Wedding Anniversary

My husband and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary yesterday. We were married on Saturday, 30t August, 1986 at 4pm at St. Matthews Catholic Church, Windsor. The reception was at Fairfield House in Windsor. It was really formal, but that was the way things were 'done' then.

Don't you just love the pink dresses, all taffeta and lace, and the boys cravats and tails :-)

There were so many things to do - select the invitations and get them printed, choose a lavish cake, decide on the bouquets, book the reception and a pianist, hire cars, and on and on.

I think that it can be much simpler now-a-days. Weddings can be more relaxed and fun. It's nice to look back on though. My page boy and flower girl (my youngest cousins) are now both married with children of their own and I lost touch with both my matron-of-honour and bridesmaid. My sister didn't make the cut to be in the wedding party as she was very pregnant with my nephew ( I really think that she didn't want to be seen in a hideous pink dress ...LOL). We still see the best man (Tony's brother) and occasionally Tony sees the groomsman.

Happy anniversary to me and Tony.

Sky Watch Friday

These photos were taken at SkyTrek, a great four-wheel drive track in the Flinders Ranges. It was such a beautiful day - clear skies, stunning scenery and, of course, our great Australian landscape.

Big blue skies watch on
Grass plants stand tall and proud
Sentinels watching

Magic Wand Swap

I love to get parcels in the mail. I hate window envelopes though - there are always bills inside. I got a lovely parcel the other day. It was from my partner in the Magic Wand Swap hosted by Genevieve from Bella Enchanted. It was a pretty striped box addressed to me :-) for a change - there are always parcels for my DH, who is addicted to EBay.

I opened up my pretty parcel with excitement and found some
lovely treasures inside. My girls were as excited as me to see what was inside.

"Is it your wand?"

"I think so. I love purple."

I unwrapped the purple tissue paper to find a gift and a pretty purple magic wand. Just what my fairy alter-ego desired. My daughters and I admired my gifts and then I laughed. I haven't finished the wand for my partner yet (but I am working on it) and realised that the butterfly on my wand was the same as the one that I had bought to put on hers...LOL. Just goes to show that we both must have great taste :-)

Thank you Skye from Vintage Whimsey. I promise that you will have your wand soon - I have to tweak the butterfly to make it look a little different now :-)

Brenda's Photo Challenge - Sweets

Thanks Tegan for hosting this round of Brenda's Photo Challenge. It was a great excuse to buy an evil, naughty sugar fix :-) The photo above is from Central Markets in Adelaide, South Australia. There is so much choice that the girls could hardly decide what to have. Below are some shots of yummy M and M's. I had to hide them after the photos so that no-one would binge :-) Problem was, I knew where they where.

Sky Watch Friday

January on Mount Kosciousko. The clouds closed in and the wind was too strong to walk to the peak - it was blowing the children back :-)

Trip to Oberon

On Saturday we went up to Oberon and Jenolan Caves for a weekend trip. We met some friends on the road and made our way to Jenolan Caves for a tour through the Temple of Baal.

It was an hour long tour through a spectacular cave with some fantastic formations. The shawl formations were particularly impressive, especially the Angel Gabriel. Can you see him in one of the photos?

We then had to have lunch there at a cafe as they close the
road in to the caves and make it one-way only inbound so that tourist buses can negotiate the narrow, windy road in to the caves. We then had a bit of fun exploring some four-wheel drive tracks on the way to Oberon, were we settled in for the night. We woke in the morning to snow :-)

We had a great hot breakfast in Oberon and then enjoyed a day of four-wheel driving through Lowes State Forest. We have been there a few times before and it's a reasonably easy trip, but it was made more challenging thanks to the rain and the little snow that fell during the drive. It was a good weekend :-)

My Tegan

Tegan has had plenty of dental work over the past six months. At thirteen, she still had six of her baby teeth, so she has slowly had them pulled out and a few fillings done too. Six months and a birthday later came the big one - braces. She had them put on about two weeks ago now and is slowly getting used to them. She hates the sore mouth that goes with them, but hopefully they will be off in twelve to eighteen months. It hasn't slowed her down on the phone though. I was trying to take a 'natural' photo of her on the phone and every time I pushed that little button on the camera she inadvertently made a stupid face. This one was a crack-up!

Wordless Wednesday - Shh! I'm Sleeping

For more Wordless Wednesday photos, visit here.

Sky Watch Friday

An electrical storm over Sydney Harbour. Nature at her wild best.

Wordless Wednesday - On Top of the World!

What can I say - a WOW moment walking up the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Next Host for Photo Challenge

Tegan from Pacman Forever is the next lucky hostess. She'll post her theme tomorrow.

Here are the rules as for as I know them..... If you want to participate please go to The Brenda Photo Challenge Blog and leave a comment. Then you will need to post 2-3 photos depicting your interpretation of the current theme on your blog by the set date. Most importantly of all, have fun :-)

Here are the rules for the next lucky hostess.

1. If you're asked to host the next challenge, and you accept the mission, pick a date (usually two weeks gives everyone time to gather their subjects and snap their photos).

2. Pick a theme (can be anything that floats your boat).

3. Post the rules and the next host, on your post. The next host then does the same!

Photo Challenge - PLAY

Time to show-and-tell! I had great fun choosing three pictures for this challenge. I hope that you all had fun doing it too. I decided to play with the photos too before I posted them :-)

My oldest daughter Tegan and two of her girlfriends jumping down a huge sandhill at Stockton Beach, north of Sydney, Australia.

My youngest daughter Shelby after a mammoth mud fight at a four-wheel drive jamboree Easter last year. She even had mud in her ears and between her teeth :-) It took over an hour to get her clean, let alone her clothes (her socks were a write-off).

Shelby and I trying to break the land-speed record down the toboggan ride in Thredbo, Snowy Mountains. It was summer, so no snow.

Tick Tock - Almost Time!

I hope that you are all ready to participate in Brenda's Photo Challenge tomorrow. If you haven't signed up, follow the link in my sidebar. Looking forward to visiting you all soon and seeing all those great pictures.

Sky Watch Friday

Sunset at Point Hicks Lighthouse, Victoria, Australia.

I have been inspired by a few other blogs to join in Sky Watch Friday. I'll endeavour to participate every week - let's see how I do :-)

Wordless Wednesday - Shh!

Welcome to Wordless Wednesday :-)

My Magic Wand Swap Partner

My wand swap partner is Skye from Vintage Pretties. This should be a lot of fun. Will have to put my thinking cap on :-) Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Thanks to Genevieve from Bella Enchanted for hosting another swap.