The meaning of loss...

Unfortunately this blog is one of sadness as we have struggled with our first major trial as a married couple. After not being able to hear our dear baby's heart at the 11 or 12 week mark, we began a difficult journey. The miscarriage was confirmed at the beginning of Mandy's 13th week. It was a missed miscarriage meaning that the baby had stopped growing at 7-8 weeks but Mandy's body had failed to recognize the loss. As if it simply needed confirmation, Mandy's body soon began the extremely painful and heartbreaking process of passing the baby. After several days in intense pain, and 2 days in hospital (thank goodness for strong drugs) we were able to come home and rest for a couple weeks. Luckily Sam was on holiday from school so he was able to spend time with Mandy while we both struggled with our loss. We are doing better and moving along one day at a time. We have faith that Heavenly Father has a big plan for us and although it brings us occasional sadness we are hopeful that He will bless us abundantly in the future. The doctor has confidence that our next pregnancy will continue normally so we will be sure to let everyone know when we are blessed with another tiny angel. Thank you for all of your well-wishes and thoughts. During trials such as these it is kind words from friends that we cling to the most!

Bikes and Beaches

So here's an update on what's been going on in our lives lately. We have been pretty busy lately with the usual chores around the house and Sam's Uni work....but luckily we have also had time to do some fun things! Sam of course has continued to engage in his mountain bike training and races and ended up entering in two races on the same Saturday afternoon. The first race of the day was a race in the Bermagui Dirt Surfers Bike Club Series in which Sam is currently holding 1st place. He has competed in 3 races of the series thus far and has 1 second place ribbon and 2 first place ribbons putting him above all the other competitors. Here are some pictures of the last race...where he came in again with an easy first place!

Sam showing off his wheeley skills as he passes by the camera

That's his second first place ribbon and his fastest lap time thus far! :)

After racing at Bermagui, we hopped back in the car and drove another hour so that Sam could take place in the Mogo Netti Mtb Enduro race. This race was a 14k time trial race where all the participants left in 30 second intervals and raced against the clock instead of against each other. He was exhausted from his first race, was feeling a little sick, and it was a very hot day but he still managed to race very well. He was the 5th biker to start and the first to cross the finish line. He came in 12th overall out of 161 bikers that finished the race!

A picture taken during the mogo race

Since he was the first across the finish line he had the privilege of being interviewed. It was pretty exciting to have his opinions about the race and the track broadcast over loudspeaker! :)

Along with more exciting adventures in mountain bike racing, we have also been enjoying the coming of spring and warmer weather. One of the first signs of spring appeared in our entry way about a week ago. We loved watching our new little reptile visitor scale the brick walls. He eventually found his way into the toilet room and hung out with us for a full day before we decided to catch him and put him back out. We have seen him here and there ever since and hope he'll stick around for the rest of the summer.

Our little reptile friend

The other wonderful thing about the coming of summer is the coming of whale watching season! So far over 7,000 whales have swam past our area but I have yet to see a single one! BUMMER! We keep taking trips out to the beaches to see if we can spot any...but no luck yet! They often swim right off-shore and it isn't uncommon to see them breaching. We will post pictures when we are blessed enough to have an encounter. Even though we haven't seen any whales it has been nice to go and sit out on the beach and enjoy the beauty of the ocean. Here are some photos from our latest expedition to Kianinny Bay.

And finally, we had to post some pictures of our dog, Snoopy because we have just been having so much fun taking him out whale watching with us. On one outing we rode our bikes and then had quite a good time playing doggy dress-up with the bike helmets! We thought Snoopy looked quite cool in his matching fur/helmet ensemble! :)

Vogue Snoopy

Attempt number 1

Final adjustments

Snoopy rock climbing at Tathra Wharf on one whale watching trip... what a cutie!

Genesis 1:28

Gen 1:28 'And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth...'

Yes...that's right folks! Baby Parker #1 ('Sparky') is due
April 20, 2010!!!
And we are extremely excited! We will keep you posted on progress for both mommy and baby!

Birthday Celebrations

HAPPY 28th BIRTHDAY SAM!

To celebrate Sam's birthday (August 11), I arranged a secret birthday celebration for him! We started off with a dinner of salmon and prawns and then put on the party hats to get in the mood for cake and presents. Since Sam doesn't like regular cakes I decided to open up my Betty Crocker cookbook and see what I could find. I decided to try a Boston Cream Pie (which is really a cake with custard filling and chocolate). I made everything from scratch..unfortunately I made too much custard for the middle and then insisted on trying to put it all in, so the cake ended up 'leaking' from every side! But it was still pretty tasty!!!!!! Next time I'll try and make it more visually appealing...and just as tasty! :)

Sam couldn't even wait for a fork to start trying it out! Always a good sign!

I love this picture! So, I made Sam wait to the very end to open the present I bought him and this was his reaction! He was extremely excited and surprised! And what else would he be this excited about except lights for his bike!!!! (Which is fun and usful since I always worried after he would go riding at dusk and come home bleeding from 'running' into trees!) The lights were Ay-up lights...only the best for my honey!

Still holding his lights....couldn't get them off him!
Happy birthday honey! I am glad you had a wonderful time!!!!!!

Oh, the beauty....

So Sam and I have been slackers about our dates nights / days as of late and we decided we needed to start them again so we make sure to spend some good quality time together every week. Sam chose the activity this week which was a 2000 ft climb up a mountain to a sacred Aboriginal sight. The picture above is us at the base of the trail...we had to bike up a dirt road before we actually got to the forest (or bush as they call it here in OZ) :) That mountain behind us to the right is Mount Dromedary (as called by the 'white' people) but it's real, Aboriginal name is Gulaga.
The hike in Gulaga was gorgeous! It's a semi-tropical area with tree ferns and all sorts of large canopy type trees. I was having a ton of fun photographing all of the amazing plant life, which naturally slowed down the hike, but Sam held my hand and dragged me along when he felt I was going too slow! :)

Looking up at a tree fern

Sam practising for his modelling career selling exotic plants

Gulaga is sacred because of the amazing rock structures found on it. The stones are called 'tors'. This is one of the 'smaller' ones...which tells you how big the 'large' stones are... ;)

After a 1.5 hour hike we finally reached the sacred site. Because of it's significance to the Aboriginal people the trail isn't marked in any way. Lucky for us, Sam had minored in Aboriginal studies in under-grad and had been up to the site with a guide in 2007. Visiting the sacred site was an incredible, awe-inspiring experience! The site was particularly sacred for Aboriginal women and was filled with the most incredible natural stone-formation I have ever seen (and I have seen some incredible sites being from the Rockies). It is amazing because the stone formations are massive and reach to the tops of the trees, but yet, from the trail they are so well hidden, you would walk right past without even a glimpse. We didn't get any pictures of the stone-formations because, out of respect for the sacredness of the site, the Aboriginal people ask that visitors take no pictures and only talk in quiet, whispered, reverent voices. It was amazing. It was like you could hear God whispering through the trees. It is impossible to stand in that site and not feel as if you are standing in the presence of something bigger than yourself. The site is filled with these natural, massive, beautiful stones perfectly stacked in these gorgeous formations. I have never been so filled with thanks and gratitude for my Heavenly Father and for the beauty which he has orchestrated. I wish I could show you the site so you could understand the feelings we felt.....but I guess you'll just have to visit so you can see it for yourself. ;)

In addition to magnitude of the beauty of the stone formations, the site overlooks the coast and you can see the clear, blue ocean forever. You're allowed to take pictures of the view, so that's the best we could do.... :)

On the way back down the trail!