What happened in the shed on Boxing Day?

The men went to work! They modified the fuel caps and pipes...so now we CAN fill up at the servo. And even more exciting, they fitted Digby.

Digby is our Ironman 12000lb winch!

The trial run. Worked a treat...only 1 minor hiccup but then.....purred like a kitten....or like a tiger???? 

Uncle Stu made sure the boys didn't run the Navara into the barbed wire fence. Check out the finished tray...looks great hey?

Success! Thanks to all the supervisors and TAs. And that's how you get a ute ready for a big drive. She looks TUFF! All done now, just waiting on the Carry Me Camper (due in Brisbane at the end of January) and maybe a set of roof racks. 

CHRISTMAS with the FAM

FAMILY ARE LIKE FUDGE - MOSTLY SWEET WITH A FEW NUTS

WHEN YOU LOOK AT YOUR LIFE, THE GREATEST HAPPINESSES 

ARE FAMILY HAPPINESSES. (Joyce Brothers)

Christmas Day was spent in Biloela at Dad and Mum Van Itallie's place. It was a great time of catching up with the extended Strelow family, including aunts, uncles, cousins and 2nd cousins. There were 36 of us who enjoyed a roast lunch on the deck after the biggest gift giving session I have ever been a part of. Jon spent a fair bit of Boxing Day in the shed....next post I'll show you what he was up to. Actually, can you recognise him in the pic below?? He tried a new look for Christmas 08.... which did not go unnoticed:))) and certainly provoked a number of comments.

Mark, Dad, Jon, Andrew

Mum, Katherine, Kirsty

(It was my first Van Itallie Christmas....much to Mum and Katherine's delight, the boy/girl balance is improving!)

Then we made the 5 hour trip south to the Litzow family Christmas at the lake. Again, a special time with family sharing presents, stories and great food. I think the last time we were all together was our wedding....August 07. All the kids are growing up, so much so that they all (except 1 year old Ben) had a spin on the tube behind Grandpa's tinny. What fun!

Megan, Dad, Erin, Mum

Jon, Daniel

Kirsty, Nathan

Benjamin, Taryn

Bradley, Andrew

Andie, Brielle

Good Bye My Friend!

We said farewell to a faithful friend today. Kirsty's lovely old Lancer is no longer a part of our family after we sold it to a girl in Biloela this afternoon. Yay! Another Yay! is God's goodness in allowing Kirsty to drive it out to Bilo and miss all the storms (and the hail) that swept across the region. The girl we sold the car to was very excited, so it was easy letting the car go in the end...even after such a close and trouble-free relationship for the past 9 years. Meanwhile, that takes us another step closer to hitting the road next year, helping us pay for a couple of tanks of fuel and other goodies like....a winch, portaloo and big shovel!  Another step forward was also made by Jon and his Dad finishing the tray for the ute. Yay! x 3!!! 

PS. We'll post a picture of the new 'tuff' tub-less tray-full Navara soon.

My My! How Times Change!

Once there was a young man....single, in possession of 2 motorbikes, owner of a ute with a tub and with lots of free Saturdays to ride like the wind!

The Gr8 Unveiling....not quite!

There's still too many cable ties holding the new tray together for it to be said that 'the tray's finished.' So until next time, you'll just have to be satisfied with a picture of another step in the process. In order for the Candy Camper people to cut out the right length of canvas for our rig, we had to do the 600kg weight test. Thanks to our Port City friends for their enthusiastic assistance with this task. So yes....we are another step closer to owning a Navara that's ready and able to carry a camper. Yay! A huge THANK-YOU to the incomparable Mr Roger Van Itallie (Jon's Dad) for all his amazing work in helping us get to this stage. Dad is a whiz with a welder and put in hours of work in a stinking hot tin shed to make and paint our creation. U R a legend Dad! How awesome to have such generous and skilled family to help you out in life. And a huge THANKS to Mum VI too who so generously shared her husband with us for so long to do the work.....even on their anniversary:)

The 'GR8 TRAY MAKING ADVENTURE'

Stage 2....measuring, cutting, welding, grinding, painting and all sorts of other fun things that boys can do in sheds!

Stage 1 ......remove the tub from the Navara. It has a new resting place by the chook pen. I have to say, the Navara looked more than a little weird naked:)