Christmas Day

Well, we were so lucky this year with the weather! Forecast called for rain and thunderstorms...not very exciting! But we ended up with nice breezy cool (if you call 32 cool) weather! It was a great day for just hanging out, eating, and relaxing in the pool..which is exactly what we did! We spent the day at our friends' place (Tim and Danielle). Tim's brother, Pete, was also there. They have a baby girl, Eva, who is just getting big enough for Rhys to take notice! On the menu was: Turkey and stuffing, ham, butternut squash bake, 3 kinds of cold salads, broccoli and cauli bake, cranberry (of course)...hmmm can't remember if I'm missing anything. Anyway, it was delicious! We had 4 different desserts which ended up as our dinner as we were too full to eat them after lunch!

Had to get a picture with the stocking!

Rhys managed to open his first present...a book from Arlen and Jessi...and then he promptly sat down to read it and forgot about all his other presents!

Eldon reading "The Gruffalo" to Rhys

Eva likes the music from the frog on this bouncer so Rhys is helping her pull the cord

Sitting down to our feast! (Notice Eva in the bumbo...getting very interested in food!)

Rhys in the pool...he wasn't very happy to begin with

One of Tim and Danielle's dogs relaxing on an inner tube

Dinner! Pavlova, apple pie, christmas tree cupcakes, and chocolate marshmellow balls (not pictured)

Christmas baking....

Merry Christmas everyone! We are heading to some friends' house tomorrow for the day....a day of eating and relaxing in the pool, playing games and then more eating probably! Hope everyone has a really good day! Here are pics of my baking to get you in the mood!!!

Orange Cinnamon Bread

Apple Butterscotch Pie

Christmas Tree Cupcakes

Stocking complete!

I have finished the stocking for Rhys! It turned out pretty well considering I didn't really know what I was doing!
These are the fabrics I found...didn't want traditional christmas-y fabrics so we went with blues and dogs...Rhys loves dogs!

These are the two sides cut out...the back is navy with gold pin stripe and the front is going to be quilted...

All cut out and quilted...just putting the stars and cuff on...
Here's the back all done...Finished!

Close up of the stars and cuff

All ready for Christmas!

Convention 2009

We cheated this year and flew to convention! The company Eldon works for has a flight over to Townsville twice a week and it worked out nicely for us to catch that. We rented a car from Townsville and drove down to Mackay (about 4 hours). The convention is just south of there in a place called Chelona. We rented a cabin so that we could have air-conditioning (slackers, I know) and we were so glad of it! The weather was hot and sticky, much more humid than Mt Isa at the moment. Convention was wonderful, of course, and we had the added bonus of an Oregon worker, Doyle Smith. It was nice to catch up with him on Sunday afternoon before we left again for Townsville.
Rhys looking rather sleepy as we wait for our plane.

Mommy's kisses are the best!
Beechcraft 1900D which we flew on...19 seats. We left Mt Isa at 12noonish and unfortunately that is getting into the hottest time of the day. The aircraft is pressurized...but it is small enough that you feel every bump. The route goes from Mt Isa and stops 3 times along the way in rural areas...so we got the bumps and jumps x 3! Poor Mom!

The awesome car we rented....they gave us a free upgrade to an XR6 and I have to say, it was hard coming home to our bomb!
Our cabin

Mom and Rhys, hanging out in the back!

Doyle Smith with Rhys

After our Sunday afternoon meal...

So sleepy..on our way home...we had a very long night and a very early morning!
Deep in the reading material...apparently there was a dog on that page...

My Little Laundry Helper

Quiet Book project

Mom brought over a half completed quiet book for us to finish for Rhys at convention. As per usual, we didn't start it until two days before convention, so here we are, up late at night trying to get it done in time!!Hmmm, what should go on this page?
Guess it'll be the cover!

The completed book!!!

Photos of our friends

This is the lovely family from Zimbabwe in our meeting

The Hawkins family, our elders and their daughter, son and daughter in-law
Guess who?

Ok...this is off the subject...this is a yummy chocolate cake I made...it has white chocolate cream cheese frosting with fresh strawberries! Yum!Those are just a few of the friends in our meeting...haven't got a meeting picture yet.

Weekend away in the middle of the week!

Eldon and I were very fortunate to be able to slip away for a couple days last week while Mom looked after Rhys at home! The company Eldon works for had a plane going to Cairns for maintenance so we (meaning Eldon did all the flying and I tried not to fall asleep!) flew it over and then stayed on for a couple of days. Little did we know that our little holiday was going to be extended...Just as we were holding to get on the runway on our way home, Eldon's boss called and asked us to change our flights plans and go direct to Townsville instead of back to Mount Isa. So we flew to Townsville and, after a few confusing hours, I went to a hotel and Eldon went on to fly another 5 1/2 hours on a run for the company. So we had an unscheduled night in Townsville and flew back the next morning. I hadn't been flying with Eldon for some time so it was pretty fun to do it again. It was scorching hot on the ground inside the plane while we were doing checks and getting clearances etc...now I know what Eldon goes through every single day at work! I had sweat dripping off me and pooling behind my sunnies...yuck! The headphones make it so much hotter! Once we got in the air, the air vents kept us at a reasonable temperature. It was nice and bumpy on the way home but not enough to make me sick, thank goodness! We were so glad to get home and see Rhys and Mom...this was the first time I'd ever been away from him overnight!!! Oh man did I miss him! Anyway, he had a great time with Nana.

This is the plane we flew over, Cessna 402

My hubby loves posing, can't you tell?

Me in front of the marina just before we got soaked in a rain shower

We sheltered from the storm in a gelato store...hmmm bad idea?

Eldon with our Thai meal, "Elephant steampot" (no, we did not eat elephant)

Looking back at the coastline as we flew into Cairns

This is the cloud reflection on the ocean...very cool

Flying back into Mt Isa...you can see one of the smelter stacks right in front, the mines are right behind it