Gold Detecting - Eureka we haven't found anything!

We spent a weekend away with Cam's parents in a little town called Lanacoorie looking for gold. Cam's dad bought a gold detector (with our inheritance) and he's set on finding the "big one". Cam got his miner's right license and went to work with John. They detected, dug, sifted, and in the end didn't find anything. I spent a lot of time with Cam's mom sitting and reading.

Getting geared up

cheap labor...

I found lots of quartz

an old camp from the late 1800s

Careful Trish! Don't fall down there...

hopefully these are kangaroo bones

the lake near our cabin - ahh the serenity

Camping on the Buffalo

We went camping on Mount Buffalo, a national park in Victoria Australia, for the long weekend. A group from Cam's parents' town get together each year for a camping trip. We stayed in tents by the lake and did little walks to different look-outs. It was gorgeous!

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An unwanted house guest

A few weeks ago we got some much awaited rain and then some little creatures decided to take cover in our house. A huge huntsman spider, non-poisonous and part of the tarantula family, took refuge in the corner of our kitchen - until we swooshed it outside into the garden.

Because I don't know what's poisonous here and what's harmless I was a little frightened at first. I need an encyclopedia of arachnids around the house to tell me what's what.

We're Moving... Again!

On Feb 10th we'll be boarding yet another plane and heading to Australia. We're really excited for the move and equally as excited just to unpack our bags for a while. We're packing like crazy at the moment. Please keep in contact with us and join us on our adventures in Australia!! We'll miss our friends and family in the U.S., but please don't hesitate to come down under and visit us - we have a guest room for you.

Seattle Daze

On Jan 20 there wasn't only a big party in Washington D.C. but here in Washington as well. Cam and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. We spent a couple days up in Seattle just milling around and doing very "touristy" things. We went to the Seattle Aquarium and saw lots of fish and some very cute river otters - and we had dinner at a great place called Wild Ginger (to commemorate our honeymoon in Indonesia). The next day we went into Benaroya Hall, where the Seattle Symphony plays and took some cool pictures of Dale Chihuly's glass artwork.





We're going to miss Seattle!

Merry Christmas

We just wanted to take a moment during this special season to wish our friends a merry Christmas. This Christmas is particularly special for us as we get to share this holiday with extended family for the first time as a couple. While it doesn't particularly feel like a typical Christmas for me (Cam), it is still special. During the past week we've had almost half a foot of snow and we have been out at night to check out the neighborhood lights on skis. Though after 6 years of Christmas in Russia, I am quite used to the snow, Christmas in Russia was VERY different. Anyway our time in the USA is already halfway gone, and we are starting to shift our sights towards the warm weather of Australia. May you all have a very special Christmas and receive the gift of precious time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and the special gift we've been given through Christ.

See ya St. Petersburg! Пока!

До свидания!(Good bye in Russian)

We're leaving for Finland and America this week. We'll spend a couple of days with colleagues in Finland before flying out of Helsinki to the States. We're full of all kinds of emotions as we leave. Cam has been here nearly 6 years and I've been here 3 years; this is where we met and have lived our first 2 years (almost) of marriage. We're saying our 'see you laters' (I'm not good at saying Good bye), and have shed a tear here and there.

We're very excited to be arriving in the States right before Thanksgiving and spending the holidays with my whole family (there are 5 of us Barrett kids, plus my mom and dad and all kinds of grand-kiddies and in-laws).

Here is a picture of the Barrett family the day after Thanksgiving 2004 (I'm not pictured because I worked the day after Tday- biggest retail day of the year. Stinker, would have been a great picture). Notice all the Norwegian sweaters? Some of them were handmade by my grandma and other family members in Norway.

Good bye to all our lovely friends in Russia. We will miss you and we hope to see you again some day!! Please keep in contact and check our blog regularly for more fun and adventures with Cam and Sonja.