End of the school year

The girls just finished another successful school year with a number of
ceremonies to be a part of or perform at. Olivia sang her first public
solo as part of her choir performance at three different ceremonies and
Ellen also had her viola out on numerous occasions performing. A great
year at a great school.

Four

Four years old already - how the time has flown, and so much has
changed. She's already living in her 4th house!!
The photos capture some of the spunk that this little girl shows
everyday - she's a delight that adds a mischievous and fun-loving
element to our family. She loves to be part of everything, and is often
found trying to emulate her older sisters feats, from Cello playing to
hanging on the trapeze and everything in between...
Some of her favourite things include reading her Bible, counting
(everything!), reading books/being read to (by anyone), swimming
(especially backstroke) and bike riding (her most recent passion). This
delightful little lady already has a huge impact on the world around
her, and we can't wait to see what God has in store for her in the
future. Happy Birthday Lauren!!

Hospital trip

Lauren had a trip to the hospital recently to have her adenoids removed
and bilateral grommets inserted. She was a trooper through a very long
day. Her hearing has improved notably already, so that's great news. The
doctors, nurses and other staff were amazing and couldn't do enough to
help throughout the day - so while she was a little daunted at first,
the whole experience overall was a fairly positive one. Now for the
healing...

Photography by Greg...

Underneath the old Shorncliffe pier and looking up at a tree at Mary
Cairncross Park on a recent bushwalk. Aren't they great photos!

Photography by Greg...

Photos are of the underneath of the old Shorncliffe pier and a tall tree
in Mary Cairncross Park...some great shots I think!

3 & 3/4

Lauren's kindy photo...unfortunately we completely forgot, so she went
in her 'kindy finest' (ie something 4th hand and perfectly appropriate
for getting dirty, painted or wet!) and with messy pigtails askew
courtesy of an older sister or Daddy in a rush. Fortunately the ladies
found a clean jumper to throw on over the top and quickly pulled her
hair into some semblance of order...
Growing up...

Year 4 camp

Ellen and I just returned from Grade 4 camp having had an amazing time.
Some highlights were the ropes course and flying fox, radio rogaine,
learning how to light fires four different ways without using matches
(rather disturbing to be doing that with a group of 9 year olds!) and
the awesome food — who ever heard of pannacotta with raspberry coulis
for dessert on camp?!!!!

More holiday pics

A few more photos from our holiday on the coast. We really did have a
great time. Only managed to get a photo of Ellen standing on the surf
board though - forgot the camera for Liv's turn unfortunately...

Winter holiday

We had a week up the coast this June/July school holidays and despite
the chilly weather forecast, we had a marvelous time.
The girls learnt to how to catch yabbies; went fishing (toad fish and
undersized bream and whiting were all they caught unfortunately!); both
big girls finally stood up on the surf board in the surf and of course
there were numerous sand castles to build and places to explore.
All in all, a great week of building memories together as a family!

Cupcakes and gardens

These are rather random to put together, but there you have it. Nanna,
Aunty Tricia, Lauren and I ventured out for morning tea recently to
somewhere new and had a lot of laughs (as usual) and some yummy cake to
share as well. A few days later I went as a parent helper on Liv's class
trip to the botanic gardens and had an absolute blast - what a great
group of kids! I loved the Japanese Cherry Blossom being in flower too...

All schools cross country

Olivia ran at the All Schools Cross Country championships a little while
ago and did an amazing job. She ran a personal best by nearly a minute
and we were all very proud of her efforts. Well done Livvy-lou!

The great outdoors

We started the process of getting a new roof for the outdoor area early
on as the original one was so low that Greg was having to duck at
certain points when walking around. It's been a slow process but this
week the final work has been done (apart from lights etc.) - looking
forward to getting the outdoor setting and BBQ out of the garage and
back into use again!
These aren't the finished photos, but near enough that you can see the
huge change.

Progress photos

Well the laundry is basically finished apart from some cornice and painting - loving all the extra storage and the hidden hanging rail! The vanity, bathroom and toilet have been tiled. Painting, shower screen and mirror have been put in since these photos - just waiting for the bath to go in and that section of the house will be done too.
Lauren is very keen for Daddy to get the bath done - a few months of showers only and she's hanging out for a bath.

A doorway to...

well the garage actually. Our new house had no internal access to the
garages so one fine Saturday morning Greg decided to create one (as you
do). All done in a day, including the lovely timber step from the left
over timber from our floors in Toowoomba - very impressive and very
useful! Thanks Greg.

Cookies...

The girls all love cooking and will use any excuse to get busy in the
kitchen - choc chip cookies are a favourite (thanks for the secret
recipe Nanna!). Lauren found the perfect place to keep herself and her
toys amused while they were cooking - the brick planter box near the
front door that we haven't pulled out yet also doubles as a boat, or
cubby house, or dolls bedroom, or..... you get the idea!

Easter craft

We had fun making some Easter crosses on the weekend. Didn't they do a
great job!

8th Birthday

The birthday girl -crazy glasses and all.

The family gathering...what more can I say?

Olivia is a delightful little lady that constantly amazes us with her
deep thinking, huge heart for helping others and her desire to make a
difference in the lives of the less fortunate. Can't wait to see the
plan in place for this little lady's life!

She had a wonderful 8th birthday and with her quirky personality I
should have known that it would have been the gimmick glasses that came
with a shirt that took her fancy as a favourite gift (among others of
course!). She wore them everywhere for days afterwards...

Happy birthday Livvy-lou - we love you!

Progress

Demolition underway - this is the fun part apparently!

The girls love to help Dad on the job (really!)

Nearly finished - tiling was done this day

The walls have been relocated, the plaster work redone, the plumber has
been through and the cabinet makers are done - just a few finishing
touches to go, but the new laundry and linen cupboards are sooooo much
better (and bigger) than what was there before. 
Great job Greg!

Cheesy

Love this photo of Miss Three!
Captures her cheeky personality and bright blue eyes.

Kiwi connection

Aunty Elaine and Uncle Pat came for a visit and we took them up to
Australia Zoo for the day. Despite the overcast skies we had a lovely
day and came back exhausted. So lovely to be able to spend time with them, much better than a phone call!

40

The team at work decorated his workstation with lots of little bits and pieces - what a great bunch they are!

Greg and his girls - a crazy group when they get up to mischief...

Greg had his 40th this year and while the celebrations were low key and
just with family we still managed to have a lot of fun and make another
amazing birthday cake - and ice cream cake with multiple layers this time - it took days to assemble!

School's back

First day back for the girls and they were very eager to go after the
long summer break and catch up with all their friends. They've grown so
much since I bought those uniforms a couple of years ago - I can see
I'll be investing in more before I know it!

Huh?

The parenting books I read when pregnant and with my first two girls didn't prepare me for our third little miss (age 3 years)...

L - 'Mum, what's inside my leg?'

M - 'Well, there are bones and muscles and parts to move blood around so that you can move...'

L - 'So we could cut it open and give the bone to a dog?' (with a satisfied tone)

M - 'Um..., well technically I guess so....but you wouldn't be able to stand up anymore.'

L - 'Oh - that's okay. I don't need to stand up'

I can't wait until she's a teenager!!

First camping trip of 2014

Bushwalking to the point with the Meeches and Papa

Little moments, fun memories - the snake was a Bandy Bandy, only slightly venomous apparently

Lots of fun in and around the water - Papa got up on the windsurfer at age 73, Daddy and Mummy also had a ride

The Eigel's first outing with their tent was successful, and the mangoes - Yum!

We headed away for a week with family and friends and had a great time camping, swimming, windsurfing and just chilling out. Our bushwalk took us to a place where there were mango trees laden with ripe fruit (yum!!) with a nearby inlet to wash our hands. Campfires (thanks Uncle Phil!), marshmellows and s'mores, bike riding, sparklers, an unusual snake and so much more made our camping trip another time full of memories.

You can click on the images to see them larger.

Grandparents and cousins

Here's the annual shot of the grandparents with all the grandchildren on each side. After the gift opening of course! Always lovely to look back and see how they have grown over the year.

2013 was a huge year for our family and I can only imagine that things will continue on that path this year as well - what blessings and trials we've seen, yet God has been faithful throughout!

Trees and boats

The girls put up and decorated the Christmas tree themselves this year and did a very good job too. Apparently more really is more when it comes to Christmas! We also enjoyed an afternoon up at Aunty Wendy and Uncle Noel's place watching the annual Christmas lights boat parade where what seemed like an endless number of vessels decorated themselves with lights and paraded around the canals - Santa even made an appearance with the marine rescue crew while it was still light.
Aren't the 'stockings' that Aunty Beverly made impressive - what you can do with cheerios and cream cheese! (click for a bigger image if you wish)

Awards

I didn't get very good photos, but between them the girls received a number of extra awards at school at the end of last year, for music and sport, in addition to the ICAS awards that were given earlier in the year.
Some were a complete surprise, and it was lovely to see them rewarded for a lot of hard work throughout the year. Well done girls!

Various celebrations

Olivia did the swim leg of an aquathlon with a friend of hers and had a fantastic time - even more fun with a friend, although she tells me she'll do it solo next time.

The school festival was a chance for the girls to perform in their various dances, choirs and ensembles and to let their hair down on some rides as well - a fun (and hot) day.

Grandma and Papa's church once again provided an amazing afternoon of entertainment and fun, really blessing their community at Christmas time.