New FRIENDS

The Lord has definitely answered my prayers and sent me not just one, but SIX new friends and a true blessing in the form of the Smith Family!  After feeling so lonely when my family left, it was really hard to focus on enjoying AU rather than wishing away the rest of our time here.  I've been dragging my feet on getting involved and making friends - it's so hard to invest in relationships when I know that just as soon as they're formed, we'll be moving home again.  But wow, does God know the desire of our hearts!  I have wanted and even yearned for a special friend here.  And little did I know that He already had that very friend, who just so happened to be praying the same prayer as me, picked out and on her way to Australia!  I randomly met Candi at my gym when I overheard her say she was from Texas and I noticed her AGGIE ring...which of course meant that I had to go over and say hello to her! :)  Well, God had put this friendship in motion long before that meeting (it's a long story - but it relates back to having the same friends in Texas - thanks Amanda and Jenn!) and so when we finally met, it was as though we already knew each other.  Candi, Clint and their 4 adorable kiddos have become true friends and Tyson and I are so thankful for them!  The kids have even said over and over that we're part of their family now. :)  Which leads me to the pictures below...Tyson and I offered to babysit for Valentine's Day so that Clint & Candi could have a romantic night out together in Perth (they'd only been here for a week!)...and we had a blast with Mackenzie, Kennedy, Reid and Luke!

How cute are they!?  Reid, Luke, Kennedy & Mackenzie.

We made ice cream sundaes!  Yum-yum!!

Tyson and I are totally in with these kids - we bribed them with deliciousness!

Love the smile, Mackenzie!

The bowl is bigger than Luke!

I did warn Candi that there was a slight chance her kids might be really hyper when they got home! :)

We played Wii after sundaes - you know, to work off the calories.

Uncle Tyson, Luke and Reid talking Wii strategy.

I love this picture.

The gorgeous sunset that Candi & Clint were seeing on their date!

WOW!  Look at all the colors!

Australia Day

We won't be home for the 4th of July this year, instead, we were lucky enough to be down under to celebrate Australia Day with the Aussies.  And WOW - do they take pride in celebrating their country!  From painted faces to swimsuits to crazy hats and shirts and even attached to hundreds of cars - the Aussie flag was everywhere!  We went to our friend's, Noha & Hammam's house to celebrate with an all day extreme bbq, Aussie style....with a diverse group consisting of: 2 Americans, 2 Egyptians, 1 Scottish and 4 English....not a single Aussie among us!  After a full day of bbqing we went to King's Park for a SPECTACULAR fireworks show - and it was here that we finally joined with THOUSANDS of Aussies to celebrate this beautiful country!

How cute are we in our Aussie gear?!  This was all Tyson's doing...he bought us matching shirts!

I made Australia shaped sugar cookies...and Tyson definitely enjoyed them.

Crikey, mate!!  Where's Crocodile Dundee when you need him!?

As you may have figured out from our pictures, Pete is king of the grill.  So Tyson has aptly named him "Grillmaster P"....check out the apron.  Awesome.

Grillmaster P made a pizza on the barbecue!!!  It was ridiculous. And by that, I mean delicious!

Pete & Alison sporting their Aussie pride!

T-man grilling some delicious bacon wrapped shrimp - his new specialty!

Lookout GQ!

Literally, thousands of people were at King's park to see the famous "skyworks" show.

I'm not joking - people were everywhere!!

We somehow managed to find a perfect spot amongst the crowd!

K&T down under!

Adrian, Tyson, Noha & Hammam ready to be "blown away" (get it?) by the fireworks show!

It was a beautiful night!

The city looked SO pretty!

Fireworks came from a barge in the middle of the river, and from on top of the buildings downtown!  It was awesome!