a texan open house

so... here is the reason i flew all the way to america, for bryan and dominiques open house! after prepping with bryans mom and sister last night and the night before we had everything ready to go and just waited on people to arrive... which they did!

i was so excited to be here for the second part of the demke wedding and it was so fun to be with bryans familyand meet them all, laugh with them and get to know them... they are the loveliest! certainly makes knowing dominique will be living on the the other side of the planet a lot easier, with them around to love and support her!

bryans family made this gorgeous frame for the newlyweds, (complete with a slot in the top of the frame) for each person attending to write on a heart and give their "well wishes for the new mr & mrs" i love it!

so an open house... is where friends and family come to the family home to meet the newlyweds, pass on their regards and eat... i have never been to one before, but texan style involves a lot of food! smoked/seasoned/ roast meat, home made bread rolls (drooooooool), cowboy caviar (super yum) lots of veggies and some excellent desserts from bryans mom, peach cobbler (also yummmm!) and some contributions from me: chocolate truffles, choc chip cookies and brownies! what a spread!

and to top it off, root beer, home made by tims brother with dry ice. how fun that was to watch!

ladies and gentlemen... may i present mr and mrs demke. :)

and my favourite bit? oh my gosh, fireworks!!!! in texas they are totally legal with no restrictions (took me a while to get past this seeing as they are totally illegal in australia! i mean that's a given considering how dry it is here and the fact that the whole country could go up in smoke over the summer months. fire danger is constantly on high back home! but fireworks! those things are amazing. there was an entire table covered in them and we were setting them off in the backyard for hours much to my absolute delight!

about to start the afterparty with some big ass roman candles. i am in love with fireworks and loved every single second of this evening. if this is what america is all about, i have a feeling i am going to love it here! ♥

dallas texas temple

my first full day in america... and i am treated to this! not even kidding, after forcing myself to stay awake until 1030pm last night before i crashed, i managed to sleep through (other than waking up twice, but going straight back to sleep) and wake in the morning feeling surprisingly refreshed and ready to go. so here we are, with my first experience at a big temple... in dallas, texas. i think we could probably easily fit 4 of our little temple in perth on that block.

and it was... amazing! being in america, at a large temple, with family... and knowing once again, that no matter where you are in the world, the church is the same. the building was gorgeous, the spirit was strong... and i enjoyed every minute of being inside its walls.

its so nice to have come to weather that is a little cooler too. i wouldn't say it's cold, but it's certainly a step down from the weather back home where it is stinking hot! here it is texan winter, cool, a little overcast today and just pleasant. perfect to be outside!

i am so stoked to be here and still have to pinch myself a little to believe it's really happening! can't wait for what the next few weeks have in store! ♥

and most of all, for taking photos of all the beautiful temples that america has to offer! yay!

♥

♥

off on an adventure!

this little monkey and i set off on an adventure this morning! as you've read from previous posts, dougs sister got married almost a month ago and last week she took off for her new life in texas. bryans family are giving them an open house this weekend and we are going to america! we are so excited even though there was a 16 hour flight from sydney to dallas involved... and to add to the amusement we arrived in dallas at the exact time we leave sydney. talk about deja vu!

our view crossing australia...

miss maddie ready to party in the usa

she was an absolute rockstar on the flight, chatting away to me, watching movies and sleeping... she was a great little travel companion and i am thrilled to have her here with me.

texas is big and busy and we were met at the airport by bryans sister and mother who whisked us home via our first taste of american food at one of the local burger joints. i know we are going to have a wonderful time and i am so excited for the next few weeks!

sunday loving

with all the craziness that's gone on recently in our house... wedding, back to school, general madness... it has been quite a few sundays since i posted a cute picture of the kids after church, so i need to remind you all how cute they are. they seriously are so adorable and i am so, so proud to be their mum. i mean look at those little faces!

miss madeline

and little joseph

the lights of my life!

♥

wedding cake!

so, this definitely deserves a blog post all of its own... bryan and dominiques amazing wedding cake! as soon as a date was set for the wedding, i contacted steph from mocha baby sweets in ellenbrook, (whose instagram page i had been following stalking for quite some time praying that i would one day have an excuse to call upon her for a cake... and woop there it is!) with a inconveniently short amount of notice... and thankfully she was not only willing to work with it, but seemed to be able to see exactly what i was describing to her.

fast forward a few weeks, a few more emails and this incredible cake was delivered to the valley view restaurant for the wedding reception. we were so thrilled with it and stephs excellent communication up until the day... and the best bit? it tasted just as good as it looked! the bottom tier was chocolate mud cake, covered with fondant, painted with a gold coat and the top was red velvet cake with vanilla buttercream icing. amazing!! 

seriously can't wait another excuse to use her, she is amazing!

keilani's blessing day ♥

mel and aitu's adorable baby girl keilani was blessed today and oh my word is she adorable! just over a month old and has so much hair and big big eyes that stare right into you. i'm in love!

i love mel and her girls, they are just too cute!

some funny faces with dad 

and the proud as punch big sisters showing off their new toy, um, sister.

mel with her new addition keilani ♥

cutest little fam! we love the niupalaus ♥

our pre-primary girl

this morning i delivered this little girl to her new pre-primary class, where she will be attending full time! i can barely believe it, but my little girl is growing up so fast. we had a lovely surprise when we arrived at her classroom, to see her teacher is none other than her alternate wednesday teacher from last year... hooray!

what a cute kid! but seriously, do not let that sweet smile fool you, she is full to the brim of so much sass, that i am amazed it doesn't stream out her ears when she is sleeping...

here is hoping she has another great year and makes more great friends. we found out yesterday that she won't be in the same class as her two best friends this year, but i know she is strong enough to make plenty of new ones.

and just to prove it's not an issue, she and isabella found each other the minute the final bell went and posed happily for me... different classes? no problems! we've got this!

let's go 2017! ♥