5 Pairs of Feet: 2009

Beach Baby, Beach Baby........

Since summer has arrived, we decided to take a trip to the beach,
for some swimming, beach cricket and fish n chips.

This was Maya's first time to walk on the sand and play in the water......
oh and try and eat the sand.

Megan burrying her Jelly Fish.

Madison was in the water in NO TIME.
It is amazing about how much she has taken to the water.

Jacob had so much fun, digging holes and jumping in and around the water.

A classic catch

great action shot!

SANTA HAS BEEN !!!!

Madison, Megan and Maya were very spoilt by Santa this year!

The girls couldn't wait to get out on their new bikes.
Madison was like a duck to water - after a minuite or two.
Megan is still a little unsure, but loves to ride!

Maya ABSOLUTELY LOVES her little

Upsy Daisy Chair
that she recieved from Granny. Only Maya is allowed to sit in it!!

OK so every year at the "Adams" household,

it is sheer MADNESS!!

Everyone hands out their Kris Kringle presents,

then presents from Grandpa Jack & Nanny 'Cloud,

Jeanie and Nanny and Poppy.

This year it was a little more organised - but still

Chaos....fun Chaos!

There is a house near Sarah and Jason that has THE BEST lights and interactive display in this area. They had the year off last year - so we were very excited to go again this year, only to find out this will be their last Christmas as they have sold their house and they are moving!

It is so much fun - for everyone! They even have snow machine -to give the kids a little snow!

They even had Santa this year - Madison was SO excited because Santa told her she had been a good girl!!

Our baby is 1

I can't believe how quickly the last year has gone by....

Our little girl has grown so much.

She is such a blessing to this family.

She is ALWAYS smiling and is such a happy baby.

Unfortunately it hasn't been the best year for our little family,

but we know we were sent this little blessing for a reason, she is

so beautiful and wonderful, she can make all your problems seem like
nothing with a smile, giggle and a cuddle.

Maya loved being sung Happy Birthday to.
She grooved as everyone sung to her.

She was so impressed with her cake - it was so cute to see.

One of her presents was a little seahorse that playes lullaby's.

Maya thought it was so great that she would groove to this too.
You can see the excitement on her face.

THANK YOU Maya for all the love and happiness you bring to our family.

You certainly are the best blessing ever!!

A very special Christmas Present

We had a lovely surprise for Jason and Sarah.

Jason's parents came out from the USA to spend Christmas with them.

It was the hardest secret to keep - but the BEST secret ever!!

Santa, Santa......

OK this is the 1st year - out of 5 - that I have not had to sit in the picture!

Pretty good - and they are all smiling - even better!!

Graduating Pre-School

I still can't believe that my baby is 5 and will be going to school next year.

Tonight we got to go and see them in their Pre-School Concert.

GETTING READY ON STAGE

SINGING THEIR LITTLE HEARTS OUT

MADISON BEING PRESENTED WITH HER GRADUATION CERT.

PROUD AS PUNCH

MY LITTLE GIRL HAS GRADUATED PRE-SCHOOL

Can't wait till she is 21!

This is Megan in the car the other day.
I just can't wait till she is 21 and I can print this off for her birthday !!

MY BEAUTIFUL GIRLS

Here are a few photos that were taken at Courtney and Steven's wedding.

These are some beautiful shots of my girls.

I have to say they photograph very very well!!

MADISON LUCY

MEGAN LILY

MADISON LUCY

MEGAN LILY

MAYA LORI

A very upset Megan

The wedding cake I made!

The "Old Girl" is .....

On the 30th November

Mum - well she will hate me telling you - was 60!

We had a GREAT night with family and friends at

Savour Chocolate and Patisserie School.

It was great as most (I would say 95%) of the people

there has known Mum for about 20 years!!

I think most were expecting the theme to - well - be green.

I wanted to do something different,

so the theme colours were YELLOW and RED (roses)

This is the poem I made for Mum and to let

everyone know what the colours represented.

These beautiful Yellow Roses

With their tips of Red,

Are especially for you......

So let it be said.

The Yellow is for

New Beginnings

And good luck along the way,

The Red is for

Strength and Love

From us and your Saviour Above.

This is the Beautiful cake Kirsten made for Mum.

Freda, Doreen, Mum, Kim and Me

The whole dang lot of us!

Ok so when we say we are part of a

BIG FAMILY.....

This is what we mean.

Top Row L-R.
Elder Walker, Scott Adams, Simon Adams, Madison Adams,

Steven Handley, Elder Justet & Dave Adams.

Bottom Row L-R.

Jacob McDonald, Jason McDonald, Megan Adams, Sue Adams,

Sarah McDonald, Charlotte McDonald, Morgan Adams,

Brooklyn McDonald, Lauren Adams, Tara Adams.

Very Front L-R.

Courtney Handley, Maya Adams.

This picture was taken at Courtney and Steven's wedding.

(this is everyone!!)

Protecting our children

I know they say that we should not wrap our children in Cotton Wool

or Bubble wrap, but we need to let them experience life and

learn to deal with what comes their way.

BUT....

What do we do when they wrap themselves in Bubble Wrap??

This was Megan today.
(I secretly think she was trying to hide from Madison,

so Madison didn't see her playing with the Troy and Gabriella dolls!!)

THANKSGIVING - Aussie Style

Ok so Thanksgiving is not traditionally celebrated here in Australia.

Because Jason (our brother in law) is from America and

we love to help him celebrate all the American holidays

and thanksgiving is one that we REALLY enjoy!

These pictures are of some cupcakes that I made for dessert

and the lovely turkey we enjoyed.

Thanksgiving is a holiday I could get used to!!

A told B and b told C....MADISON is 5

CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM

Madison is 5!!

When we were in the USA 18 months ago a friend introduced us to the book

'Chicka Chicka Boom Boom'

It is a fantastic book, which the girls LOVE.

So for Madison we decided to have a

'Chicka Chicka Boom Boom' party.

Madison has been waiting to turn 5 since her cousin Jacob was 5 in May.

Some days she was in tears because she wasn't 5 yet.

On the morning of her birthday, still half asleep she mummbled

"I am 5"

It was so cute, she is so excited to be 5, that means she is

a big girl and she will be able to start school next year!

They had so much fun as we had a few kids from

Kinder there and then the

family party afterwards.

Madison was SO spoilt!

I just can't believe that she is 5.

She starts school next year and just can't wait.

MY BABY IS GROWING UP!!

HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

For Melbourne Cup weekend this year we decided to go camping somewhere different.
(let it just be said that we will NEVER do that again!!)

We went up to Echuca, about 3 hrs from Melbourne and it was

HOT!

It was about 37 degrees everyday, and when you are staying in tents and caravans,

with NO aircon, it can get very hot.

As you will see in the pics, everyone tried many different ways to keep cool!
(This included Maya drinking from a spray bottle - as above!)

~ WATER BABIES ~

For those who know my little Madison,

she has been petrified of water.

Since Dave and Sue got their spa her confidence has soared,

to even putting her head under!

(being a swimming teacher, let me tell you that is a HUGE accomplishment)

When we were away, she took it to even new levels,

she was jumping in, getting dunked and I even taught her how to swim torpedo.

~ BASKETBALL ~

OK so I mentioned it was HOT right?

Well even in the heat the boys still managed to play basketball!

~HALLOWEEN~
Australian Camping Style

While we were away it was Halloween.

This is a tradition that is just starting to warm up here in Australia.

Jason (our brother in law) is from Chicago,

so we love to celebrate all the American Holidays with him.

The kids also enjoy this, so they donned on their outfits and

went around to all the campsights trick or treating.....they had a ball!

~ ROADBLOCK ~

One day while we were driving back to camp
(which I might add was in the middle of nowhere!)

We were stopped at a road block.

There were flashing lights, but we couldn't really see what was going on.

Ohhh did I mention that it was HOT?

So Madison and Megan grabbed the spray bottles to keep themselves cool.

It turned out that a car had caught fire and then it had started a small scrub fire.

The girls were very excited to see all the fire trucks.

Because it was so HOT we decided to pack up early and come home.

Next year we will be going back to 'Blue Gums' in Eildon
(where the year before last we were just about flooded out hehe)

Come back soon 'ya hear!!

Having been a bit of a crazy year for the family, Jay & Sarah, Simon & Lauren and Scott & I decided to have an "Aniversary" night out - since none of us really got to cellebrate our this year.

We went to an ALL AMERICAN Diner.

Minty's Diner.

It was so much fun.

Quote from Scott
(may this be recorded for ever and ever)

"That is the BEST burger I have EVER had - EVER!"

(That is alot to live upto!)

And well the deserts were just as big

It was a great night - we had so many laughs and it was just
great not to have to yell at anyone to 'stay in their seat' as it was a kid free night!

We had a great time, it was spent with great friends,
best of all those friends are family!!

Courtney's Kitchen Tea

Sarah and I had the priveledge of running
Courtney's Bridal Shower/Kitchen Tea.

We had so much fun......
The middle is a pic of the cake I made for the occasion!

ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!!

I was a little slow in getting to Maya when she woke from a nap.

This is what I came into!!

What NOT to do with Handcuffs!

The day after the Bush Dance,

Megan was playing with the (pretend) handcuffs that we had.

She was playing quietly and all of a sudden started to get really distressed,

here is why...............

YUP around her ankles.........

and they wouldn't open with the key!!

So Scott did what men do best!

BOLT CUTTERS!!!!

Boot Skootin'

We had a ward activity.

It was a Bush Dance theme.

Everyone was excited to get all dressed up
and run with the theme of the night!

SUN, SUN and more SUN

In late July this year we took a trip to Sunny Queensland
and we had a BLAST!!

Here are just some of the pics from our trip!

OK if you have seen 'Dirty Dancing' and remember "KELLERMAN's"
where Baby and her family stayed -
that is what Scott and I first thought of when we arrived.
OH MY GOODNESS it was so beautiful, peaceful and just lovely!

I think Scott took the girls swimming nearly everyday - at their request!
This was Maya's first time to go swimming - she LOVES the water!

We took a trip the Cararer Markets -
check out the face painting the girls got!!
(man they never had that around in my day!)

Maya had a great time of the trip.

We took the girls to 'Dreamworld' and they LOVED it!
They are such thrill seekers, Madison was so upset
that she wasn't tall enough to go on all the Roller Coasters
that she wanted to go on!

So one ride that Madison was tall enough to go on was the Log Ride.

Scott took her on this and she LOVED it
right up untill the 'getting wet' bit.

Luckily we took a change of clothes for her!!

Says it all really!!

The girls were so excited that they could meet Dora.

We also took them to 'Sea World'

They loved all the rides they were able to go on,
and went of many of them several times!

OUR TRIP TO UNCLE GRAHAM'S FARM

Since we were close (by about 3hrs)
we decided to take a drive down to Scott's uncle's farm.

It was so lovely, quiet and peaceful.

They girls were able to go for a horse ride, ride on the tractor and feed the cows.
It was so great to catch up with Graham and spend some time with him.