A Beautiful day for a Wedding - Part 2

After the wedding we went outside to take some pictures and wouldn't you know the wind picked up, the rain started and the temps dropped.  But we were all so happy, so we smiled and said cheese!!! 

Now it was time for the reception.....

The wedding cake...

After the bride and groom were done taking pictures up at the chapel I went outside to get a picture of them coming into the reception.  I found Emmaline and Sophie outside waiting for them also....

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.  I shows how well they got along so quickly.  I so wish we lived closer so they could see each other more often.

My parents :-)

My dad and his sister, two of my favorite people.

Caroline and her Nana.  I grew up calling her "Auntie Ruth" even though is actually no relation to me.  She is a wonderful woman and I have been very blessed to have known her.

All the little girls enjoying a snack of prawn crackers and lemon bitters.  Hettie, as the oldest, was taking care of everyone.  Emmaline had run out of her lemon bitters, so Hettie would go up to the bar, get some more and pour it into her glass.  It was soooo sweet!!!

Me with my beautiful cousin Caroline.

The girls sitting outside coloring while the party was going on inside.

Time to cut the cake :-)

The music started up as the sun went down and the girls had their own little dance party outside.

Daniel and Elizabeth dancing.

Elaine was determined to dance with her husband....so she did.  My dad had to take pictures because I was busy crying. 

Emmaline had to come in and get in on the action. 

I had never seen her dance so much...not even in dance class.

One last piture of the night.

A Beautiful day for a Wedding - Part 1

The main reason for our trip had arrived.  It was wedding day!!!  The wedding was at 12:30 and we had to drive to Mt. Tamborine so we got up and got busy getting ready.  It was raining again, but we were all in a great mood.  It was going to be a wonderful beautiful day!

The clouds rolling in over the mountains...

We stopped before we got there to get a bite to eat and a "spot of tea" at a little cafe.

We were waiting for our food and who should walk in....Daniel and his groomsmen!!!  He looked soooo handsome in his tux. 

We snuck a few minutes to take the opportunity to have some pics taken of just the two of us with the beautiful rainforest behind us.

The grooms parents, my aunt and uncle, looking pretty spiffy!

Daniel with his Mum.

Ross, Abbey, Elise, Sofia and Elaine

There is a story behind this picture....

When I got married, Daniel was only 12.  He was not happy wearing a tux and told everyone he was going to take it off.  He was sent up to talk to me.  At that stage in his life, he was shorter than me (obviously, he outgrew that!), anyway, I was talking to him, explaining that he WAS going to wear his little tux and he WAS going to be happy about it!  I bent over and was holding his little tie and the photographer snapped a picture.  It just looked like I was straightening his tie.  It became one of my favorite pictures from that day ;-) 

So the family thought that I should once again "straighten" his tie.  He and I had a hard time doing this without laughing, because I had a hard time reaching his tie :-)

Checking the minister's watch to see how much time till the bride was to show up....

Here comes Caroline.  She looked gorgeous!!!

Elizabeth was a beautiful bride!

Saying their "I do's"

It's official!

Sofia, Emmaline and Hettie (Elizabeths's little sister) trying to figure out the bubbles

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Leggatt!

Sunshine, South Bank and the Big Wheel

I prayed!!  I prayed for some sun.  I knew that the rain was a good thing, but I mean, people need their doses of Vitamin D!!!  But anyway, my Dad, along with my Aunt and Uncle were going to meet some of their high school chums for a bit of lunch today.  They were going to South Bank which is along the river across from downtown Brisbane.  Steven and I decided to tag along and spend some time out in the sun taking in the sights, sounds and shopping of South Bank.

We arrived downtown, found a place to park the car in the "car park:" and when we arrived at ground level, it was with smiles that we greeted the sun!  My dad, aunt and uncle went off to go find their school mates and we took off to go enjoy the sun.  Emma got all excited when she saw the beach again.  Bless her heart, she didn't even care that it was a man made beach on a river in the middle of down town. :-)

Downtown Brisbane behind us.

These steel archways and flowers are all around South Bank.  It is one of my favorite features of the area.

The BIG Wheel of Brisbane.  It was huge!!!  Steven and Emmaline went for a ride and I stayed behind and enjoyed the sun!

You can just make out Emma and Steven in the center car.

She was sooo happy after she rode the "steering wheel".  She had a lot of fun telling everyone that she rode the "Giant Steering Wheel".  I just laughed!

We continued our walk and came across this... the Nepalese Peace Pagoda.  It was built for the Expo 88 in Brisbane.  I had never come across it before.  And it was..... peaceful.  Emmaline was even very quiet while we were looking around it.

We had eaten some lunch at a Mediterranian restaurant, Emmaline took a little nap and then we headed across the street to visit some shops.  We ended up in a cute little tea shop name T Licious.  We were busy sniffing teas and taste testing and all of a sudden I realized the wind had picked up and then it started to pour....and pour....and pour.  So there I am, in a little tea shop in the pouring rain in Austrailia.  What is a girl to do...... have afternoon tea!!!

Emmaline enjoying her first scone.  By the way...that is cream not butter on the scone :-)

And before I forget.....here is a picture of my dad, Ross and Elaine with their school mates.

It was a wonderful day, even if it did end up raining on us.  Once the rain stopped we made our way back over to South Bank and discovered that the markets were setting up.  We strolled around there for a while and then headed back to the house to enjoy dinner with the family.  The next day was the wedding!!!!

Celebration

We had a wonderful evening at the Glen Hotel honoring Daniel and Elizabeth.  It was hard for me to believe that Daniel was old enough to get married.  In my mind he is still a little boy running around playing in the dirt and climbing anything he could hold onto.

Here is the happy couple, Daniel and Elizabeth

Here is my Aunt Elaine and Daniel

Parents of the groom, Ross & Elaine

I am sure I have mentioned that my cousin Caroline has three girls.  Emmaline was so happy to have constant playmates.  Elise is 6 and is in Grade 1 (or what we call First Grade).  She is the spitting image of Caroline when she was little.  I had so much fun with her, it was like watching Caroline grow up all over again.

Sophia is 4 and will be 5 in just a couple of months.  She is a little spitfire, a take charge kinda girl.  You never knew what antics she was planning in her cute little head. I just know she taught Emmaline all sorts of things :-)

Abbey is three and just as cute and sweet as can be.  She has to stay alert at all times to keep up with Soph.  It was funny to hear her mimic how Emma talked.  After a couple of weeks she was trying to speak American instead of Aussie.  I loved it!

And Emmaline....bless her heart.  She was soooo tired by the time we got to the dinner.  We ordered food for all the kiddos, but she really just wanted to cuddle.  After only being there for a day or so, she became very attached to Caroline.  She would run and hug her and love on her whenever she saw her.  It was super sweet.  Here are my two favorite "lines" in the world! 

And remember that I mentioned how tired Emma was.....

Well, she ate about two bites of her dinner, climbed into my lap and promptly fell asleep.  Nathan, Caroline's husband, went out to get their stroller and that is where Emma spent the rest of the evening.

The kids meals came with dessert.  It was cute....an Aussie Snowman.

It was a wonderful evening.  I spent some time talking with the preacher and his wife.  I have known them for years.  It was good to meet new people and catch up with old friends and just spend time with family. 

The plan for the next day was to go to the Australia Zoo up north on the Sunshine Coast.  The forcast called for sun, so we were hopeful.....no such luck though.  It was sunny in Brisbane when we left and started raining on us on the way north.  We got to the parking lot and it was still raining.  Checked the forcast.....clear in Brisbane.....rain for the Sunshine Coast.  Grrrr.......   But I can say that the Sunshine Plaza Shopping Centre has some really nice shops :-)  And I did pick up a couple of new sweaters at Target.

Since it rained the temps dropped rapidly.  Caroline had a couple of "jumpers" in the car for the girls.  I think Emmaline looks pretty funny!  It is also amazing how at home I have to fight with her to get her to wear a sweater, but for Caroline she wore it with no arguement.  Hmmmmm.....

After some shopping we had to stop for some coffee and afternoon tea.  I just love how every shopping center has at least a half dozen places to sit and get coffee.  I also loved that Caroline was as into coffee as we were.  It worked out perfectly :-)

So even though it rained a lot and I was sick with a nasty cold at this point, I still was having a lot of fun.  But I really, really wanted some sunshine!