It's alive

Kylie and I had our scan on Monday. It was a pretty amazing experience to see the baby's hands and feet and face and everything else for that matter! It has brought the reality home alot more, and was fantastic to see our baby for the very first time. I will post some pictures in the coming days, stay tuned.....

Finally some rain!!

My nephew Elliot on his very first day of school.... Check out the size of his backpack!! He caught the school bus from out the front of his house - I'm soooo proud, excited and nervous for him!

Downstream from the road

The road into our house. The dogs LOVED the water and Lucy had her 2nd ever swim.

Me standing in the raging torrent (and our friend's dog Kaia)

Well it's always exciting to get some rain out at Owen Springs and yesterday arvo it finally arrived. Our neighbour Ben rode home on his motorbike and had to push his bike through some creeklines, but when he got to this river it was bone dry.... an hour later I came home and the Hugh River was flowing! Our car got it's first taste of river crossings, slippery mud and big puddles - Phil was very jealous that I was driving!!

On a different note, I had a midwives appointment yesterday and all is well. Got to hear the heartbeat again which is going strong - probably the most reassuring sound for a 1st time nervous mum to be I think!!

The family wagon

Hi there everyone. Kylie is doing well at the moment - 13 weeks gone by and counting! We thought we better buy a family wagon if we are going to have a family, so here it is! In truth, I have always wanted a Ford Territory, so the family thing is just an excuse really. Apart from that, all is going well. We are finding the days a bit hot, but we must be getting somewhat used to it, as it doesn't feel as bad as it once did (above 40 degrees, that is). Talk to you all later, Phil & Kylie

SOME BIG NEWS

Hi all, we have some exciting news that we are glad to finally let everyone know about. Kylie is pregnant (12 weeks) and we are expecting on the 21st July! It has been hard work to keep things a secret, and Kylie has been sick on and off for a while now (really sick while we were on holidays unfortunately), so it is a relief to explain to those who hadn't guessed our news already. We have bought a family friendly car, so we are well on the way to becoming a Mum and Dad!! We have both seen its heart in an ultra sound, and Kylie heard its heart beat last week, so it is definitly happening. I'm hoping for a boy, but clearly will not care either way, and we want it to be a suprise on the day. Anyway, we will update you as more news comes to hand....

Wildlife Watch

Kylie & I had some unexpected guests at work today. They were actually from a group of 6 released onto Owen Springs last week and have found their way back to the houses. Luckily the dogs were more puzzled at their appearance rather than thinking it was time for lunch!

Weddings, parties, anything

Stacey
Kylie
Phil, Kylie, Nath, Mum, Nathan, Stacey, Nan, Phil & Jo
Kylie, Grandpa, Aunty Margaret, Uncle Ivan, Aunty Molly, Stacey
Kylie & her niece Chelsea

Stacey & Nathan got married on Saturday, it all went well and Stacey looked amazing in her dress. It was great to catch up with the family during the week, and especially good to see some people from WA that Phil hadn't met before. We are now in Albury catching up with Mum and Dad until the end of the week, when we return to Alice Springs. Talk soon.

Mighty Movember

Recently I used the wafer thin excuse to grow a mo because it is Movember. Some friends and I thought we would look cool (as proven by the pic below...) but I really didn't like the Mo anyway, so I shaved it off pretty quickly. We are currently in Bendigo for Kylie's sister Stacy and her fiance (better half - he said) Nathan, for their wedding and the christening of their second child Chelsea. We are back in Alice at the start of December, ready for the heat of summer. Talk to you all soon, love Phil & Kylie

Home from Europe

Well, we survived our trip, although not sure how we survived the 150km/hour taxi ride to the airport from Rome asthe driver was talking on 2 phones at once, writing notes in his diary, and changing lanes more often than Italy changes its governments! As Obelix would say, "these Italian's are crazy". We are really glad to be home again to the dust of Owen Springs, and we had a great time throughout the holiday. Plus I get the added bonus of being home in time for the AFL grandfinal, go Cats! See you all soon, Phil and Kylie.

Photos (top to bottom): Mum, myself and Dad in the Cotswolds

Villers Bretonneux Cemetry, the Somme

Paris, Eiffel Tower

Arc de Triumph

Kylie on the Eiffel Tower

Vienna

Street scene, Florence

Cable car, Switzerland

Typical view of Switzerland

Lifestles of the rich and famous in Capri, Italy

France, Switzerland and Italy

Hi all, it has been a while between posts so we thought it was time to say hello. We have had a great time in Paris and the Somme, with Kylie disgracing international relations between Australia and France by picking up a speeding fine within 5 minutes of driving! I think I may have told her it was 100, but it was only 90,oh well.... Anyway, we then moved on to Switzerland where we spent a week with mum and dad and alison eating as many toblerones as physically possible. We were in a great chalet, and the views of the green fields, ice capped mountains and bell ringing cows was like a scene out of a movie. Now we are in Italy where everyone drives like a maniac who really wants to die, the gelato is awesome, and we have eaten a years worth of pizza already in the first 2 days. We are writing this from Venice (not Vienna as I called it today) and head off for Florence, Rome and the Amalfi coast for the next week and a bit. We will be home soon, so we will catch up with you all then. See you later (or Ciao as the Ities call it!!). Love Phil and Kylie. P.S. Sorry, no photos this post, we will put some up on our return.

We thought we should update the blog since we have been on holidays now for a week or so. We have had a great time so far, hired a European buzz box and drove all around the English countryside. We stayed at York, the Yorkshire Dales, the Great Lakes, the Peak District, and the Cotswolds. We have done plenty of walks, some kayaking, a bike ride (our legs still hurt!), boating, as well as fitting in a ale or two in between. Our favourite spot so far is the Yorkshire Dales - so lush and green, as well as peaceful, and the Cotswolds was also very beautiful. We are off to France tomorrow to visit Paris and the Somme Valley, Kylie is getting excited about the WW1 battefield tours we are going to do there. We will try to update you all as we go along. Best wishes, Phil and Kylie.

Helmsley Castle

Rievaulx Abbey

Yorkshire Dales

Trees

We're here!!

Well after a LONGGGG plane trip we finally made it to 'overseas'... more specifically England. We've seen so much already and even went on a tour of the Queens House - Buckingham Palace State Rooms (the Queen's on hol's up North).

Have to make this a quick message, but g'day to everyone back home :) We're having a ball and we're about to go pick up our hire car and head up towards Scotland for some walking, cups of tea and a pub meal or ten.

P.S. The weather is very English... eg. rainy, bleak and the exact opposite to Alice (perfect!)

Dave stayed with us for 5 days last week. We went out camping, took a trip to Finke Gorge and the West Mac's NP, played golf, table tennis and the equally important, Playstation games. Dave cooked his first ever damper, and we had an awesome roast in the camp oven too. We went out shooting (but found nothing alive except the odd tin can), so I'm sure Dave, you are a bit unimpressed that the week after you left I managed to get 2 camels that had strayed onto the park, sorry about that.... Anyway, it was a good time, but as usual, went too quickly. We are now only 3 weeks from heading off on our trip, so we are getting a little bit more excited about it as you could guess. Talk to you all soon, Phil & Kylie.

The Tale of the Plumber's Crack

Having experienced some trouble draining the office sink lately, I decided to have a bit of a dig to investigate. Thinking it might be just some dirt, I was pretty impressed to pull out the offending couple of metres of tree roots that had found their way in through a cracked join. Not bad I reckon! No wonder the Gum tree at our office is so huge, it has been feeding off years worth of spent coffee grains, expired milk containers and dishwashing liquid - yum. As the famous plumber Kenny would probably say, 'Here's another case of a tree with a two inch branch trying to fit into a 1 inch hole', or something to that effect....

My new niece, Chelsea

This is a photo of my brand new niece, Chelsea (a girl, yay!!) It's a bit of a shame that I won't get to meet her until the end of November, but I guess that's the price you pay for living in Alice Springs.

Welcome home Rach & Lyndon

Our sign

Dave's tank

Kylie and I are very excited and pleased that our good friends Rachel and Lyndon have moved back to the Alice. We were so excited that we thought we would advertise the fact to anyone driving up and sown the Stuart HWY last Sunday afternoon. I'm sure that's not illegal right?? Anyway, it's great to have them back after living it up in the land of the latte set, metro-sexual guys in pinks shirts and absurd hair cuts, the great suburban sprawl and the traffic jams of Melbourne. Dave and Michelle (my brother and his wife for those that don't know) are coming to stay with us in late July. Should be great. Hopefully Dave can bring his tank down - would do a good job of feral animal control I think.... or visitor management.

"All the colours of the 'bow man"

This was the view that greeted me driving back into the ranger station on Wednesday. Good enough for a photo I thought. It's Kylies birthday in a few weeks time - I'm hoping she likes what I have got her, I seem to be good at getting her things that she has never hinted at before, which isn't always a good thing. I'm sure it's just a male thing, otherwise I have no excuse. Anyway, post your messages of happy birthday to Kylie below. She will be turning 27 on the 24th of this month. Sometimes I can feel the generation gap between us (well, 1 and a half years anyway), she had never even heard any of Bruce Springsteen's back catalogue from the mid 70's until she met me - can you believe it??

And now for something completely different

Yes, we keep posting photos of our dogs on our blog because we have nothing of note that is happening in our lives at present. Actually, we are waiting for some photos from Kylie's mums trip here over Easter, and then we will have something to show you all!! We have been visiting some key spots in the West Mac's lately to get some photos that will be going on a newly designed sign project for the Larapinta Trail. The trail is a 220km walking track over some pretty rugged ground, and the new signs will be placed at the end of every section of the trail (12 sections in all). Hopefully they will look ok. Below is a pic in Hugh Gorge, but it probably isn't going on a sign. All is going well up here for us both at the moment. We are looking forward to the trip to Europe - see to the right & above for our countdown clock! Talk to you all soon hopefully. Phil & Kylie.

It's Raining Cats & Dogs (well, mainly dogs)

I just got back from Finke Gorge National Park, after we were washed out due to some heavy rain. It wasn't all bad however, as you can see from the pics below, with waterfalls everywhere and the odd bit of flooded road for our driving entertainment (yes, that is a road, not the Finke River!). Our newest family member Lucy also seems to enjoy the muddy conditions.

Kylie's Mum will be here for Easter which we are both looking forward to. Hopefully the rain will have gone away by then Sue (it is only 21 degrees today!).

See you all down the road, Phil & Kylie.

Above & below: Wet waterfalls

Above: Wet dog

Below: Wet road

Say hello to Lucy

Well, we had an unexpected guest arrive on our door step last week, who we have named Lucy. She is Harry's new best friend (we had talked about getting him a mate for a while), and they seem to be getting along pretty well. My first reaction was to get the .22, but she was in really good nic, so we both went soft and have decided to keep her on (for a trial period of 10 to 15 years!). We also went to Ellery on the weekend - pretty hot, but always a good view. Not much else has been happening that I can think of right now, so we will catch you all later!

Anyone for flies?

Well, summer is in full swing here in the Centre. 10 trillion flies during the day, maybe a billion mozzies at night, and hot temps mean only one thing - I start complaining and mention to Kylie every half hour that I can't wait for winter again. Ahh, listening to the footy on the radio while reading the sports pages - Melbourne Age of course!, hot coffee in front of the heater watching TV (usually more footy), and camping out under the stars with a roaring fire. Anyone else keen?? You may be able to tell that we don't have much news at the moment. We are both thinking about our trip overseas now that we have got some money back from the insurance company, as well as having renters in our house. How soon until August??? Below is an 'abstract' photo of Kylie that she doesn't know I'm putting on the blog. All I did was blur the picture except for her face, and crop the edges pretty severely. I like it, but I might be the only one!