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!