Arrival and Race Day

Here are some pictures of Rhys in the Sydney airport and airplane and also when we arrived in Portland.
The first weekend I was with Mom and Dad we went down to Eugene to watch Shauna and Dad compete in a race. Dad ran the 10k and Shauna ran the half-marathon! (I think she realizes now why atheletes have to sit in a big tub of ice when they are done competing.) :) It was also Shauna's first time to meet Rhys and I think she was pretty excited!

Mom and Dad

Linda Griffith, Shauna's companion, and Rhys

Rhys and I cuddled up in our wrap

Dad and Shauna... the aftermath!

Shauna getting cuddles from Rhys

Catching up: Trip Home to the States

Mom with Rhys and Paige
Dad with Rhys and Paige

Arlen with Rhys

Me with Paige

Shauna and I with Rhys in his wrap

Hope you don't mind me playing a bit of catch up here. As I said in the last post, I am going to have to just brush over everything and for anyone who wants to see all our pictures, they are on our Picasso site.

Rhys and I left for the US of A on Nov. 17th and arrived on the 18th. Mom was there to collect me and we had dinner with my brother and his wife and their daughter Paige. It was good to see Paige as she is 4 days younger than Rhys. We had a really nice time at home and were lucky to see a lot of Arlen and Jessi and their family as they were living with Mom and Dad while waiting for his new job to start. Shauna's field wasn't far away either, so we saw quite a bit of her too. We had 5 weeks in total there with Eldon joining us 10 days before we left.

When we arrived, Rhys was just on 4 months and when we left for NZ, he was 5 1/2...it is still amazing how quickly they grow and change and learn new things. We started Rhys on cereal while we were home which in itself was an adventure.

One of the neat things that happened when we were in the USA was it snowed! Eldon and I have been so lucky...the last two years we have been home in the winter and it has snowed and stuck. We love having a break from the heat and it's even more fun to enjoy a white christmas. This time we actually went sledding...I'll post pictures of that later I think so that this post doesn't get too long.

We are alive!!!

It's been so long since I blogged, I've got to remind myself how to do it! We are finally home from our extended holiday to see both our families. I have a million pictures as you can well imagine, so I am uploading them as we speak to our Picasa photos (click here to go to our photos). I will be playing catch up as soon as I can, but I won't be able to put all our pictures on here, so if you want to see the lot....have fun!

Rhys is doing pretty good for all the travelling he has done and all the time zones he's been through! We arrived home on Saturday and so far we've had two rough days but it's getting better. He has outgrown a lot of his clothes that I took on vacation, so I am sorting those out and trying to see what he can wear! He has started rolling over and now he just wants to get moving. It's a bit frustrating for him but at least he likes being on his tummy now. He turned 6 months yesterday...can't believe how time has flown! We started him on solids early because he was so interested in it...guess he takes after Mom AND Dad! :)

Hope everyone who reads this is doing really good...looking forward to doing some blog catching-up soon.

Off to see the wide world!!!

Well friends, Rhys and I are off to the States tomorrow afternoon to see our family and friends! Eldon is joining us in a few weeks and then together, we will travel to NZ to see more family and friends! We are so looking forward to catching up with everyone and introducing you to our fabulous son! I'm not sure that I will be posting anything for a while so please don't give up on me. We will be back here in January and I'll have lots of news and pictures to show. Hope everyone has a great few months and great holidays!

Weekend away at Home Valley Station

We are back from a fabulous weekend away! We went to Home Valley Station which is a working cattle station not far from Kununurra. We had to drive down a dirt road for most of the 1.5 hr journey, so we borrowed a friend's ute. The road was in pretty good shape until after we crossed over the Pentecost River and then it was rough. Luckily, it is only a short distance after the river crossing. The first two pics show the river crossing head on and also from the side as we drove through. It is pretty low right now but during the wet season it floods right up to where I took the first picture, and there are lots of crocs in it!

The station is a working station still, but they have turned it into a "resort" as well. It is located on the Gibb River Road which is a well traveled road in the dry season by many tourists. This was their first year and I'm sure they'll have many good years to come! The place is beautiful. It appeals to the bush-loving people as well as those who don't necessarily want to rough it. We stayed in a Grass Castle which is basically a cabin facing the Bindaloo Creek. (Two of the pictures are looking out our front sliding glass door) The cabins are really lovely inside with a king-size bed and really awesome shower. They supply bathrobes and even put a cot in the room for us! There is a really nice swimming pool and restaurant (I wish I could have taken a better picture of it..it is decked out with saddles and cattle skulls and all sorts of things) and best of all, it was pretty much dead quiet since it is the end of the tourist season. We were able to get a "local" discount on the cabin.

It was Rhys's first time in a pool and he loved it! Someone gave him a little hat which is a little too big, but worked really well anyway. I thought he looked so cute with it on! We had a really nice weekend away and also made some decisions as to what we are doing and where we are going from here...more on that later.

Rhys cooling his heels on our king-size bed

full-on laughing at Daddy

Ann Geddes moment?

He loved the pool!

Wow, it sure is bright out here!

totally exhausted after our swim

Peeping over the wall behind the bed