FIRST DIGITAL LAYOUT EVER!!

I stayed up a little too late last night playing with this Digital Scrapbooking template. I do have all of my scrapbooking stuff here, but we are not organized yet and I am itching to get back into it. I have so many trips, events, etc., to scrap book and I need to start somewhere, so I thought why not try a few Digital Pages.

I am really new to this, like have never done it before in my life. So when they started talking about layering for example, I was already lost. However, thanks to my good friend and scrapbooking genius Heather, she had sent out a link to this company Two Peas in a Bucket. Well they have a link on how to digital scrapbook and they even allow you to download some free templates and use them. So I played last night and I will show you my first ever Digital layout. I really did have a lot of fun with it.....a little frustration at first, but once I figured it out it was smooth sailing. Of course I still have so much to learn.

Prayers Please......

We could really use some prayers please!

First for our nephew Cody who just had surgery because his appendix ruptured. He is recoverying well and should be out of the hospital tomorrow. He is most upset that he won't get to play hockey for a bit. It is a big ordeal for a little guy like him to go through and I am sure the pain is a little unbearable at times. So please pray for a speedy recovery, free of any complications.

Second, we could use a lot of prayer right now. Every day there has been something that has come up or completely blind sighted us. We are questioning what God's plan is for us over here. We knew that it would not be easy, but we never expected this many problems. We keep wondering if we are trying to force something that is not God's will, or if we are supposed to somehow endure the trials---or the storm (that's what it feels like right now)! Please pray that God will speak to us and make His Will clear to us. We are feeling like we are on our last straw now and are ready to pack things up and head back to Canada. So please keep us in your prayers!

Hope you are all having a good week!

God Bless!

First Steps.....

Someone just decided to take his first steps yesterday. Of course when he decided to do it we did not have our camera or video camera. We were actually at our old place cleaning it and handing back the keys. John was on baby watch duty, while I was on cleaning duty.

Zech has been standing up for a week now or more, and by that I mean he will be in the middle of the room, yard or beach and just decide that he wants to stand up, so he does. He reminds me of a gofer, or a rabbit when they stand up to check things out.

Well yesterday he stood up and decided to take a few steps. So the most he took was 6, but he was so proud of himself. He would stand up and take a few steps and then fall down and clap and laugh for himself and then try it all over again. Oh I wish we could have had it on video!

When we got home he was trying in the yard and I got my camera, but he would do it with his back turned to me, or else he would do it and then as soon as I went to shot a picture he would sit down and laugh at me! I did get this cute shot yesterday and the black and white one today. He still isn't confident and steady on his own, but today we walked around the yard and he was just holding my one hand and was doing fine. So before we know it he will be off and runnning!

Paradise Point

So here are a few pictures of our new place in Paradise Point. We are slowly getting organized, unpacked, settled, etc. Zech loves it here. He has his own room, which he spends hours in, but most of his time is spent outside in the nice big yard. He gets so upset when we take him inside for his nap, bath, to eat, etc.

We do have room for visitiors. We have turned the garage into the Spare/office/storage/laundry room. Houses here are a little smaller and do not have the storage space like in Canada. That is probably because they spend most of their time at home outside.

Hope to see some of you soon! :o)

The front

The front/side view

The side

The back--along with all of our boxes

Little Rueben

Everytime we went to visit Grandpa Halwa in the Manor, Zech was known as "little Rueben". It is a fitting title as he does have so many characteristics that remind me of Dad. We took these pictures and I had to share these, as when we were reviewing them we could not get over how much Zech looked like Dad. I guess it is just the facial expression and the way he is sitting that reminded us so much of Dad.

Another long week!!

We moved into our new place yesterday and it was a long tiring day--especially for my dear hubby who had to do the second load all by himself. He is such a strong, wonderful man!! We were up late unloading and then this morning we had to have the truck back first thing, so we were up early. We still have the old place for a week, so it will give us some time to do all the cleaning, etc.

We are trying to unpack and get settled and it is now starting to feel a little more like home. We also went on a nice walk around our new neighbourhood and we really, really like it here (plus we are sick of moving)! It is really quiet and peaceful here and of course we are close to the beach and there are tonnes of parks and running trails!

I will post pictures of our new home and area later this week, once we get a little more settled. It has almost been like Christmas time here, unpacking and opening all these boxes of our stuff that we haven't seen in almost four months now. Zech was in his glory with all of his new (well old) toys and the big yard for him to roam around in.

Just thought I would post some pictures that I took a couple of weeks ago. It is the rainy season here and it does get quite chilly, so we have had to put on pants and long sleeves. I have quite a few outfits for Zech that he has never worn and I was afraid he wouldn't get to wear because of the heat, but I was wrong. He has had a chance to wear a few now. So here is a favourite that Grandma H gave him.

He actually let me put his hat on and he kept it on!

He was so mad at me for switching his hat around! This is a good indication of the mood that my little man has been in for a while now--whiney and angry, but I guess I can't blame him with all the transitions and all the teeth! (I love this picture, even though he is so mad, he is so darn cute!)

And now for the speaches. Zech gets into speach mode and he goes on and on and on. Of course we can't understand a word, but the more we agree with him, the more he talks. He is so animated too, he loves to use his hands and his finger. I think he gets this from Grandma H--I remember her talking and using her hands and Dad would imitate her gestures in a exaggerated fashion--it was too funny. I am so glad that I was able to capture these photos of him in speach mode. Usually he gives his best and longest speaches in the car and it is kind of hard to capture those on the camera!

Steve Irwin Day

Today we celebrated 'Steve Irwin Day'. It has been just over a year now since Steve Irwin passed away. They chose to make November 15 the State of Queenslands 'Steve Irwin Day', as this was the day (two years ago) that Harriet the Sea Turtle passed away. Harriet was an Australian Zoo icon. She was over 150 years old and Steve's favourite animal in the zoo.

We got up early, dressed in Khaki and headed to the Zoo to celebrate Steve Irwin Day. It was packed, there were thousands of people there, but we are glad that we went. I have always liked Steve Irwin, I thought that he was a little extreme and yes a little crazy, but he had such an infectious personality. His research and documentaries are invaluable and he has made so many of us more aware of nature and of how we need to protect it and conserve it.

A bit of history about the Australian Zoo: it opened in the early 1970s and was a mere 4 acres. It is now 70 acres and over the next five years it will expand to 100 acres with the end goal being close to 500 acres. Oh Crikey, that is a lot!! It just received the award for being Queenslands major tourist attraction for 2007.

Terri Irwin and the kids were present. Terri released and was signing her new book My Steve so people were lined up for hours to get her to sign it.

Terri unvelied this new memorial which is located at the front of the Zoo just past the admissions area. Steve was known for his love of his family, conservation and of course having fun.

The crocoseum (designed by Steve so that people could see how the Crocs really act in the wild) was packed for some pretty neat performances. Bindi Irwin and the Crocmen received awards for their album reaching gold. Bindi was also the youngest Australian to receive an Aria award. She preformed two new releases that were dedicated to her Dad. She is pretty cute and loves the camera and people!

We also heard Olivia Newton John sing three of Terri and Steve's favourites. She does have a beautiful voice.

We did get a chance to check out the Zoo. There were lots of activities that we could have stuck around for, but we did want to see the Zoo. Some favourites were Kangaroo Island. You can get up close and personal with the Kangaroos. Feed them, pet them, talk to them. We got some great video of us petting them (my camera batteries died, but thankfully we had the video camera with us). We also got to pet the Koalas and that was really neat. The snake cave was really neat too. I do not like snakes, but it was really neat to see the different venemous snakes and where they live--yikes! Of course the Crocs were pretty cool too. Terri did a Croc show in the Crocoseum. We got it on video and it is pretty amazing.

I have a lot more pictures to share, but will have to do it on another post. In the end we had one tired little boy, who was so excited to see all of the different kinds of animals. He loves animals, especially dogs, so every animal to him is a papapa--that is how he says puppy!