Happy Australia Day - times THREE!!!

Australia Day was last Friday, and I have to say, it is definitely my favorite Australian holiday! Three babies (all girls!) that we love were all born on Australia Day 2007! It all started the night before, when Kelly (our sister-in-law) went into labor around 11pm. She delivered the twins at 2:30am and 2:50am. Their names are Macey Rose and Lilly Grace. They are both doing great, and so is Kelly. Colin and I went to his parents house the night before, so we got to see them first thing in the morning - they are about 8 hours old in this picture!

Leslie & Macey and Colin & Lilly

Then, later that day (much later, because now we're changing to U.S. time zones), 2 of our best friends in Denver had their baby girl at 9:04pm! Joni and Brus named their beautiful baby Sophia Sydney. Colin and I are so sad that we couldn't be there for her birth, but we're very excited to see them all when they come to visit us in April! They started getting Sophia ready for Australia as soon as she was born...

Sophia and her parents are home and doing well. Congratulations you guys!!! We miss you!

mmm...wine

Well, despite the gallstone problems, we have been having fun too. We spent last weekend in the Hunter Wine Valley, tasting delicious wine. Now we just have to decide which wine club to join! I have to say, I've always been more of a red wine drinker, but since we've been in Australia, I've quickly learned that all beverages must be COLD since the weather is so hot. So, we've actually developed quite a liking for white wines, especially sauvignon blanc and semillion. The 2 days we were in the Hunter Valley were the hottest 2 days of my life - the high temperature was 47 Celsius! That's 116.6 degrees Fahrenheit!

I hope you're all enjoying winter :) Well, tomorrow is Australia Day (which is similar to the 4th of July), so Colin is off work and we're going to have a picnic and lay on the beach all day - I can't wait!

Guess Where We Went - AGAIN?!?

Well, as I'm sure you can guess from the photos, we had to go to the hospital again for Colin's gallstones. This time he was admitted to the surgical ward from the Emergency Room. Sounds like he's finally going to get his surgery, right? Wrong. So, we got to the ER at about 8am after being at home in pain for about 3 1/2 hours. This was the worst pain he's had yet. We spent about 5 hours in the ER, at which point his pain was actually gone. But, they decided to admit him for "pain management" anyway. We thought this sounded promising and asked if there was a chance they would take his gallbladder out, but, they quickly assured us that they will not do the surgery as an emergency, and he'd have to just wait until his appointment in May. So, we told them he was no longer having pain therefore did not need to be admitted, but they wanted to "watch" him for at least a few more hours. He hadn't eaten since dinner last night, and they wouldn't let him eat or drink anything there. Plus, the room he was admitted into was shared with 3 other people, and you had to pay to watch TV! I know I sound really whiny, but it has been really frustrating. I asked the surgeon what we were supposed to do for the next 5 months when Colin is doubled over in pain, can't sleep and has to miss work, and he said there was really nothing we could do since this is an "elective surgery."

So, after sitting in his room on the surgical ward, not eating, and staring at the walls for 3 hours, they finally decided to discharge him. Now, we're home again getting ready to make another wonderful fat-free dinner :) But, there is some good news! The surgeon put through a new order to have the surgery done within 30 days. He says it may not happen quite that quickly, but that Colin shouldn't have to wait for his appointment in May (which was only an appointment to see the surgeon, not actually for the surgery). So, we're very hopeful that this may get done next month. So, that's what's going on here... we'll keep you posted!

Home Sweet Home

The inspection went great! I didn't want to leave when it was finished! Why did we decide to close on March 23rd??? Anyway, here's the details of our house: it will be 4 years old in March, it has 3 bedrooms + a study, 2 full bathrooms, master bedroom with a walk-in closet, master bathroom has a double vanity and a double shower, there are 2 living areas and one dining area, an enormous kitchen with granite countertops and wood cabinets, breakfast nook, outdoor entertaining area, and A POOL! YAY!!! So, the pool is just a small plunge pool, but it 6 feet deep. And, the master bedroom looks out onto it, with sliding doors going out to the pool.

So, when are you coming to visit???...

A Place to Stay...

Well, we bought a house! Now you all have a place to stay when you come to visit! I was hoping to have some pictures from the realtor today to post on the website, but she hasn't sent them through yet. So, as soon as I get them, I'll put some up for you all to see. We are so excited! Here's what happened: Saturday morning we were just getting ready to go for a walk and a realtor called us to say she just got a listing the night before for a house we might be interested in. She said it hadn't even been properly listed with pictures or a sign yet, but she was on her way to the house to do just that. So, she said we could meet her at the house to see it if we wanted. She also said, "this house is so immacualte, it should be in a magazine." We've had many phone calls from numerous realtors very similar to this, with no luck of actually finding a nice house, so we weren't expecting much. But, we thought we may as well take a look as long as we were going to be out on a walk anyway. We walked into the house and FELL IN LOVE with it!! It is exactly what we were looking for. So, we stayed there for about 30 minutes, looking at every detail and then quietly discussed whether we wanted to make an offer right away or not. The reason we wanted to move so quickly was because we had found a house the previous weekend that we really liked (well, we thought we liked it, until we saw THIS house), and waited until Monday to make an offer, and it was already sold. The realtor selling this house has sold 3 other houses in the neighborhood each on the first day they were listed. So, we knew this one would go fast, and decided to make an offer. Now, after a little bit of negotiation, we have a house! Well, we're under contract for one anyway. Besides the house being perfect, another great thing about it is that the current owners are building a new house, and they were very flexible as to when we close. So, we are going to close on March 23 (5 days before the lease at our apartment ends), therefore, not having to pay rent and a mortgage at the same time. So, it all seems to be working out perfectly - yay! We have the inspection tomorrow, so I'll definitely get some pictures then. Since this blog is already way too long, I'll give you all the details tomorrow too! Stay tuned!

Apparently I Became a Computer Geek When I Moved To Australia...

I have a blog on the Internet! I can't credit any of it to myself since my wonderful friend Jean set it all up for me, but we'll see if I am computer-saavy enough to keep it up. This way, instead of me filling up your email inboxes with my mass emails, you can just check my website whenever you want to get updates. I'll try to do it at least a few times a week, starting today. These pictures are from New Year's Eve night, and then New Year's morning (Colin couldn't have started out his birthday any better way!). We're on the beach with our friends Martin and Suzy who have just moved back to Australia from London. Martin was the MC at our Denver wedding reception.

There's nothing new here to tell you all about. Colin did have one more visit to the ER with gallstone pain, but he's hanging in there. Only 5 more months to go! Thanks to all of you who took the time to look at the website! Please keep checking back, keep emailing, and I promise to keep in touch!