AWENTURA

Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving...and are enjoying the holiday season.  This is our first holiday in NYC...and we're overdosing on all the activities around here...the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, Nutcracker, tree lighting in Rockefeller, the Rockettes and Carols at Lincoln Center.  We are having a blast!!  (Start making your plans to come visit us next year!) 

We are also enjoying all of our guests.  We've had over #20 guests in the last month, and have #15 more within the next month!!  We are so glad to have moved back and reconnected with everyone. It's the time of year which we give THANKS for our friends, family, and everything we have in our lives today. 

and we Hope all of you have a blessed and joyous holiday season...  

Most of you knew my grandparents are some of my closest friends, and my grandpa passed away a month ago.  My mom also had a second opinion with her ovarian cancer, and is now enduring chemo, and my grandma has been diagnosed with further mets to her bones! 

Yes...we are looking for some good news in the Rossick household...hmmm...perhaps a free vacation in Bora Bora...FOR SIX MONTHS!!!

but!..We don't have to look far, to count our many blessings.  Tiffany gave birth to BABY BELLA!!!!!! and she's been the joy of our family...many of our friends have had babies (great friend from oz, Anj and Marcus' baby lily is pictures); Brooke was promoted to Varsity volleyball as a freshman (6'1!); bill and I have finished our first 10K and NYC Biathlon this summer; our health is good...and we're enjoying our friends coming to visit us in NYC...and I'm seeing heaps of friends while I'm traveling every week for work.

We thank God for our blessings...and thank Him that we have enough to count!...so our sadness and grief seems minimal during this season.  

Bill and I are enjoying every minute possible in NYC! 

 We've had over #25 visitors since we've moved here...and even had our 1st international guest from Australia!

We are enjoying every bit of the city...the parks, the sights, broadway shows, free concerts,...the local cafes...and markets.

We're also taking the train to different cities throughout the NorthEast ...Norwalk, Philadelphia, Coney Island, the Hamptons, Sleepy Hollow, Appalachian Trail...and even Boston for the 4th of July!!  Plus...we've been able to make trips to visit Bill's mom in Pennsylvania..only 2 hours away from NYC!

 and we're still loving our biking and running.  We've even done our first biathlon and 10K in Central Park this summer!  We're not breaking any records...but we're having fun... 

Going home for Tiffany's Showers...Baby Bellas Baptism...Mom's Surgery...it has all been a blessing to be able to be here back in the States.  Family get togethers are especially eventful, since Jill's entire family has moved to Sidney, Nebraska.  All of us laugh for 24 hours straight...and just enjoy each other's company!!

Bill and I made a trip to Washington DC for Easter.  We made it in time to see the Cherry Blossoms, and loved seeing the historical sights.  We had both been there before...but enjoyed the history even more this time around.

 We even had a chance to look up Grandpa's name in the new WWII historical sight!!

We also saw my good friend from college, Amy Poe...and her husband and new baby boy, Deklan.  What a huge blessing to be back home for Easter this year!

I can't believe how fast time flies...One minute we're in Australia...the next minute we're back at home for Christmas and then we're moving to NYC!!

Now...it's August...and I haven't updated the blog since February!

 Well...alot has happened since we've posted.  Most everyone has been updated with the news...but we'll try to catch everyone up with the last 6 months.

 In the early spring, mom was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer.  It was a huge blessing to be able to be there for 2 weeks while she was in the hospital...and recovering from surgery.  Her latest update, is she is going through chemo and is holding strong...and looking sassy with her wigs.  A great attitude...and full of love...she is going to conquer the battle...and we pray for her daily.

 These are pics from early spring...

As most of you know...we have moved back to America! 

We miss our friends back in Australia...and had one of the best experiences in our life living there for 2 1/2 years. Although, we knew it was time to move back home when my youngest sister, Tiffany, and brother-in-law Jeremy told us they were pregnant and due on the Fourth of July! 

We had the best Christmas of our lives...

We officially moved from Australia and flew back home December 18th.  We spent two weeks with both of our families in 3 different cities...and enjoyed every second. 

Then..we flew to New York City on December 30th...and celebrated New Years Eve in Times Square.  What a great way to get settled into our new home!

so! if you're headed to the Big Apple...

let us know...we'd love to see you!!

For two weeks, Bill and I ventured into the Outback...and had a trip of a lifetime...

We flew into Ayers Rock on the first day...an Australian Icon named Uluru...which is the Red Centred sacred site of the Aboriginal people...

We walked around Ayers upon arrival...enjoyed the Sounds of Silence dinner at night...and a Camel Ride for sunrise the next morning...an absolute hoot.

The picture of Uluru is from the plane...and the other is a picture of the Olgas at sunset...

The next day we flew into Darwin, where we picked up our home for 10 days...the 4WD camper!  We spent the afternoon browsing around the Mindle Beach Market, eating RoadKill, listening to Aboriginal artists and musicians, and watching the sunset...

We then ventured on 100K to the Litchfield National Park...and camped in the 4WD camp and did a trek to the Florence Falls.  

We had the falls to ourselves where we swam and enjoyed the sunset...

The next day was spent in Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk) National Park.  We had a blast the first couple hours...even though it was hard work carrying our canoes over slippery rocks and rapids...until we started dunking ourselves in the Gorge...

 We quickly realised our canoe had a crack and spent the next 3 hours trying to keep our half submerged boat from flopping belly up into the croc filled waters!!  

I'm certain the dry and happy ferry riders were glad they made the choice of not canoeing as they passed by watching us submerged in water!.......

Our drive to Gregory National Park was scenic with the red dirt, cliffs, blue sky, yellow flowers and Boab Trees, shown above...

Keep River National Park was our next stop..with a trek full of cockatoos, palms...and more beautiful gorges and sights to see....

The next day we crossed from the Northern Territory into Western Australia...

We landed in Kununurra for the day...where we took a flight over Lake Argyle (pictured above) and the Bungle Bungles National Park. 

We also were honoured to meet an aboriginal artist,  Nellie Gordon pictured above.  We bought one of her pieces of art to send home... a remembrance of our trip forever...

We spent the next three days in Emma Gorge Resort at El Questro...which was one of the highlights of the trip...

We trekked the El Questro Gorge with hundreds of butterflies, flowers and a swimming hole at the end to ourselves; a secluded Zebedee Springs with natural hot, thermal water pools; and Chamberlain Gorge with red cliffs and blue waters. 

If you only get one stop in the Outback...this would our pick!

We were back on the GIBB RIVER ROAD...and drove for hours along the red dirt, gravel and river crossings until we finally stopped at Galvan's Gorge. 

After a quick "wow" and a couple pictures...we continued to Mornington Wilderness Camp. 

After a 7 hour 4WD hike, our secluded campsite for 2 nights was welcomed...and definitely worth the long drive...

Mornington Wilderness Camp felt like it was our own million acres of discovery.

We 4WD, Canoed down Dimond Gorge...(yes...we dared to try again!); trekked around Sir John Gorge and saw hundreds of different species of birds, a dingo, monitor, heron...and thank God...no crocs. 

  We spent the day exploring Bell Gorge and the pics above are from atop of the two different waterfall sites.  We went trekking and swimming...and enjoyed the last adventure of the Gibb River Road.  

Our last night of camping was spent in a secluded spot along Bell Creek... a great ending to our outback adventure...

...and the perfect ending to our trip...was spending our last 3 days at Cable Beach in Broome...

where our biggest decision was where we were going to watch the camels at sunset along the beach....