Katelyn has news :-)

Katelyn received a very exciting phone call last night. She has been accepted to represent Australia for the 2011 RSL Youth Club reciprocal tour to New Zealand.

Katelyn dances for the Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL Youth Club, it isn't just about dance she also participates in community activities. For example, door knocking for the Red Shield Appeal (Salvation Army), Red Cross calling and donates regularly to the Exodus foundation helping the the disadvantaged in the local area. Also shows her respect to the fallen and serving diggers by marching in the Commemoration Sunday March and the Sydney ANZAC Day march.

With all this and her dedication the Youth Club has allowed her to apply for this tour. She was knocked back at the first round of interviews but was highly liked by all she has accomplished in her time with the club. And lucky for her there was a place left for to attend the second round interviews On Sunday just past.

So last night we had a very happy girl after hanging up the phone. April next year will see her head over to New Zealand for 2 action packed weeks. The main highlight is marching in the Auckland ANZAC Day March. This will certainly be a trip of a life time.

Well that is our bit of good news following a very sad week with the sudden passing of Aunty Jan on the 1st August. Jan will be sadly missed by all her family and many many friends. R.I.P. <3

Ben is grea,t working 5 days a week at local chemist and loving putting his $$$ away. Oh he did ask his English teacher today "why do we bother learning poetry" he totally thinks it is a big waste of time.

Brett is studing hard for his HSC trials and even applied to Uni yesterday, industrial design..

Till next time take care...

The Power House
xoxox

Update...

Hope this finds everyone well???

We are all groovy :-)

Not much has been happening in our part of the world, Ben's health is still great!!

Ben has been busy with his part time job at the local chemist as their delivery boy. At the moment he is doing 5 afternoons a week. He is still enjoying his tennis 2 days a week. He has grown a quite a bit over the past few months and has taken over me, not that, that is any mean feat...

The rest of the family is well, Brett has had his final check up after his plunging ranula was removed, doctor happy with him and doesn't need to see him again.

Katelyn busy as ever with her dancing, she did really well in her solo eisteddfod at the beginning of July, no preparing for one at the end of September. School dancing if busy too with extra rehearsals 3 afternoons a week leading up to the "Bring It On" competition in 2 weeks time at Homebush.

Brett, Matt & Jamie are loving playing soccer together and to date are undefeated, I am about to head off soon to watch.

Big Chris is down for the weekend to go see the Motorex car show out at the showground, I have just dropped BC & Ben out there and will pick up to go watch soccer.

I have enjoyed playing soccer this season, the girls are great and we have lots of fun, the only thing that has been hard is playing against under 18 teams... I can't keep up!!

Nothing much else to report.. so till next time enjoy everyday..

Love

Jo

Busy Busy Busy

I hope everyone is well??

Ben & Brett are a little blocked up at the moment but nothing that slows them down!!

We have been so busy that we haven't had time to scratch!!

Once we arrived home form holidays we hosted 2 great kids form NZ as part of the NSW RSL Youth Club Reciprocal tour fro 3 nights. It was fabulous!!! With them over their 2 week stay we attended our Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL Commemoration Sunday Ceremony and luncheon, Welcome concert, Anzac Day March in Sydney, Luna Park and their Farewell concert.

With the help of Facebook we get to keep in touch.

Justin Beiber Mania was in our house with me escorting 4 girls into Circular Quay for the planned concert which was later cancelled!!! A good thing too as it was like nothing I have ever witnessed before, total mayhem!!

Soccer is in full swing for 4 of us, Ben has been promoted up to the Advanced tennis squad on Saturdays, so he is pretty pleased with himself. Kate is busy as ever dancing, between the YC and school she doesn't seem to have much time free. Kate is also in the middle of putting her resume together for her application to be accepted to go to NZ next April, fingers crossed!!!

Till next time, be good :)

A Word From Kate O'Reilly... A real inspiration

I will be running the SMH Half Marathon with Kel on the 16th May. I'm inviting you to make a donation to Crohn's Colitis Australia to help raise funds for their research into finding a cure for these diseases.

Many of you know how debilitating the disease can be and many of you have supported me through some pretty rough times.

If you are able, please go to the following link if you can help raise money for this good cause

www.everydayhero.com.au/kate_oreilly

With thanks

Kate x

I know Kate through the CCA Support Group held on the first Thursday of the month at Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL Club. Kate is one of the two fantastic women who are the facilitators of this group. Kate's story is one of inspiration and admiration!!! I know I look up to her as what she has been through has been a hard battle but she has come out the other side willing to share her experiences with others to help them get through this debilitating disease!

Jo

Ben Check Up

Ben had a clinic check up yesterday and everything is fine. Bloods are all good and doesn't have to go back for 4 months. All his med's stay the same so we just have to keep going along as we are.... Ben is one of the lucky ones :)

Where Home!!!

We arrived home at 2pm, after leaving Johanna at 2.30am. A great trip home slowed down a bit by road works on the NSW end of trip.

We have unpacked, washing done (thank God there wasn't much). Boys getting ready for soccer training.

Jamie & Kat arrived here not long after us, was nice to catch up with them. They are here till Sunday when they will both go in their different directions home.

Kate & I have been to seen Uriah, one big bubba that one!!! Brooke and bub doing great :)

All I can say about this holiday is that is one of the best places I have have ever seen and we will be revisiting in the future. We had a tremendous time which was what we wanted as it was the last compulsory family holiday.

Well back to reality now, preparing for work and 2 billets from New Zealand early Saturday morning for 3 nights.

I will upload photos later this evening as I haven't got the energy now.

Keep checking in occasionally....

Day 6

Can’t believe it is the last day of a wonderful week. We have all enjoyed the time away and wish we had a few more days to enjoy this fabulous part of the world. We have been very impressed with what we have seen of Victoria and look forward to planning more trips south to explore.

Today was spent wondering around Johanna, We walked around the property and around the beach area, so much to see and do. All in all today has just been relaxing....

Finnegan has enjoyed another fun filled run through the cow paddocks, and playing with the other visiting dogs.

We have packed up as much as we could till now for our early departure in the morning, we will set the alarm for 2am. The boys want to be home with plenty of time to attend soccer training.

I am very lucky to have been able to celebrate my birthday in such a gorgeous place, with my fantastic family. Thank you to those of you who have called me today, very much appreciated..

Blue Tongue Lizard

Ben being silly, like normal.........

Day 5

Waiting for a platypus!!!

Brooke finally delivered Uriah, nearly 10 pound!!! And 56cm long.... a little over cooked. Both are doing well and I have seen photos already and he looks just like his older brother Taj.

I haven’t slept this great in ages..... First thing we must do when we get home is purchase a new mattress!!

Well lets just say "Platypus hunting sux!"

It is so peaceful here, the wind has finally settled down but still overcast. Today we ventured up to the Otway Tree Top Fly. It is a 600 metre long walkway, 25 metres above the forest floor, made from over 120 tonnes of steel. It was a different way of enjoying the surroundings. Brett, Katelyn and I climbed to the top over the spiral tower which is 47m above the forest floor, Ben & Matt decided to stay on the walkway. Highly recommend visiting this if you come down this way.

From the Fly we walked to the Triplet Falls a 1hour return walk. A few metres in and the steps started, all I could think was what goes down must come up! But to our relief once we reached the beautiful falls the walk back was via a different route, a lot less stairs, phew!! With the high rain fall we have had in the area the falls were flowing fast and were well worth the walk to see them.

To the boys disappointment fish & chips were not had for lunch, we enjoyed lunch at home and so salad was on the menu for me. Matt went for a run up Red Johanna Road to the junction of the Great Ocean Road, roughly 9klm, half of which was up hill. I walked Finnegan down to the top of the beach, we were suppose to go along beach but he made a friend and decided playing with her was way more fun. So I chatted to the other dogs’ owners and wondered back to our cottages. The kids have just walked down to the pool so I don’t know when I will see them again; they were gone for over 3 hours the last time they went.

Brett & I are hoping to do a section of Great Ocean Walk tomorrow, haven’t been able to date due to strong winds, so let’s wait and see what tomorrow brings.

Day 4

Echidna from the other day.

Another night of howling winds but with less down pours. The night sky when clear is the most stunning sight to be seen, over the years we have had the pleasure of viewing the wonders of the stars but this is the best by far.
Today we ventured west to Port Campbell, visiting all the viewing spots of the coast along the way. The high light for me was at Gibbons Steps where we were able to climb down the stairs to the beach and see the apostles from ground level.
I don’t think you could ever become tired of seeing these natural wonders, stunning! With the changes of light, crashing waves always a different aspect to viewing.
Fish & chips for the 3rd day running were had!!! That is what happens when Ben is around, No way are we having it again tomorrow.....And I will ask this question “Why doesn’t any cook the good old fashion potato scallop anymore?? Why do they think the frozen type is a suitable substitute?”
Ben was happy on the trip home as he was able to tick another animal of his list to see in the wild, finally he saw a fox!!
We have enjoyed a Power tradition of cheeses for afternoon tea with a cool beverage in preparation for our 2nd attempt at platypus hunting. Wish us luck.....
Also we have been waiting all day for news of Brooke’s baby but at the time of publishing still no news, so you will have to wait till tomorrow for that news.