Merit Certificate

 

Harrison and another girl in his class got the merit certificates at his school's first assembly for the year. He was really shy about having to go up to the front and stand before the whole school. As you can see by his "shy face" he pulls this when he's nervous or shy. Well done Harry - what a great way to start the year, I'm so proud of you!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is always a bit of a non event for Clinton and I because it's our anniversary the day before. This year I thought it would be nice to make some heart shaped cookies with the kids and let them decorate them for Daddy. Sienna ate LOTS of icing! Harrison decided he wanted to "pixie drop" some of his cookies to his best friend Michael...we had a bit of a laugh about this! Harry tried to drop them off that night with Clint but the Pilkington's weren't home so they got a "surprise" (or pretended to be) the following night. Harry actually knocked really loud and gave Amy a fright as she was standing right near the door.

We took so long decorating cookies that dinner wasn't started at all when Clinton got home. I didn't have anything planned, I just told Clint to bbq the steak in the fridge. While I was bathing the kids Clint came up with this dinner from stuff in the fridge (I know...he makes me sick). Love the heart shaped mash potatoes!

Baby Alissa was dressed in a jumpsuit with a heart on it by accident (I'd like to say I planned for her to wear it on Valentine's Day but alas, I am not that organised). She was very happily watching the kids decorate the cookies. Love her cute little smile. x

10 Year Anniversary

We were married in the Melbourne temple ten years ago on the 13th of February 2003. Those ten years have flown by so fast! We have been so happy together and I can honestly say I love Clinton more with every passing year. Ok...enough mushy stuff!

We were very lucky to have Mum staying with us in Karratha on our anniversary so she babysat the kids for us and we were able to go out for dinner. We went to Etcetera Restaurant which was quite nice, the food was really yummy.

Looking forward to many more happy years together...and eternity!

The beautiful roses Clinton had delivered on our anniversary

At my 30th birthday party in 2011

Year One

I was so proud of Harrison on his first day of year one. We'd only been in Karratha for a few days and Harry had a new house, new school and a new year level to deal with. My biggest concern with moving to Karratha was how well Harry would settle in. He's a creature of habit who doesn't particularly like change. Harrison had some really good friends at Ashdale Primary School who had been in his class in both kindy and pre-primary. So you can imagine my relief when we found out that Harrison would be in Michael Pilkington's class! When I registered Harrison for Tambrey Primary School the admin staff were frantically trying to deal with several new enrolments. I was going to ask if Harry could be in Michael's class but I didn't want to bother the staff with another request. Then as we were filling out forms the school principal happened to see us and stopped to introduce himself. He then asked Harrison (who was looking nervous) if he knew anyone at the school in his year level. We told him we knew Michael and he said he'd try to get them in the same class. He then showed us around the school a bit which was very nice considering how busy he was! I've bumped into the principal since and he remembered our names and said he was glad he was able to help Harry to be in Michael's class. Harrison was so happy to have a friend in his class and now Michael and Harry have become great friends. I feel so blessed that Harrison was looked after like that. He now has a friend who he sees at church and at school every day! A very rare thing - especially in a tiny community like Karratha. He loves his teacher Mrs Tomlin's and has settled in beautifully. His class is actually a split year one/two class with four year twos and the rest year ones. Well done Harrison for dealing with so many transitions in such a grown up way!

K-Town

On the 30th of January 2013 we arrived in Karratha. Mum and Dad (Snow) came with us to the airport which was an enormous help. We had lots of luggage including a port-a-cot and pram so having extra sets of hands to carry everything and help with the kids was invaluable. We have decided that the two hour flight is just perfect for Sienna, she gets bored pretty easily on planes (even though she still needed lots of attention the whole flight). Once we arrived it was a bit of a heat shock! We carried our luggage out to the rental cars and we were already perspiring. The first thing Sienna did was sit in the red dirt and start playing. I kept saying, "get up Sienna, you're going to get dirty" and "stop playing in the red dirt". Then I realised...hey, I better get used to it because this red dirt is everywhere! We stayed in temporary accommodation the first two nights but we were able to see our new house that night. It was better than I expected actually, very clean and well maintained.

 

That first night we were invited to the Pilkington family's house for dinner. It was lovely to have a home cooked meal and friendly company the first night we were in Karratha. Bryan is the branch president in Karratha and he's also a process engineer at KGP Woodside with Clinton. 

 

Our removalist came the next day to deliver our furniture and then the huge job of unpacking began. My Mum flew into Karratha on Saturday afternoon and then stayed for the following two weeks. It made me feel a lot less home sick having her with us just a couple of days after moving.

 

Our new home in K-Town  

 Karratha sunset from our front yard

Family photo (minus Alissa) from a lookout over Karratha - we had to 4WD to get to this spot.

 Daddy's girl! I love this photo of Clint and Sen

 Harry and his new bestie Michael Pilkington



Mandurah Break with Grammie and Papa

The start of January was a crazy time, we had a new born baby, we had a house to pack up, clean up and move out of and we had to organise things for our impending move to Karratha. Clinton took some time off work to help with the baby and get the house organised. He worked so hard and was a huge help to me! Thankfully we had amazing family and friends helping us with the kids so we could get everything ready for the move. My Mum and Lisa took the kids several times and Clinton's parents also looked after the kids a lot. I don't know how we could have done it without them.

After the removalists came we went to Mandurah for a week with Clinton's parents. Clint was still going back and forth to our old house for most of that week...busily fixing things and cleaning up before hand over. Mandurah was a beautiful, relaxing break after some very hectic weeks! Clint's parents really made it a holiday for us. We went out on several dates and they looked after and played with the kids the whole time we were there. Mum got up early every morning and would tell us to go back to bed and get some more sleep while she got the kids breakfast, played with them and held the baby. This was AMAZING! We got so much extra sleep and had such a relaxing time. It was just what we needed before we moved to Karratha.

Grammie and Alissa Cuddles...

 

 

Harry loved all the one on one time he got with Papa Snow. Papa would walk with Harrison to the beach and build sandcastles and jump with him in the waves. Harry is still a little wary of swimming in the ocean, especially when there are big, crashy waves - so Papa helped to build his confidence by helping him to enter the water little by little. They flew kites together, built wooden planes and even went on some bike rides. Harrison loved every minute of it! Grammie also read Harrison stories, watched him build lego (Harry loves it when someone "watches" but doesn't help), gave him cuddles and the list goes on!! Sienna was also spoilt with plenty of attention, cuddles and fun!

We bought the 'slip and slide' for the kids to use in the backyard - they loved it! On the Australia Day public holiday my parents, Jarom and Mon and Lisa and Mark came to Mandurah for the day. Sienna loved having her cousins Madison and Charlie there!