K&T's Farewell to Perth Tour

It's hard to believe that our Aussie Adventure has already come to a close. 10 1/2 amazing months in Perth flew by quicker than either of us ever imagined it would. We never anticipated feeling so sad to leave this life, this place, and these people that have touched us and changed us forever. We have so much to be thankful for, and much to look forward to at home, but we can't help but feel sad as we think about what we're leaving behind. We unexpectedly fell in love with it here. We unexpectedly made beautiful, amazing friendships. We will unexpectedly, and whole heartedly miss the life that we built in Australia. We're coming home changed, with hearts full of memories that will always remind us of the joy and the blessing that we found down under.

Pictures from our week-long farewell tour:

The sweet ladies I workout with had a going-away lunch for me. They've been just like second mom's all year!

T & I went on a huge walk through King's Park...

DNA tower in King's Park

I think we might even miss the wind!

More of our walk through the park...

The kangaroo paws are back in bloom! Look closely - they even have black ones!

I love the kangaroo paws. They remind me of when we first moved here.

It had been raining for a week straight before today...

...but we were blessed with a gorgeous sunny morning, and a beautiful view of the city during our farewell walk through King's Park.

The kangaroo paws are in full bloom!

King's Park is one of the places we'll miss the most - we have loved living so close to this gorgeous park!

After our walk, we had brekky at our favorite little cafe, Bouchard.

My sports loving hubby. :)

We tried out a new restaurant for breakfast on Sunday morning - we were greeted with these funny looking green icy drinks.

I can't believe how adventurous of an eater he's become! The face shows worry, but at least he tried it! :)

Can you say, yum?!

Our final dinner with the bbq club and all the great friends we've made from Tyson's work.

One final trip to City Beach...

...a view that will most definitely be missed.

My wonderful honey took me out for a final date to a movie in GOLD CLASS! :)

Why have they not invented this in Texas???

Without a doubt, this is THE best way to watch a movie!

God was so kind and blessed us with one final gorgeous sunset!

And of course, I had to have one last delicious cappuccino at my favorite cafe in Subi, Spring Espresso!

Oh, how I will miss you, you beautiful cup of coffee! :)

Kim comes Down Under!

Our sweet friends from our small group back home, Matt & Kim, were recently transferred to Singapore for a year.  They left Katy in June, which meant that we wouldn't be able to see them for TWO years because they'd be gone once we finally moved home.  Luckily, Singapore is only a 5 hour flight away from Perth, and Matt was kind enough to let his beautiful wife come and visit me so we'd be able to cram two years worth of fun into 4 short days!  We had a blast together, and it was such a blessing to be able to spend some quality time with a special friend that I have truly missed.  We took her to all of our "usual" tourist stops that we dragged our families to, but we also discovered a new one together...a cemetery where wild kangaroos come out to play in the afternoons!  Her time here flew by, but it was full of fun, unforgettable memories!  *I didn't take near enough pictures because we mainly used her camera...but you can see all of them on her blog here.

At our favorite Italian restaurant, Pronto.

Finding the Black Swans at Lake Monger

Of course, we had to see all of the Aussie wildlife at Caversham!

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop??

This kangaroo was flexing his biceps and trying to look SO buff for us.

You MUST feed a kangaroo when you're down under!

Kim & the Koalas

I'm almost a Kilpatrick Koala again!

Look at all of the wild kangaroos we found at the cemetery!

Just another reason why...

I am SO in love with him.

Tyson has yet again spoiled me rotten. He gave me the best birthday present I could've asked for -- a homemade, delicious, out-of-this-world-yummy dinner that he planned and prepared and cooked ENTIRELY on his own! But we're not talking hamburger helper here. My husband pulled out all the stops for this one - apron and all - and made me gnocchi (FROM SCRATCH!!) with a tomato cream sauce (FROM SCRATCH!!). He didn't stop there - he then conquered our FAVORITE Aussie dessert - Sticky Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce. (yes, you guessed it, completely from scratch!) Sticky Date Pudding sounds anything but delicious, trust me, we thought the exact same thing when Meg & Paul first made it for us. But it's not actually pudding (as Americans, we tend to think of Jello Instant Pudding!) but a super-duper moist cake! Actually, it's heaven in a bowl. And I can most definitely say that my husband CAN COOK!! The entire meal was amazing and has earned him the name: CHEF BOYARTEE. He keeps making me fall in love with him over and over again and he made my 27th birthday a night to remember!

Getting started on the dough for the gnocchi...

Gnocchi is an italian dish - similar to pasta but it's actually made from potatoes!  They look like tiny potato dumplings but taste like pasta and they are YUM.

Notice the precision as he rolls out the dough.

Preparing to cut the dough into pieces to form the gnocchi!

Now that's what I call focus.  You can tell by the tongue.

Arranging his beautiful gnocchi dumplings on a tray before cooking them.

They're ready to cook!

And out they come...looking just perfect!

Oh my goodness - they're DIVINE!!!

And that's how it's done !  Homemade Gnocchi with a Creamy Tomato Sauce!

After all of that hard work, it's time to make dessert!

He even baked them in a water bath!!!

We haven't even tasted them but they look perfect!

Chef Boyartee carefully plating up his beautiful dessert...

...and now for the butterscotch sauce....

...and TA-DAAAA!  A beautiful Sticky Date Pudding! 

This is literally the BEST birthday cake I've EVER had.

Look at that face - he knows he nailed it!!!

Thank you, Chef Boyartee for such a special, unforgettable birthday!  I LOVE YOU!