Christmas Day

Christmas morning was fun, we all sat in the lounge and opened presents, Zeek and I got the coolest hats!  We had already read the Christmas story the day before in the afternoon.

Then a few hours later Zeek came into the lounge and said that he couldn't stand to be stuck in the house all day.  I went onto Google Earth and we looked at the island, we chose a forrest on the South that we have never been to.  

There is still snow on the ground in the fields, it's more ice than snow, so there are places that are very slippery.  When we left Pete was napping and Cheryn was reading, so they didn't come.  

 Zeek's hands were freezing so I lent him my new gloves.  He looked so bright with his luminous colours against the white snow.

It was a nice forrest, quite hilly, so by the time we left we were warm from all the scrambling up the hills.  

Snow again

We went for a walk down Stag lane to see the frozen pond, it was really thick, Corbin and Pete had a go at standing on the ice, but it wasn't thick enough for that.  

These photos were taken with my new camera, I was playing around with distance and focus.  

 Rachel's scary snow girl, she used my hairdressing head.  (the stuff of scary dreams?)

Have you ever.....?

Walked in the snow bare foot?  It was such a cool feeling! (excuse the pun) Definitely something you should do next time you and snow are in the same place.

Early Christmas dinner

We had Yvonne over for an early Christmas dinner (Two weeks before the actual date) before she went to the North Island to be with her children.  We also had Roxanne there.  And amazingly we all fitted in our cozy lounge!  We had a lovely time eating a traditional Christmas dinner complete with trifle for pudding.

Primary Christmas Party

It was a fancy dress party, so Rachel went as little red riding hood and Corbin went as a hobbit (Except he kept his shoes on because it's freezing)  Cheryn and Roxanne were Santa's Elves, they made a grotto for the primary children at youth a few days before the party.  They did a fabulous job! 

I was really touched when Rachel came home and told me this:  "I was sitting down while the food was being served and one of the ladies came and asked me why I was not in the queue waiting for food.  So I told her that it all had wheat in it and that I couldn't eat any of it.  She promptly jumped into her car and went to the shop and bought me some wheat free things to eat."

What a lovely thing to do.

Needles with My Dad

My dad came to visit and help Angela and Patrick with the insulation in their lounge, so on Sunday after church we went to the Needles (again) so that he could see them.  We left later than expected and so ran out of day light half way through our visit.  This time we didn't go down to the bottom of the cliffs, but walked on the cliff top path instead.  I enjoyed the different perspective. 

 I loved this lichen pattern on the rocks.

 Pete landed up carrying Rachel's pom poms, he is often the pack horse for the kids, but he doesn't mind, he says it's a good way to serve them.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

We decorated the Christmas Tree one day early this year, on the 30th of November.  (We traditionally do this on the first of December.  It was such a lovely family time.  We had all of us plus Peter and Jenny too, it really was a good evening.

Happy Birthday Gillian

32 Years of life.  And it took me all this time to realise that wheat really makes me feel sick.  I have been off wheat for more than 5 weeks now and can't believe how much healthier I am.  Why am I telling you this?  Because my birthday cake was made from a wheat free cake mix.  I made an upside down fruit cake (Is that what it is called Tracy?) With whipped cream on top, it was delicious!

 Pete bought me a new camera, I love it!

A white birthday, my first!  Cheryn took photos of me taking photos with my new camera.  Here I am taking a photo of Rachel's snow man, she did a really good job, the eyes and mouth are made with blueberries.

Thanks Peter and Jenny for sharing this day with me.  It was really nice having you there.