Europe 08 Yah baby!

Well Casey & I were off to Europe for 3 weeks. We were so excited as we were spending a week meeting up with Joel & Roxanne as well as Jamie, Tracy & Ethan(we met them all in Australia. Our flight took us to London, England then we were transfering to head to Dublin, Ireland. We spent the night in Dublin by the airport and then in the morning head to the airport to meet Joel & Roxanne as they were flying over from Newcastle, England. When they arrived it was like yesterday we had saw them when we say them, we hadn't missed a beat. It was so amazing to see them! We went from the airport to pick up a rental car then head into Dublin to find our hostel. The start of our adventures. After driving around trying to figure out where our hostel was, finding parking and figuring out that our hostel had no parking but we had to find a pay parking lot. We parked the car and headed to our hostel to unpack our things.

Time to say Goodbye

Well it was time to leave Australia which we were sad about but excited to surprise our families as none of them knew we were coming home. We had built such special friendships that it was really hard not knowing when we would all see eachother again. We had a bit of a joke by the time we left due to Casey's many injuries that we took a picture of him by the maniqine that made us all think of him. This trip to Australia was one of the most amazing times in our lives. One that God blessed us with so many things. Growing and getting to know Him in such a special way, teaching us so many things like being kingdom minded and that earth isn't our home but heaven is. He blessed us with friends that have so impacted our lives and we feel such a connection with and so honored to have been able to have them as friends. We saw God lead us in so many ways and we saw some amazing miracles. I am so thankful for the blessings of what this year has been. I am also thankful that we chose to be obedient to our faithful, amazing God!

Sailing

Stu & Kristi and Kristi's parents took us out sailing for a day which was amazing. It was bright and early so we all needed our coffee fix before heading out. It was in a habour area so I didn't get sick! We sailed for a bit to this beautiful area where everyone (except me) went in for a swim. Casey went off venturing around and found a rocky area that he decided to check out and climb on. Well once back in the water being careful as possible to avoid the coral he missed seeing a piece and sliced his hand open. So after our sailing trip we were off to the same hospital again courtesy of Stu & Kristi. Besides that we had an absolutely great time enjoying the beauty & wonderful company.

Ethan's 1st Birthday

Ethan's first birthday was down at the ferry side of manly beach not far from Jamie & Tracy's apartment. Tracy made her family's traditional hedgehog cake and you could tell Ethan loved it. Right after cake and food and some great video footage it began to pour rain. We packed up and ran to the ferry area to take cover while the little ones loved getting soaked playing in the warm rain.

Almost Christmas

It was kind of strange seeing all the Christmas decorations out and trees everywhere in the middle of what felt like summer....well I guess it is their summer. It was really neat as downtown the department stores had their windows decorated with scenes of the nutcracker or other Christmas themes.

Royal Botanical Gardens

The Royal Botanical Gardens are huge and absolutely beautiful. We spent pretty much all day touring them and the areas around. The different flowers there were amazing. Once thing that was kinda creepy though was when you went through certain sections there were trees full of hundreds of large fruit bats that were hanging taking a snooze. They were not so pretty & when I mean hundreds I'm probably under estimating.

The Government House

One afternoon we headed downtown Sydney to tour around a bit. We decided to go to the Royal Botanical Gardens and was able to catch a tour in the Government House. We were allowed to take pictures outside only as its still presently used.

The Harbour

Well this was one of the best December's I've ever experienced. So beautiful and warm. We would walk from Jamie & Tracy's on a path along the water to the Manly Ferry. On the weekends the habour was full of sail ships. It was amazing! All I could think of is how they navigate through so fast without hitting eachother.

D'Hotel de Scott's

Next we moved into Jamie & Tracy's RV in Manly, Sydney. We would park on the street outside where Jamie & Tracy's little apartment was and sneak in at night so no one knew we were sleeping in there. It felt a bit adventurious! We did sleep very cozy in the bed but I'm still wondering how Tracy and Jamie fit in those beds right till she gave birth to Ethan. In the mornings we would go up to their apartment get ready and enjoy breakfast and fun with Ethan. Ethan grew attached to Casey (of course what kid doesn't)and so we got many smiles and laughs in the morning. Casey & Jamie enjoyed some great surfing times (which Jamie ended up rescuing Casey one day before the beach was closed due to the waves. Tracy & I enjoyed some wonderful time going for walks with Ethan and having a spa day complimentary of our hubbies. Oh and one of my favorites was going on a shopping day with Tracy, who became my personal shopper. She found the most perfect shoes in the world for me! I wish we could do that all the time. We had such a blast with them and were really blessed.

Casey's next injury

We got back to Sydney and were staying with Stu & Kristi for a while longer. Since the beach was only a few blocks down Casey decided he would go for a surf on his own. Well unfortunately the surf board decided with the wave to knock some sense into him and to the hospital we had to go. Kristi & Stu were gracious enough to give us a ride and I have to admit the service and how quick your treated at the Aussie hospitals is great. After some stitches and a nice bandage we were out. We had a great time with Stu & Kristi while with them enjoying some many great meals, amazing thai food in the city and some Christmas celebrations. We went to an outdoor celebration with their family where everyone brought food and sat on chairs or the grass while listening to wonderful performances of different Christmas Carols etc. We also enjoyed a family dinner at Kristi's parents, a school Christmas performance and a great Christmas party with plenty of fun games. It was truly a blessing to spend time getting to know them more and enjoyed the time we spent with them.

Games night

What a hilarious night with one of Casey's famous games. Earlier in the evening Jamie suggested a game where we each told 3 stories about ourselves and 1 was true the other two were a lie and we had to guess what was true and what wasn't. I'm still confussed if Jamie & Tracy walked up the Eiffel Tower......

Gerrigong - our little get away (I think that was the city)

We went South of Sydney with Jamie, Tracy & Ethan and Stu & Kristi for a little retreat where they had a arranged for all of us to stay at this beautiful house on the beach for the weekend. The area was beautiful I couldn't even describe it to you, lush green with the beautiful ocean right there. It was amazing. We had a wonderful time talking about Backpacking Ministry and making and eating great food and having fun. Little Ethan began not feeling well while we were there which was unfortunate but he was so cute and such a trooper.

Back in Sydney

We arrived in Sydney and connected with Stu & Kristi. They graciously let us crash at their house and we had a bit of fun before heading to our scheduled retreat in Gerroa. We had to take this particular picture because we realized at one point that we all were matching completely that evening, not on purpose either. So we figured it would be the new "Backpacking is it team" uniform!