CHRISTMAS DAY

at the Holmeses

 

WHIP CRACKING

AND

4WDRIVING

 

Abbi plays in the mud



 

Well, we don't celebrate Christmas in

the ordinary way.

Around here there's no presents, just

FOOD  FAMILY  AND  FUN!

 

This year we added in a little whip cracking

(thanks to Cam's new whip)

and also 4wdriving!!

(also thanks to Cam's influence!)

 

I have uploaded a short video below

of our whip cracking attempts

for you to laugh at:)

 

 

 

 

We drove out of town to pick up something

Dave had seen on the side of the road

(very common for us), only,

we got sidetracked down a muddy track.

 

We drove down to see the river and did

a little hill climbing seeing

the track was slippery.

 

 

I have uploaded a short video below of this

first driving episode for you to watch.

 

  

 

NOTE: I don't know why they call

it 4WDriving, as you only need 4WD

once you're stuck otherwise

it takes all the fun out of it??

 

Looking out our back windscreen

Once we were tired of hill sliding,
we tackled the muddy puddles.

 

I had a lot of fun videoing the comings

and goings. Especially Abbi's first attempt

at taking on mud!

 

I managed to hit a small tree but

mainly because I was trying to get

the old girl to go sideways

and Dave had given me permission

to be an idiot!!

 

What a laugh, slipping and sliding!

 

 

 Another Abbi splash

 

 

Please watch and enjoy the video below

for the full effect of our experiences!

 

 

As you can imagine,

by the end of all this, our cars

were filthy and so were we!

 

The reason everyone had one dirty arm

 

 

 

 

In this photo, Cam is not being gallant,

he was actually threatening to dump Lauren

in the mud, but he repented of the deed!

 

 

Not surprisingly, on the way home

the old girl starting making strange

and ominous knocking noises,

but she made it home anyway!

(This could well be her final farewell)

 

All in all, it was a great day.

 

We had our pastor and family over

that night for homemade pizzas

and delicious desserts!

(Lemon meringue pie, chocolate meringue

pie and frozen Tiramusu icecream cake,

not to mention Dr Pepper and A&W Root Beer!)

 

Hope you enjoyed another

day in the life of the

Holmeses (and Drews)

 

 

 

 

 

 



MY NEW "NO PHONE"

 

Ok, so I'm hopping onto my soapbox here

and in case you don't already know,

I have a little thing against the constant

use of mobile phones!

 

I know they have their place,

but does anybody besides me get really

annoyed when they're trying to have a conversation

with someone who is continually txting

or facebooking or whatever you can do on these things??

 

Well, I recently came across this great project

called the "No Phone", and I just had to have one.

 

Here are some of its selling points:

 

And hey, I got the selfie upgrade (yes another pet hate, who

wants to see a photo of someone's face that's

taken at such an angle that you either look

up their nose, or down it, making it much

longer than it really is??).

 

 

Yes, it has a thing called a 'mirror', so you can

'take a selfie'! Or clean your teeth or arrange

your hair etc.

 

 

And here's some of the instructions that came with it:

 

 

Toilet bowl resistant!!

Now, that's got to be a plus doesn't it?

 

Oh, and shatterproof! And waterproof!

 

Basically, put down the phone,

and LOOK UP!!

 

It's amazing what you can miss while

 you're gazing at a screen.

 

God's beautiful creation passing you by,

a smile from a stranger,

a hurt look in your child's eyes,

a word of encouragement,

a word of advice,

someone that needs us,

and the list goes on.....

 

Now, I'm not saying that I'm perfect,

I've been guilty of ignoring others

around me because of a screen,

but I think we all need a wake up call.

 

Nothing can ever replace face to face

conversation and interaction.

 

 

HAVE A GREAT DAY ALL!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Random Stuff

 

Well, I just thought I'd post some random happenings

here in the Holmes' household.

 

 

We are taking a break from school and seeing

"Schooling stifles my creativity"

(I just discovered that today),

I have done something creative in the kitchen,

first time in ages! Ha ha.

 

No, seriously.

I made Linzer biscuits with some cute vintage

cookie cutters I found at my favourite place to shop.

 

The op shop!

 

They were very fiddly but I enjoyed it.

I even took some to the ladies at the op

shop to show my appreciation;)

 

 You might remember, this time

last year, we had a bikky decorating morning

with friends. Well, this year, the girls and I

just did it on our own.

 

 

We took the table and all the trimmings,

into Abbi's bedroom to do because she has

the most space and also air con!

 

I think it would have been an epic fail if we

had tried to do it in the 40 deg dining room.

 

 

 

Well, as always, Lauren's were the prettiest

and most meticulous,

but Chloe made an adorable little duck........

 

 

 

And Emilee...........well, she made one too.

(Look away if you're squeamish)

 

 

 

It was missing a head,

so she made the most of it:)

 

In other news,

we have set up our pool again,

after finally getting the pool fence up.

 



And of course, we needed some very

important signage!

 

 

And some more..........

 

And I have another in the making,

but I'll keep that one to myself for now.

 

After taking a couple of days for it to fill,

we have discovered 2 lovely little holes

that are squirting out water. Sigh.

 

I think one of the many neighbourhood cats

that seem to make our house their home,

might have been stretching its claws on it

and it didn't show up until the pressure of the water

forced it to show itself.

 

Anyway, we'll figure that out later.

 

We'll enjoy it while it lasts.

 

In other, not so recent news,

I spent some time helping Dave out

at work for a few days in a warehouse.

 

It was at least 45 deg under the hot tin roof

and minus 20 deg in the freezer.

 

Absolutely painful going through

a 60 odd degree difference!

 

Anyway, it was all a new experience

and the best part

(besides getting to spend time with Dave)

 was that I learned to drive

a forklift! They are so much fun!

 

I can now add that to my growing repertoire

of vehicles that I've driven or ridden.

 

If you're wondering why there hasn't been

any truck trip photos lately,

it's because, after much prayer,

Dave stopped doing the long haul

driving as getting home at midnight

most nights was wearing very thin for all of us.

 

He is now working local for the same company

and only occasionally has to do an out of town run.

He misses the driving and adventures,

as we all do, but it is much better for

our family life and church ministry here.

 

 

Well, that's enough news for now.

 

Enjoy

 







 







 

 

 



Food For Thought

 

 

 



Yep, agree totally!!

 

LAUREN GRADUATES AND ABBI

GETS HER LICENSE!!

 

We have just passed 2 milestones this week.

 

Lauren has finished her Tafe course,

Certificate III in Children's Services!

 

And..... Watch out on the roads now,

Abbi has her license!!

 

Boy do we feel old.................:(

 

 

 

And, if you've ever wondered what hoodies

were for (seeing you never actually

 put them on your heads),

I have the answer!!!!!!!!!

 

 

They are actually for holding your popcorn

while you work!!

 



FIRST YOUTH MEETING

 

 SAVANNAH WAY BAPTIST

CHURCH

 

 

Well, last night, we had our very first

youth meeting for our church here

in Katherine.

 

After much prayer and looking around,

the Lord provided an amazing venue for us

to meet at, at a very good rate,

right in town, fenced, toilets, lights,

 with a covered play area

and a large field for games.

 

 

 

 

 

God is so good.

 

Dave and I were very encouraged

with how things went last night.

The kids had a great time and

Dave and I learned that we can still

run and play, but we end up

a little sorer than we used to!!

 

 

Cam and Lauren helped out,

and fortunately, Cam did NOT wear

his steel-capped boots, so no

injuries were done to anyone!

 

 

The Lord is working here in Katherine,

and we are blessed to have so many

ministry opportunities opening up to us.

 

 

 

Please pray that we will have wisdom

in knowing what God wants us to be involved

in and how he wants to use us here

for the furtherance of the Gospel.

 

 

I have uploaded a short video for you

to see our first meeting.

 

 

And in other news, we had our first 'real' storm

for the wet season, 22mm, the other night.

It cooled things down for a while

and sounded wonderful.

 

Maddy took this photo of some beautiful,

white, fluffy clouds.

 

 

TASMANIA

 

A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY

 

 

 

A couple of weeks ago, Dave and I took a week long

trip to Tasmania. Yes, on our own. Without the girls!

 

It was freezing cold but we saw some beautiful

scenery and even got to see snow on

top on Mt Wellington! This was Dave's first time

to see snow so it was very exciting! It actually snowed
too! Lightly but still snow!
 

It was also -1 deg, so seeing we weren't dressed

for the occasion, we didn't stay up there too long.

Just long enough for Dave to build his very first snowman!

 

We stayed in some beautiful bed and breakfast accommodation

and ate out at some great restaurants. I drooled over
 all the beautiful historic

buildings and antiques shops, which I wished
I could bring back with me.

I did buy an antique WW1 camera and we brought Emilee

a French Revolution bayonet back to add to her collection.

 

 I took thousands of photos, of course, so instead of

trying to share them on the blog, I have put together a

video/slideshow on YouTube for you all to look at,

if you're interested. I will warn you, it is 14 minutes long

and I challenge any of you to extend your attention spans

to watch the whole thing! It has pretty music, if that helps.

 

Just click on the link below to take you there.

 

http://youtu.be/D5O7VHyABPU

 

We didn't see any Tasmanian devils, but we saw

lots of rabbits! The top temperature was 18 deg,

but amazingly, we acclimatized pretty quickly even

though it was 40 deg when we left Katherine!

 

Well, enjoy the photos!

 

 

 



Lunar Eclipse



 

 

Did anyone get to see the Lunar Eclipse

on Wednesday night?

 

Well, I was able to see some of it and had to try

and capture it on camera.

Hmmm, failed again!

 

But, it was fun and so I put some video and

photos into a short clip for those who missed it.

(Please excuse my artistic license with

the suspenseful music and spinning moon)

 

When you look at the moon, even through a

camera lens with a zoom lens,

it reminds you just how small you are,

and just how big God is.

 

Psalms 19:1  

 The heavens declare the glory of God;

and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 

 

 

And the view from our front door..........

 

 

CATCH THAT THIEF!!

 

 

If you remember, a few posts ago,

I posted some photos of Hilda,

 the termite mound that we dressed up.

 

Well, I have terrible news to report!

 

Her clothes, handbag, hat and all,

have been stolen!!

 

When Dave and Emilee went by on Friday,

she was totally defrocked! Sigh.

 

Maybe someone loved the dress so much

they just had to have it! Ha Ha.

 

Well, I guess this means we'll have to find some

more outlandish clothes and dress another one.

 

And somewhere out there, is someone wearing stolen

clothes, or another termite mound sporting

a classy dress!

 

 

 

And your random saying for the day is..........

 

 



...............the mice are at play

 

 

 

Well, last Saturday, we took Abbi, Emilee and Maddy

up to Darwin to catch the plane to Cairns

so they could go to youth camp in Malanda.

 

That means that Chloe and I are home alone!

(Well, in the daytime at least, while Dave's at work)

 

So, we've been trying to do special things together.

We've been op shopping and out for coffee

and yesterday we got to go with Dave to Timber Creek!

 

Chloe really enjoyed getting to ride in the sleeper

and sitting perched on the fridge in between our seats.

 

On this particular trip, we had to go out to the Bradshaw

training ground. This is where they send the army and

air force for training etc.

 

Crossing the bridge to get into the grounds

 

 Crossing the Victoria River

 

Dave breaks in (well, not really, he was given an entry code)

 

Looking back up the Victoria River

 

I just loved this sign. It's a classic!

What exactly do they mean by "anything"??

 

Victoria River

 

There is some amazing scenery out there.

You pass through these beautiful ranges where

the cliff faces are red and tower above you.

 

 

 Sorry, same truck, we followed him for a while:)



 

All the photos were taken out the windscreen

or windows while driving, but you get the idea 

 

Well, that's about it for now. Dave is off tonight on

his long run and this time he has to head out

to Western Desert so won't be home til Friday late.

 

So, Chloe and I still have a lot to do off Chloe's

"to do with mum" list, so I guess we'll keep

busy while he's away.

 

And I leave you with this great thought!