Happy New Year

I'm not really one for looking back.  I don't spend too much time reviewing or rehashing things that have happened.
Live, learn, move on.
 I'm more of a now person or a tomorrow person...Not a yesterday person. Which is why I blog....so I can keep some kind of family record.  I don't scrapbbook.  I hardly ever even print photos out anymore.  So this blog allows me to capture today and happily move on to tomorrow.
Today is a big day though. The last time we will ever see 2010.  It has been a great year for our little family.  We completed our first year of homeschooling, we travelled, we met new friends and spent time with some old ones.  On a personal note, I fell in love with triathlon.  I ran over 800 miles (nearly 1,300km) and biked about the same number of miles.
But even though 2010 has been great I'm already eagerly anticipating 2011. I can't wait to see what is in store for us in the NewYear.
Happy NewYear everyone....see you in 2011!

Winter Wonderland

What's not to like about snow? 
Really...it's absolutely beautiful. It makes everything look so clean and new.
Yes...I know it makes travel more difficult...it certainly managed to mess up our holiday plans.  But there is something very pure and delicate about it that I just love. 
Bring it on, I say :-)

Pictures from our yard after last night's Winter Storm. 

Crafting up a Storm

With no school, no work and no organized sports I have had a little extra time on my hands over the last few days. So it seemed like a good time to pull out the knitting needles and the sewing machine and get some serious handmade goodness going.

Here are the results so far:

Knitted blankets - 1 completed and another started

Slippers - 1 set done (for myself of course). I used the tutorial here....super easy.




Christmas gifts (yes I know this is ridiculously early to be talking about next Christmas already) - 3 completed, 1 nearly done, 4 others started
New quilt for one of the kids - still in the planning stages.

Lots more crafty ideas swimming around in my brain.

Yes, You Can Choose Your Family

Let me just say that I LOVE my family. I love my brothers, I've been blessed with sisters-in-law that are like the sisters I never had and all my nephews and neices are my favorite kids in the world..( besides my own of course). But the only problem with my family is that they live about 8,000 miles away.

So this Christmas we spent the afternoon with our adopted family. These people are more than just friends and neighbors. They have opened up their homes and hearts to us and made us feel like we are part of their family.  They even agreed to a few Australian traditions including opening Christmas bonbons and wearing our funny paper hats for a family picture. 



So we talked,we shared,we laughed AND we feasted.

Is this the best turkey you have ever seen? And it tasted as good as it looked. Yum!



And we reflected on just how fortunate we are.