LATEST UPDATE

 

 

Well, the last few weeks have been very busy around the Holmestead,

with wedding preparations, holiday kids club, school, life etc.

Some days I seriously have thought of banging my head against the wall

until I pass out! (well, maybe I wouldn't go that far)

 

Anyway, I am going to do a few posts as time allows and upload

some photos for you to get some visual pictures of our latest

escapades (if that's the right word??)

Maddy and Abbi Clean Up

Just recently, Abbi, Maddy and I entered into a local photo competition

showcasing the NT region. Of course, I won nothing, but Maddy got a 1^st

and a 3^rd while Abbi took out a 2^nd prize and the local members award

which means she now has her prize winning photo on a postcard to be

sent out all over the Katherine region by our local member. Woo Hoo.

So, while I forked out the entry fees and printing fees, the girls raked it in!

Sigh :(

 

 

VACATION BIBLE CLUB

(or for us Aussies, “Holiday Kids Club”)

 

 

Just this past week we were able to help out at a 5 day long (each night) bible club

at our church. Lauren was busy getting all the crafts together for each

night. This took many weeks and lots of preparation, and was an immense

task that turned her room into a mess of used toilet rolls, string, paper plates,

cellophane, dinosaurs etc. The theme was creation and the kids had a great

time and hopefully learned a lot too.

I had the easy task of getting the music together for the songs we

sang. The kids had fun singing at the top of their lungs songs like 'Creation, Creation'

(compliments of Lauren, Linet and co writing this song many years ago),

 

the "Woodpecker Song" and “Behemoth is a Dinosaur”.

 

Abbi gave a hand getting the snacks together for each night

that were also themed to fit in with the lessons.

Cam helped out with games.

Everyone involved put in a big effort!

 

Here is a little video snippet of the kids singing!

 

(In the Woodpecker song, we had a little woodpecker

toy sliding down a pole and we were trying to beat it

to the bottom, hence the speed of the song!)

 

 

 

And that's all for tonight,

 stay tuned for the next

exciting installment in our crazy lives!

 

 

 

 

 

THE BIG BANG.........

 

OR NOT!

 

 

 

 

Well, Territory Day is behind us now, and we

managed not to blow ourselves or any body parts up!!

 

 

 

This year, we spent a bit more on fireworks,

thinking that we'd get some BIG bangers,

but alas, we found that we needed to spend

about 4 times as much to be able to set off the really big ones!

So, here's some pics of ours.

 

 

 

Well, we had fun letting off our little fireworks,

whilst watching the neighbours blow up hundreds

of dollars worth in just a few seconds!

 

 

 

 

In our neighbourhood, the sound of popping started around

5:30pm (half and hour early) and kept on until midnight.

 

 

 

 

Since then, we've heard some every night.

There is a hefty fine for having them in your possession

after Territory Day, so we used all ours up.

 

 

 

And, I've uploaded a short video of our own fireworks show!

 

 

 

And here is some cuteness for you!

 

 

We have just added a kitten to our family.

 

Her name is Ellie and she happens to be very cute!

 

Well, we have had our 2 weeks off school

and thankfully I managed to get all the sewing done

so it's back to work next week.

 

Life goes on................

 

 

 

 

Homemade Fireworks

 

 

With Territory Day coming up on July 1st,

we are all excited about the prospect of

trying not to blow ourselves up with

fireworks, but having a blast!!

 

Chloe and Maddy decided they needed to start

early, and so, thanks to a neighbour's instruction,

they built their own homemade sparkler bombs!

 

So far we haven't lost any limbs or singed any eyebrows.

 

I have uploaded a short video of their efforts.

Pretty impressive for a first go.

 

 

In other news:

 

Dave has just returned from a trip to Brisbane.

He was away 8 days, which was an

 eternity for us left at home:(

 

He had an awful time with Brisbane traffic,

trying to find the right routes for a truck to take,

accidentally taking the wrong road which led him

through the Clem 7 Tunnel

(with a trailer on and maybe 20cm clearance)

and a whole lot more.

 

Anyway, we are all so glad to have him back home

and he is very certain that long haul truck driving is not for him!!

 

The girls and I have taken 2 weeks off school for a break

and a chance for me to do some sewing for the wedding.

It has been a crazy week, but we're getting there.

 

Lauren's car broke down in Darwin,

the day Dave left, so it has been a source of

frustration for Cam, trying to work on it.

But, today they made a break through into

the reason why it died,

 so hopefully it is on the mend.

 

Abbi is still looking for that perfect first car

to buy and is busy getting driving lessons

in the hopes of getting her license in July.

 

That's all folks!

 

 

Keep an eye out for our next

 blog post that will

be full of fireworks excitement!!

 

 

 

 

 

 



sigh.....

1 YEAR IN KATHERINE!!!

 

On the 1st of June, we will have been

here in Katherine for 1 year!

 

Boy, how time flies.

 

We started out on our big change of scenery like this:

 

 

 

With all our worldly possessions packed

into our little red truck, a camper trailer,

our landcruiser and our bus......

 

 

 

 

And now, only a year later,

we have a house that we own

(or the bank does),

no red truck :( a couple of ford sedans,

an almost dead landcruiser,

a hiace bus that's done 670 000km,

a tandem trailer, a camper trailer,

a whole bunch of stuff, and almost a son-in-law!

 

 

 

Wow! Isn't God good?

 

The Lord has blessed us with a steady

job for Dave, good jobs for Lauren and Abbi,

new friends and a church to attend.

Not to mention a beautiful piano for me!

 

And, an amazing and great place to live,

KATHERINE!!!

 

 

WE LOVE IT!!

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dad's Birthday

 

As most of you know, I recently flew with Emilee

over to Malanda to surprise Dad on his

70th birthday!! Jeremy and his daughter, Ellia,

were able to come too and we had a great time

together over the weekend.

 

I put together a short video that I was going

to send out to just the family, but it was too

large, so I have had to upload it to our blog

so they can view it.

 

So, this is really just a family thing,

but feel free to watch it and it probably won't make

much sense to you:)

 

We Love You Grandpa!!!

 

And I had to put these couple of quotes

in, just for you Dad

 

 

 

 



Ok, here it is!

 

I will be getting invitations out as soon as

possible, but if you want to start checking out flights

and accommodation, at least you now have a date.

 

I will be sending out a list of accommodation available

here in Katherine, to those invited, with the invitations.



NEWS FLASH!!!

 

 

 

YOU'VE ALL BEEN ASKING FOR THE DATE

 

 

WAIT FOR IT....................

 

 

 

WELL, HERE IT IS.........

 

 

 

 

Oh, you didn't mean the fruit?

 

My bad

 

LOL :)

 

 



 

NEWS FLASH!!

 

For those who haven't heard on the grapevine:

 

Lauren and Cam are engaged:)

A Day Carting Hay

 

 

 

Yesterday, I went with Dave out to the Douglas Daly Region

to pick up 3 trailer loads of hay.

 

This is an area about 3 hours north of Katherine.

 

 

Leaving at 6am, we headed out. Arriving at the station,

we headed out into the paddock

to load the hay. Dodging the tractor ploughing, and

trying not to get dry-bogged in the soft dirt.

 

 

Each bale weighs about 650kg!! These are not your average

hay bales. They seem to make them all this big here.

 

 

 

 

 

And fully loaded!

 

 

Looking behind us

 

 

For those interested, here's some stats:

 

3 step deck trailers

 

41 bales fit on each trailer, making a total of 123 bales

 

Each bale weighs approx. 650kg

 

24 straps holding the hay on the trailer

 

Each trailer empty weighs 10 tons

 

Prime mover weighs approx. 9 tons

 

18 gears in the truck

 

62 wheels (forget the 18 wheelers)

 

For the trip from 6am to 6pm, we used 500 Litres of Diesel

 

It's 220km one way

 

Total weight of load is 120 tons including trailer weight

(which made it 10 tons overloaded, oops)

 

Anyway, after getting dry-bogged in the paddock

and getting towed out by the Manitou (forklift),

we set off and arrived back in Katherine at the cattle

yards to be unloaded, we unstrapped the load,

(which meant rolling up all the straps, a time consuming job)

we were unloaded and headed home.

 

Ready to do it all again, but twice, the next day.

 

 

 

Point of interest, they're feeding the cattle 90 bales a day!

 

I have uploaded a short video so you can get a better idea.

 

 

Hope you enjoyed another look into our crazy life!