Partying with the Queen

Our citizenship ceremony just happened to be a few days before Phil's 40th birthday so it seemed like a good excuse to have a party.  We even had a very distinguished guest in attendance - the Queen!
Her Majesty
Besides Her Majesty, lots of friends and adopted family joined us in the celebration.  We announced our footy teams - I picked the Geelong Cats because, well, cats and Phil picked the St Kilda Saints because we went to a lot of their matches for work when we first moved here.  We toasted, had cake, a few drinks, and lots of laughs.
Toasting our friends
Footy scarves
Don't drop the cake!
When you move to the other side of the world, you're forced to start from scratch meeting new people.  We were lucky, when we moved over we knew 3 people.  Looking around that day, it was neat to see how far we've come in just a few years.  One friend we met at an American Expat meet up group dinner that no one else showed up to.  She invited us to her running group, and from there we met a great group of people that we wouldn't have crossed paths with otherwise.  Phil joined the local triathlon group, and we've become good friends with a few of those crazy people.  I joined the local quilt guild and was fortunate to be invited to join a smaller sewing group.  Then there are our Aussie family and coworkers from each of our jobs.  All of them together help us feel at home here, and we are truly grateful for the new friendships.  
My Irish brother and gangster husband
Coworkers
Quilting friends
These two...
How nice of her to come all this way for our party
Divya & Rohan
Running group friends
Triathlon friends
Our favourite Aussies Karen and Gail
Aussie family Karen and Harry
Coworkers





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baw Baw Blog

Image
A couple weeks ago Phil set out to climb Mt Baw Baw again with a couple like-minded (read: crazy) bike friends.  We drove out with Les and met John and Glenda at the primary school in Drouin to start the ride.   The crazies started on their ride while John and I headed off to explore the area by car. Phil, Glenda, and Les at the start About 10km in to the ride, as they passed the Drouin West primary school, Phil realised that that was the place he meant to start, and now an already painful 80km ride had become 90km. John and I stopped at the Noojee Trestle Bridge and took a leisurely walk across.  Then we headed on to the "town" of Noojee and saw the sights - the water wheel that no one knows the origin of.  Then we enjoyed some lamingtons while we waited for the tiers to catch up.  They arrived and took a few minutes' break, then set out again on their adventure. Noojee Trestle Bridge Noojee Water Wheel John and I then drove to Tooronga Falls an...
Read more

Tanna, Vanuatu Part 2

Image
There was a wonderful snorkelling spot called the Blue Hole a short walk from the resort so we went there a couple times and frolicked with the fishies.  The weather was perfect and the water was warm so it was a very relaxing few days. The Blue Hole Fish in the Blue Hole More fish in the Blue Hole Blue starfish we found in the rocks Pretty sunset at the Blue Hole We also took a small boat up the coast to a place called the Blue Cave.  The boat trip in itself was worth the journey as it took us along unspoiled coastline for some amazing views. The coastline from the boat near the Blue Cave We got to the Blue Cave at low tide which made the opening just big enough to snorkel through.  Inside the cave was huge and the bottom was covered in clean white sand so it made the blue water of the cave spectacular.  A small hole at the top of the cave let a shaft of light through.  It was quite a spectacular place t...
Read more

An Aussie Birthday Party

Image
My parents arrived at the beginning of April and we took the opportunity to have an Aussie Birthday Party for my mom.  We invited her Aussie friends over for dinner and they enjoyed the chance to catch up.  My mom met these friends through a painting convention they teach classes at in Vegas.  Year after year she kept taking their classes and they became great friends.  The convention is now a yearly tradition for them, and they fit in plenty of fun before and after.  They had just been over for a visit in March, so it was nice for them to get together and laugh about their trip without all the distractions.  I made an echidna cake for dessert that went down a hit, even with the very American peanut butter filling.  After the party they spent a few days with Janice and Ted and then had a visit with Karen and family before heading to Kangaroo Island with us.  All in all it was a great way to begin their visit over here.  Gail, my dad, and...
Read more