Christmas Card Cache

So I had our mail stopped while we were in New Zealand, and today we got two weeks worth on one day. Wow! So many people sent us Christmas cards!! I'm extremely grateful; I know what a pain it is to send something internationally. The fact that so many folks went out of their way to send us a card in Australia just makes my day. So thank you to anyone reading this who sent us one-I'm so impressed and happy!

Perfect Presents

I've received a few early Christmas presents from my family. You never know how long the mail will take to get here, so they sent them in late November. My parents sent me a whole box of goodies, but here are a couple of my favorite items.

My mom and dad recently got back from a trip to the Holy Land, and they got me this nativity scene made of olive wood from Bethlehem. Pretty cool! It's especially nice to have because I couldn't bring the special nativity set my grandma made me over to Australia. They also got me a Jerusalem cross necklace and some pretty cashmere scarves. Hooray for souvenirs!

Among some of the other fun items, they sent, my mom got me two huge packages of real American BACON! I have no idea how this got through customs, but you put this stuff in the microwave or in a pan, and it turns out crispy and perfect. I know I've mentioned before how bacon here is not really bacon...it's just undercooked pieces of ham. I've been missing the real stuff so badly, and now I have 144 slices of it. We'll see how long that lasts me!





I got a really unique gift from Justin and Cindy (my brother and sister-in-law). They are the ones watching Molly while we're in Australia. They went through my Shutterfly albums and chose over 400 different pictures of Molly to send to this company that makes collage pictures. We hung the poster on our bedroom wall. From a distance, you can see just a regular picture of our dog in front of their fence in Michigan.

When you get up close, you can see that the whole picture is made up of individual pictures of Molly! There are some repeats, because the collage is made of about 1200 pictures, but it's so fun to sit and stare at this poster and smile at all of the fun memories of our dog. There are pictures of everything...puppy years, swimming, snow, at home, trips, camping, wrestling with Zack, playing with toys, etc. It's so fun! We can't wait to get back to the States to see her.

I sent off my gifts to them just a few days ago, so hopefully they like their Christmas presents as much as I like mine!

Monster Molly

We got a BIG surprise in the mail the other day. My brother Justin and sister-in-law Cindy sent us a monster-sized Molly! It's called a Fathead Wall Graphic, and it's basically a big reusable sticker. You can get them of various sports teams, famous players, Disney characters, etc., or you can get a custom one made from a personal picture. So they had one of our dog Molly made for us! She is currently located on our door, so it feels like she's always sitting in the corner of our living room. It's almost like she's here with us, minus the licks and the requiring of constant attention! We miss Molly, but this present makes us smile. Thanks Justin and Cindy!

Mail From Molly

It's always exciting to get mail that isn't bills or junk, especially when you live abroad and don't get mail from "real" people very often at all. So imagine my delight when we got a card "from" our dog Molly the other day! To catch up any newer readers, our chocolate lab Molly is staying with my brother Justin, my sister-in-law Cindy, and their yellow lab Mascot while we're living in Australia. Here's the front of the card:

No, that is not really a picture of Mascot and Molly on the couch together. But this is:

Ha! These dog cousins love each other-can you tell? Below is the inside of the card. Aunt Cindy may have helped Molly write this just a bit!

We miss Molly like crazy, but at least we know she's having fun in Michigan. And she really does like Mascot. A few months ago, when Mascot swallowed a rock (don't ask!) and had to have surgery, Molly threw up while Mascot was away. Molly only barfs if she's upset about something! The picture below shows the dog friends helping out in the kitchen... 

Molly Brown has her own Facebook page (you can become her friend!), and Justin and Cindy are great about posting pictures and videos and letting us see her on Skype. We miss you Molly-thanks for the card!

Why My Mom is Cooler than Your Mom

Because even though I'm 33 years old and live on a different continent, she sends me care packages and random things like this in the mail!