This is a photo heavy post, but hey a picture tells a 1000 words :-) And since it's been soooooo long between posts rather than write a few thousand word essay about what's been going on and have you all comatose by the end, lots of photos it is.

click on photos to see larger.

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Cowps fell over and pushed his front tooth all the way back into the socket. We were given a few scenarios from the dentist and took the "wait and see" approach. So thankful that his tooth came back down into the right position and no discolouring. Thank you Jesus!! :-D
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The kids found this frog & he's been a constant companion over the months. He lives in a big lilly under the kitchen window & is always so calm and collected with the kids. They've even rigged up a swing for the poor guy. I've never seen such a tollerant frog before!
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We're now 2nd generation chook owners ;-) We finally had a chicken hatch after two chooks had been broody. We've now got 3 broody hens all sitting together stealing any egg that's laid to go under them. This time we are taking the "set and forget" attitude with the chickens and letting them do their thing. Hopefully we'll have more bubby chicks soon :-D
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Finally catching up on all the "extra" school work that got a little neglected first half of the year. Kids have really enjoyed doing some science experiments together. Planing for next year's subjects is in full swing :-D Now just to get Mark up to speed on the whole system.
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We're just so blessed with our neighbours out here. This is Roger, he's also restoring an old home and is just such a wonderful guy. He's calls the kids his Grand kids and has become a part of the family. We often have him over for dinner and the kids are always baking him stuff. He bought the kids a kite and flys it with them and has built the boys a big pick up truck. We also have a beautiful group of laides that I bible study with. Just so amazed that in such a tiny town, there are so many Christians. Just confirms even more that this was God's place for us. I finally made it to church on Sunday & this Sunday we'll try another home church. Just got to find a place that both Mark & I feel at home with.

Ron, another neighbour has also made us a table and chairs for our kitchen. Will have to take photos of the kitchen progress. Ron's 82 and is just so active and has been a real encouragment to Mark. Today he's having a back opperation, so prayers for his healing and recovery would be a real blessing.

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Here's a typical view of the scenery of these parts. A trip to the shops isn't so bad with views like this, and NO TRAFFIC!! We laugh that if we pass more than one car on our road, it must be peak hour.
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I think apart from Mt Isa, Warwick hosts one of Australia's largest rodeos and campdraft competitions. We had a great time this year going with my sister Kym and her family. We're already planing next years. Also will be fun to go to the smaller local ones too. On the Saturday we lost Mitch at the rodeo. He lost sight of us and actually ran out of the rodeo thinking we were headed for the car. Thankfully God was looking out for him and we got him back safe and sound.
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The kids are all just growing up so fast!! Noah is just doted on something fierce by his big sisters. I can see some of those girly dress up photos making their way out at someone's 21st.

House has been moving along. Mark has just continued to amaze me at his skill and drive in renovating. So far he's put in new doors, kitchen (half way there), new wall for a boys room, plumbing, new windows & is on the way to a new shed. Just so thankful for all the work he does.

Right now......... For Today.....

Right Now.......

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Such typical scenes from our home. Bubby snuggled in our bed, kids picking up in the lounge before they can watch a movie. Through the doorway Hannah doing dishes, Alec on the couch thinking that he looks like he's helping, my left over morning tea & computer on the table & streamers left hanging up from Sunday nights little family award night hosted by the kiddos.

For Today....

Outside my window... Roger working on his house across the street.

I am thinking... Enjoy the rest before "work" this afternoon & better get meat out of the freezer or it will never defrost.

I am thankful for... God, A freezer full of cow & having a wood heater.

From the kitchen... Morning tea - Banana cake, chocolate cake & hot milo. Lunch - toasted sandwiches. Dinner - steak & gravy

I am wearing... Jeans & a purple jumper that's too small and with a green shirt hanging out the bottom & sheepskin slippers. It's a nice look.

I am creating... plans for a renovation.

I am going... to the chook pen.

I am reading... Janette Oke

I am hoping... for some good materials from JJ to do our kitchen and bathroom & that I will finally finish the birth story.

I am hearing... The kids watching Marley & Me, Noah's waking up & Alec is nagging about blankets.

Around the house... Laundry, sweeping, ADS work & keeping the fire going.

One of my favourite things... Rugged up on the couch with a hot milo, fruit toast & a good book.

A few plans for the rest of the week... It's tax time so.... work, gardening, visiting the local museum.

Chicks & Bubbies

This post is LONG overdue!! Noah and I came home on the Monday 16th of March and the rest of the kiddos came home on the Friday with my parents. Mum and Dad stayed till the following Tuesday and we got a fair bit done in the yard. Thanks Mum and Dad :-) When are you coming back??? hehe

Little man was due this week, amazing to think I've had an extra 5 weeks with this little guy. But with My Birthday last Friday & Hannah's this Tuesday I'm so glad we don't have 3 birthdays over 1 week!! 8

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Look at him he's just so serious!!

And last weekend we welcomed these to our home. Studly Rocky with one of his girls. This lucky boy has 5 ladies to keep him company. They're not laying yet & he's not crowing yet, so our neighbours are still our friends for the time being. (Although my neighbour today swears she heard crowing from our place yesterday....I'm in denial)888

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And someone please help me!! This is the best I can do for capturing 6 kids right now. Where's Pioneer Woman when you need her.
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I'm sorry Cowp's that's not your best angle, and excuse me for keeping you up Noah, that's payback for how Mummy feels about your insisting boob is a good thing at all hours.

& Here's Part 1 of Noah's birth story.

NOAH - PART 1

As your sister likes to tell you little man, you might be number 6, but you are full of firsts. Your entry into the world was certainly different from all the bigger kids.

We’d only just moved to our new home, I think we’d only lived here for about 3 weeks and we’d just started to feel settled. Your brothers and sisters had just started at Brigade, we were catching up on our school missed while moving and I was planing on renovating the bathroom and Dad was having an ongoing drama about getting our roof water collected.

Things were feeling good, we were all loving being out here and I had decided that I would give up my place at the Birth Centre in Brisbane and go to the Warwick hospital. On Monday 2nd of March I went into the Warwick hospital to organise my last lot of appointments with them and “book in”. The lady at admissions called and faxed the Birth Centre to have a referral sent over. I was told that I couldn't even make an appointment until those forms arrived. She then looked at me and said “You’re quite along aren’t you” and when I said 35wks she said “Stuff protocol, I’ll make you that appointment” She got me in to see the doctor that Wednesday 4th at 2:45pm.
Well Wednesday arrives, I was all set for my appointment at 3:45pm, I was getting ready to walk out the door. I double checked my letter to see where in the hospital I had to go & realised that my appointment was 2:45 and that was.. RIGHT NOW!! I rang the hospital to tell them my stuff up and that it takes me 25min to get there. They said it was okay and just to get there when I could. Finally at 4pm I get to see the doctor. We go over my history and he calls the RBH again to get my records as they still hadn’t arrived. The appointment was all good and I said “see you next week”, fully expecting about 4 or 5 more appointments at the hospital. When I hoped into the car, there was a message from the RBH saying that they had sent over my file to Warwick hospital.

All was good; I drove home via McDonald's, got my self a banana bread and Vanilla Latte and came home to cook dinner. That night we had some rain, Dad was so relived that his tanks were getting some water and the whole family sat out on the veranda watching the rain and having supper, it was a nice relaxed night before we all headed to bed. As Mummy and Daddy lay in bed we talked about your arrival, that any time in the next 6 weeks you would be here and as usual near the end of every pregnancy I said “I don’t want to do labour again”. I told your Dad that I knew it would only be about 3hrs of labour and in the big scheme of things that was such a short time, but the uncertainty of when and the waiting was so frustrating. I told your Dad, it would be like me telling him that sometime in the next 6 wks he had to run for 3hrs continuously. He wasn’t to know when he had to do the run but that at any stage he would need to do it. He agreed that that would be horrible and said “Knowing you, you’d wake me at 1:30am to do it”.

We went to sleep, I was ready for you to arrive, your bed was made up, your clothes folded and sorted, I bought nappies & maternity pads and the house looked like a baby was coming, but going on history, I was preparing myself for it being a long 6 weeks.

At 2am that night I woke up quite suddenly. I had a pulse throbbing really fast and hard and it felt like the veins in my neck were going to burst. My hands were swollen and I had tingling in my right hand and arm. I got out of bed pretty quickly and got to the toilet. Once I got on the toilet I had really strong pains in my tummy and couldn’t sit up on the toilet and was having to lean back. I couldn’t really move and my first thought was “I’m not having a baby on the toilet” I yelled out “MARK!!!” and your Dad came in and I told him what was going on and I needed his help to get up. Just as I started to get up, I got a really strong cramp in my leg. So your poor Dad was trying to get a cramp out of my leg before I could get up.

Once I got up I started pacing the kitchen trying to work out what was going on. I felt a bit panicked and thought, “either I’m going into labour or I’m getting sick” I also was having continual pain in my belly and back. After about 5 min of things not really getting better I said to your Dad, “I think I’d better pack a bag and call the ambulance”. We both agreed that it was better to go and get things checked out, than hang around and perhaps have things get worse. So I got a bag ready and made the call. As I was packing my bags I had said to your Dad “God had placed it on my heart this last week I might be delivering this baby without you and I’m okay with that”.

The lady on the phone was lovely and said the ambulance would be roughly half an hour as it had to come from Warwick. Due to the distance they would send a first response unit from Killarney to be with me till the ambulance arrived. After talking to her for a while things seamed to calm down and I thought perhaps I didn’t need the ambulance after all. After I said that to her I told her I thought my waters had broken. She asked me to check the amount of fluid and then I realised that it wasn’t my waters it was blood. So I went off to deal with that I gave the phone to Dad and I thought “I’m glad I’ve called an ambulance”. When I hopped back on the phone your Dad asked me “Have you felt Noah move?” It was then that I realised before I went to sleep you were moving a fair bit, but since I woke up I hadn’t felt you at all. I lay down hoping you would move, prodded you and poked you but you didn’t move. By then the ambulance arrived. The ambulance men came in and asked a few questions and said “We’re taking you in to Warwick hospital” as they were loading me into the ambulance the first responders arrived. At 3am I said goodbye to your Dad and left 5 little kiddies in their beds.

I have a good excuse for the delay in posts

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Introducing Noah Benjamin Clifford.


Born March 5th 2009. Just a little bit early ;-) 5 weeks in fact. In the last post I said that we wanted to do the bathroom before April, before bubby arrived, my body had different ideas, I had a placental abruption which resulted in a ceasarian delivery at 35 weeks.

I'll put up the birth story later (will be a loooonnnngggg post, just don't want to forget God's hand in his delivery), we're still in hospital and hope to be home soon. We're both doing really well recovery wise and are desperate to go home.

And I need a new photo, he doesn't have tubes anymore :-)

Again!!

It's late, Mark's away in Brissy doing inspections (we had enough for 2 days, Thank You Lord!!), I always put off sleep when he's not here.

I just did a layout using Willro&co's new "Quality Time" kit.

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Journaling Reads: Your perfect will and timing Lord won in the end. You told us to buy a house after Nov. 08, and the enemy put in a good effort to stop it. He used bleeding during my pregnancy, Cowper’s TEC, Holly’s eczema and Mark’s back. We are so thankful that we turned to you Lord and you got us back on track, and brought us here to Mt. Colliery.Your Timing,Your House for Us, Your Abundant Blessing, Your Victory!

Our neighbours over the back are such a wonderful couple. The kids are building a "club house" up the backyard and they often call out to Dawn to come and see what they have done. She is so good at encouraging them and looking out for them. I'm so grateful for having them as neighbours.

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We have a gate between our blocks. I hope one day that she feels as free to use that gate as she once did when the house was owned by the original owners Mr & Mrs Roach.

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Dawn has also had great stories to tell about the history of our house.

Mt Colliery from around 1930 to 1964 had a coal mine. Mick Roach who owned our house was the mine manager & his Dad was the one who discovered coal up in the mountain. Mick & his wife lived here well into their old age. Dawn actually drove with Mrs Roach in the ambulance as she was taken to hospital for the last time. Apparently Mrs Roach had a beautiful garden just bursting with flowers (some of her rose bushes live on) and fish ponds etc. Mr Roach then lived here for some time on his own, until he had a stroke in his 90's. Dawn would come down and do his ironing and keep an eye out for him. The house was then bought by Dawn's nephew and he and his partner lived here for a couple of years, then it was sold to the people we bought it from. In the 3 1/2 years they had it they were lucky if they stayed here 4 times and only for the day. Crazy stuff. She never got the water connected up and often would complain to Dawn that they can't stay because there is no water. However she did get the floors polished.

It's nearly a month since we've owned the place. In that time, Mark has got all the water tanks connected, installed a pump, got the hot water system working, all the water in the house working (shower, vanity, sink, toilet), gotten a lot of the yard under control, done a lot of roof plumbing, fixed the fencing and cleared out sheds. Nearly all the water work done in the first couple of days before we moved in. I'm so proud of the work he has done around the house and his "can do attitude". This is where I often find him.

Doing this:

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& this:

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And he still keeps up his day job.

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It's sad that the house was left "abandoned" like that, the woman would often go back to Brissy and leave all the doors open and didn't really care. I'm thankful that our neighbours did and would come and close up to protect the house from the weather. I'm also really glad that a couple had a full life here, that they lived here till they were just to old to stay and they were known as a "wonderful people". We want to bring the old girl back to her glory as being a loved family home. However I don't really share the love of vinyl that Mr & Mrs Roach did. Up to 6 layers thick in some places!! It brings Mark and I great amusement each time we find some more.

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In a few weeks time we want to fix up a carport & start work on the bathroom. Praying that we can get the floor done & a new bath/shower in before the end of March or before bubs makes an entrance. Right now we have a small shower cubical and carpet in the bathroom, you can imagine my frustration each night trying to stop that carpet from getting a soaking (I couldn't care less about the carpet getting wrecked, it's the timber floor underneath). The sooner it's gone the better (and yep there is remnants of vinyl under it too!!).

How things change....

I decided that I would let my place at the Birth Centre go as I thought "what a waste" if I go early and deliver at Warwick, someone else who's never experienced the Birth Centre might have totally missed their chance because I had a place that I may not be able to use. Also going to and from Brissy for appointments has lost it's appeal lol.

Anyway I was up at the hospital yesterday organising transfer of files and getting appointments sorted and the girl there was super lovely :-) We got talking about kids and life in general & then she came out with the comment "You were obviously born to be a mother". That comment really played on my mind and showed me just how far on the journey God has taken me this past two and a half years.

Once upon a time a comment like that would have offended me, I would have run a mile from being labeled "just a Mum" but now I love that title, it's really who God has called me to be and I love it. I was laying in bed last night thinking right now my two greatest rolls in life are to be a wife to Mark and a Mum to our kids and seeking God on how to do that.

When I finally surrendered my life to God and said "take this broken person" HE completely gave my life a new outlook and a contented one.

I just said to Mark the other day "Living out here I feel more like a 'mum' than I ever have before". The innocent comment that the hospital admin lady made touched me in such a profound way & I am just so happy to be "born to be a mother".

DISCLAIMER - being "born to be a mother" does not mean that I have a super clean house, i never have days where I think "TIME OUT!", that the smell of home baked goodies constantly fills the air. What it DOES mean is that with all the ups and downs of motherhood, I am above all, happy that this is my role and I trust that the Lord will provide the tools to be, Mum.

The move so far.....

I promised I wouldn't blog again until we were at the house & so many days I've wanted to, but net access is a bit of a juggle at the moment. Come mid March we should have a new modem that we are waiting on and communications and office networks should be back to the "old ways".

Life so far has been great!! Whilst we knew the first month would be a bit of a struggle financially as we recovered from all the house buying and moving bills, God has so graciously provided for ALL our needs and we've just been so surprised where extra money has turned up or we've gotten something way cheaper than expected or for free.

Blessings over the last 2 weeks have been:

- Getting our tank filled for $230, not $900 as originally thought

- Getting our hot water system fixed for $120 and not needing a whole new system

- Getting the shower fixed for free thanks to my Dad having the part we needed

- Getting our fencing fixed as there was spare fencing rolled up at the house

- Mark not ever giving up and thinking "outside the square" for solutions on things

- The solicitor over charging us and giving us a refund cheque

- The truck hire company overcharging us and giving us a refund

- Wonderful neighbours and chats over the fence

- The kids going beserk in the backyard building a cubby/clubhouse

Now all the things that "had to be done" are done and all at a cost of $340 not $1000's. Praise the Lord!! And we can go to our original plan of just sitting for a while, not rushing to do things and working out the priority of what we can and can't live with. So far the kids & I are content, Mark's struggling with not having a shed, but he's got a plan lol.

I took the kids to Girls & Boys Brigade Thursday night and it got "I LOVE IT!!!" all around. In fact on the way home from Brigade three voices called from the back seat "WE'RE NEVER LIVING IN THE CITY AGAIN!! EVER!!!". I think the kids like it ;-)

So some before and after pics of progress so far.

BEFORE: Lounge and Dining

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After : Looking from the other end at the front door. This is our entry, dining & school area.

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And the lounge part of the room

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Before: Front room girls half

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AFTER: Girls half looking from the doorway

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BEFORE: Boys half of front room

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AFTER: Boys half

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BEFORE: Sleep out (this is divided into 3 rooms)

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AFTER: Mark's office part of the sleepout

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I'll try to blog some more this week with more pics around the place, (especially of some of the big efforts Mark's been putting in) but there's a start :-)

This week off our mountain is a paragliding competetion, we had one land behind our house yesterday, so hope to get some cool photos of those. Was just chatting to our back neighbours and they said on the last day of the comp the sky is full of them. Lets hope the wind is blowing in our direction :-)

Last Days..

We have some BIG days ahead of us.

My Mum has been here working solid for the last two weeks and I'm still looking at the amount of packing that has to be done today, we'll get there. Nothing like the last minuet work under pressure to pull it all together.

This afternoon the kids go to my sisters house. Last night was the last time that they got tucked into bed at this house. It's crazy I'm crying as I type this, I told Mark last night I got a bit emotional doing it. Hannah had a cry. He had a gentle laugh at how crazy emotional us women are and said I carry the emotions of the whole house. Boy it sure feels like it. I kind of feel like I'm the energizer bunny, I just go and go and go and then whammo I hit that emotional release and it comes flooding.

I know God has a plan for us and I know how much joy and security I feel when we're out at the house, and really all I'm leaving is a "shell", all the important things that are here are moving with me. Yet it's sad to leave the place where so many things have happened.

- Our two youngest boys were born here.
- Mark and I faced one of the biggest tests our marriage will ever face here, and we got through it.
- It was in this house that I poured out my filth to God and asked Him to save this broken person. He Did.
- Mark rededicated his life to God here.
- We started our home school journey here.
- The whole family has come to God here.

You know on the outside we just look like every other person in the neighbourhood, just getting on with life. Nothing great. But the things that "really matter" the HEART of our existence, Jesus, really met all of us here.

Yet I am so thankful that these things have nothing to do with the house we live in, that it's not the walls that contain the experiences, but our hearts. I am so thankful that God is with me leading me and carrying me no matter where I am. That my precious family is with me, no matter where I am. My memories are with me no matter where I am. The Internet allows me access to all my friends, no matter where I am.

So today I pack up the last of our things. So many good things are going to come of this move, I know it, I know the enemy doesn't want me to feel that right now, he wants me to stay where I am, in the safety of familiarity, but we're stepping out in faith, we're following the calling of our Lord & we will certainly share the journey. And I promise to keep it real.

And in keeping it real, I'm blogging because I am procrastinating big time about packing up my office. So I shall promise that this is the last blog post from from Brisbane.

Prayers for our safety getting our stuff to the new place and for everyone helping us, that they stay injury free and protection over their backs would be greatly appreciated. And for a stressful job to remain positive.

God Bless, and see you soon.

ARE YOU FOR REAL?...............

Hmmmmmmm Am I for real?

Most days we post the "nice" stuff, not often the "real" side of everyday life. I know I go through the blogs thinking "If only I had it together like them". But I really can't find anyone who has the perfect life, but I think everyone else does. Crazy Stuff.

Miss Lusi, has challenged us to take up the "GET REAL" challenge on her blog. Lusi this idea rocks and I'm jumping on. Thank you for the reminder to humble ourselves and share the real us not the sugar coated us.

So for today here's my GET REAL post.

REALLY - I yelled at the kids this morning and had a major "JUST GET OUT OF MY WAY!!" moment because I was stressing about the next two days.

REALLY - I spent the last 3 weeks stressing about money and the lack of work on the horizon

REALLY - I am embarassed too often about the state of my house and cringe at the thought of someone just "dropping in" Yet I hate the fact that no one just "drops in"

REALLY - I am the worlds biggest procrastinator

REALLY - I should have done my tax (see above)

REALLY - I can be a major computer addict neglecting the family around me

REALLY - I have eaten way too much takeaway this last week

REALLY - I just wish Holly's ezcema would dissapear so it wasn't something we had to "deal with"

REALLY - I don't get 2 & 4 year old boys and "pushing the boundaries" time and time again.

REALLY - I am insanely jealous of the amount of toys other kids have. Yet I still think our kids have too much!

REALLY - My new house is 100yrs old and she looks like it.

So there you go that's me today.

BUT, you know what, I love my life regardless.

I am so thankful for.

1. A God who sent his one and only Son to die for me, and you and you and you and you
2. A husband that loves me and we work together well
3. Five kids who are not perfect, but are mine and I am so grateful God chose me to be thier Mum.
4. A family that is working so hard to help us move and clean this house. I love you Mum & Dad, John & Sam, Penny & Darin, Kym & Michael & our friends who will help on Sat.
5. That even though our work has its ups and downs and we don't have a six figure wage, we have time for our family, and that time is worth billions.
6. That no matter where life takes me as long as I keep my eyes on Jesus, it will be okay.

1 More Sleep!!!

Then we'll be home owners. YEAH!!!!

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We're going to have a sleep over at the house tomorrow night :-) Should be fun!

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Well my last official weekend as a Brisbaneite was shared with some beautiful Scrap of Faith girls.

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We headed over to Wriggle It at Kingston so all the kids could have a big play and the Mamma's could have a nice sit and chat.

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I was a slack girl & didn't take my camera. Pics are courtesy of Chrissy & Leanne :-)
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It was just so lovely to sit and chat with these girls, hopefully the move won't reduce our chance to catch up.

I then went over to see my sister & BIL and their two big kids Erin & Tara. Poor Erin has spent the last week in hospital with a "massive" blood clot. From her hip to her thigh. Thankfully she has had a massive clot when she was young as it will affect pregnancy. Not something you want to find out while pregnant :-(

And I have to say thanks for Nat for letting me drag her around town yesterday. It was great to have that extra time with you Hon.

& today it's a kids birthday party with Mark's side of the family.

So our last official weekend in Bris and it was spent with Family and Friends. Nice!!!

It's now the run into the home straight. We move next Saturday, so I had better pull my finger out and get all the things packed that need my attention. I'm soooooo not looking forward to this office lol. At least it will be finished by next week :-)

We are getting closer to this........

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So my wonderful Mum has been at my house doing a lot of this.....
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And Mark and I look like this.........
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And I realise I've been sprung...............
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It's the real reason why we're moving. They wouldn't think to look for me out here.....
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Guess.........

where I went yesterday?

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Yep out to the house :-) The only water at the house is an 800ltr tank, ummmmm not quiet enough lol. There is a big 23000ltr tank in place just waiting to get hooked up properly. So we asked the current owners if we could go before settlement and try to get some rain water into that tank. Yesterday we made the trip out there to work out the ins and outs of what was there and what Mark needed to do to get the job done. Mark and John are back there today hooking it up. Just praying that God delivers some nice rain over the next two weeks so we don't have to buy in water.

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So while Mark did his thing the kids and I took a walk around "town". We met two of the locals, one guy who was born there then moved to Brisbane for a while & of all places worked here in Narangba lol and has been back "home" for the last 16 years. His mother and aunty and uncle etc still all live there. He told us that in his mother's life time she's seen snow twice in the town and he has seen it once. Me thinks winter mights be chilley!!

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Then we met our neighbour to the left of us (well he's across the street, but our only neighbour to the left). We hadn't even been talking a minuet and discover that he is a Christian. His comment to us was "We need more of them, Praise The Lord!". So nice to know that we have a brother in Christ as a neighbour :-)

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The kids and I also had a picnic on our little patio (we didn't have access to the house, just outside) and watched the mountain in front of us change colour as the afternoon progressed. I can see many a cups of tea out the front. We went around the yard a bit better and discovered two mature fruit trees, yeah!! It was the first time Hannah and Mitchell had been out there and the two of them spent a good hour at least exploring the yard.

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Mark & I will often come up to each other and affectionately say "You happy?". It's not that we're worried that we're not, but it's just a little thing we do. Yesterday just hanging out there I kept thinking "yeah I'm happy" so I beat him to it, walked up to him and put my arm around him gave him a big smile and said "I'm happy". He got it :-) Life just feels so content out there and we both left feeling that we'd really made the right choice. Or should I say so thankful that God lead us to this place.

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So a little tour around our town :-)

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The street that runs beside our house (there is a vacant block between us and the street)

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The main road into town. Our house is just there on the right (red roof)

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The other street that you turn off from the main road. At the end of the road is the T intersection, across the street is the hall, that's our street and that's the mountain we look at from our front veranda.

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The "street" behind our house.

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It was so cool. We walked the town, the kids could run ahead, I didn't have to worry about cars etc and the freedom we all felt was priceless.

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Holly said that as she was running down the street she was laughing and thinking "I feel free!!"

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I can't wait for move day!!!

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And I got an award. Thanks Karen :-)

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Here are the steps:

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1. Say one nice thing to the man in your life:
Mark I love you so much. I am so thankful that God blessed me with you as my husband. You are my best friend, my rock and constant source of joy. I truly delight in you :-) And I am just so excited about the journey we are about to start together.

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2. List at least 6 ways you measure success in your life:

- One day hearing the words "well done good and faithful servant"

- Walking with God

- Finding joy in the simple things

- Having a balanced life where family comes first

- Going where God leads me in all areas, friends, work, play

- Waking up with joy in my heart

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3. Assign 5 other blogs this award:

Chris

Jacqui

Leanne

Cass

Megan