and we're off

We packed up our house, sold off the car, closed the bank account and said our goodbyes to all the wonderful people here. what a bittersweet moment. We loved our little house and the great people we were able to meet, but there is still so much left of this adventure, its hard not to get excited for that. we spent our last night with our great friends the bakers for a final dinner. considering thats where we go several times a week, it was only fitting. (Thank you so much Kent, Georgia and India! You guys are the best!) After several hours with them, it was back home to check the bed one last time for deadly, flesh eating spiders (a total of 5 made it in to our house, but none were lucky enough to make it out.)

And what a better way to spend the last hour of our time here than with the Bakers at a delicious chocolate shop and some fantastic chocolate fondue. So yummy. Not to mention their lil baby had her first taste of chocolate. She looked confused at first but was soon salivating for some great belgium chocolate (who could blame her).

its thanksgiving here too

I love this holiday and the last thing I wanted to do is skip it!! And what a better way to spend it than with all the great friends we were so thankful to have met here. So we had to introduce the true feast to our Ozzie friends. Heres to the Bakers, Grangers and Ryan and Sarah for joining us for a great evening. And no one cared that it was actually a roasted chicken and a turkey breast roll. yummy.

Yorke Peninsula: By Justin

Apparently I am not very descriptive when describing things to Kelly, therefore she has given me permission to add a few comments about my trip to Yorke peninsula. I had a great trip with my good mate Ron. Yorke is a three hour drive from Adelaide and famous for great swell. However, it also faces Port Lincoln, the "sharkiest" spot in all Australia. On departing we offered a prayer for safety and probably should have prayed for surf as well. The three days we were their I only surfed once, and it was a bit small for Yorke standards. The last day it was a lake. As Kelly mentioned the trip became focused on fishing. We walked a large part of the peninsula on foot searching for salmon, squid and herring. Though the fish were meager, I did discover why people call Australia the land of the fly. One day we had about an 8k hike back to the truck and fish in our satchels. The flies were on us the whole 8k walk back. We got tired of swatting at them so decided to let them ride on our backs. While I was walking behind Ron I counted 56 flies at one point. When I told Ron he laughed and said we weren't even in fly season yet. I also had my first experience with kangaroo ticks. These things range in size from a pin head to a watermelon seed and there were heaps around our site. I found one on my calf, and was a little worried till I read a posting in the dunny (toilet) that they don't carry diseases like North American ticks. Go figure, Oz has deadly spiders...harmless ticks. The trip ended with me literally wrestling a herring away from a "shagg." These are a water bird that are amazing fishers and apparently like to steal fish off lines. I had my herring halfway out of the water and this shagg decides to get into a tug of war match. Luckily, I won. Anyway, it was an awesome trip. Thanks Ron, Good on Ya!!

yorke penninsula

so this last week justin had a surf trip over to the yorke penninsula with a guy from our ward. this spot which was supposed to be famous for good waves had nothing the whole time they were there, so it turned into more of a fishing trip. still fun, despite his face in the one pic due to the lack of surf, and no complaints. he came home tired and eaten by ticks (apparently less deadly than the ones back home but 3 times the size). I guess there were lots of kangaroos and enu's, and these are the pics he brought back for me.

puppy love

(warning: major dog missing/venting/loving and much needed attention on my part. If you are one of those who gets upset about people comparing their dog to a kid, you may want to skip this.)

so one of the hardest things about coming here, and one of the reasons we are so excited to get back, is our Koda!! now, i dont want you to think that because we have been having fun without our beloved pup, that she hasnt been up to much fun of her own. we left our pooch with my dad back in CA and she has had her own set of aventures all her own.

First there was a road trip to oregon to visit family and her best friend Luke

Unfortunately while she was there she was skunked (mostly her fault)

So it was back on the road to CA

she did a bit of hiking up in the Sierras and Kings canyon

and tried her hand at driving my car

and her latest adventure has been to scope out the best view of the IE from the roof of my dads house.

monumental

i mean seriously big in the aida household! this day has been looong awaited. Justin took his last final of law school!! i know. HUGE!!! im sure you are all just as excited as I am, well maybe not. let me clarify, he didnt graduate yet. he still has one more semester left from this 3 year degree, but since he will be working for Adidas, they dont have finals! YEA!! can i get a hip-hip-hooray!!