The Springs

Welcome to Vaughn and Nell's website, updating you on our lives! Thanks for visiting and we hope you enjoy catching up on what we're up to!

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Location: Cairns, Queensland, Australia

I’m proudly a full-time Mummy, looking after our beautiful daughter (nicknamed “Little Spring” in my blog) and a full time wife to a wonderful Lutheran pastor (“nicknamed “Big Spring” in my blog). I was born and have lived in Australia my whole life, but I also have a US passport and a passion for all things American… especially food and my family!

Friday, March 30, 2007

Health Update

Just a quick note to say that my biopsy results came through benign/negative, so that is wonderful news. Thanks for all your prayers during this time. I am still awaiting details of when I will be having surgery on my ear, so please keep praying as we wait for news of a date for that.

If I don't blog again before Easter, may you have a blessed one, remembering the wonderful gift of Christ in His death and resurrection.


Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Our Wedding Day... nearly 5 years ago!

Due to a number of people asking, I finally got around to posting some pictures of our wedding on my blog spot! Click on the above link to see the album.

While I was making the effort, I thought I should also share some memorable moments from the wedding. Going by the list you see below, you would have thought that the day was a disaster, but in fact, it wasn’t! We all had a wonderful time and the list below is just things that I look back on and laugh… I even just laughed on the day!

My bridesmaids, mum, aunty from the USA and I got ready at Simone’s house (Vaughn’s sister’s). At the time, her daughter, Annika, was 6 months old. Vaughn’s mum came around to pick Annika up before the wedding started, as Simone was part of the wedding party…

Problem 1: When she showed up, she realised that they had the wrong car and therefore the wrong car seat, so they had to run around to get the right car or seat!

Instead of hiring cars and drivers, Vaughn and I asked family and friends to drive and use their cars…

Problem 2: When we were about ready to go, the driver of the car that was taking my bridesmaids to the church, realised she had locked her keys in the house. Thankfully we managed to get in through a window and get the keys!

I had a ring cushion that Vaughn’s Nanna made for the wedding, on which to tie the rings for Ethan (Simone’s son) to walk down the aisle with, as page boy…

Problem 3: As I was getting into the car, holding the ring cushion, I heard a tingle, but didn’t take much notice of it. As I sat in the car, waiting to leave, I looked down at the cushion and saw there were no rings present! I started thinking as to what could have happened to them, when in shock horror, I realised that the sound I heard earlier, was the rings falling onto the ground. I got out of the car and was relieved to find them!

Meanwhile, Vaughn had been getting ready at his parent’s house, with his groomsmen…

Problem 4: One of the groomsmen began to frantically look for his shoes and socks. He was sure he had brought them, but naturally was getting worried. When he mentioned where he was sure he had left them, Vaughn piped up to say that they were his shoes and he’d put them on. After a quick search of Vaughn’s room, they found Vaughn’s shoes – without even thinking, he’d seen the shoes and decided for no reason, that they must be his and put them on! The groomsman was very relieved!

The wedding was held at Diamond Valley Baptist Church. The ceremony went with out any problems. It was a wonderful day, where we definitely could feel God’s presence. We were certainly blessed that day.

We had family photos outside, while afternoon tea was served in the hall….

Problem 5: My tulips hadn’t been ‘wired’ so they began to wilt (even before the ceremony had finished). There was nothing we could do about it, so you can see in many of the photos, that the flowers have wilted!

The bridal party then proceeded to Wellers Restaurant in Kangaroo Ground (where the reception was held) for more photos.

My mum had made the wedding cake… it was made up of 3 tiers, with columns in between each to separate them. We had taken the cake to Wellers the day before and put it together while we were there…

Problem 6: While we were outside having the photos taken, the cake was brought out. Vaughn’s aunty & uncle and the manager of the restaurant watched in horror as the top tier slowly slid off and hit the floor! To fix it up, they made a 2-tiered hat cake and had they not told us when we’d come in, we wouldn’t have known otherwise! We were only disappointed that we didn’t get it on video!

After the reception, we spend the night in the city at The Sebel on Collins Street. The next morning, we flew up to Port Douglas

Problem 7: When we arrived at Cairns airport, to catch our limo to Port Douglas, we discovered that my luggage had been delayed! Thankfully it arrived that evening!

At the resort we were staying in, the apartments were separate from the reception/restaurant area and we walked down a nice path through a mini sort of forest to get back and forth…

Problem 8: On our way to the restaurant (I think on our first evening for dinner), as it was dark, Vaughn stepped on what he thought was a piece of bark laying on the path. We suddenly realised that it wasn’t bark, when the snake coiled up very quickly and struck Vaughn on his heal. Thankfully, it managed to only just get the top of his shoe, so he missed out on being bitten.

Vaughn arranged our honeymoon and as part of the package, we got free car hire of a convertible…

Problem 9: When we arrived at the dodgy car rental place, we were given an old Ford Capri that it appeared the business owner drove around in himself… it smelt of smoke, the seats were cracked, the doors barely closed properly and the convertible roof wasn’t that great either! However, we took it out nonetheless and enjoyed the ride up to Cape Tribulation and back.

As part of our adventures, we decided to go snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef

Problem 10: Vaughn got seasick, so spent most of the time on the boat, trying to feel better! Thankfully at the last spot before going back, he was able to go in the water and experience the beauty and wonder of the reef.

Overall, we had a wonderful time both for our wedding and during the honeymoon. I quite enjoy looking back and remember all the little things that went wrong, to make a very memorable start to the rest of our lives together!

Saturday, March 24, 2007

USA Trip 2007 - photos

USA Trip 2007

Autumn Update 2007


Well, it’s been about two months since we’ve moved here. In many ways, I can’t believe it’s only been two months, because of how smoothly and comfortably we have settled in here. But then again, I can’t believe it’s been that long since we left Melbourne and all our friends and family behind.

We are enjoying the consistent weather here in Adelaide. It’s subtly getting cooler, but still we’re still having very warm days. The weather has been quite hot since we’ve been here, which ordinarily wouldn’t be bearable, but because it’s consistent and drier than Melbourne, it’s been much easier to cope with. I will be looking forward to the cooler months ahead, however! Still haven’t really received much rain. Only a couple of days of very very light drizzle, although just this past Friday, we had a day where it rained quite heavily for most of the day. It was so lovely, and so needed!

Work continues to go well and I am really enjoying the walks there in the morning and home in the afternoon. Vaughn’s studies are also going really well. His favourite subject is Hebrew – he is thriving on it! He also enjoys his other subjects, but Hebrew stands out as his forte. He’s made many new friends with his classmates, especially our next door neighbour. I get along really well with his wife, so it’s not as bad that they spend so much time together!

After a trip to a GP and then to a specialist to confirm it, I found out that I have a perforated ear drum, which requires surgery if I want hearing restored in my right ear. I still have very faint hearing in that ear, but my brain doesn’t use that ear, unless the left ear is covered. I’ve decided to have the surgery and am just awaiting a time with the hospital to have the procedure done. It’s a little bit scary, but I’m glad I’ll be going under general anaesthetic, so won’t be conscious during the operation. Basically, they will be taking a bit of muscle from the very top of my ear and grafting it on to my eardrum. If the skin graft is successful, my body should then repair the eardrum, growing over the hole and my hearing will gradually return, so long as an infection hasn’t occurred in my second half of my ‘middle ear’, while I’ve had the hole.

I also had some moles checked out and they seem ok, but the GP has done a biopsy on one of them just to be sure. I was nervous about the local anaesthetic, as I hate needles, but it was easier than I thought. After the initial needle, I didn’t feel a thing… I thought I’d feel more pressure on my back, but I didn’t, which was a definite answer to prayer because I was very nervous before going back for the biopsy. I’ll get the results of that on Tuesday, so please pray for a clear outcome.

So, apart from these health issues, everything is going well in Adelaide. Vaughn and I are looking forward to a trip back to Melbourne in May. It will be so wonderful to catch up with friends and family. I will be celebrating my 30th while we are there… I’m not worried about the big 3-0. I’m just excited about the excuse for a party!

Admittedly, I’m a little bit sad at the moment. My best friend, Naomi, is heading overseas with her husband, Michael at the beginning of April, so shortly I will be saying goodbye to her. They are heading to the USA (via the world), to study at the Lutheran Seminary in St Louis, Missouri. It was always going to be hard saying goodbye, but in the last month or so, she announced that she is pregnant, so although happy for her, I’ll be sad not to spend time with her through her pregnancy, not to be able to throw her a baby shower and most importantly, won’t be there in person to celebrate the birth of their baby in September. But that’s okay! I’m grateful that their last couple weeks in Australia have been spent in Adelaide, so I’ve got a number of opportunities to see her before they go.

Prayer Points:

* PRAISE: We’ve continued to settled in well to Adelaide life and work

* PRAYER: That the results of the biopsy come through clear and that surgery on my ear will go well, without complications and a successful outcome at the end.

Thanks for reading!