Down Under with Jan Mikaela Nora and Ella

Remember the picture below? That was 5 years ago, when we first arrived in Australia. No house, no car, no  job, no nothing. Just following our dream for a new life in Australia. See here to refresh your memory… And look at us now, at the same spot as where we started our journey 5 years ago. Apart from them changing the bench (!) can you spot the difference?!?  A house, two cars, jobs, a rich network of friends and contacts, citizenship, and most importantly two daughters (one with a funny Aussie accent!).  The journey has been great and we are happy and proud of where we are today. And a lthough we still can't stand Vegemite (except for the girl with the funny Aussie accent) we can safely say that  Australia is our home now. 

We visited the Hahndorf Farm barn this weekend. Very exciting with little lambs, duckies, chicken, calf, sheep, goats and all other typical farm animals. Highlight was Nora’s first ever Pony ride! Brave ah? Nora was so excited that she insisted on having Pony tails in her hair. Of course Ella needed one too …

Every winter we do a trip to Victor Harbor to celebrate Mum & Dad’s anniversary (yes, already nine years together now!) For Ella this was her first time. Very exciting in the horse tram to Granite Island. And for once it was not raining when we were in Victor. Sunny and nice all day. If the winter stays like this, we are not complaining !

It’s mid-winter in Aus, so what do we do? Celebrating Swedish mid-summer, putting solar panels on the roof and cheering for the losing teams of Holland and Sweden in the Euro cup?!?  Doesn’t make much sense, does it? What does make sense it the happiness of our little girls. Now that Ella is crawling there is endless joy and play in every corner of our home and garden. It’s loud and passionate and absolute threat to every item of value within their reach. But yes we admit, their cheers are also ever so contagious ....

Life goes on, as Jan found out when he returned from the funeral in Holland last week. Perhaps inspired by her late Pake, Ella had chosen this moment to all at once learn how to crawl and how to clap. Isn’t is cute? Not bad for an 8 months old girl, right?  Round of applause for Ella! 

Last Sunday Jan’s Heit, Nora and Ella’s Pake, passed away at a respectable age of 82 years. Although his love for life was never ending, his body was simply too old and too weak. He departed as a happy man, leaving behind a loving wife, four very proud kids, and nine grandchildren, his greatest joy. Dear Heit, we are yours and you are ours. We will miss you dearly. Leave Heit Wat ik noch sizze wol, wit er al Wat ik noch diele wol, is der al Wat ik noch jaan wol, hat er al It hoecht allegear net mear, it is al by him Yn syn hert  is it belanne, yn syn siel is it skreaun Syn libben mei ús is rûn, foar altiid  ferbûn Hy sit yn ús wézen, jo kinne it yn ús eagen lêze Wy binne fan him, en hy is fan ús Dat sil altyd  sa wêze, jo kinne dat ommers yn ús eagen lêze (In Frisian language by Oeds Bijlsma)

See here how the Australian jury voted.  This morning at 7am local time - live on the laptop - our girls were following the Swedish victory of Loreen at the Eurovision song contest. Sweden 12 points!!! PS. Isn’t it great to have a few different nationalities in the family? There’s always one country doing well. Next stop is the European soccer cup! Maybe a chance for Holland to make up for their Eurovision debacle ...