Jackson's first wedding

At 8 weeks and 3 days Jackson attended his first wedding - Claire and Justin's wedding. It was a lovely setting in the Swan Valley and a beautiful balmy evening. Jackson enjoyed himself so much that he refused to sleep and partied away on the dance floor until WAY past his bedtime!

Jackson's first Christmas

Jackson enjoyed the festivities recently - he met his cousins, played with his grandparents and great-gran and got heaps of fantastic gifts. Here are a couple of photos taken on Christmas Day....

Some more photos of our little man...

"Yeah, I LOVE the camera!!"


"No, seriously... I LOVE THE CAMERA!!!"


"You mess with my dad, you mess with ME!!"

Some Jackson Photos...

Dad and Little J!

Mum and little J.

Jackson exercising his neck muscles.

Jackson's first day at the beach. He was definitely dressed the part. The Ocean obviously chilled him out as he slept the whole time there!

ACTION JACKSON!!

Our little Jackson is doing great. He's loving his "tummy time", working those neck muscles, and has started to smile- VERY CHEEKY! Mum and Dad are looking forward to when he can go a little longer than 2 and a half hours without waking up for a feed!!!

Some photos taken today...


"OK, what do I do now??"


"Yep, this is my cute pose"


"I call this 'relaxed cute'"


"Just so you know I have a serious side!"

'Awake' Jackson

We are getting more and more 'awake' time with Jackson now, although the grandparents keep missing out and only seem to see him when he is asleep. So here are a couple of photos as proof...

Sleepy Jackson

A couple of cute sleeping photos.

Jackson Anthony Lane

Jackson was born on 31st October 2007, weighing 3kg. We are both loving being parents, and cannot imagine life without him.

Not long to go now...

.... this photo was taken at 37 weeks and 5 days.

Getting out there.

We are now settling down to life back in Perth. Em's is growing by the day! The baby seems to be really active. Maybe that means that it will have to sleep lots when it's born (wishful thinking?). Rich has been getting out as much as possible to enjoy the great outdoors. With 3 friends, Dec, Rod and Pete, we headed out into the hills to check out some of the mountain bike trails on offer. Then of course there is the surf at the end of the road. It's been fabtatsic to have the waves so close.
So we get more and more excited as our new addition to our family is on his/her way!

A new chapter...

Well, it has been a very busy last month, with our relocation back to Perth. We said our sad goodbyes to all our friends and family in England and have spent time organising ourselves into our new life.
We moved into our house and spent countless hours shopping for furniture (WHAT FUN!!). Rich has managed to find relief work in teaching and has got a job at a great school beginning in January. It's been great catching up with family and friends we haven't seen for a while and settling into our new life "by the beach". The surf has been great lately so Rich has REALLY enjoyed his after school surfs!
As you can see from the above photo, Em's "bump", our L.B is growing ever bigger. We are really excited about our baby's arrival in November. Not long now!!! We will keep you posted...

ICE ICE BABY!!!

We journeyed with Ashley to Iceland, the land of fire and ice and the midnight sun this last week. Or should it be the land of HUGE 4WDs and madly expensive beer! Our journey began in the capital, Reykjavik. A small city of less than 300,000 people, making the 'centre' pretty compact. Ash and I sampled the nightlife (Em's had an early night). It seems that in Iceland, you walk your dog at 1am and go out to the pub at 3am! As we were heading back to our hostel (at 3am) we noticed that the pub we were in was just filling! Perhaps it is the fact it never really gets dark. As you walk home in the light you do get the sense that you have had a much bigger night than you actually have.

We hired a car and headed out of the city. Within 10 km you have highway 1 (the main highway that goes around the entire country) and the occasional before mentioned 4WD and a lot of scenery. Towering mountains sit by the road. We stopped to look at Geysir, an area of geothermal activity that leads to a huge surge of water flying up into the air. We checked out some amazing waterfalls, looked at the iceburg filled lagoon of Jokulsarlon, where some Bond movie was filled. We got close and personal with the world's 3rd largest icecap, Vatnajokull, and Ash and I grabbed our iceaxes and crampons and did some glacial walking. All amazing stuff.

Oh, in naming these places, I would hate you to think we mastered the language. In fact, the reality was that our navigation revolved around. " Oh, lets go to the V place" or "It's the B place, but with the double k?" Fortunately, along with being a very friendly bunch of people, Icelanders command of the English language is flawless.

A stop off at the Blue Lagoon, a thermal pool which was actually green when we went, for a relaxing dip, and then off to the airport. A great few days, and believe it or not, we headed back with a tan! Must be the sun, ice and midnight sun!

The above was taken at 11.30pm!

Why be a school teacher?

What will hopefully be vegetables!

Trust me, it is a boat.

Some one once said that if you can't do, teach. Now as a teacher I can't say I agree with that, but there is an element (and a joy) with being a primary school teacher where you can really do things you love. I've been lucky enough to have been working at a school where you can just do stuff. Anything that may get the kids involved, excited and active.

A couple of things I've started lately have been a veggie garden and the building of a boat.

The veggie garden is at a very early stage, although we are hoping that our first harvest of potatoes will ready in early July. We have also planted some broad beans, corgettes and sweet corn. I'm hoping I might get to eat some of this before I leave.

On the other hand, I have no doubt that I wont get to sail the boat myself and a few dads and children have been building. An 18 foot wooden sail boat. The building is fairly tedious but enjoyable all the same. We are getting there, but I feel I will be in Australia for it's first launch. I guess that sometimes it's nice to simply leave things behind.

PICTURES

We have a picture in our hall that Em took when we were snowboarding in Chamonix. We were off piste and trying to get an idea of the way down. I was in front of Em and she took a snap of me with a wonderful panorama of the mountains that tower over the Chamonix Valley in the background. Every time I look at that photo it reminds me of the pristine snow, the feeling of being overwhelmed by the scenery, the wonderful sense of peace. It's funny how photos can do that, seem to suggest so much more than a simple "freeze frame".

This is a photo of our baby. We watched as it moved, we have listened to it's heartbeat, we counted it's hands, fingers and feet (all accounted for). It's just a photo but it represents so much more. What I am sure will be the greatest journey we have ever, or will ever be on. It already feels amazing. Due date, November 7...

WOW!!!

Tree Essay

Ems has been taking some photos throughout the year of a tree in front of our house. Makes for an interesting photo essay about the changing seasons. Something we love about the UK.