Christmas Day in Erie

Hi everybody. We hope everyone had a merry christmas and is gearing up for a big new years!! We had a nice christmas, albeit not white, but still fun! Here are some pics.

We'll start with the most important one first - dessert! We had pumpkin pie, pecan pie, sweet potato pie and plum pudding with brandy sauce and hard sauce. Yes, we know there were only 4 of us.... but we had to try everything!

Our Christmas lunch.... including a 9kg turkey (half of it's still in the fridge!!), sweet potato casserole, Mrs Bromley's famous potato bake, roast pumpkin, cheesy brocolli and cauliflower, cranberry sauce, stuffing and gravy. We all had a nap afterwards.

Brommles carving the turkey.

Present time! Thanks for the stockings Mr and Mrs B!

Little Bailey on Kimbo's shoulder.... Kimbo's really stylin' it up in this photo!!

Fallingwater, PA

This weekend we went to Fallingwater, which is about an hour south of Pittsburg. Fallingwater is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1930's for the Kaufmann family and is a fine example of organic architecture. The house is built into the hill face in the Bear Run reserve and is built over a running waterfall. The house was, in the words of Mrs Phillis, "Just Magical".

Hear is a photo of the expressionist modern piece in all its glory.

Two weeks or so before we went to Fallingwater, another famous couple was there - Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Here is a photo of them from the paper.

Oops sorry - my mistake - here is Brad and Angelina! Hard to tell the difference!!

We also checked out one of Frank Lloyd Wrights other designs - Kentuck Knob which was built nearby. This design was very nice!!

1 Bromley male + 3 Phillis women = 1 Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone! Have a fantastic day!

Jessica Phillis, NBN News

Congratulations Jess (Kimbo's sister), NBN weather girl for Dec 2006/Jan 2007. Tune in everybody (if not for the weather, for the fashion!).

Another weekend in Erie

Well, it's officially seven days till Christmas, and we have had no snow for like more than a week now. We're getting worried - what happened to our fantasies of a White Christmas - building snowmen, riding bobsleds, throwing snowballs at each other.... ohhh.

With hardly any snow on the horizon for the next ten days (so the forecasts say), we thought we'd head out to the ski slopes about 20mins from Erie (Peak'n Peek) to see what they were looking like. To be honest, they're not looking that great. Only 2 slopes were running, and they both had man-made snow on them. They were kinda brown too.... ewww! We treated ourselves to a yummy lunch there too.... all you can eat surf, turf and earth. We definitely ate all we could.

Also this weekend we took a country drive to Astabula County which is about an hour west of Erie. Whilst taking a look at some of the 16 covered bridges in the county, we found ourselves in Jefferson, an Amish county. When 3 Amish guys passed us in a horse and buggy and yelled out 'Nice Car!!' mum felt compelled to yell back 'Nice Horse'! Then there were laughs all round, then, in fact, the horse did a big green poo on the road. Fun times had by all!!

This is a house we found in Ashtabula. Pretty good example of how patriotic some Americans are. I think these people are putting a flag out for each soldier who dies in Iraq. Check out even the windows of the house.

Kimbo and Christine.... Future covered bridges.

The pretty dismal looking ski slopes. Mark and Lara, you have plenty on us.

This is Bromley after lunch displaying with his fingers how many plates he ate.

Holiday Preparations

Well, we now have a house full of Phillis women and one Bromley boy (oops, I mean man). Kimbo's mum and oldest sister have come over to celebrate the holidays, and so it was time to get the tree stuff happening. We went to a hardware store, found the perfect discounted tree (it has a small bald spot, but nobody's perfect!!) and bent it into the back of the rental car (the scratches on the door should come off shouldn't they?!). Complete with $18 worth of decorations from the Dollar Tree (you guessed it - everything's $1 - PARADISE) it's looking quite a treat.

Bye Bye Lizzie!!

Farewell to little Lizzie, who left on Monday. We'll miss you (especially now Broms only has one girl to bash up, lift up, and trip over)!! Daniel Bromley you're a bully. Safe travels Liz!!

Washington DC

Hey there everybody!! Well, sadly, our time in Erie is coming to an end. We visited what will most probably be our last major city on the East Coast of the USA last weekend, Washington DC. My mum, Liz, Bromley and I left snowy Erie and drove 5 and a half hours Friday night to a very icy and breezy DC (no snow though!!).

DC was extremely cool. As most of you would know, it is the capital city of the USA. Because of this, everything is pretty much free (thanks to the American's tax dollars)!! It houses the Smithsonian collection of the best museums in the states, as well as plenty of offical Government offices such as the White House, Pentagon, Capitol Building and also all of the USA's famous monuments to past presidents as well as wars (amongst other things).

DC was sooo clean and pretty, lots of old buildings, grand buildings, nicely dressed people and cool cars. Oh, and lots and lots and lots and lots of police!! So here's some pics....

This is us at the Capitol Building. Don't ask me what goes on inside there, but I know it is something political (in one ear and out the other!!). We took a tour Saturday morning that was guided by what seemed like a drill sergeant!! It seriously felt like boot camp - 'You have half an hour at the Capitol Building. HALF AN HOUR. That's right people, thirty minutes! 3, 0, thirty minutes. Not a minute more not a minute less, don't make me mad!!'.

4 crazy Aussies at the World War 2 monument. It took Bromley like half and hour to work out how to take this photo!! That famous tall pointy thing in the background is the George Washington Monument.

Liz and Kimbo.... future Washington Monuments. That's the reflection pool in the background (it's frozen). You might recognise this area from Forrest Gump when Jenny runs through the pool in her clothes to see Forrest who is receiving a medal on the steps of the Lincoln Monument.

The White House. This is pretty much as close as you can get to it. Mum was on a different tour from us and she got to see all the presidential cars lined up coz the President was about to leave. So by the time we got there, ol' Georgey had left the building. Police EVERYWHERE still.

South I put this photo in for you. This is the Air and Space museum. It is rated as one of the best museums in the world. It had like the Wright brother's plane and the first ever rocket that was successful in space. Also, first ever passenger plane and first ever Boeing plane. That's right isn't it Brommles? Anyways, we did a tour and tried to be interested but Liz and I got bored so we went to another exhibit on American History. Oh my god - best move ever - we saw the Ruby slippers and scarecrow costume from the Wizard of Oz movie, Marilyn Monroe's white satin gloves, Ray Charles' sunglasses and Carrie's laptop off sex and the city. Oh, and Seinfield's frilly pirate shirt. Fabulous!!

Steeler Action!

The Passionate Supporters and their 'Terrible Towels":
The Marching Band - Funking it up! A couple of passionate Aussie Steeler supporters:
The 'Berger behind the trenches (photo taken through the binoculars - nice): ACTION - Tampa's O-line VS Pitt's D-line:

If you're a vegetarian, don't come to Erie....

Lets Go PITTSBURGH!!!

Friday night we left for Pittsburgh for the weekend. The weekend had been set aside for the last three months since Bromley paid $US250 per ticket on ebay to go see the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Heinz Field on Sunday, December 3rd.

So, Kimbo and Liz packed all the bags so that as soon as I got home from work we could hit the road to beat the snow storm coming through. So here we are cruising the interstate, listening to a pleasant mix of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Maria Carey and The Veronicas (I hate being outnumbered by chicks - any guys looking to spend December in snowy Erie?), when I thought I would ask if we packed everything:

ME: Jackets?
GIRLS: Check!
M: Underwear?
G: Check!
M: Shoes?
G: Check!
M: Gloves?
G: Check! [starting to get irritated that I am asking if we packed the most obvious things!]
M: Most important tickets in the world to see the Pittsbugh Steelers take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Heinz Field on Sunday, December 3rd which are the whole reason we are even going to Pittsburgh?
G: Umm ....
M: What?!
G: Hehehehe - I think they are in the drawer at home - hehehe

So after driving for an hour to beat the snow, it was time to turn around to get the tickets. Needless to say, it was the best trip ever!!! Not! (hahahah i just remembered Borat doing a Not Joke in his movies!!! Hahahah Classis - that guy is funny). Anyway, we ended up getting to Pittsburgh safely at about 11pm.

Saturday we spent the day cruising round downtown Pittsburgh, showing Liz the sights and sounds. We had dinner on the south side and went up Mt. Washington. Then after dinner we bought some tickets to the Pittsburgh Penguins Ice Hockey game from a scalper (through the hotel concierge). The game was sold out so the tickets we ended up getting were ... funny. We sat as far up the back of the arena as possible behind a support beam and we had to duck our heads to see under the upper deck. Hahaha we still had fun though. The Pens lost 5-3 but played well. The Islanders were just a better team. Check out our wicked seats!!

Pittsburgh by night from Mount Washington

Lets Go PITTSBURGH!!! (cont)

The Sunday we had all been waiting for (well ... maybe just bromley) came and we were able to pick up a cheap ticket in the morning for Liz. In the morning we went and saw some more of Pittsburgh - we took the Incline up Mt. Washington, we had lunch and then it was time to head to the stadium. The pre-game "tailgating" is just as big as the game itself. Everyone rocks up to the carparks and have BBQ's, play games, throw footballs, consume beer, alcohol, food, alcohol, etc. It was a really cool atmosphere. There was a game that I hadnt seen before and am keen to play when I get back to Australia. Its called BeerPoing! You play by half-filling ten cups of beer at each end of a table and then you have to throw a ping pong ball into the cups at the other end. Whichever cup your ball lands in, thats the one the other guy skulls - Awesome!! haha. This is the setup.

This is some Steeler fan's motorhome. Some fans have to much money!!

So after walking around the tailgating scene for a bit we donned our Black 'n' Gold for some photos and then headed for the stadium for the game. In short, Pittsburgh won the game 20-3 which should have been a shutout save for a last second field goal by Tampa to make them look a little less terrible than what they were. Hhahaha Go the Steelers!!

Happy Birthday Liz!

On Friday, December 1st, we celebrated Liz's 22nd birthday. This is Liz and her birthday cheesecake. Complements of Chef Dela Bromle'. Happy Birthday Liz. We hope you had a wonderful day!!

Welcome Rod and Family

Last week, the new account manager, Rod Morrison took over where the infamous Dave McCabe left off. We had a house warming over at his house last Wednesday night and proceeded to get semi-wasted on Yuengling and Eggnog. We even had a couple of beers with Rod's newest acquisition - a ten-foot tall blow-up Winnie the Pooh Bear. Here we are with our newest buddy.

The Thursday night turned out to be just as bad as the night before. A group of us went to the Fox And Hound to have dinner, drinks and compete in the Shuffleboard World Championships. One pounder of Dos Equis (one and a half schooies of mexican beer) led to another and the next thing we knew, Serfaty and I were getting our first warnings to stop wrestling in the bar. It was a good night and now Kimbo will tell you that her and Liz are now the Shuffleboard World Champions!! Congratulations Kimbo and Liz.

Liz showing her true talents on the shuffleboard table. Kimbo finally found a sport she's good at - and do you know why - because it doesn't involve balls!!

Tarun, Bromley, Liz, Luis and Kimbo.