Success!

Posted on September 29, 2013 by robandlinds

We had such a fabulous time during our 2 weeks in the states. Thank you to all of our family and friends for making our trip so wonderful!

It was a busy few weeks with an engagement party, 2 stunning mountain weddings, a Broncos game (Rob’s first ever regular season NFL game), a Rockies game (Todd Helton’s last home game)…

…plenty of day hikes in the mountains, walks and runs, golfing, story telling, Tim Tam Slams…

…birthday celebrations, brekky/lunch/dinner/coffee catch ups with friends, wedding venue ‘shopping’, shopping in general, alcoholic beverages, BBQs…

…minding the kids, awkward O’Keefe family photos (see below)… the list doesn’t stop…. But it was all worth it! All said and done, we stayed at 8 different places over the course of 16 days! A special thanks to The Ralph’s, Al, Jeremy, Maria, Kristen and The Schneider’s for giving us a pillow to sleep on during our time at home.

And thank you for those who made the trek to Ft Collins for our engagement party – during some of the worst flooding Colorado has seen in years. Luckily, the skies cleared and it turned out to be a lovely afternoon at The Ralph’s in FoCO!! Thanks for hosting, Mom/Mum/Maureen and Dad!!!

Sam and Vaneesa

Posted on September 28, 2013 by robandlinds

We were lucky enough that two of my best friends had their weddings back to back weekends so we were able to make both of them. Another beautiful mountain wedding, this one in Vail at the Arabella Hotel. Sam had two roles in this wedding; groom and wedding planner and he nailed both of them.

Lots more babies around since last time we were home, that’s for sure!
Great to meet Luke and Lila for the first time.. Another awesome weekend! Between the weddings and get togethers, we were able to see so many good friends. Reminded us that it is time to get back home!

Colorado Rockiesssss

Posted on September 25, 2013 by robandlinds

It had been 3 years since our last Rockies game so we made sure to catch one while we were home. Luckily my mom was nice enough to treat us to awesome seats for the Rockies vs Red Sox game. Little did we know this was Todd Helton’s last game ever at Coors Field after 17 seasons. He made it even more memorable by hitting a home run his first at bat. That was about the only Rockies highlight as they lost 15-5… Helton holds the Colorado Rockies club records for all of the following: Hits (2,519), home runs (369), doubles (592), walks (1,335), runs scored (1,401), RBIs (1,406), games played (2,247), total bases (4,292)… Hall of Fame numbers? We’ll see..

Broncos vs Raiders – Monday Night Football!

Posted on September 23, 2013 by robandlinds

Since Chris, Jeremy and Perry all have birthdays in August and September we decided to surprise them with Broncos tickets vs the Raiders on September 23rd, during our visit home. This was also my first NFL game so we made sure to get there early to tailgate. The Eggers’ and Burnham’s also were able to get tickets and joined in on the fun! Luckily “Uncle B” had all the tailgate supplies.

As for the game, another dominating Broncos win, 37-21. Peyton Manning continued his record setting pace with 374 yards and 3TDs.

The Schneider’s Wedding

Posted on September 21, 2013 by robandlinds

Adam Schneider and Christie Hughes had their wedding at the amazing Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa. The entire weekend was spectacular; the Colorado fall colors were brilliant, the September weather was perfect and the people made the event that much more special.

They really went all out for this wedding. It was one of the larger weddings I have been to with over 250 guests including my mom and brother. The best part of the wedding was seeing all these guys who I haven’t seen in years. Although could have gone without seeing Birkel…

This was the first wedding I’ve been to that had a late night snack. Schneider and Christie were long gone before the snacks because they snuck out early.

They eventually kicked us out of the reception but not before we got a
picture of the “last group sanding”. Kevin and Jackie Schneider were the MVPs of the last group. After a long night of dancing, it was time to lay down…

100 Year Storm

Posted on September 13, 2013 by robandlinds

We were able to spend a solid 14 days in the states – the most ever since we’ve left Colorado in November 2010 – and we were welcomed with more rain than what Colorado has seen in years. Interstate 25 was closed Thursday evening (Sept 12), 4 hours after we landed in Denver. We were likely the last car to drive down i-25 for the next 48 hours. News spread internationally – we were getting phone calls and emails from friends in Sydney asking about it! Crazy. My cousins in Boulder had their basement flooded (picutres below).

Comment from my Uncle Joe on September 13, 2013: All safe. Water in basement, but everything we cared about up and out. The family and neighbors were superstars. Came close to being unscathed, but not complaining in what they’re now calling a 500-year flood. I welcome the opportunity for focusing on what’s important, and redoing the basement with the boys and friends. Patrick Glynn will probably run the show with Lloyd Linnell acting as counsel. All photographs and disk drive safe. Even the LPs and old comic books. But most importantly, everyone is sleeping now, safe and sound.

Newspaper Headings: “Flood conditions stretched about 150 miles, from Colorado Springs north to Ft. Collins. Saturated soils left water with no place to go, and puddles turned to ponds throughout the densely populated Colorado Front Range. Rainwater swelled rivers and creeks, overtopped dams, flooded basements, and washed out roads. By September 16, authorities had confirmed six deaths, and more than 1,000 people remained missing.”

“President Barack Obama first declared a state of emergency for Boulder, El Paso, and Larimer counties, with an additional 12 counties added September 16: Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Fremont, Jefferson, Morgan, Logan, Pueblo, Washington and Weld counties.”

“The event ‘was likely a 100-year flood (or more accurately: a 1% probability per year flood),’ the report states, and that all-time record or near-record precipitation was recorded during the week of Sept. 9-15 across the Front Range.”

The downpour that inundated parts of Colorado this month was a once-in-a-millennium event for those areas, according to an analysis by the National Weather Service.

Fortunately, we were still able to enjoy what Colorado is typically known for: the sun & Broncos sunsets! Despite the chaos with the weather, it was good to be home again.

Big bro, little bro

Posted on August 2, 2013 by robandlinds

It had been over a year since I saw Luke last and he sure looked different from last time I saw him. Deeper voice, peach fuzz mustache, hair in weird places, and almost taller than me…. key word ALMOST.

I introduced Luke to the sport of AFL and got him his own “footy”. We started a new tradition called footy in bed where we basically chant “footy in bed” over and over and watch footy on TV in bed..

Despite being the middle of winter when Luke visited we had some awesome weather. In the 70s every day and even got some beach time in Manly.

We took a few days off and had a long weekend up in Hunter Valley,
wine country. Luke and I used a golf voucher Chris got us and played lots of tennis to get Luke ready for try outs. He crushed me… Luke had a rough time at one of the pubs there, we were asked to leave the area where we were sitting because Luke wasn’t 18, the legal drinking age in Australia.

Towards the end of his trip we made it to Bondi beach and went to my favorite ribs spot, Hurricanes, thanks to yet another gift voucher, this one from dad. The ribs were awesome but not the cleanest of meals!

It was great to have Luke visit and see where we have been living the last few years. We had an awesome time!

Last weekend w. Chris

Posted on April 15, 2012 by robandlinds

Chris’ last full day in Manly, spent a few hours at the Bavarian Bier Cafe, a German bier haus. Had some nice German beer and a few schnapps.

Lindsey made a nice last brekky for Chris on his last day. She made sure to get rid of all the sausage that was in the freezer.

Mr. J Duffy’s Birthday

Posted on April 13, 2012 by robandlinds

We celebrated Jack’s birthday by going to dinner at the Nepalese Kitchen in Surrey Hills. Jack and Tim are above on the left.

Above you can see Tim sporting his new cowboy boots (a parting gift from Tom and Lynne, who are now living in the UK). He’s a whole new man when the boots are on!

Back to their place for Chris to show us what he has on the guitar. And it looks like Jack decided to take his shirt off.

Chris started playing Wonderwall – even though the guitar needed some tuning – and everyone sang along. It was a fun night!

First Timers

Posted on April 8, 2012 by robandlinds

Chris and I rented a couple of surf boards in Noosa. First time either of us has ever tried surfing and it was a lot harder than we thought it would be.

Catching a wave wasn’t that easy and the crowds didn’t help.

We could have used some pointers. We took lessons once we got back to Sydney and learned that we were doing everything wrong.

Paddling out to catch a wave.

Noosa

Posted on April 5, 2012 by robandlinds

Starting the descent to Brisbane, about an hour and a half flight north from Sydney in Queensland. From there, we were driving 2 hours north to a beach town called Noosa.

We hiked through Noosa National Park and saw some giant lizzards and a koala bear. We ended up at a remote beach only to realise it was a nudest beach! We did not join them…I got a bit of a sand burn when one of the waves got the best of me.

On the second day we took a day tour to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. The island is made up entirely of sand so we needed a 4 wheel drive to take us around.

The highlight for me was Lake Mckenzie, a fresh water lake in the middle of the island. Since the island was all sand the sand acted like a natural filtration system for the rain water. Water takes 80 years to make its way through the sand and into the lakes and rivers. This results in some of the cleanest, purest water you can find naturally. Pretty amazing to swim in.

The T.i.m. T.A.M. SLAM!

The first ever TimTam Slam, stacking three TimTams together and eating them all at once. To prepare for Chris’ visit we made sure to have a good selection of TimTams.