aussie thunder 2

so it has come to another wet holiday here in aussie land, so what we are doing this easter is buying some

arancana chickens they lay blue green and pink coloured eggs, and im not crapping u they really do so the kids will love them and em is naming one as well so everyone has a chicken dec has named his ben10 ashleigh has named hers daisy and the others we are driving up to gympie to get them tomorrow which is 3 hrs north of here, prob spend 100 bucks in juice to get 4 chickens the things we do for our kids hey. well emilly had a major hair emergency omg! looks or looked like a easter egg head check the pics, so after racing her to the emergency hair room shaving her head its all good now and looks great and by the way april her hair will grow back its nice with the shaved look!!

we took the kids and em up to the mountains there are great little botiques and lolllie shops and lollie shops and a few coffee shops and oh did i mention the lollie shops ummmmm so good fudge fudge, oh yeah and then after a sugar fix we drove to a place called ettamogah pub u can google that its a great pub just alittle on a lean great beer crap food but we all had a great day.

monique my sexy europeeing goodess has sold her house and we are in full swing moving her gear to the main house and we will all live here for eva and a day.

ashleigh and maddison are doing well. they had a cross country race the other day which is another way of just haveing a race but putting a bluddy bush in the way, and ashleigh came in 6th and maddison thought after the first lap she would go and get some ice for her ankle and then sly back in the race on the last lap and yeah yeah yeah came in , yes you guessed it 4th and placed for nationals lol she didn't think dad would work out that if she walks every time during practice and finishes like 20th that a miracle would occur on the day and with gods hand she would come in 4th. lmao yeah dads not stupid so now she has been on chore duty cause of what she did.

i think emily has had allot on her mind with all the boys and grog she has been drinking lol not really i think she thinks allot about her future and what she would like to do not knowing which way to turn or go or what would her future be its funny that even as adults we still don't know and i don't think we ever do but just kinda stumble through it in what direction life gives us, my advice to her i gave was to not rush but to do what feels right to talk to your mum and dad and just work out a goal even if it changes but to make a decision and just go with it or to write down a list of what u would like to do and just make a path to that goal.

on a less lighter note!! we all saw koalas in the park yesterday and we haven't had to much rain as late and yes i aussie thunder am and as always beautiful one day and bluddy gorgeous the next!!!! be safe and we will keep em safe for u here

aussie thunder

hi to everyone who reads this blog. we thought since Emilly doesn`t blog so much we will help her out alittle with the life and times of Canadian bacon.

well she came to us as a shy little girl who said she loved kids and swimming, then we have slowly seen the truth of who is Emilly, well to our surprise she is like a daughter to us and a great addition to our house, she has travelled to Sydney and to a friend of ours in cairns and all over brissie even got her sea legs deep sea fishing while three other Canadian girls namely Paul, jeremy, jordons. you think they would be able to keep there lunch while at sea but no they threw up everywhere even my daughters had a good laugh. took them all to a island for a swim relax that's when we had the squid fight ( funny as ) then the boys went there own way and haven't heard from them since they went on there adventures.

Emilly helped me out in the tragic floods of Brisbane that was a experience that will stay with allot of us for ever as it happened last time in 1974. we have tried to make her feel at home in every way and keep a eye on her just the same as i would a daughter, and yes that means keeping the boys at bay too... lol just kidding....

so over came the brauns mum and dad lol.... they had a blast going to the goldcoast the sunshine coast and all over town em`s dad had to check all of the hardwear stores gotta love it hope he got all the info he needed to take home with him ( if not let me know and i`ll send over more stuff for u ) and em`s mum was glad to see her daughter i`m sure.

hope they had a great trip and are welcome back anytime, they also did seaworld a few times and liked the dolphins so i hear.

now alittle about our household. steve`s ( me ) fav word is dumbass, think that god made to many dumbasses in australia, there is monique my european goddess she`s a bueat chick then there is maddison and ashleigh my twin daughters who can allways do with a kick in the bum lol and little declan who is full of beans..

we have a medium paced lifestyle here set in a semi rual setting we do get koalas in the trees and kangaroo`s down the back, the kids goto school we goto work and life revolves alittle like that, we have a big fishing boat and a pinball machine out the back for fun.

emilly is about to head out with her churchie friends for a chinwag and a cuppa so i will try and up date all of u on what this little chickie is up to in a typical aussie way.

word of the day is wanker!! this is another version of dumbass... lol

hope u dont take offence to our aussie lingo.. or words if you can`t understand that

Dealing with homesickness

When it comes to missing Canada, friends and family I am most confused with how my mind deals with it all. The first few month here seemed to pass by so slowly, I felt the need to email, skype and write letters non-stop to people back home in order to stay sane. It felt so difficult to socialize with locals my own age, I think I just felt insecure. I had no idea how I would adapt from living in Winnipeg with heaps of friends to go out with and spend time with nearly every day of the week to going to a place where I knew absolutely no one. Thankfully Steve and Monique were so kind as to let me join them in every single family activity. They've always been sure to invite me to family events and include me in every outing. Without that I think I would have gone insane from boredom and lack of human contact. With their help and some self motivation I slowly began to make friends. It's so hard to tell when it happened, but over the past month or two I began to feel very connected to this community and my new found Aussie friends. It seems like I have now past the barrier of acquaintanceship and passed into real friendship. This has made me feel much more at ease and comfortable here. I no longer feel the need to constantly check my email and be on Skype every hour of the Canadian daytime. It's a wonderful freeing feeling not to have to live through conversations and emails regarding life back in Winnipeg, I feel like I have a life of my own now here and I couldn't be happier about it! Thank you so much to all who are thinking and praying for me, I appreciate it and need it so very much. Just because I'm feeling more comfortable here now doesn't mean you have to stop sending me mail and emails, I still love and appreciate them so very much! I love you all and I miss you! I'll see you on Canada Day (I will conveniently be arriving home on July 1st)!

Things here in Capalaba have become quite routine. Monday to Friday I take the children to and from school, I spend my days visiting with friends, Skyping with friends and family, cleaning, and whatever else ends up filling my time. Most evenings are spent helping with homework, dinner, and card games. A couple nights a week I sneak out early to go to bible study or visit with friends that live around the area. I have become so comfortable here that it's hard to believe I've only been here 4 months!

I have been praying for some sort of part time or casual job for the pasts 2 months and as of Sunday my prayers have been answered! I got word from one of my friend's in the area that there was a family he knew in need of a support worker for their teenage son. I sent them an email Sunday afternoon and by Sunday evening I was offered the job! Every Tuesday until I come back to Canada I will be driving to the north side of the city (about a 40 minute commute) to pick the young man up for his work experienc

e. I help him out with his office admin type work at a company called Mamre. This involves scanning, filing, etc... Then we go out for lunch (Macca's is his favourite so I'll need to be prepared to go every week). The timing couldn't be better either! It works out that I can fit in the shift perfectly between the children's school hours! This is such a Godsend and I couldn't be happier with how my first shift (last tuesday) went. I'm really looking forward to see what next wee

k will bring!

Driving over the Gateway Toll bridge is part of my commute.

Last week I discovered one of the Gold Coast's more beautiful beaches. I've been to all the popular ones: Surfer's Paradise and Main Beach. Last Friday though I got the opportunity to check out Burleigh Heads. WOW! The water was crystal clear, the sand was soft and white, and there was plenty of parkland around to picnic on. This is by far my favorite beach on the Gold Coast...for now.

I nearly forgot! Last week Steve and Monique came home and sent the girls and I to the local park to see a Koala in one of the trees. We spent about 10 minutes searching the trees for the koala, when suddenly it ran out on one tree and onto the next. This is the first wild koala I have seen while here in Australia, so I was quite excited!

Pretty cute isn't he?

Visit with Mama and Papa

I am terribly bad at writing regularly, therefore I apologize to anyone who is disappointed by that. Since I can't say that I will begin to post things more often I will simply try to make this post extra good! Here goes nothing...

My parents arrived safe and sound in Brisbane exactly one week ago and consequently I have a an absolutely wonderful week! Reuniting with them after nearly 4 months was more emotional than I had expected, I realized just how much I missed them. They got off the plane and as soon as we began our drive home I started to blabber/talk/explain and generally just carry on about where to go what to see and funny Aussie lingo, laws, etc...

Steve and the rest of my au pair family were more than happy to have mom and dad stay with us thankfully. So... I've lost my room and have been demoted to sleeping on a foam mattress in the office. Of course I don't mind though, it's a small price to pay to have my parents right here with me for 2 weeks.

The night they arrived I brought them to church where I found myself doing the same thing that my parents have done to me all of my life: I showed them off.

Throughout my life there have always been times where I feel like my parents are introducing me as their daughter and making sure I meet everyone because they are so proud of me. Now that I have them here I feel the opposite:Now I'm the one saying: ''Hey! Come meet my parents! They've come all the way from Canada! Aren't they just great????!!!''

After a few days of having my parents around I began to see why I do what I do around the kids. I'm definitely my parents daughter. Everything I do with the kids here is based on what I've learnt from my parents. Whether its discipline, talking, playing, or having a song for everything. It's just amazing, and I've never realized it until now when I see them with the kids.

Well, we haven't sat around doing nothing all week, we have been quite busy:

I've shown my parents around Capalaba, they've seen all my favorite shops, the girls' school, my church...I guess that,s about it for Capalaba haha.

We've had sorbet at Cleavland Point, shopped at one of the nearby Westfield malls, wine tasted at Sirromet, watched the dolphin show at Sea World (twice), and finally we spent this past (very rainy) weekend at the Gold Coast, followed by a great no-fuss dinner after church today.

As nice as it is to have mom and dad here I know when they leave in a week it will be hard to see them go. Being away from the ones you love really makes you appreciate what they do for you and what that relationship means to you. So my encouragement to everyone is that they don't take time spent with family for granted. Every little bit counts, enjoy it even if it's difficult to sometimes.

Here's some pictures from their trip so far...

12 weeks

I can hardly believe that I have been here for 12 weeks! Yikes! It seems like I have been here forever, while at the same time it feels like I just got here. Even after 12 weeks I still am upset that because of the time change I lost nearly an entire day of my life! I guess I'll get it back when I return to Canada.

Thus far my time in Australia has been such a learning experience for me. I have learned what seems like a new language with all of Australia's many abbreviations and odd words. I have learned how to drive on the left side of the road. I have learned to cook Thai food (reasonably) well. I have learned to scuba dive, how to take a train rather than buses, I have learned I have good sea legs, but mostly I have learned that no matter where you are people aren't very different.

It's so interesting how people from so far away can be so similar. Earlier on this morning I had the pleasure of going for coffee with a lovely young lady from the local Presbyterian church. we chatted about life, books, coffee, traveling, and much more. I was blown away by how both of us were on such similar journeys in life and how we were both struggling with the exact same dilemma. I found such solace in talking to her about struggles that we shared when I thought I was the sole person I knew working through it. It was such a comfort and joy to have found someone to relate to and share with.

Day to day life here seems so trivial sometimes, but when I step back I see just how content I am with it. The simplest things are what I enjoy most: Driving

the girls to school and listening to the daily prank call on the radio. Sitting in the hot Aussie heat to read a book and getting so boiling hot that I have no choice but to jump into the pool. Sitting down and watching the morning news (Sunrise) with my

cup of green tea.

When I made the decision to come to Australia I thought that through my time here I would understand my path in life. I thought that once I was here I would have the answers to post secondary education, to what career I would pursue, to my future family life, pretty much I thought I would grow up, mature and become the Emilie I was meant to be. I guess I was too naive to realize that Australia isn't magical, I definitely haven't received any answers yet. If anything I am more unsure and confused, but I think

I like it that way. My mind changes on a daily basis, and it keeps things interesting, I seem to be looking up different career options every week (this week's is Natural Medicine in case you were wondering). None really ever seem to stick, but maybe one day something will, I'll just wait and see, I still feel like I have heaps of time.

This post may not be as exciting as the others, but I figured a select few of you readers may want to hear things other than my Aussie adventures. For those who are only interested in my adventures here are some pictures of this past weekend's deep sea fishing trip:

My trip to Cairns

My trip to Cairns was an absolute dream come true! I left from the Brissy airport on Thursday the 27th right after we picked the girls up from school. After about 2 hours in the air I landed in the extremely hot and muggy tropical climate of Cairns. I landed around sunset so I saw the sun go down over the mountains and I had a beautiful view of the reef.

Steve's good friend Rhonda lives in Cairns and so I was thankfully able to stay there. I have never felt more welcome in my life! Rhonda's youngest son, Samuel (10) moved out of his room for the weekend so I had my own room! That night I sat in on a lovely family dinner with Rhonda, Samuel, and Ilyssa (17).

Friday Rhonda had to work so I spent the day with Ilyssa and a few of her friends

. We drove to Crystal Cascades. I have never seen so beautiful a place! The cascades ran down in between a large forest of beautiful green tress, vines and flowers. We spent the day there swimming and jumping off the rocks. I managed to face my fear of heights and I jumped off o

ne of the taller cliffs.

Now Saturday the 29th of January was a day that I will always remember. Rhonda booked

herself, Samuel and I to take a snorkeling/diving tour of the reef. Since it was my birthday Steve, Monique and the girls surprised me with a call that morning telling me that the whole trip to the reef (including my first dive) was all taken care of! I couldn't

believe it! I couldn't have gotten a better gift.

After we got checked in we spent an hour and a half on the boat to get out to the reef. Poor Rhonda and Samuel both got quite sea sick. Once we were there I immediately jumped into my very beautiful Lycra body suit and I was shown the basics of diving. Next thing I knew I was 7 meters under water breathing out off this mouth piece and wondering where the boat was. It was a very eerie and uncomfortable feeling at first.

Not long after our decent into the ocean a massive Blue Wrasse named Wally was swimming up to us waiting to be given a pat. We each took our turn posing for a picture with him and I even ga

ve him a little cuddle. After that the dive went by so quickly! We

squeezed sea cucumbers, touched sea anemone, and just got used to the feel of diving. After that first dive i was hooked, I quickly grabbed some lunch then headed back for my second dive. Thankfully this one was longer now that I knew the basics. This time it was just the instructor, an older German man named Wolfgang, and I. This time I wasn't scared in the least. We slid off the platform and descended to a depth of 15 meters this time. I swam along side an old sea turtle, held a clown fish that I captured while playing with the anemone. I gave the sea turtle a nice back scratch, but I don't Think he noticed because of his shell. When we swam back up to the boat I couldn't believe how quickly the time had passed! I was offered an opportunity

for a third dive, but of course it would have cost me. Now looking back I wish I would have just done it. Oh we

ll, I had a great afternoon snorkeling with Rhonda and Samuel. I saw heaps of beautiful blue parrot fish, clown fish, butterfly fish, a sting ray, and even a bamboo reef shark! (a pretty small one, but ma

ybe that was best).

When we got back to Rhonda's Ilyssa had made a lovely veggie lasagna and picked up a delicious chocolate cake for my birthday dinner. We set off sparklers outside before cake and retired early since we were so tired.

On Sunday we drove to Port Douglas to take a look around the markets and eat lunch on the beach. After we went to Mosomon Gorge and took a walk through the rain forest. We even took a dip in the chilly runoff from the mountain. It was such a beautiful place!

Monday was my last day, I spent it shopping with Ilyssa and her friend Jake. I found a few neat souvenirs and a nice pair of Thai pants. Then in the afternoon Rhonda, Samuel, Ilyssa came brought me to the airport and off I flew back to Brisbane. It was a wonderful weekend!