In Loving Memory of my Nan...

My Nan passed away last year and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to say goodbye to her. 

She lived in Victoria so she wasn't nearby but I have so many memories of when she came to live with us when she left my Grandpa.  I was only young.  She would always sing to me and had some funny ones, including "Oh, I hit him on the head with the frying pan....and if I killed him, he had it com in'" which I look back now and wonder if she was singing about Grandpa!  I remember her being silly and making me laugh.  When she lived with us, I remember sitting in her room and she would make me a glass of Fruit Cup cordial and offer me mints that had chocolate in the centre.  It's funny how it's those little, simple things that stick the most.  My brother's would think differently...they say she was a grump!  But to me, Nanna was silly and made me laugh.  I'm glad she got to see all my girls, her great grandchildren too.  It would have been nice for them to have made memories with her but living in different states stopped that.

Dad helped carry her coffin, along with Mum's brothers John and Ken, Kyle her grandson, 

Alan her grandson-in-law and Les her brother. It was lovely to see all the men her in life carry her.

She had the most amazing arrangement of red roses on top (at her request).  She was also buried in her favourite red dress which I thought was pretty cool.  Went in style!

It was hard to see Mum watching Nan be lowered into the ground. 

This is David, Nanna's brother, scattering petals on her.

I had a great chat with David afterwards....he used to be a champion boxer back in the day!

Isn't it beautiful!? She would have thought so.

Before she was lowered I left her with a jar of those chocolate mints she used to give me, as I mentioned above, and a bunch of red roses, as they were her favourite.

Love you Nan!  xx

Mt Tambourine Camping...

We had a quick escape up to Mt Tambourine with Mamma and Dadda (Michael's parents) for a couple of days last year in May.  It was such a beautiful spot, with nothing to do, but that's what I loved about it so much!  No TV or gadgets to distract us, just 100% focus on the kids and family.  

Sage was a great helper with getting the tarp on top of the pole.

We camped near a beautiful tree that had a swing on it and the girls LOVED it!  But Ivy claimed it as 'hers' and there we many tears over who's turn it was.  I think we agreed the next time we came up we wouldn't camp near the swing! Haha.  Ivy asked for us to push her on it every two seconds!

We did some exploring around the grounds and found some treasures.

When camping, do what campers do!  Oh yeah, we totally went there!  Jaffles with plastic cheese and canned goodness!  Nasty, but oh so good! 

Ivy was such a good helper with washing up the dishes...or dish!

The beautiful sunrise we got to wake up to each morning.

 It was so cold but if I ever had to rough it, I would rough it with Steve!  Every morning, he would get out of bed before any of us and start the fire so that when we woke up, we would have a nice warm fire to sit around.  Seriously, that man takes good care of us!

Absolutely loved sitting around the fire each night, chatting and laughing and playing games. 

Family time is the best!  This is what makes me truly happy.

On our last night there, we went to a lookout to watch the sun go down.  

Was such a highlight of the trip!  

We had so many of my favs happen over this weekend, with many memories made.  A warm fire, nature, camping and most importantly family time.  I love being surrounded by those I love!