Nicole and Daniels Holiday

With Daniel unable to play football this year after injuring his knee last year Nicole took the opportunity to take him away on an overseas holiday. They flew to Auckland first and had a 14 hour stopover. They were going to leave the airport but were both too tired and had a few hours sleep instead. They then did the long haul from Auckland to Los Angeles.  After catching up on some sleep they set out to do some exploring. Daniel had a great time at Universal Studios...

Exploring Hollywood

After 2 days to themselves they joined a Contiki tour and headed to San Diego...

Seaworld at San Diego

Next stop was Scotsdale...

Making new friends

Did a jeep tour in Sedona on the way to the Canyon...

They spent 2 nights in the Grand Canyon area. Daniel did the helicopter ride over the Canyon but Nicole had done it previously...

Then it was time to party in Las Vegas and party they did...

After one last roll of the dice at the Vegas casino they just made it to the airport to fly to Vancouver in Canada. Once again they had a few days to explore by themselves before joining another Contiki tour. They left Vancouver and went to Whistler...

Lake on the way to Whistler

Zip lining in Whistler

They did the chair lift ride from one peak to another...

They then moved on to Jasper and did some white water rafting on  Fraser River...

Went up to the  Athabasca Glacier...

After Jasper they were meant to go to Banff but due to  flooding and mud slides they had to miss out and spend longer in Jasper. They stayed in Vernon...

And saw Mt Robson which is the tallest peak in the Rocky Mountains...

Dragon in Kelowna

It was then time to head back to Vancouver for a few nights to celebrate the end of the tour... 

Boat cruise in Vancouver

Daniel started off the evening dressed but when he split his pants...

He continued enjoying himself like this...

Then after 2 great tours making new friends and having a WOW of a time it was time to head back home via New Zealand again.

Whats been happening

 Everyone seems to be coming and going around here lately! With Nicole and Daniel away in America and Canada we had the pleasure of a little house guest named Sonic. He was a very good little boy for 4 weeks and we didn't want to part with him when they came home, even Bella gave up being nasty to him! ...

Janelle came home for a weekend and had to bring a heap of clothes home to sort out for her 4 weeks of electives in Perth and Karratha...

She spent 2 weeks in Perth staying with her friend and working at various hospitals. While she was in Perth Peter and I travelled up and I met Janelle at UWA and we spent a few hours at the Upmarkets. It was so busy...

We both bought some lovely handmade earrings made with clay and were certainly inspired by everything people have so cleverly created...

It rained on our way back to the car but we still managed a few photos in the beautiful gardens...

We then headed down to Fremantle and met Dad and his siblings for a cuppa at a whole food cafe which just happened to have so much stuff for Janelle and I to buy...

The people you meet in shops

 She ended the 2 weeks back in the city by going to the "Pink" concert and had a great time. She came home for a night and repacked and managed to catch up with Nicole and Daniel who had just returned home from travelling. Nicole bought Sonic a little jumper from Canada - he was not impressed...

We took Janelle to the airport for her flight to Karratha. She is doing a 2 week placement there. She was really thrown in the deep end and had ended up flying and driving around the Pilbura to remote areas such as Tom Price, Parabadoo and soon Onslow. She says the countryside is spectacular from her little 4 seater plane! ...

Mum J has been cleaning out some cupboards and found this crochet rug she had started years ago and asked me if I would like to finish it. After a few hours of trying to work the pattern out I have decided to give it a go, I really like the chevron pattern...

After only 3 days since our last trip to the airport it was time to head back up again - this time to take Sarah and Georgia. They headed off to London via Doha. They are doing a tour of Ireland then will be going to Greece.  Off they go...

I was pretty amazed when I received a message from her via Facebook when she was 30 000 ft in the air over the middle east and the plane had wifi so we were having a good old chat and she even sent me a picture of her meal of apricot crepes!...

And last but not least Peter finally decided to take the plunge and made a decision on a 4WD. We bought ourselves a brand new Holden Colorado. This is the first time we have bought a new car since we have been married 27 years ago! Anyway he loves his new toy and today we took it for a drive down to Busselton to show his parents. We still have to get the canopy fitted and a few other accessories...

Afternoon tea here