Back to the US

Well our 3 year "vacation" to the wonderful world of OZ has ended. Jakes contract ended at the end of October and we decided to move back while we still could. Both of us had such a great time and we knew if we stayed a fourth year we would have probably never moved back.


It was also a great time to move as the housing prices in the states have settled and the opportunities that we both were able to get at new jobs made it worthwhile. Jen now works for Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) designing a new database system and Jake is back at Nike leading a team of database developers.


We took a fantastic trip to Perth where we met up with some of our best friends in Australia. We will post those pictures soon. For now here are a few pictures of a new house that we are looking at.

Front of House

Looking out kitchen deck



From the side
Jenny and Rachel checking out the kitchen
The basement family room and deck to backyard
Master Bath

Australia Day

We also missed posting about Australia day 2007. Australia is still part of the English Commonwealth but they celebrate January 26th as a day they became a country. They are not really independant as the Queen is still head of state. We have fireworks at night and the day off. This year we celebrated the day (it was close to 100 F/35C) at the beach. We then drove back to Melbourne to watch the fireworks at night. We are missing these days not that it is winter and cold. Rachel with her friend Maddie buried and made in to a Mermaid

Ben wishing cousin Andrew and uncle Phil were here to go boogie bording with.

Winter Wonderland

While most of our friends and family are roasting in the summer sun we are at the start of the Southern Hemisphere winter (June-August). About 90 miles from our home in Balwyn is a low range of mountains called the Dandenong range. Further inland and east the mountains grow in to the Snowy Mountain Chain. We took Rachel up to Lake Mountain one Saturday during the kids winter break. Ben stayed home to battle the Horde in World of Warcraft and he missed out on some awesome snow.

We had to park 2 kilometers from the top due to the number of people. They had a bus that it take you up but he decided to take the hiking path through the woods. We were the first ones on the path for the day and it was spectacular.

Once at the top we rented a sled for Rachel and she showed everyone how it is done.

If you are interested in a few movies with Australian themes and scenery here are a couple of good ones:

1. The Man from Snowy River - Set in the Snowy Mountains
2. Opal Dreams - Set in Cooper Pedy
3. Chopper - Set in Melbourne
4. The Castle - Set in Victoria

Mr White

Not to be out done by Ben the cat Mr. White decided to take on a neighbor cat. We don't know how the other one looks but Whitey needed 6 stitches to close up his arm. We got payback on the Vet bill by watching him attempt to Navigate the house with the cone collar.

Ben - Operation Genius

Ben is growing quite a bit lately and in a weeks time he forgot how to ride his Bike. His first incident happened on his way to school wherein he ran in to the edge of the curb that was covered in leaves. It is winter here in Australia. A week later him and Rachel Roni were out riding and this time he hit a rock in the path and went head over the handle bars. Here are the results of Ben versus the pavement - take 2.

Mothers Day

Mothers Day means Margaritas so Jenny invited a bunch of her Mom friends over to help them all celebrate Margarita Mothers Day










Upper Left - Lynn, Tori, and Leslie
Uper Right - Tony
Left - Leslie and Joe









Jake - Testing the Margaritas

The Grampians with Gma and Gpa French

While Jenny's Mom and Dad were in Australia in April we took them up to the Grampians. They are a set of Low Mountains in the center of Australia at the heart of the Gold country. The hiking is superb and the views very nice over the low lands of central Victoria.


The Cabin we stayed in had a family of wild lawn mowers.

Australia is suffering through a 10 year drought and and many of the lakes and rives are dry or significantly down. This small stream that we have pictures of when we first moved here with some water is now just rocks. The grampians were significantly burned a year and half prior just before my parents had visited. This visit we got to see how nature has worked to recover.

Rodney and Jake, wishing we had canceled the cards before the trip.....


















Some pictures from the Grampians and the nearby Aboriginal Center.



Rachel spotted a pair a of Kookaburros.

Grape Picking

In March we were invited to grape picking at a small organic winery in the King Lake area of Victoria. About an hour outside of Melbourne. This was probably one of the best days I have had here... We picked for an hour, had morning tea. Picked for another couple and then had a big meal with lots of wine and music. Jeff, the owner and winemaker is also a musician. So, he and a few of the others just did a lot of improve playing and it was amazing. Ben had stayed home but Rachel played with the other girls and even got to go horseback riding. The weather was warm and spectacular and the company diverse and interesting. There was even a French guy!

The french guy in the middle.

Jeff is the one with the guitar.

Jenny is Jeff's partner and was more than happy to serve wine. She also took us to the building where the wine was made and explained the process. Because it is such a small winery it was very interesting.

Horseback Riding

Emma, in the pink, plays BBall with Rachel. The night before, her parents had invited us to the winery. The girls spent the afternoon horseback riding. To left of Rachel is Lauren, Emma's sister.

Catching Up

Well once again I am behind on blogging and need to do a major update! I know that I had put a few pix out her from when my parents were here but I had forgotten to post the Halloween pix. As you may know, halloween isn't really celebrated here like we do in the states. One of the problems is that it is spring so all the fall symbols associated with Halloween are not around. So, the kids and I decided we needed to have a real Halloween Party!

Since we had been to the states in September, we did a Target run and bought decorations, candy, etc. We also stopped by our storage unit and picked some the old decorations. My mom had shopped with the kids in the states and picked up party invitations, plates, napkins, etc...

When we got back, we decorated the house for the season. It was pretty obvious that we were an American family!!!!

Anyways, the party was awesome. Complete with halloween games, dunking for apples, graveyard cake, and goodie bags with american candy. The kids invited about 15 friends over and they were beside themselves. They had never been to a real american halloween party!!! Dunking for apples became just dunking your head. After eating a bunch of candy, Ben and his 4 friends went upstairs, hooked up their laptops and had a major gaming session, eventually deciding it would be cool to let off stink bombs. (Scary, huh??) Luckily my friend Tori came over to help out as it was complete chaos but incredibly fun!!!!! We will probably do it again this year!!!!

Halloween Games

So the concept of dunking for apples was completely foreign to the Aussie kids. They had heard of it but never done it. They caught on quick and had a ton of fun!

We also played a mummy game where they had to design the best looking mummy with TP. These kids were so creative, it was hilarious. It also kept them quiet for quite a while!

Halloween Costumes

Rachel and her best friend Maddie. Maddie was so excited for the party. She came over early and helped decorate and get everything ready!











This is me and my friend Tori. Tori is from New Hampshire and is in Australia with her husband and two sons.















This is Ben's friend Liam. Ben got tired of his American Football costume and let Liam wear it.

Always ask for the wine list

A lesson for all... ask for the wine list before ordering. At this lovely French restaurant in Southbank, Mom and I ordered champagne to start the night. Turns out the wine was $24.50 a glass!!!!! I think we both just about died. We took a picture to commemerate the most expensive glass of anything we have ordered in a restaurant!!!!

City & Yarra River

Pix from the South Bank in the city....

Our Town

While my mom has been here we have made a ritual of walking to our favourite coffee shop each morning, 'Maple'. Mom also took pix of town one morning....