Det snø, det snø ... tiddlebom!

Even though it is now all back to normal (i.e. wet and non-white) Stavanger has had a truckload of snow lately. We always love to get out amongst it and it makes everything so pretty. Cooba in particular loves it and loves catching snowballs! We even went walking on the lake a little while ago! Here are some pics of the fun!

The Melbourne Extravaganza!

We have had this blog entry waiting as a draft for weeks, so it's about time we published it I think!

Here we pick up our story again from the blog entry about Christmas.....

Gradually after Christmas everyone started to head off from our place in Stavanger, John, Sharyn and the girls continued their trip of Europe with a visit to Ireland, Zac, Fraze and Eliza headed back to Melbourne and Simon stayed on a little longer and hung out with Cooba and clocked all Joel’s scores on the Wii! We had a lovely New Years Eve with Simon who prepared (with Joel’s help) a beautiful Bouillabaisse with crayfish and other seafood. Coupled with a bottle of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc from NZ it was absolutely perfect! I think it was the first time ever I haven’t stayed up until midnight on NYE, we were in bed by 10.30pm and the fireworks woke us up at midnight!

The reason for our early night was not just that we are both over 30 now and feeling the effects of old(er) age, but actually we had a flight to Australia the following day, and anyone who has done that flight will tell you it’s not a good idea to begin it with a sleep debt and/or hangover!

We had an amazing 16 days in Melbourne, we were so lucky to have the use of Sam and Brett’s apartment in Port Melbourne, and although we missed them, it was so convenient to have the place to ourselves for the first week as they were away on holidays. It was fantastic to be back in Melbourne, the sun was shining for us the whole time which was such a thrill after leaving Norway in the dead of winter.

I won’t go into all the details but can touch on a few highlights:

*Catching up with Jenny Guala and co for her birthday
*Enjoying the hospitality of Jules and Matt who hosted us for a BBQ with friends
*A trip to Lorne which included wedding planning and the chance to catch up with lots of Lorne mates plus Katrina, Greg, Brooke and Jade who are our friends from Tassie now living in Canberra
*The ‘Lorne Bowlers’ (Franky, Benny, Zac and Bowie) reuniting (like the Blues Brothers) for another shot at surfboat rowing glory (6th out of 7 in the final)
*Meeting with Anthony Toms who will conduct our service and signing all the necessary documents to ensure we can get married in November
*My parents Ann and Nigel meeting Joel’s dad John and stepmum Sharyn for the first time over a lovely meal in Brighton
*Belated Family Christmas dinners with both Joel’s and my families
*A visit to Pat Ireland, Joel’s nan is so lovely
*Lunch with my grandparents
*Getting to meet little Fisher O’Brien, 2 days old!
*Wedding dress shopping (successful!) and bridesmaid dress shopping (also successful!)
*Getting to eat all the things we miss in Norway – for example fish and chips, potato cakes, meat pies, twisties, cheeszels, Lebanese bread, flathead, tasty cheese, cheap wine & beer (Boag’s Draft), to mention just a few!
*Gathering together our bridal party plus partners for a meal together in Port Melbourne
*Joel having a couple of successful fishing trips with Dad (Emma’s Nigel), Brett and Zac

Hmmm so that is not even half of it actually, so you can see from this list that we were so incredibly busy. It was really fun and just so great to see everyone again after such a long time away, we missed you all! But we have to say it was really exhausting physically and mentally as well and we’re really sorry if you’re one of the many who we didn’t get to spend as much time with as we would have liked.

The culmination of all of this was our Engagement Party on our last Saturday in Melbourne. We had over 100 people there and loads of kids, someone even commented that they’d never seen so many kids at a ‘grown up’s’ party before! We were so lucky with the weather and a beautiful sunny afternoon made for a perfect setting to sit outside by the water at Patterson Lakes. The drinks were flowing and the food plentiful, and everyone had a fantastic time, especially Joel and I. We thanked everyone in our speeches, however it’s just worth mentioning again my mum and dad for all their efforts and work in the preparation for the party, we pretty much just said “hey can we have our party at your house, and can you organise everything too?” and they were wonderful. We also really want to thank Joel’s family – especially Bernadette, John and Sharyn who were incredible with their support.

Here are two photo albums, one of the Melbourne trip and the other of the Engagement party. Those on facebook can also find a lot of pics there, and we have also updated our wedding website www.emmaandjoel.com with some pics from the night (thanks to our photographers for the evening Andrew Lee and Grandpop Cousins!). Thanks to everyone who helped make our short trip back to Melbourne so wonderful, we miss you all and are already looking forward to our return in November for The Big Day!

Grandma (Gwenda) Holloway passed away 10/2/2009

It is with a very heavy heart that I write that my wonderful Grandma (Gwenda) Holloway passed away peacefully at home on Tuesday 10th February, aged 92. She was a remarkable woman who had lived a full and adventurous life. She will be missed by all of her family and friends who loved her dearly.

Joel and I will especially treasure our time with her just recently during our visit home in January. We had a lovely day with her at Patterson Lakes, and were particularly thrilled that she was able to come to our engagement party, in fact we were amazed that she stayed so long, heading home around 10.30pm! At 92 one could be excused for not being the party animal one once was!

Every time I saw her during the evening she was surrounded by family who were sitting on the floor near her feet or on the arm of a chair nearby, chatting and catching up. This same scene has been taking place for many many years every time there was a family gathering or party, and I felt it really represented how much Grandma meant to us all and vice versa. Her family were so special to her and I think she was never happier than when surrounded by her children, their wives/husbands, her grandchildren and great-grand children.

It is very sad that Grandma isn’t with us anymore, however I am trying to focus on celebrating her life rather than mourning her death. It’s what she would have wanted, and certainly she wouldn’t have wanted anyone making a ‘fuss’! I wish I could be there, especially on Tuesday, and also for the funeral on Friday and certainly feel very far away at the moment, but thanks to my lovely family and friends for your support and kind words about Grandma.


Here is a pic of Grandma from the party, with her carer Carol.