We had some visitors...

Yep, it's true! People ACTUALLY came to see us here in Mt Isa all the way from Canberra! It was gonna be a long drive but they came to their senses (almost) and flew to Townsville and drove from there :)

I have millions of photos from the two weeks we had together and in case i didn't say it enough while you were here, we really appreciate your effort in coming such a long way and of course enduring our lovely weather LOL!

Here's just a few memories...

I also took the chance to get some family photos of the Ojeda Clan and i just HAVE to share this one...

Til next time loyal subjects... Chao! You'll have to keep an eye on the photography blog for the sneak peek of the family ones *wink* Thanks again for coming, the kids LOVED being spoilt with lollies and endless attention and we loved seeing you and watching you enjoy the finer things in life :)

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I've taken a million other photos since then too mainly of the kids of course so i thought i'd share a couple of favourites :)

Big photo share...

First please excuse the terrible photos of Jesse's Graduation, it was on in the evening and the light was low, my flash was low on batteries and Jesse was way too excited to stay still with a million kids running around so lets say i left my photographer's hat at home shall we? *blush*

Receiving his certificate...

Here's Jesse with his teachers and his friends

And here he is with his friend who happens to be the tallest boy in the class, my little man looks quite little next to him LOL!

Jesse's really not happy about not having anywhere to go for the next 8weeks since Kindy was his favourite place next to church on Sundays but he's really looking forward to Prep next year so onto bigger and better things i guess...

Next on the agenda is the introduction of the new family car...

Thanks to God providing everything that we need and more we were able to get our hands on this immaculate 4WD so Lalo can have his own car to take to work while i use the current family car to take Jesse to school next year... of course it will also open up the whole new world of camping and off road adventures \o/

We took it out for a quick test drive just this afternoon and of course this means photo ops for me...

Smile Lily...

A cool dead tree...

While they were walking Jesse was telling Lalo that he was the best Daddy ever, and that he didn't know any other daddy as cool as him because his Daddy took him on exploring adventures at the lake...

Lily thinks he's pretty cool too...

Well that's it for now, I'm sure I'll post some more eventually but for now it's over and out from the Gonzalez Family

Better late than never...

Ok, so our Cairns trip was in mid November and it's now early December but my efforts to update you still count! ^_^

The plan was to go to Cairns relax before the silly season, possibly pick up a second car for our family, pick up my brother to come and second shoot with me at a wedding (and help with the driving back) and then make it back via Karumba in time for said wedding. It kinda didn't go as planned but God knows best and this is how it unfolded...

Sightseeing in Cairns is always so nice and i got to have a good play with my new lens and camera...

Then we let the kids have a bit of a play

and did some exploring of the beaches around Cairns

Juan couldn't make it due to the dreaded uni exams & assignments but Tata took a leap of faith and decided to come instead of Juan... we made the mistake of telling Jesse a few days before and it was talked about EVERYDAY until finally it was time to pick up Tata from the airport. Boy was Jesse excited to show him his favourite part of Cairns (actually Kuranda to be precise)

and just spend quality time with him...

On the way to Port Douglas where we spent the last day before heading back to Mt Isa we saw a couple about to jump off a perfectly good cliff...

Apparently the wind conditions just weren't quite right but we waited for about 1/2 an hour and they still hadn't jumped! On our way back there was no one there so we assume they jumped or went home LOL!

The trip back was interesting, we weren't able to pick up the car (but we did see it and it is now in our driveway after all) so i was squashed in the back between two car seats as we embarked on our journey north across the state...

We went past a huge windfarm...

...and this cute little town...

It's only cute cos it's my little niece's name ^_^

Then after driving through bushfires in the middle of no where we made it as far as Normanton before it got dark so Karumba will have to wait for another time. After the long drive home and a good night's sleep we showed my dad the sights

and Jesse managed to squeeze in one more story before having to board the plane back to Canberra...

A great time was had by all! I'll try post again soon with the photos of Jesse at his Kindy Graduation ^_^

Super quick update...

Hey loyal followers... yes i mean all two of you! LOL!

Ok, first things first, SM Subscription Contest has been drawn, then name out of the hat (or out of my hands drawn by Jesse) is Kerryn!!! So please email me your address and I'll make *the call* :) This should take effect as from the next issue coming out soon :)

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Next item on the agenda is my firstborn's birthday... *sigh* time flies when you're having fun so goes the saying and boy is this boy FUN! He makes us laugh EVERYDAY and we truly thank God everyday for bringing him to us and for the joy he is to have around... most of the time (I'm keeping it real here, gimme some credit!). This year due to our little holiday Jesse missed out on having a full blown party but someone once told me it's not a birthday unless there's cake so we took some to the Kindy for Jesse to share with his little friends (not posting the pics of the friends yet but keep watching).

Here's some taken on the day and some at the Kindy...

5 is a BIG number... it means a whole hand, it means big school next year, and it means mummy's getting older too LOL! To Jesse 5 also means he can put himself to bed for his day rest... "It's ok Mummy, you're changing Lily and Daddy's on the compooter so i can put myself to bed now that i'm FIVE" and with an about turn he kissed me on the cheek, went to his room and shut the door.... sob, sob :(

More photo shares...

Just some more pics of the kiddies and a reminder to keep those entries coming for the RAK which i hope to draw next week sometime. I only have four entries so far which is kinda of a bit sad but then again... i don't have a big following now do i? LOL!

Ok, now for the shares...I have recently acquired a new toy, two to be precise and these pics are me testing out the new acquisitions... You see now that i have a good camera i can take good photos right?

All the designs above are done by my good friend Rowena, love your work Ro! *wink*

RAK Time...

I've decided it's time to be honest and lay it all out there... i'm just not scrapbooking that much... and by 'that much' i mean once a month is exaggerating but twice a year is far from the truth too.

In light of this I see that my monthly subscription is going by the wayside, unopened issues for days or weeks sit gathering dust when they could be being put to some use by someone with more time and motivation! So that leads me to this RAK post... No competition coz last time i failed miserably at coming up with something so this time just comment here, say hello and maybe make even post about it yourself in your own blog (let me know if you have done this so i can check it out ^_^) and you will be in the running to win a 12mth subscription to Scrapbooking Memories :D

Ok, now I'll leave you with a couple of pics of the people who are really to blame for my lack of time...like you didn't now who they were!

Here's Jesse begging me to take a photo coz he's wearing his hat like Uncle Alf...

And here's Lily sitting still for like a millisecond (hence the not so sharp photo) posing for me to get my settings right just before i had a newborn shoot...

And just for fun here's a pic from that shoot that followed ^_^

Get yourself some popcorn...

I know i haven't been around as much lately but if only there were more hours in the day which i realize and i quote "that if there *were* more they would invariably be taken up by {other menial} jobs... but i can still wish this was the case!

Moving right along... i haven't posted many photos *here* of the family happenings since well about August and that was a big month cos that's when we had some visitors to our parts of the world as well as the Mt Isa rodeo etc. so... What do you do when you have a million photos to show family and friends?? Well you have a slide show of course! So get yourself some popcorn and a glass of coke and enjoy just some of the happenings which occurred while the Abideens were here :)

I really wish i could include some further commentary for some of these but there just isn't enough hours in the day LOL!!!!

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Hope you enjoy it! :)

All about the words...

After much deliberation and procrastination i have asked Jesse who with much elation has picked a name without discrimination out of a hat so we can without further melodramatizations announce to the nations who has won (although nations is a kind of an exaggeration due to there only being four qualifications but there will be no nullification of said competition).

So... in conclusion the answer to the question is....

MISS KAREN!!

Congratulations Miss Karen from the administration of this competition you will be awarded a creation from ME! (We will be in communication for the delivery of your new acquisition).

FYI Miss Karen is a teacher and is often called upon to decipher words and their meanings so i thought this post should fit the criteria :)

Is Lily the face of Princes Ratbag??

Yes, i thought I'd become one of those pageant mums and enter my little princess in her first beauty contest LOL! Just kidding! It's just a bit of fun to show off my Lily so go here and vote for this photo:

Thanks in advance!!!

The Big Deal

It's long overdue but finally it's here... Not sure I'm ready but as someone just said to me recently there's no point waiting and watching on the sidelines, you gotta get in the ring!

The big deal is that I'm launching the Memories By Carol Photography Website!

Hopefully this will let my sleepy little town know I'm ready for business and looking forward to capturing some beautiful memories for them. Let me know if you're interested...