Easter Family Fun

We hope everybody had a happy Easter. Ours was very special because Barb's sister Madonna and our niece, her daughter, Kelli came and stayed three nights. In that time we (and they) managed to a lot of fun things and still fit in five games of Ticket 2 Ride. Daniel joined us for the last game session on the Sunday night. We had a auto-photo-shoot afterward.

This particular game (above) was an exciting scramble to get those rail links and never quite succeeding, what with lack of the right cards and the opponents' faster moves. For Peter (yellow) it was the big one that got away. Oh well. It was a real fun time, a great way to make Easter different.

This was an Easter without an egg! But we still consumed chocolates (from the bowl above) and the delicious Pan-Forte (some of it below) that Kelli made to mark the occasion.

Tran Marries Jorgandiovski

We attended a special marriage union at Fairfield Park last Saturday. Thuy is a delightful and beautiful Vietnamese and Peter is a dashing Macedonian. The Amphitheater at Fairfield Park was the meeting place between to two cultures, Vietnamese Catholic and Macedonian Orthodox and this made it a thoroughly grand occasion. Parking was a shocker for most people, but once we all made it in, it did not seem to matter just how late we were or how late it started.

There were lots of group photos and these are just a few of them as Peter caught a few randomly. The one above shows Loan and Bonna's family now with three kids and the eldest, Eric, nearly as tall as his mother. Eric gave the Bible reading.

Mo was a very proud mother. She always enjoys seeing us. We have a special affinity with Mo and Ha since the time we first met when they and their girls arrived at Melbourne airport thirty years ago. Thuy was just a baby in Mo's arms, born in the refugee camp.

There was also a small collection of picnic goers watching on. They were treated to a nice spectacle and one of them was moved to share with us that he could see so much love... so clear was love on display. That was nice.

When the Macedonian half got going on the floor the music became particularly powerful so that the vibrations penetrated through to our bones (literally). The Jorgandiovski family had already been cranking up the music in their street for a few days prior to this so this was just a continuation of the festivities. We observed how overpowering the Macedonian culture was on the night, even though it went very well really and Thuy and Peter have wedding memories that they will cherish for the rest of their lives. We are glad. May God bless their marriage like the the flashing colours of the Spirit of light that travelled with the music.

Everyone who came was expected to enter a "free" photo booth especially placed in the foyer of the reception. Three of the six snaps went into a visitor's comment book and the guests kept the other three. These are the ones we kept. A nice idea.

Van Wollingen Marries Cunningham

The main reason for Barb's visit to Western Australia was to attend Bethany and Matt's wedding. Bethany is Nonna's youngest and everyone thinks Matt is a super match for her. This pic shows the four married couples (now).

Asher and Jaye will have their baby around June. Asher was the mastermind behind a few very surprising and adventuresome acts to kick start Bethany and Matt's married life. Ask them if you want to know. And the cake was cut...

Good friends made available the grounds their large property for the evening reception. Barb thought everything was so tastefully done with lanterns everywhere. There was also a photo taking arrangement catching willing guests who went over to it. The whole place had a carnival atmosphere and there were lots of 'side shows' like that one, according to Barb.

Barb's Travels

Barb had the pleasure of visiting Western Australia a second time. Her good friend Nonna took her in for most of the days and she stayed with one of Nonna's friends the other days. One of the first things Barb and Nonna did was to visit the sea, the Indian Ocean. That's definitely different for an eastern coaster.

Barb also had some days to herself and quickly worked out the Perth rail system to her advantage. This impressed Rolf and Nonna so much that they later took the train to give themselves a treat.

Backyard Treat

These past few days (and nights) are worth blogging about. Our three grandkids plus young Abigail slept over two nights. And how did they go? In a word... super. True, there were times when we disagreed as to what to do next, but it always worked out. On the first night we even had our supper after sunset in our back yard. The mosquitoes were not too problematic and the idea turned out to be a great success.

Playground Treat

This was a special time after a slow Saturday breakfast when we decided to walk up to the large park on the other side of our shopping centre. There the kids made use of both playgrounds, the second was one we did not know about. The games were a mix of doing the usual extreme things one does on play equipment and playing a complicated role play game involving the play equipment as props, like a place where the poor animals Rosy and Buttons were cruelly imprisoned.

We passed by the Redleap Lake and watched the waterfowl for a time. If we had some bread we would have had a very excited reception, but alas we came with none. Maybe next time...

Playground designers are producing more and more interesting setups in parks these days. This one was an adventure for Jethro and the perfect prison for Piper and Abigail. Jasper helped Peter guard the entrances.

Cafe Treat

Before their parents returned to pick them up, we took the four kids, to Azurea Cafe for a treat. We had just the space to do it. They enjoyed the food and the game we played... trying to trick them into saying the words "Yes, No, Black or White" to any question we asked them! By the end, they were pretty sharp and we could not trip them up. We are not counting Jethro in this. He is far too young for this game.