Even though we are on the other side of the planet, there was no way that we could let Canada Day go by without a celebration, and we thought the best way to do it would be to open our home to our new friends and neighbours! All tolled we had over 60 people at the party (from The UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States!), and the pictures below will introduce you to most of them.
Ian took a "multi-media" approach to the party. He made and played two CDs of Canadian music, played a running DVD of pictures from the Yukon, and had the TV playing a DVD of the 1972 Canada-Russia hockey game! Our basement became an indoor hockey rink for the kids (Reilly O'Grady has the bumps and bruises to prove it!), and feedback to date suggests that the food (and the party) was great!
The Sealy-Thompson family - (from left to right) Lesley, Alexandra, James and Nick - from the UK. Nick is on course with Ian.
The Cooper family - Grace, Jodi and Pat, from Australia. Pat attended Staff College in Toronto with one of Ian's former shipmates Darrell Martin. They very kindly helped Ian during the house hunting trip last year and have been great friends!
The O'Grady family - Meaghan, Lynette, Reilley and Paul. The O'Grady's are from the Melbourne area and Paul attends Staff College with Ian.
The Crossman family - Dave, Vicky and kids, from New Zealand. Dave is on course with Ian.
The Campbell family - Anthony (aka. Jock), Angus, Madeline, Catherine and Emma, from Australia. Jock is on course with Ian and Catherine keeps our hair looking beautiful!
The Bridgeman family - Darrell, Dawn and little Olivia. The Bridgeman's are Canadian but moved here when Darrell joined the Australian forces. He attends staff college with Ian.
The Kidner family - Tania, Sheldon, Taite, Brett (hidden!) and Cayden. The Kidners are our neighbors and Sheldon in a classmate of William's!
The O'Briens - Ken and Cheryl. Ken is attending the senior course at the Australian Command and Staff College
The Wright family - Jen, Brennan, Richard, Lachlan, and Harrison. Harrison is one of William's classmates at Duffy Primary School.
The Wray family - Kerri, Scott and Steve. Scott is a classmate and great friend of William's.
Neighbours Noah Laws and William Downing
The Downing family - Rosemary, Alice and Peter (holding the hockey stick) and the Hughes-Chevalier family Gaby (in front), Rosie (in her mum's arms), Paula (holding Rosie) and Trevor (on the end, right). All neighbours on Cargelligo Street. Gaby is in William's unit at school; Trevor is his soccer coach!
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