The Baynhams

At last! 2 1/2 years after we last saw them Mum and Dad have finally managed to fly over and visit us here in Australia.

As many of you know my Mum has been very unwell since late 2005 and has not been physically well enough to fly. We worried that they may not be able to come see us but luckily Mum has been getting better slowly but surely over the last few months. She still has a long way to go to get back to being the woman who rules the Sheeran family with a power that puts governments to shame but she is getting there!

It was only a couple of weeks ago that Mum rang me to say she had been searching actual flight times but was finding it hard to find a suitable one. As she went to sleep in Ireland I took over and with a little help from our local Travel Agent we had booked two seats to Sydney before she woke up! It has all been such a fabulous rush counting down to today!

Their flight landed at 7.15am so we left our home in Toronto just after 5am to get to the airport in time. It was worth the early start. The kids had homemade signs saying "GRANNY AND GRANDAD" in case Mum and Dad didn't recognise them!

It was very emotional seeing them again and watching the kids excitement. At one stage Mum bent down to hug Rhiannon and Gareth rugby tackled her from behind with a huge hug that sent her flying...! Ouch!

Nothing could stop the smiles especially when Mum and Dad got their first cuddles from Cian, my brothers little boy, who they obviously had not met before. I forgot the camera but luckily have a camera phone so I got a few blurry shots of the arrival.





We went back to Joe and Rhonda's house and had tea and cookies and a lovely homemade pasta bake lunch made by Rhonda.

Afterwards we went to Balmoral beach for a paddle and an ice-cream - Dad tried paying the lady in the shop with a Euro note but it didn't take me long to help him to locate the Australian dosh at the back of the Irish notes! It was quicker than taking out my own wallet but then that's what Dads are for, isn't it! Thanks Dad!

Mum and Dad are staying the first week at Joe and Rhondas house spending time getting to know Cian and will hopefully be coming to us at the weekend. We are so excited about showing them where we live and introducing them to all our friends!