today was like all doug's birthdays and christmases came at once... all his dreams came true... you get the picture. he got to go to the afl grand final. the superbowl of australia. the ultimate game. the one all the boys want to go to.
we got a phone call when we were in samoa, from my eldest brother jared, who managed to get hold of us on mum and dads mobile phone... to tell doug that he had just won a ticket to the grand final, which included flights, transfers and accomodation - and he wanted to give it to him as a gift. no questions asked. he wasn't interested (if you've ever met my brother you will understand... he is really not into sports at all) and knew doug would be, so he had the prize reissued to him. one ticket. the ticket of a lifetime. what an amazing, generous gift. he spent the rest of our trip muttering, "i can't believe it", on the odd occasion.
so just three days after we got home, off he went again... flying virgin to melbourne. this is how jared actually won the tickets in fact. he has been flying to and from kalgoorlie each and every week since the rest of the family moved back down to perth - so much so, that it put him into the top virgin australia frequent flyers for the year, who they gifted the package, from wherever they happened to be in australia. score.
apparently it was amazing, pre-show and half time entertainment was great, the atmosphere electric. the team he was barracking for even won! he sent me a heap of pictures including this one at the final siren, when the hawks had won! (i watched a little throughout the afternoon and even i, who knows nothing about football, could see that the swans didn't even stand a chance)
not bad for free accommodation hey? doug was thrilled with the room... and the hotel even had a gym and pool which he gleefully made use of.
my husband claims to not be able to take a photo? after seeing this i beg to differ... showing off that he was flying away yet again, while i got to hang with the kids all weekend... haha
and just for your information... even though virgin weren't handing out business class seats to their competition winners, they did at least give them all a business class meal (jealoussss) which looks pretty darn good in my opinion.
no matter what he does, i am fairly certain he will never be able to pay jared back for this amazing gift and opportunity, one that we probably never could have managed (tickets are hard to get) or afforded (tickets are expensive and flights over the grand final weekend cost a lot). we are so grateful and still in shock.
thank you a million times over! we love you!
