Mary's Baptism!

I very much wish I had a few more pictures to accompany this blog post. Mary had both my mom, my step-dad and my dad fly all the way from America to see her get baptised. Grandma Coltrin picked out Mary's baptism dress about 3 years ago (and I have had it in a closet ever since).  

It was very special, I gave a talk on baptism and why it is important. Grandma Coltrin gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, and grandpa Tengelsen gave the closing prayer. Mary had two friends from school come and support her. She was so beautiful and was such a good girl!

Berry Picking with the grandparents!

This January, we had the most wonderful visit from the Grandparents! Granny Joanny & Andre came for a week and then went to NZ for a week and Papa John came for his annual visit and stayed for 1 month.

 One of my favorite activities is Berry picking up north, it is so pretty and the berries just fall off the trees. The best time to go is December because by January they are starting to get old. Unfortunately for me, I excitedly drove my family up to the berry farm only to discover it had closed THAT DAY! They still let pick what we could find but we didn't get to walk away with a huge bucket! We got ice cream instead and headed next door to the raspberry and strawberry farms- they were still open!

 Papa John

 Granny Joanney & Andre

Mary trying to get out of the sun- it was such a hot day (over 100F) 

ok we ate more than we picked! 

All in all, it was a gorgeous day! I LOVE SUMMER

Teaching Thomas how to ride a bike!

So Thomas has finally learned to ride a bike! He is 5 and our earliest rider. He began riding a few years back with training wheels, had a scare where he couldn't figure out where to stop (ran into a pole, fell off his bike) and then was not really interested in riding again. He was most afraid because his older sisters convinced him there were snakes in the grass so when he fell off his bike he was pretty freaked out. Anyway, two years later we have come back to the same place and he has finally mastered the two-wheeler!

 Why is smiling so hard for kids?

 Practicing on pavement first!

 doing some hills on the grass

 Taking a break to feed the swans

 

 enjoying the view

 Good Job Thomas!!

Summer Fun- the markets and the beach!

So now that Christmas is over it is time to celebrate summer! Here are some pictures from our fun in the sun! Below is our favorite place to grocery shop. It is the Victorian Markets, in the heart of the CBD. All the farmers come under one roof and they yell out prices. As the day goes on the prices get lower but the food gets more picked over. There are also great places to eat, buskers (street performers), fresh flower stands and so much more!

it should be noted- mary lost 8 teeth this year (she can't even bit an apple right now!)

I LOVE mangoes

Daddy & Mary

Our grocery bag- its a you pack everything out- bring your own re-usable bag type of culture!

Yummy organic food!

Markets are in the morning and little nippers are in the afternoons on Saturdays- 

I love the sun and sand!

Olivia doggy paddling with a headband on- classic!

I love this one of the kids and Stan!

The Mentone beach rock!

Mr. Thomas!

Christmas

This year we had a very quiet Christmas. It was fantastic. We knew family was coming to visit early January - February (for Mary's baptism) so we kept December quiet and tried to only attend a few parties.

As usual we had our Bain Christmas party- which was (1) a Christmas party with activities for the kids and (2) a party for the adults with is my favorite party of the year because it is black tie, and I love the annual excuse to dress up. This year the theme was 'Bain Oscars' and they decorated great with a Red Carpet, complete with a paparazzi feel. The venue was perfect (overlooking the city with a pool on the roof, small rooms so it still felt crowded with plenty of places to mingle etc...) They had an awards ceremony and all in all it was a great time!

We skipped most of the school parties this year and most of the extra curricular recitals. It was just too much!

When Christmas rolled around we had our family traditions: Cookie decorating (Stan judges every year and always gives me last place...but as you will see my cookies deserve a medal :-)

We read the nativity, write letters to Jesus, watch Christmas movies and wait for Santa to come!  This year Olivia desperately wanted a lap top (she told Santa she wanted it so she could learn to type...but I was pretty sure she just wanted to play Minecraft all day with it). Mary wanted an electric scooter (so she wouldn't have to work so hard getting the 6 blocks to school), and Thomas wanted a transformer. I told two of them Santa was likely to not come through because computer games are not good for you and exercise is.

We were excited to discover Santa did come this year even though some of my kids were on the 'maybe list' for most of December.

After presents we had Christmas lunch at out house with our good friends the Stancombs!  We love the Stancombs, and adore their kids. After lunch we went to the beach and enjoyed the rest of the day!  Merry Christmas!!