France Trip!

If you have wanted to see updates of our France trip...I have been updating my photography blog with photos pretty regularly now that we are in one spot for a while. You can see them here.

Right now, we are staying with family and friends in the adorable little town of Clisson, France. My older sister, Lindsay, is getting married to her wonderful fiance Dav tomorrow. Dav is from here and it has been really fun to meet his family and friends and try our best to communicate in one another's language. We have been enjoying a lot of French food and culture while we are here, and it is really cool to reunite with family after our long time away in Australia.

Last night we had a "pairing" at Dav's mother's 200 year old apartment. It was really fun! We had 3 courses of different cheeses (there are about 500 varieties of cheese in France!!) that were beautifully paired with a different wine to complement that course. The finish was a gorgeous dessert she made...chocolate mousse and the best tiramisu i have ever had! Pictures coming later for the pairing party.


At Carcassonne.


Our hotel in Collioure...I loved it!


Make sure you check out our Barcelona pictures too....

Madrid

We have had a wonderful few days visiting our friends who are currently living and working in Madrid, Spain. Brian and Kate have been so wonderful to bless us with their hospitality and take us around the city to their favourite coffee shops and tapas bars! It was the best way to recover from the jet-lag and LONG trip over here from Australia. Today we leave for Barcelona and I think we are all acclimated now!

Aubrey has LOVED hanging out with "Ba-ba" and "Tate" (Brian and Kate). They have gotten a lot of cuddles, kisses and holding hands from her!

Yesterday Kate took me to her favourite shopping spots and let me shop while she watched Aubrey...who entertained other shoppers. At one point while trying on shoes, I looked over and Aubrey had on ladies shoes, necklaces and accessories and was going up to people, waving and saying "hola" over and over again...needless to say the ladies love her!

Thank you B&K for a fantastic time!!! We can't even tell you enough how wonderful of a time we had with you two. You have such a gift of hospitality, thank you for your friendship and the energy you put into making sure we experienced some great things in Spain!








Aubrey kept saying "wow'd" (loud). The busting of busy Madrid was at times a little loud for her!


"Cheese"


At the Crystal Palace


At the Market

Brisbane-Hong Kong - Frankfurt - Madrid

After a long day of packing and cleaning, catching a little bit of Ben's graduation, listening to Aubrey scream the whole way to the Brisbane Airport, and a long night of flying, we have arrived in Hong Kong. Just about to board our flight to Frankfurt...but i thought i would get a few pictures up on the blog of the last days in Australia!


Aubrey helping me pack. Every thing i tried to put away, she would find a new interest in.



had to go to Under Water World one last time to see the baby Hammerhead Sharks, and also to say goodbye to "Memo" and "Goji"




bruce the shark




Seal Show at Seal Island



Okay! Almost time to get ready to board!!

2 Weeks Left in Australia!

I cannot believe I am already saying that we leave the Sunshine Coast in 2 weeks. These past 9 months have been wonderful (not always easy, but wonderful for the most part!). The little Missy is 20 months old, saying new words every day, and constantly brightening up our lives with her giggles and cheekiness.

It took nearly the entire nine months here, but she has finally warmed up to all the SBS students and staff and she loves to be the center of attention with them now. We wish we had longer with this great group of young people who love our sweet girl. They have all been SO good with her and made it their goal to get to this point with her. In the beginning she was pretty shy and overwhelmed with all the big people and new faces. It is great to see her so comfortable and playful with them all now!

A couple weeks ago Aubrey started "skipping", and we couldn't really figure out where she had learned that until one of the SBS staff girls saw her doing and was like "awww I taught her that!" It was pretty cool, I think it was the first thing someone had taught her outside of our home. She is definitely at the age where she is observing so much and learning from others.

Ben is working hard to finish his last bunch of books in these 2 weeks while Aubrey and I just try and enjoy every last day by taking trips to favourite parks, Underwater World, the beach, and of course to see friends.

This week I have been doing a lot of study on Jehovah Witness beliefs. 2 young women approached me at the beach the other day, and told me how much they love teaching the Bible. Of course this isn't the first time I have encountered a JW, and I am sure you have had one or two at your door before too. However this is the first time I have been really interested in what they are taught. The more I read and learn, the more God is breaking my heart for them. The less annoyed with them I feel, and the more love. I realize how much they have been lied to, and how the foundation of their beliefs is incredibly flawed. It is pretty easy to disprove, however I have learned that they have been taught to be very closed minded and to not think for themselves. I have learned that it doesn't do much good to just argue what the Bible teaches with them. If you really want to reach them, you have to try and get them to start thinking for themselves and resist the temptation to do any "teaching" yourself. If you are interested in learning more, check out this site I have found really helpful in understanding where JW's are coming from : www.towerwatch.com

Okay, here are a few pictures from the other day!



You'll have to jump over to my photography site to see more of them.

Emerging Eden : Modern Inspiration for Wholesome Living

So one of my best friend's and I have started yet another blog. You might have noticed the list of blogs to your right.... her family blog is "Matt and Johnni". We have been emailing back and forth for a few years now, just swapping good information with one another, finally we decided that we might as well share it with other people! We have gone on searches for the "best" cloth diaper, the best natural deodorants (that actually work), struggles with low milk supply while nursing and what helped us, passion for making socially and environmentally responsible choices with our purchases (from chocolate to clothing to diapers), you name it. A big thing with us is that it has to MAKE SENSE. Everything we do, the choices we make, and that changes that we implement into our family life must be better not only for ourselves, but also others and the environment too.

Our goal is not to stand preaching on a soap-box because we aren't the experts. We are just on a journey and want to try new things! Our hope for Emerging Eden is that it can be a place of community, where we can share ideas, learn and grow together.

Stop by and leave us a comment! Even better, add us to your www.bloglovin.com account , "LIKE" us on Facebook, and follow our blog....leaving us LOTS of feedback...tell us what you have tried or what you think of a post or even what you would like to see on our blog.

And a few pictures to boot ;)

Bree helping me make one of her (and mine and Ben's!) favourite snacks : THE RAW BROWNIE.





Notice how she stuffs the mix into her mouth rather than the pan? I turned the photos to black and white so we didn't look too "dirty". She is covered head to toe in cacao (fair trade raw cocoa).





This recipe literally takes less than 10 minutes to make and is packed full of deliciousness and lots of crazy good nutrients for the whole family :) You can find it on my favourite foodie blog : My New Roots.

Aubrey : 18 Months

Yes, she is quickly approaching 20 months! But I forgot to blog these, and these are from April. She caught on to the shapes puzzle, and loves to do it every night before bed! Now at 19 months we are working on teaching her the colours of the shapes. You know those ring toys? The ones where the plastic rings all pile onto a pole in descending size? Well she has figured out that concept this month too :) It is fun to see children working out problems and solving them!





These next ones were taken out at our friends' acreage! I love the lemon tree in the background :) And I love their place because it is just beautiful, clean with a sweet touch of vintage :)

Lil' Miss Busy Pants

Well, things are getting interesting around here with our sweet-little-precious-baby full-on into toddlerhood at 19 months old! Naps are getting pretty tricky since she got a huge bout of confidence in her climbing ability just the other week. Every day this week has gone like the video below. Yes, we have tried many things to try and help her understand that we are in charge, not her, and when we say it's nap time, it's nap time my tired little one. Even going so far as to sit beside her bed and not let her climb out....for almost 2 hours. Did I mention she was screaming and crying that whole time? Yep. Oh and yes, we did try a make-shift "toddler bed" by putting her mattress on the floor and laying with her for a bit. Nope. Too busy, she says. Because we are living in Australia for 1 more month (where did the time go!) and then off to Europe, the real toddler bed will have to wait....and I (mommy talking) have to let go of control for a few months and let her take naps in the stroller or car. She obviously is more strong-willed than me!

On the up-side...she is trying out new words every day. Her favourites : "dee" (dates), "yo-yo" (yogurt), "co co" (cacoa, she helps me bake), "na-owww" (no), "me-mo" (Nemo), and "mo Bee-Ba" (more Simba from Lion King). Oh and "mo baw" (more park).

On to the video! Hopefully the [tiny bit of] crying doesn't get to you!

April 2011 : Nana and Gramps' Visit and Fraser Island

We all had a really nice time with Nana and Gramps when they came to visit us in Australia last month. We went to a few different places - Caloundra, Noosa, Fraser Island, Sanctuary Cove (on the Gold Coast), and of course our Mudjimba Beach. Fraser Island was a fun, 4-day adventure on the largest sand island....lots and lots of 4WD on the beach and throughout the Island. We went to a number of neat spots including Indian Head, the Maheno Shipwreck, Eli Creek, Lake Mackenzie, and Lake Waddy. Aubrey and Daddy enjoyed their 6 am swims in the resort pool while I slept in.

Aubrey still talks about Nana and Gramps, and often brings up their names and says "bye bye", realizing that they have gone back home.

Our time in Australia is quickly coming to an end! It is bittersweet...we are excited for all that is next, but sad about leaving one of our favourite spots to live!











You'll have to jump over to my photography site to see the rest :)

Family Photos!!!! YAY!

We were so blessed to have another family photo session...Aubrey at 19 months old this time..such a little lady :)

The photographer is Gemma Troy. I met her at our playgroup here on the Sunshine Coast, and photography aside, we really just click as friends. That is always a huge blessing when you move to a new place! What is also a huge blessing is swapping photography services for family sessions ;) Awesome! I did her family back in March, you can see them here.

Check out our preview from the session we did with her last night! Don't giggle too much at the first photo...we giggled enough for everyone ;) Aubrey looks the best in that one for sure!!

OUR PHOTOS!

19 Months Old : A Video

Well, we have both been really behind in updating our blog, so hopefully a video will do for now!

Lately Ben has been working really hard during his last semester at School Of Biblical Studies. This week the students are working hard to complete one of their longest books : Isaiah. Last night Ben briefly summed up a theme of Isaiah for me that I will try and reiterate : Who will you place your trust in? Other nations, yourself or God? The book of Isaiah brings with it judgment on nations, but also the restoration for all people (not just Israel) through the Messiah.

oh and one last thing. If you haven't heard of bloglovin you should check it out. It is a free website that allows you to view all of the blogs you enjoy reading from one easy to navigate site. So you don't need to visit your blogs each day, you just go to bloglovin and they will update it for you with who has new posts! This will save you so much time in your already busy schedule. So go to bloglovin, sign up, and begin following this blog, Emerging Eden and Chelsa's photography website.

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