Happy (belated) New Year to everyone! Hope you all had a fab festive season and have a divine 2009! And let's hope we all get to see each other this year!The last couple of months holiday have been soooo busy but also gorgeous. The girls have had almost daily visits with their grandparents (and we've had lots of delicious dinners c/o YiaYia!).
So lots of family stuff, plus all the usual parties, beach, pool, ice-skating, movies and sleepovers with their mates.
We had a fabulous camping trip with the cousins to Broken Head - sooooo beautiful. The kids climbed trees, walked along cliffs and explored caves - the whole Enid Blyton thing...except for the wild turkeys that kept waking us up and the humungous Joanna the Goanna who took a daily stroll through the tents...YiaYia, Bapou and Granny came thro' for a day for YiaYia's birthday - lovely bbq and afternoon in Byron Bay where we were spoilt with dolphins, turtles and even a lovely harmless snake.
Tara was amazing. Climbing the tree obviously wasn't as easy for her - you had to keep stepping over branches where balancing on each leg was vital - but she persevered (even when we told her she could be proud of what she'd already accomplished) - she was just so determined to do what the others could do - and finally - about 24 hours later - she could reach the most precarious parts of the tree, parts that even courageous Cas was scared to go to.Fab parenting tip: look away. Also had to look away when Tone took the girls surfing. Argh! Very cute tho' - and Tara again was just so adamant that she could do it too - so she did.
Her new leg hasn't quite been a dream yet. Part of it broke before we even left - so luckily she still had old LouLou altho' it's too short for her now. So cute to see how she's grown since having two legs - so it seems exercise really does help you grow! The broken part of new LouLou has now been replaced so hopefully it'll be okay now. Hold thumbs/cross fingers.So crazy - we had to go back to the prosthetist last week to get a microchip put into LouLou - apparently Queensland government insist on it - they have such a shortage of funds - and then they waste money on stuff like this.
Jadie's confidence has improved SO much - but she still won't let us stop praying for her confidence because she says we spent years praying for Tara's leg - so she's owed at least a few more months. She was a little star at her modelling graduation show - which was fab because Granny, YiaYia, Bapou and Janet were also all there to cheer her on. You should've seen after the show - Jadie, Cas and Tara jumped up on the catwalk and were doing their own show - and then suddenly Jadie started dancing across the stage, doing faux ballet and really just performing with absolute abandon - and you could tell that she was physically feeling the joy and freedom of what she can do if she doesn't let shyness get in her way.Cas is lovely and gorgeous (hmmm, feels like my word for today) and just keen to save the world and save the environment and win at rummy. She nearly went on a fantastic NIDA acting course...but she broke my $4,000 laptop with her ipod (forcing the earphone thingie into the wrong place) - so all theatrics remained at home.
There's been lots more - a lovely night with twins Lucy and Jessica who raised money for Tara's leg earlier this year - such fun for our girls to really get to know them coz they were babies when we were neighbours in Sydney. And from their holiday apartment - we watched the most amazing mini-cyclone - with chairs flung into the pool. We've also had a brilliant weekend down at Yamba with Mickey and Michelle who've just moved over from SA; Tone's been to Adelaide with his folks to visit relatives and eat fresh food from their garden and more, more, more.
Not sure if you saw the lovely message left for Tara on the last blog entry from a little girl called Aijana (10). She wrote "my grandmother read about you in a magazine. I also have CP of the Tibia and also see Dr Pincus. We have been reading through your blog over the past month or so and you have inspired me to write one for myself. We also have other things in common, like dancing and singing and I also love puppies like you. I have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Dixie and she had puppies in August this year. You and your family look like you have lots of fun. Keep smiling!"
Aijana - if you're reading this - Tara just LOVED your message. Thank you, and she looks forward to meeting you one day.OK. That's the big catch-up caught up.
Again - happy, happy 2009 to everyone! (Pic of us on the beach on New Year's Eve - our first grown-ups only NY for YEARS!)
