"camping" in clackline

what a weekend to decide to visit my parents in clackline! we have had weeks on end with no relief of scorching hot weather and on saturday while we were in up there, a huge sudden storm hit and made quite the impression on the area.

there was more than 30mm of heavy torrential rain over a period of under two hours, that seemed to come out of nowhere, accompanied by thunder and lightning and seemed as though it would never stop, then as quickly as it began, it was over!

it did however sill the creek beds so quickly that in some places the water rushed over the banks looking for somewhere to go... and over the entry to the spencers brook road it went! it was probably around a foot deep flowing over the road and oh was it a sighe to see. in all my years of living in clackline, i'd never seen anything quite like it!

doug and the kids had been swimming in the pool at jen and mat's place when the storm came on (again, it had been incredibly hot!!) and when we hauled them out and took them inside to dry off...

amongst the waterworks, thunder and lightning going on outside, they then started inside from one madeline kendall who was hysterical, worried that her nanna and grandad would not be safe with the storm going on. aunty jenny made some fairy bread and poured some chocolate milk which seemed to ease the pain a little, but she was well and truly worried!

one of my favourite places in the world, the old railway line that runs along the road below my parents house.

and rightly so! their power went off just after the storm and was not restored until almost 48 hours later! i had orginally planned to stay until tuesday morning with the kids, but when sunday night came and they were still without power, we elected to head back to perth to air conditioning and other comforts...

we did have a lovely time while we were there though and joked about "camping" there seeing as we were without power the whole time we actually did stay. you'd never know it though, my parents just know how to make it all work.

the property is beautiful regardless, i always feel so lucky to have grown up there!

madeline having a drive up "the bumpy road" on daddys lap

and joseph discovering grandads boots and tools

i am looking forward to our next visit, hopefully they'll have some lights next time around! 

raffaello cheesecake

i made this cheesecake to take to the new years eve party we went to, and then again to take to a lunch we'll be attending this weekend. it turned out so well that a few people asked for the recipe, so i thought i would share it here first. 

may i present...

raffaello cheesecake

1 x 250g packet milk arrowroot biscuits

150g butter or margarine, melted

3 teaspoon gelatine

1/4 cup water

375g cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/2 cup caster sugar

300ml thickened cream

packet of raffaello chocolates (i used the christmas gift box, i think there was about 30 in there...)

method

1. grease a 24cm springform tin, place on an oven tray.

2. process biscuits until finely crushed. add butter and combine. press biscuit mixture evenly over base and side of prepared tin. cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

3. sprinkle gelatine over water in a cup. stand cup in pan of simmering water; stir until disolved. cool.

4. beat cream cheese, vanilla essence and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. beat whipped cream in a seperate bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. stir gelatine mixture into cheese mixture with halved chocolates; fold in cream. pour mixture over base in

tin. cover and refrigerate until set.

5. serve decorated with extra cream and chopped raffaellos on top.

a new nephew ♥

well lookie here! guess who became an aunty for the 7th time today? um well, i'm assuming you know the answer is me seeing as this is my blog you are reading... 

i would love to introduce you to baby felix ryan goodlet, who was born today in the mater hospital in brisbane city. he is the baby of my brother aaron and his beautiful wife katja and i am 100% instantly in love with him. isn't he just the cutest? look at that little face!

i am so excited, they are coming over for easter this year and i'll get to meet both of their boys for the first time. i absolutely love being an aunty and i can't wait!

congrats a & k!

landis/ sheasby family photos

some people like to take pictures of things, i like to take pictures of people. especially people i know and love... and family photos are my favourite.

last night i was thrilled to hang out with two of my dearest friends, with a bonus, because their family was visiting from south africa with their adorable children. taking photos is a breeze when every one is having fun!

♥

everyone together, after swapping kids...

travis and tamzin with mason

and rob with hadyn and bianca with malakai

mason with his parents watching the last few minutes of the sunset... and what a gorgeous one it was!

and the sheasby family. love them!

♥

2016 resolutions

it's a new year, a fresh start, a clean slate, a new chapter, all of those nice things and the time when people make resolutions of things they will do, stop doing and change about themselves. a few years ago i read a blog online where the person had decided to choose a focus word (a single word) each year to work on. 

although i have made a few different resolutions this year, there is one thing above all else about myself that i need to try harder with. i need to be kind. to try harder to be kind. and to be kind to people who may not be kind to me. to remember that as that old primary song says, "kindness begins with me." and as president thomas s. monson said in his october 2015 general conference address, "speak with tolerance and kindness." i know i can make a difference if i only but try, not just to others, but to myself. 

so 2016 is the year i will be kind. ♥

the lion king!

i have the best flipping friends in the world... today i got to go to the lion king musical at crown perth, thanks to my gorgeous friend keryn who had an extra ticket.

i was completely and utterly blown away! what an amazing show. disney have such an amazing team and put so much thought into their design, sets, music and especially their costumes... i could barely spare a second to blink... and during some scenes barely knew where to look, as everything was so incredible. 

my firm favourite in the show was definitely zazu (the kings assistant dodo bird), he was incredibly done by a puppeteer and really stole the show. 

two very enthusiastic thumbs up from me,,, if you aren't planning on going, change your plans.  

nye - laters 2015

well, another year has come and gone... and 2016 is already here knocking on our front doors! seems like just yesterday we were welcoming in the last one... eep! last night we were invited to a very kid friendly new years eve celebration at our friends house and these two monkeys loved every second. there was absolutely no stopping them and they partied hard, well into the night, not stopping until we finally got home at 12:45am and i popped them in their beds.

we had a pot luck dinner first... followed by cheesecake by me (recipe to come soon... stay tuned) while the kids played and watched a movie, and the adults jammed out song after song in the lounge room thanks to stella's karaoke machine. what a night!

madeline and cooper

we had a great night and were so glad to be able to spend it with the kids having so much fun... here's hoping this year brings some wonderful things along with it. 

happy 2016! ♥