La La Falls

For the first time in a long time, we made an outing on the weekend!  And it was beautiful!  La La Falls, near Warburton, Vic, was a surprise path into a dreamland of rainforest, stone bridges and ferns reaching out to touch you.  It was refreshing and rejuvenating and peaceful.

It may as well have been an anniversary outing for all we knew - it was that beautiful and meaningful for us!

The path was an old horse-drawn tramway which carried logs from the mountain down the valley to a sawmill.  The path and rainforest were so serene and adventurous at the same time.  Walking the path felt like I was in a movie or a Crash Bandicoot game!

It was the perfect place to reflect on the journey of our life; the paths we have taken which brought us to where we are now; and the paths that lay ahead and all the possible destinations in life that they could lead us to.

After a wonderful five years in Melbourne, the beautiful friends we have enjoyed; the peaceful homes we have lived in; the challenges and joys of life that we have experienced with each other and with others; the birth of our first daughter; our journey with God and the ever deepening revelation of Him in all that we know and experience in life; have all been part of the path that has brought us to where we are now.  We have become a family, and since we received Nahlia into the world, we have experienced a growing desire to be closer to Ulf's family in Germany, for Nahlia to know her grandparents there in a similar manner that Ulf grew up knowing his grandparents - next door.  And it is this desire that has set a new path before us... one that will see us traveling in Australia next year and eventually moving to Germany and settling there.

We don't know exactly when we will leave our beautiful cottage in Lilydale, but we are excited to see this new path unfold before us as we venture out in 2013.

Penelope (Peep-Peep) the Duck

Today Nahlia met Penelope, otherwise known as Peep-Peep, the Duck, new pet of our neighbour Rose.  Nahlia loves animals and is not afraid of them, unless they make unexpected loud noises!  It took her a while to get used to the crow of Angus the Rooster.

But as you can see, she was not afraid of Penelope!

Until she started moving around!

A morning of sewing...

I had a morning to myself, so I thought I would try out another free pattern I found online.  This one's the Itty Bitty Baby Dress.  The first time I use a pattern, I often find something that needs adjusting, so this time I used an old tablecloth that I liked.

Well Nahlia liked it, but it's just a little bit too small for her.  Also, the dress isn't suitable for crawling - it gets in the way.  It will have to wait until she's walking... then I can make her a bigger size.

I have been wanting to make her a bonnet with a tie so that she can't pull it off as soon as it goes on her head!  That's what she does with her hats....  I didn't have a pattern for this, just used a knitted one as a guide.  My little pixie :)