in pieces

Sorry I've taken a break from blog land - but blogging is SOOOOOOO last season!! Keep up with me on facebook if need be... I'm sure I'll be back one day - I enjoy the practice of writing too much to let it go. -Ange

Over Easter, the Oliver clan went up to visit Carlene's brother at Lightening Ridge. We drove in a "bus" for 15 hours (one way) only to enjoy the festivities for 2 days. I had to laugh at the awesome-ness of such a long trip. These are my 5 highlights. #1 - Running out of fuel - this always makes a better adventure for long road trips - and for good stories at the end...Plus it gave us a break from riding in the bus, and we found a dead carcass - oooh so exciting...a myriad of flies, and some pooh! yes a truly successful road stop to say the least - we were delighted with "Ray" our heroic saviour...who drove Ross to get more fuel, and even brought him back - hooray - we should have given him a cookie - but we didn't. #2 - Experiencing my first Goat and Bin (as in Garbage) races... yes it's true - hundreds gathered around to watch goats race in carts. The best part was it was not safe what-so-ever, and the they kept careening into the onlookers bou...

I had been wanting a world map for my wall, for ages, and a few months ago, I was in a local bookstore in Ballarat, and found a map that made me chuckle. An upside down view of the world! How strange it looked! The whole idea, was that Australia was sitting on top of the world, and was not located "down under" at all. The shapes of countries looked odd, and out of place. For instance, Italy looked like a lower case "r" rather than a boot. As well, a majority of my fellow Canadians were, in this case, living on the top section of our country not near the bottom! Hmmm... Interesting! And so, my world view changed when I took a second to think about it. My whole life I had been taught that there was a northern, southern, western, and eastern hemisphere... that places such as Canada and Russia, and let's face it most of the world were all located in the Northern hemisphere, while places such as Australia, Antarctica, and "South" America, were consid...

We had a "Safari" baby shower for our friend Claire... She is married to a Kenyan. Here's some of the goodies from the shower: fancy table: "baby" cupcakes: "baby" biscuits (cookies): "baby" booties: and I made a "mother to be" chocolate MUD cake - mmmmm... We colored pics to iron on baby singlets, and we gave a prize to Claire's favourite- which was Carlene's. My friend Ariana had just arrived from Canada - but she participated in all the activities... Like the "spit the dummy" contest - which Sarah won!

I'm so thrilled to announce my newest niece JESSICA MARINA AMBROS Born on 24th of Feb - 8lbs 7oz. How gorgeous is she?

Well as most of you know by now, the State I am living in (Victoria) has been ravaged by fires. The drought has only aided in fueling the fires, and with so many racing along it is hard to comprehend the aftermath. They are saying that this is the worst natural disaster in Australia's history. Hundreds of people have lost their homes - More than 750 homes... many have lost their lives.... their loved ones... and animals and burnt out cars are scattered everywhere. We are fortunate enough to escape the blazes here in Ballarat, but it seems everywhere you go, someone knows someone that's a victim of the fires, or is connected somehow. I was upset that people with families would choose to stay and try to protect their homes and lands from the blaze, only to be killed from the inferno, but Leigh was telling me that Australians are taught to plug their gutters, and water down their houses -and to stay inside....that you have a better chance of survival in your home than you do in...

Well, I have been complaining a lot about the heat here for the last few days, while friends from Canada, try to convince me it's better than -35... As complaining can get seriously annoying for people - I've decided to tell you the top 10 perks of a sizzling +45C (113F). 1. You get to brag that "we haven't had a heat wave like this since 1903!" I would think most of them would have died back then...I would think... 2. Laundry dries on the line in 15 min. (at night) 3. No one lingers after church to chat - honestly WHO likes that? 4. Cool things happen to stuff in cars... (Did you know...Bank Cards melt...gum melts...lip balm... food, shoes, etc) 5. Your floor and cupboards gets cleaned - (cause when you open a hot pop bottle [soft drink] it explodes everywhere...) 6. You get to go swimming lots - in the lake where they found the dead person 3 years ago. 7. You don't have to do garden work. Because it's dead, and so is your lawn, and your trees - If it...

Dean made an air canon...and...well... Check it out for yourself...