the family a couple of weeks ago. They are brother and sister and are part burmese. We got them from Animal Welfare which is similar to SPCA. They have fitted in so well and we all love them. They have been really easy so far.

Kates Birthday!!

Kate has turned 11. Hard to believe - we agreed to 14 girls to stay the night - luckily the two invited boys went home earlier. Was lots of fun!

Tom does us proud!!

Wow is all we could say. Tom was 1st in Economics this year which was so exciting. He worked so hard and it paid off. Tom loves his new school and we have been amazed at the progress and also how much he loves school which was a lovely change. He likes the teachers and their approach which has helped immensely.

Kate is elected Prefect!

We were very proud of Kate who was recently elected a prefect at Seaforth Public School for 2009. This involved getting nominated to go in the running, then giving a speech to the school and then the elections. Kate is second in from the end.

Goodbye Baloo

Sadly our beautiful cat Baloo died in November. He was a lovely cat and moved well to Australia - despite going missing for the about ten days initially. We were all sad!

Kaitlyn goes Crosscountry!!

Kaitlyn did really well at cross country running at school and was able to attend the districts. Here she is in the uniform ready to race!

Noah the photographer!

We wonder if this will be his chosen profession as he spends a lot of time with the camera - here are a couple of his latest shots!

Noah starts swimming lessons!!

We finally got Noah into swimming lessons - we were recommended a lovely swimming school very like the pool at Tawa school the girls and Tom attended. He was a little unhappy at the first lesson but now is loving it and the progress in five weeks is amazing.

Halloween

Halloween is huge here and the costumes etc have been in the shops for months. Kaitlyn went to a halloween party at a friends and Noah and Molly when to trick or treat in a friends street where many of the residents take part. Noah was so excited about the prospect - he even knew he wanted the Scream mask in advance. They had an amazing time and it was lovely of the Hipps to invite us to join in! That is Noah and Mason ready to go!

Kaitlyn performs at the Opera House

How cool. Kaitlyn joined the choir at school and recently they sang at the Opera House. We ferried in to meet them and take them to dinner after they had been practicing all day. We then delivered them back for their performance. It was just lovely and we loved being inside the Opera House especially to see Kate. In the photo of the stall Kate is beside the child with their arm over the bannister. Last week we went again to her next concert at the Opera House but had to leave Andy and Kate to it as Molly was unwell and after a mad dash home in a taxi poor Molly vomited in the taxi but clever Mum caught in all jacket leaving the taxi sparkling only to drop it all on the doorstep at home. We can both laugh now!!!!

The Great Bridge Walk

Along with the McMurdos we walked across the Harbour Bridge from Kiribilli to The Rocks. What a lovely walk - was a lovely sunny day and the kids really enjoyed and boy the view was amazing.

Andy goes to Cairns (Cans)

While the rest of the guys went back to Wgtn for the holidays, I had a work conference in Cairns (Cans to the locals). I had two days of conferencing, but a day free to go and explore the Great Barrier Reef. I went with a work colleague Rick and his wife Sue. We caught a ferry to Fitzroy Island, kayaked around the island then over to Little Fitzroy Island for a cool picnic lunch and an exploration of the island. After that we had a couple of hours snorkeling around both islands - it was one of the coolest things I've ever done. Rick had hired an underwater camera (he's a bit of a photographer) and we got to take some really cool pictures. People have always talked about how cool the Reef was, but I never really got it until I went there. The coral and the sea life were unbelievable - hopefully some of the pictures show how special it was. On the way back there was an awesome silver sky and we got some really cool pictures. Cairns is definitely on the list of places to take the kids while we're here.

Visit Home

We made a quick visit home in the holidays (sorry if we didn't catch up - we were really pressed for time). We came hope to check the recovery of Pa who had a knee replacement but also got an infection - so was good to come home. The kids loved catching up with their special friends in NZ was so lovely to see them together. Was also lovely to see family again. Noah and Kyan had a lovely time - there seems to be a family resemblance too. I didn't get a picture of Kaitlyn and Meg unfortunately.

And then the Wellington Connolly's arrived!

While the Perth visitors were here the Wellington side of the family arrived. (the photo is from our home visit). Was great having both my brothers and their kids here and we enjoyed watching Sam (in the photo) play rugby with his touring team. Was good to see Dylan too!!!

The Perth Connollys Visit

We were lucky enough to have my brother Martin and his daughter Libby visit earlier this month. We had not seen each other for awhile so was great to see each other. The girls loved having Libby to visit - Noah I think missed not being the centre of attention.