Zemiel - Student of the Week

Observe: The many faces of Zemiel...

...Down wit' it. This is where it's at!

...Irish dancer. Betcha can't do this!

...Kamikaze. Sock it to me!

...Robot. Target: camera, mission: fake smile.

...Famous. Make sure you get my good side.

Mainly Music Break-up

Throughout the year, Sharlene has taken the younger three children to Mainly Music on Thursdays. Last Sunday, they had their break-up...

Zemiel went straight to the petting zoo and made some friends.

Azariah couldn't wait to get his face painted.

 Zekiah had so many ice blocks that he ended up vomiting.

Liana thought she saw something in the mirror...hey don't I know that person?

Whoever it is, they are beautiful! Mmwah!

Double Birthday

Sharlene and Liana share their birthday. Sharlene got a rainbow cake, cemented together with cream and jam.

Liana celebrated her birthday with her Sabbath School friends. Although she was more interested in holding the matches...

...and grabbing the candle...

Finally, with arms restrained, we can light the candle...

...and Zekiah can blow it out! Hooray!

Zekiah's 3rd Birthday

Zekiah's favourite shirt is the red one with a shark on the front holding a soccer ball in its mouth. We get a happy dance every time we pull that one out. For this birthday, Zekai got a cake based on that picture. 

When it finally came to changing his age, Zekai liked the idea of turning 3 but utterly rejected the notion that he was a 'big boy' now.

Trip to Bowen

In September we drove to Bowen to show-off Liana and see our old friends. We'd been slack and hadn't visited nearly as often as we ought. Church was great and we shared lunch in the hall afterwards.

Before we drove back to Mackay, we stopped at Horseshoe Bay. Zemmy just sat on the sand for a while taking in the waves before coming to join Azariah and Zekiah on the rocks.

After rock-hopping for a while, we went back to the car and thought we would attempt a climb up to a lookout. The boys were keen so off we went...

This is a zoomed in photo, taken from the lookout, of the rocks that we climbed on earlier.

Zemiel on the bridge leading to the lookout platform.

Sharlene and Liana-Roze resting in the shade near the lookout platform.

Zekiah on the walking track. We were very proud of his effort in walking the whole way.

Zekiah again. This time in a narrow gap between rocks. What an adventure for him!

At one point in the track, we could see these trees in flower on the next hill. 

Cole Kids - How they grow III

Azariah wanted a robot cake for his birthday this year...

We went up to broken river with Aunty Rosie and Uncle Piotr. 

We got to see the platypus come in really close at the lookout. So cool!

We enjoyed going to the botanic gardens with our Adventurers Club. 

Liana loving the camera.

Zekiah had great fun in the sand. He loves getting wet and dirty. 

Azariah felt he missed out on some photos so he decided to pose a little. 

Zemiel doesn't always cooperate to take a nice photo, but today he was in good form.

Cole Kids - How they grow II.

We are forever thankful for the years God has granted to Great Nanna Hurford who was 104 years old when this photo was taken. The boys enjoyed reacquainting themselves with their Great Grandma Kerr as well. 

Azariah is quite creative with his hands. He frequently uses offcuts of wood and any other objects he can scrounge to create vehicles, planes or rockets.

This may be a rare moment when both Riah and Zemi are sitting still together.

Liana started to stand the day before she was 6 months old. But didn't walk independently until she turned 1.

One of my favourite photos. So nice to see all the children together and smiling.

22q at the Zoo, 2014

It's been a year since we had a road trip. Ironically, it was for the same event last year. We decided that since we had stayed home last Christmas, it would probably be a good idea to visit everyone that we hadn't seen. The boys certainly enjoyed visiting. I've included several photos here.

On the day we went to the zoo, Shar and I were very happy that Trev and Roni decided to come with us. After their trip away, it was good to spend some time together. The boys were excited to cuddle and drag their Aunt and Uncle around, and I think that Trev and Roni enjoyed it too.
This year at the zoo, we decided to make it to as many shows as possible. The first stop was the bird feeding station.  Zemiel and Azariah loved feeding the lorikeets, even chasing them down with the food trays or enticing the birds from the trees.
Then next stop was the farm animals where each of the children held a guinea pig and a chick. This year we bought animal food and Zemiel even braved feeding a very hungry sheep. Boy do they love their food!
From the farm animals we travelled up to see a show about sheep dogs and shearing sheep. Before the show started the presenter was really friendly and let all of the children feel the wool from a previous show. We also got to pat a prize winning sheep. His wool was long and slightly kinky!
Other shows we saw throughout the day were about platypus, snakes, possums tasmanian devils and koalas.
What was especially nice about the day was meeting other families who have children with 22q. It was such an encouragement to see families that little bit further along than us.

The weekend was also great as the children got to play with Poppy Cole and Marilyn.

At the zoo, Zem had a great experience with the parrots.

At the zoo, the chickens did not have such a great experience with Zemmy.

Riah with his face painted. Pure mischief!

Riah also had a close encounter with the parrots. Good stuff.

Together, we watched a sheepdog show. Such awesome dogs, and so expensive!

Sharlene and Liana posing with the sheepdog. Liana was still scared of dogs at the time. We have since worked on that.

Cole Kids - How are grow!

These photos start in April this year. Here, Liana-Roze is about 6 months. This is the first time she held a spoon. 

 Zekiah has changed a lot this year - not really in looks - but rather his speech. At the start of this year he was very unclear. Now, he can talk quite well and makes me laugh with what he comes out with. Today he tasted nutmeat (probably for the first time) and said, 'Mmmm, that's yummy and tasty and yummy."

Zemiel has had a rough year in many ways. We are beginning to see some of the longer term issues and problems he will face, such as his anxiety. However, he is such a caring big brother to Liana-Roze and he just loves playing games. He is learning to play board games with us and, while he is competitive, he is generally a very good sport.

Another pic of Liana. Couldn't resist putting in this one.

Azariah is such a bright kid. He makes fantastic connections between what he hears and sees. Nothing is lost on him. Unfortunately, that has led us to some difficult behaviour problems. Watch this space, this fellow is gonna amaze us all yet! He gets the grumps when he is reprimanded but he comes out of it fairly quickly.

Oh, our boys do get to have fun together!

Another photo of Liana - 7 months.