Check out out plants...

The plants below started from SEED and are now fully grown tomato plants. We are waiting for the fruit to ripen, but they are close. We have had one ripen already, and they are nice and sweet. Hopefully the rest are just as good. With the warmer weather staying a little longer, it has meant that the fruit has begun to ripen more. Sadly because the plants are not in the ideal position for the afternoon sun - they have taken longer than normal. We are looking forward to trying them out. (I think we will have more tomatoes that we will know what to do with!)

The travellers return...

Cynfor and Jessie have returned home safely after a long stay (all Summer) in China. They were both excited to be home, as well as enjoying their while they were away.



Here is a couple of pictures of them (after a shower!)

Showing off the new TV

Our trip to Vegas

Tara and I have just returned from Las Vegas. We left Portland on Monday night August 4th, and returned back to Portland the night of August 9th. We had a great time, and below are the pictures we took.

We stayed at "Treasure Island" which was very central to the things we wanted to do in the strip. We had tickets to both Blue Man Group and Love - the Cirque du Soleil tribute show to the Beatles. Both were amazing shows, and our hotel was next to both of the hotels where the shows were on. (So no need to walk to far in the Las Vegas summer heat! - YES it get's HOT!)

We spent a day at the Grand Canyon and seeing Hoover Dam on the way. This was pretty spectacular, and walked the Sky Walk - which is pretty amazing. Sadly, we were not alowed to take cameras onto the Sky Walk - so we did not get any pictures that we were able to post on the blog. (I will scan the picture that we had taken of us on the walkway though - and post it later.)

We tried our luck on the tables, we won some, and lost some - but all in all we had a great time. Both Tara and I did not want to return to Portland - but sadly all trips must come to an end at some point - and if we had stayed - we would have probably run out of money pretty quickly.

The buffets were amazing - most times we only ate once during the day - we would head out around 10am - 11am, stuff ourselves with the food from the buffets, and never need to eat again that day. Worked out well. The best buffet would have to have been The Wynn, Treasure Island was a close second, and the Mirage a strong third. We had also tried the MGM Grand buffet - but sadly that was not as good as the others.

If we kept eating the way we could for the Buffet we would end up the size of houses. There was A LOT of food. (AND very good selections)

Anyhow - take a look at the pictures.

Out on a Summers Day!

Today we headed out to Hood River to get some fresh cherries, as it is cherry season here now. Sadly the cherries are late this year, but we did get a nice drive in on a day which was around 35C. 

Below are some pictures taken of Mount Hood on the trip, plus some pictures of the flowers in the garden this year. We have been meaning to take pictures, but had not gotten around to it until now. The garden is looking pretty good. We also have several tomato plants that we planted from seed, and hope to have a good number of tomatoes off - so, when they get closer to giving us fruit - we will take more pictures. 

Back from Hawaii...

Well, it has been a great week for us spending time in Hawaii. We were on Oahu, the most common island as part of the grouping of the 8 major islands. There is surprisingly a lot to do there. There is a fantastic Polynesian cultural centre, which was amazing - where we had a Luau, watched a show, and were introduced to six different Polynesian cultures from New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii, Fiji and Tahiti.

We arrived back this morning to an overcast Portland morning, after being treated to sunshine for the most part in Hawaii - it was a little depressing. We have also confirmed the kids arrived safely in China - where they will spend their summer with their dad, and Tara's mum arrived safely back in Melbourne albeit delayed by 1 hour because of a delay in Hawaii.

Anyhow, below are some pictures from our trip!

Cynfor and Jessie - Piano Recital

On June 1st, 2008 - Cynfor and Jessie performed at their Piano Recital.

Here is the video of that recital.

Kylie, Stuart and Lachlan's visit...

Here are some pictures of the visit we are having at the moment with Stuart, Kylie and Lachlan. Although there are only a few pictures, there are more we will upload later.

Jessie's Glasses

Well, she is excited. She likes her new look. What do you think?

Check out the new furniture...

There is a large furniture company here which is going out of business. Last weekend, we thought we would go take a look - Tara had been looking for a new TV table, and a nice Coffee table. We took a look around at the store going out of business, and liked nothing. We went next door, to another store, and found something we liked. So, we now have a lovely TV stand, and Coffee table - which you can see in the picture below.

Surprise Party!

Thursday April 10th is Tara's 40th Birthday. We planned a "surprise" party for her, Saturday April 5th, 2008. Below are some of the pictures of the night - we all had a great time, and Tara was extremely surprised.

Jessie's Birthday

Today is Jessie's 9th Birthday - above is Jessie excited with her "home made" birthday cake. She helped make it on the weekend.

Below are some other pictures of the presents and her cake, even the new Piano in it's new home. We will upload some video of the kids playing when we can - it sounds lovely!

More evidence that spring is coming...

These have been cut fresh from our garden earlier today - we have more coming up, but the flowers are not showing. Don't they look lovely?!

New addition to the house!

For some time now we have been talking about getting a Piano to allow Cynfor and Jessie to ensure they get the right feel. For several years now they have been practicing on my keyboard that I bought in Hong Kong.

Last night we were invited to a Piano sale at a company which is closing one of its stores. They had many Piano's for sale, we saw a lovely Steinway Grand, which had been rebuilt completely. The original price of the piano would have been around $70,000 new - but it was on sale for $33,000. (It was used, but it sounded fantastic when played.)

We were not interested in buying a grand piano - we don't have enough room in the house for it, so we purchased a smaller upright piano. Below is a picture from the Yamaha web-site, when we have it delivered we will have some pictures of it in the house, and maybe even upload a video of the kids playing it!

Cynfor and Jessie played a lot of piano's to ensure they found the "right one" and obviously Tara and I were conscious of the money side of things. All in all, we got a pretty good deal - we feel. It should be delivered on Wednesday, and we look forward to hearing the kids playing it.

Spring is almost here...

We have found that we have a beautiful Daphne bush in our back yard. Here are some pictures of the flowers - the perfume is terrific, and with a small clipping in a vase in the house - the whole house smells lovely.

Cynfor and Jessie's Flute Recital - February 2008

Below is a video of Jessie and Cynfor performing at their Flute Recital. (Apologies for the spelling error on the title of the video - I did not notice it until it was already on the internet.)

Hope you enjoy!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Snow Day

Drive way

Our House

Our Street.

Welcome 2008!

Well, I was reminded this morning that we had not put an update to the blog since Christmas 2007. I thought that I should at least leave a note so that you did not think that we were being lazy.

It has been a busy few weeks. My parents were here from November 17th until January 5th. We had a great time, obviously not seeing them for over 1 year, meant we had a lot of catching up to do. It also meant that they got to see a little of where we live, and things to do.

Mum wanted a "white Christmas" - which she got. We took her down to Sunriver, which is about 4 hours drive south of Portland, and sits at about 4,500ft elevation. When we arrived a little before Christmas, we were not so sure it would snow, but it did - a little after lunch it started, and it appeared to never stop until near the time we left.

Christmas was obviously great with family, as well as having it the first White Christmas for all of us. We had the traditional "Aussie" Christmas, with roast pork and roast vegetables, plum pudding and custard. Although they were variations, as some of the ingredients here in the USA are slightly different to those we are able to get in Australia - it all tasted great.

New years was spent with friends at their apartment/unit/house. The kids were playing together on the new Nintendo Wii that had been received for Christmas, while the parents stayed out and talked, drank and ate - generally enjoying themselves.

Now things are back to normal, I am back at work, the kids are back and school and mum and dad are back in Australia - after some interesting events with canceled flights, etc. - but all was well, they did make it home safe!

Tomorrow we will have a bit of a "gathering" at our house, we are going to have a few friends (with their families) over to our place for a late lunch, early dinner. (Monday is a holiday here in the USA "Martin Luther King Jr. Day" - so a bit of time to rest after enjoying ourselves. )

We have purchased a $40 TV from "Goodwill" - which is like The Salvation Army. It is for the kids to be able to play their Playstation on. We find now that they are very much into the games on the Playstation, that we don't have much time to be able to watch TV ourselves. This way the kids can play, and we can watch TV - and not have to watch each other. The new TV is upstairs in the "bonus room" - so it is kind of quiet when we are used to the kids being with us here making noise on their games.

Well, I am sure I have rambled enough for now. Hopefully we will share some more pictures with you all soon. Hope everyone is well, and have a great 2008! (Hey that rhymes!)

Merry Christmas!

Being so far away for Christmas, it is difficult to make sure we have passed on our wishes to everyone.


We have sent a few cards out, but now that time appears to have gotten away from us, we have decided that we would like to make sure we get to as many people by posting a Christmas note on our blog.


Tara, Cynfor, Jessie and myself would like to pass our best wishes to you all during this Christmas season, and offer you our wishes for a properous and fun new year.


I know that we have plans to enjoy our time during the festive season, and sure that all of you will also!

We are heading to Central Oregon tomorrow to spend hopefully a WHITE Christmas, with my parents, and us. We should have some lovely pictures to share when we return AFTER December 28th.

We won't have internet access (I am already feeling withdrawal) - so we won't necessarily be in touch with friends and family until we return.

Strawberry Pavlova...

Tara cooked a lovely Pavlova decorated with Strawberries, and Kiwi fruit. She took it to work, and it was devoured in minutes, many people loved it - so we thought we would share the recipe with our friends.

Strawberry Pavlova

4 egg whites
3/4 cup caster sugar (fine bakers sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon vinegar

Topping
1 1/4 cups thick cream
250g strawberries, halved
Note: Although strawberries are common as a toping, other fruits work well, Kiwi, Banana, Mango, or a combination of your favorites. (Berries are often best)

1. Preheat oven to very slow 120C (250F)
2. Place baking paper (parchment) onto a flat baking tray. Using a 20cm (8in) round cake tin as a guide, mark a circle in the center of the prepared tray. (Note: During baking, the Pavlova will spread a little, so make sure you have sufficient space on the tray outside of the 20cm tin marking.)
3. Place egg whites in a DRY small mixing bowl - and using electric beaters (we used our KitchenAid Mixer without issue) beat for 1 minute, or until soft peaks form.
4. Add the caster sugar gradually, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating constantly, until the mixture is thick and glossy and all of the sugar has dissolved.
5. Add vanilla essence and vinegar, beat until combined.
6. Pile the meringue onto your marked circle on the prepared tray.
7. Bake for 1 1/4 hours (or until pale and crisp).
8. DO NOT REMOVE from the oven. Once cooking has completed, simply open the oven door, and let the Pavlova cool inside the oven.
9. After it has cooled, transfer it onto a serving plate.
10. Beat cream until whipped, and spread on top of Pavlova.
11. Decorate with fruit, and it is ready to serve.