Trip to Denmark & Albany

We got spoiled last November and had my Mom and Dad out visiting us for 3 weeks.
During that time two of our good friends got married down in southern WA in Denmark. This made the perfect opportunity to take Mom and Dad down to see Albany and Denmark. Here are a few photos from our trip!

We arrived in Denmark and stayed a beautiful little cottage on a hill over looking a big bay. It was deep in the woods. Perfect spot for Dad to put an antenna way up in a tree so he could talk on his ham radio. This is an important part of any Wolfla family trip. Arrive at our accommodation and then put up the antenna. 

Graham helped Dad by throwing the antenna wire up into the tall Kerry Trees. It took a few tried but they finally got it.

Mom and I decided to leave the fella's at home to build a fire and continue the ham station set up. We went to the store and got some beautiful WA lamb for dinner.

Lets call these photos, 'how many people does it take to build a fire?'

The wine was good! Denmark is a wine region. Beautiful!  

A fire was achieved! Dad loved getting up and stoking the fire at night just like he did when I was a kid in our log cabin in Indiana. 

The little cabin viewed from the front. 

The next day we went over for brunch at our good friend Christine's home just outside of Denmark. She is a local GP and met Graham during his 2013 rotation in Albany. She has a beautiful home, orchard, garden, chickens, cow (one cow) and alpaca's. We had a great time hanging out at her house, meeting all the animals and seeing the property! 

Dad made friends with both of Christine's cats. (so did I) 

Dad and Graham walking in the mandarine orchard. 

Christine, Mom and Dad meeting the alpacas.

Me and Mom with a Alpaca in the background. 

After brunch with Christine we headed back to the cottage and Graham and I got ready for Will and Erin's wedding!

Some of our good friends! GEMP Class of 2013 & wifes and partners. 

Exchange of rings.

The bride and groom.

Nicki, Erin (bride) & Mary! What beautiful ladies! 

We had a great time at the wedding, it was a perfect afternoon and evening and I am so glad Will & Erin have started their lives together as husband and wife. Truly an inspiring couple. A wedding I will always remember. It was perfectly them. 

The day after the wedding we headed into Albany for some sight seeing and a after wedding BBQ. This is Graham, followed by Mom and Dad at Emu Point. 

We drove out to the Gap and watched the HUGE waves crash into the natural gap. It was an impressive sight. No photo cause a photo can't do it justice. You'll just have to go see it for yourself. Its awe inspiring. 

As we headed away from Denmark & Albany we went to the Tree Top Walk on our way to Pemberton.  We saw the gigantic Red Tingle Trees. Really impressive. More then 30 meters up in the air.

We arrived in Pemberton for the night and stayed at the Kerry Valley Resort. Its a nice place on a lake surrounded by many cabins. Perfect place for the family, lots of activities. It reminded me a lot of places in the states where you can go rent a cabin and take part in swimming, movies, fine dining and water sports. Kind of like camp for families. 

Because there was a lake Graham and I ventured out on a hike with our fishing rods.

On our hike.

We found some huge fallen Kerri Trees.

And we found a waterfall! 

We didn't find any fish.... So we headed home and out for dinner.

On way to dinner Mom and Dad got to see a huge herd of kangaroos. They are really Australian now!

We ate at one of our favourite country hotels. The Pemberton Hotel. I had the smoked trout. The local speciality.  Its so good. I can't wait to go back for more!

That wraps up our Albany, Denmark & Pemberton trip with Mom and Dad! We had a great time, and it went too quickly.

Doctor Graham

Graham's Graduation from Medical School

On November 23rd 2013 Graham graduated from medical school a the University of Western Australia.

Not only did he graduate, he graduated with honours and won 3 out of 7 of the awards being offered to students with outstanding exam results.  By the time they announced that he had won a third prize I was still in shock that he had won a second! Our families had much to be proud of that day!! 

For the graduation celebration we welcomed Graham's Mum and Dad, Karen and Stuart, his brother and his girlfriend, Simon and Hannah, as well as my parents from Indiana Hank and Pat. It was a true blessing to have our families together to celebrate such a momentous achievement. We were all so proud as punch to be there and celebrate Graham on the day. 

Class of 2013 - UWA - All new Doctors!!

Graham with his parents (in order) Pat, Karen, Graham, Stuart and Hank 

after the Graduation ceremony November 23rd 2013 UWA Campus near the reflection pool.

Shaking hands with his very proud Father in-law Hank.

Graham celebrating with one of his good mates Dr. Jason. AKA Panda

We had quite the weekend that weekend, I had been planning a graduation party for Graham all year. Together with our Como Bowls Club friends, and the help of my mothers I was able to throw Graham a fantastic graduation party on the evening of November 24th. 

My good friend Sarah was in charge of catering (which was delicious with roast beef, pork, and salads). I was so grateful to her for diving in and taking that element off my hands. Graham's Mum got a beautiful sign made (which you can see below) and also made a cake for the occasion which she carried over from Sydney fully decorated!!

My Mum in-law and my Mom did lots of salad cutting and helped me decorate the bowls club for the festivities. (My Mom had been mailing me decorations from the USA earlier in the year). Along with many other helpers from the club, who without their help I could not have had been able to through such a wonderful party.

We had a raffle at the party and raised $400 for a NSW wildlife charity supporting bushfire victims. The big item on the raffle was a raised garden bed graciously given to us from a sponsor of the Como Bowls Club. Our good friend Peter Edmonds took the garden bed home at the end of night. What a prize for only a $5.00 donation! 

We had dinner and speeches from Graham's Mum and Dad, and my Dad. I also told our guests about what living with a medical student is like. It was a great occasion to thank all of our guests at the party who have supported Graham and I over the past 4 years. We were so grateful to all who were able to come, and thought of many of our friends and family who were not able to attend but sent Graham their best wishes. 

It was a wonderful evening with a surprise performance from Latin Dance Productions in Perth, and a free dance lesson for all!

Graham's Mum's speech: She had a suitcase full of props symbolising all the jobs Graham has had over the years, as you can see he was covered in the props by the end of the speech. We auctioned off all the props for more donations at the end of her speech! What fun! 

Latin Dance Productions performing for our guests! Sharing in our celebrations! 

Dance class!!

Graham thanking everyone at the end of the night.

Our friend John at the bowls club made us a video of the party. The link is below. 

(If your wondering why there is pictures of a plastic bag at the end of the video, its the food scraps John put on the worm farm behind the bowls club at the end of the night) 

Its just that kind of place!

Graduation Party Video Here!

Im so proud of you Graham. I love you, your future is bright. 

No matter the challenges ahead I believe in you. 

You got this.

Goings On

Hey There,

Its been awhile since I posted. Its been a trying couple of months for me and Graham so we have been hovering under the radar. We entered into the world of IVF last month with no success... But we will try again. Unfortunately I would not recommend the process, its not fun, makes you feel terrible and out of control, and then when you think its bad it gets worse cause it hurts. Not just physically but emotionally as well. I hope the next year brings us some success, cause I plan on sticking with it for a little while. Lets see what the future brings.

I thought I would post a couple of picture and make this post a photo blog!

 My Aussie Mum Karen came for a visit over the 4th of July, we had a great time with her and I was so happy she could make a trip out to see us. As you can see she fit right in down at the Bowls Club.

 Celebrating 4th of July with my Mum!

 Mother and Son in Fremantle WA

 Graham always says he doesn't like Macs, but here he is looking at my work computer in the living room.

 We had a wonderful evening with our friends Sue and Peter on their property in the hills outside Perth. They treated us to a yummy dinner and log fire, in the morning we took a tour of their beautiful property. We are blessed to have such good friends.

 Graham asleep on my lap, almost as bad as the cat.

 In July we celebrated 8 years of marriage! Im so glad I found Graham all the way on the other side of the world. He is my best friend and a wonderful partner and husband. I wish every girl could have such a loving and supportive man in their lives... But I am never giving up my man. He's the best! Love you tons Grazy!

 Me and my cat child Kit. He has been enjoying time outside in the garden this winter, and chaperoned visits to the side garden. He loves to nap in the big ferns, I can hardly see him and he thinks its a wonderful hiding place. This is us having a cuddle in bed. Love my kitty!!

 This is a duck at Edith Cowan University in Joondalup where I gave my first University lecture this month on linking dance to thematic ideas in the primary (elementary) classroom. It went really well and I was tickled pink to have been asked!

 Classic winter scene at our house. Kit and I enjoying the heater. 

 Swan River sunsets in Como near my home. I walk/run along the river frequently and love to see the big pelicans and black swans down there. In the photo you can see a pelican flying. This is the Como Jetty.

 Kit and I up to our same old tricks. He loves a good head rub, and will do anything for a neck scratch. You know he is enjoying it when the slobbering begins. 

I saved this American Flag about 6 years ago when I first came to Australia. It was used in a show I was stage managing, and the production team was going to through it away. So I did the right thing and bought it for $15.00, cause thats the American way. I take it out for special holidays, but this week I hung the old flag up on our clothes line to get some fresh air. I miss America and my family and friends very much. Although I live in Australia and I am grateful for my life here, underneath I am still red, white and blue. 

So thats whats been going on. 

Hope you and yours are well!

Mary

Albany Visit

Graham had to spend a month in a regional or remote location working in a GP clinic for school in June. He was send to Albany Western Australia. A beautiful seaside town (regional town) in southern Western Australia. He was gone so long I decided to break up the time apart I would go down to visit him over a weekend.

It took me a long time to decide if I was going to bus it to Albany or dive myself. In March my friend Cadi gave me her car when she moved to NSW. I had never taken Sardine car on a road trip before so I didnt know what to expect! I decided to drive and packed up Sardine car, checked the tire pressure, fluids and oil and off we went. (I was reminded to fill up the spare tire, thanks to my boss, when I checked it it was flat, so good thing you reminded me). 5 hours later I arrived in Albany! 

It was great to see Graham and I could tell by his big smile he was happy to see me too! It had been a long 3 weeks apart at that point. 

Below are some photos of our time together in Albany WA.

This was on my drive down. There are some tiny mountains out in the distance. I was pretty happy to see them. I don't see big hills that often... 

One of the local pubs in town served Miller Genuine Draft, a rare find in Australia. Let alone in a remote area of Australia. 

This is the town of Albany taken from a mountain top near Graham's house.

The bay near Middleton Beach. Mother whales come to these bays to give birth and spend time with their calfs. 

I took a hike one morning Graham had to work. This is me on my hike. 

Middleton Beach

What a contrast. White sand, blue water and sky, red earth.

Me

Emu Point at sunset. We went fishing. I caught nothing. Graham caught squid, I spent an hour playing with a octopus though, he was cool.

Graham fishing on the jetty at Emu Point.

We went out to see Elephant Rocks and the Gap just north of Albany near Denmark, it was beautiful. 

I was really sick the night before this photo. I was feeling pretty bad, I got a tummy virus of some kind. But look at me! I was still going, thanks to patient Dr. Graham who held my hand and got me through.

I saw a whale from this beach. A beautiful hump back. It breached for about 30 minutes. I watched in awe. Out in the water there is a speck of white. That was the whale breaching. This is also a photo of Graham fishing down on a little inlet at Salmon Holes. 

I spent my last day in Albany wandering around town. It was a rainy and cold day but I got to see this rainbow right in the centre of town. 

It was windy at Emu Point, we went to a nice cafe there for lunch one day. 

I had a nice trip. I got to meet some of the lovely people Graham was working with. We even visited one of his Dr. mentors at her home in Albany and met her cats, cow, chickens and alpacas. It was great to look through her garden and citrus orchards. She told me about how she sells her fruits to Coles a big supermaket here in Australia. She took us to some cool geocashing sites as well. It was so cool!!!! It was a pleasure to meet such a hard working and kind person. I was happy Graham was able to make some new friends while working in Albany.

We plan to be back down in Albany again in November! I am excited to spend some time down in such a beautiful part of the world again.

As I write this Graham is finally home. We are expecting his Mum Karen out for a visit this week, so I will have another blog post to write soon!

All my love,

Mary

May Activities

So its been a nice autumn in Perth. Slowly days have been getting darker, and now by the time I get home from work its to dark to go out for a run. I have had to do all my running on weekends or early days off work. Its also been slowly getting colder. I convinced Graham to take out the heater just this week. Kit cat remembers his old friend the heater and has taken up his winter residency laying in front of it no matter if its on or off... see you in spring Kit cat!! He will no longer care to sit on my lap at night.

Work and life has been busy as per our usual. Work has run me off my feet. Only catching a bit of a breather this week. Thank goodness. I am so lucky to have such a supportive and kind boss who has been really great the past few months supporting me! We are both really busy!

Graham is busy with school and we have been enjoying a little freedom with the car. I went and had lunch with my friend April from Kentucky the other weekend. I traveled about 45 min from home and met her in the Swan Valley where we ate at a beautiful winery and enjoyed a beautiful fish main and shared a sweet treat in the sunshine.
Graham and I also go out to the Swan Valley earlier in May to meet with some great friends Nicki and Brendan, that same day we visited out favourite organic winery Harris Organic and went to the local honey suppliers and I even got to go to the best local produce road side stand in WA Maggies Place. I love buying locally grown fruit and veggies.. The best part is its always a great price Maggies too! (no cost of travel I guess)

Heres a photo tour of whats been happening at ours lately.

We planted some snow pea seeds in the back garden and took out our tomato and cucumber plants that did so well this summer! I also planted some mixed lettuce seeds so we will see what happens. As long as the snails don't get to them before I do!

I planted some new flowers in the front garden. Just to give us some flower variety over the winter. I am still growing the largest begonia ever known to man. Its not photographed here. But I planted it 1.5 years ago and its still going!!! WOW!

We hung this USA made bird feeder Mom sent us. Its been up almost a week and still no bird visitors. But I hear it can take a couple of weeks. I hope we get some small parrots and wrens soon!! 

Graham has to do some work down in Albany soon and he wanted a travel bag for his bike. He sent it to my work PO Box in the city. I picked it up for him. I didn't realise it was going to be such a big item. This is my office at Buzz, with my lovely boss Pippa in the back. 

Another run on the river shot. Over winter the Black Swans come to stay on our section of the river and they are such beautiful birds. Nothing like the big geese that chase you in the US. These Black Swans don't seem to share the beaches and paths with people. This is the Swan River view from Como our little suburb outside the city. 

We had a show open at work in May. A theatre piece called Goodbye Jamie Boyd. This was from opening night at the State Theatre Centre-Studio Underground. Its a beautiful show and I am so glad Buzz got to work in collaboration with Monkey Baa Theatre in Sydney on this amazing work. This is Ali our Marketing Consultant with me and the Stage Manager Sam. This show is now on tour across Western Australia. 

Hurray!!!! A new American Bar opened in Perth, right next to Graham's University. Its called Varsity Bar and they serve good American food you can't find any place else!!!! Hot Wings, Pulled Pork Sandwhich, Philly Cheese Steak (this I have never seen on a menu in Australia) They also show American sports so Graham and I went and sampled the foods and watched the Pacers get beat by the Heat. Oh well. Still a good time! I suggested they put deep fried pickles on the menu on the Americans in Perth Facebook page and guess what... They are adding it to the menu soon!! YAY!!!!!! 

We are still hanging at the Bowls club. Graham and some of his buddies playing some night time Bowls. This was after the awards ceremony for the club, I helped my friend Sarah put on a big feast for the members. It was a great success. And Graham even won an award!!

Kit cat in the front garden. As I write this Kit is out in the garden now laying in the ferns. We got him a collar just in case he runs away from us. But he can not get out of the front area as its all fenced in and he is a old cat now and is bad a jumping over fences. He just likes to hide and watch dogs walk by.  Oh and eat a few cobwebs.. his favourite past time. 

So thats whats been happening over here in Perth. Hope all is well in your part of the world and all my friends and family in the US are enjoying a wonderful Spring and early Summer!! 

All the best - Mary