and another celebration....

yep we had 2 Christmas days, we were very lucky, we had our celebration with Col's family on Boxing Day and once again the kids got so so spoilt.

It was wonderful that everyone was able to make it so we could catch up with them. The boys & Murphy were wonderful with Ella and Hudson and all bought them a Christmas present each which was so lovely. They have all grown into wonderful young people.

This is a lovely photo of Nick and Huddy.

Huddy was so tired and unfortunately just didn't last the distance to have a photo with all his of his cousins so this is just the five of them. I think it's a really great photo!

Its nice to do the family shots although I think everyone was getting annoyed with me and had enough of me harrassing them into, teehee - but look now we have some wonderful memories and reminders of how everyone was that day!!

Having Christmas Dinner - yummo!!!!

Had to include a photo of Nic after he had had his hair straightened with my new straighteners , a real test for them seeing he has very curly hair!! He looked really different, think I like the curls better though, lol.

Home again.........

Well we are home again after a wonderful month down south. I haven't had a chance to get on and update the blog since we got back last Monday, been busy unpacking, cleaning, washing and finding homes for all the wonderful Christmas presents that we got totally spoilt with. The kids were great the whole time we were away even on the car trip down.

We had a fab Christmas although I certainly didn't expect to have a "White Christmas" lol. The cold weather we had was a bit of a shock for us Brisbanites. It hailed so hard it actually looked like snow.

It all seems so long ago now but I thought I would still update the blog on Christmas and our time away, even if it is only for our own memories sake, lol.

The kids got totally spoilt and Ella was really 'into" it this year which made it so wonderful and exciting for us too. I have heaps and heaps of photos but will try and pick out the best .

The kids Santa sacks !!!

Not a great photo but it shows how excited Ella was when she saw her"bicycle with pedals", one of things that she had requested from Santa.

The four cousins together, it was so wonderful that we were able to be with Mum, Dad, Sharon, Andrew, Max & Jemima on Christmas morning and that the kids got to enjoy it all together.

A funny photo of the adorable Miss Jemima, she's so cute!!!!
I love this photo of Max, so typical of his cheeky grin!!
Ella was actually able to use her Santa present of an umbrella (another of her requests) on Christmas day, as was Col, lol. She put on Max's coat and gumboots and went outside to help Col cook the turkey and ham in the BBQ. She was most pleased with herself.

Everyone at the table for lunch, well nearly everyone, Sharon's family is at the front right and some of the very yummy food we had - Sharon out did herself and we ate very very well.

It's not usual for Col and I to have a photo together so I really treasure this one and I love this of Ella with my Mum and Dad. Mum was so so sick on Christmas day and ended up in the Geelong Hospital a few days later but she looks great in this photo. I love this of Sharon and Col too - gorgeous fun photo.

Great photo of Andrew! The kids certainly got the hang of unwrapping presents by the end of the day.

and a funny photo of Ella with glasses from her Doctors kit.

I know there are lots but its so hard to cull them and if I can't put them on here then where can I, hey.................. and these don't include the ones of our Chrissy get together with Col's family - yep they're to come!!!

Christmas wishes

We are heading off tomorrow for Melbourne for Christmas - driving!!! I think we're a bit crazy but we are going to give it a go. The kids and I are away for a month and Col for 2 weeks, back for a week and then back down to Melb for another week that we are spending with my whole family at a house we have rented in Ocean Grove . I'm really looking forward to that week, I can't remember when the last time we were all together was and very excited about finally meeting our new nephew Jake.

Ella is beside herself with excitement about going away on holiday. She has been wanting to go for the last 3 weeks. I bet by tomorrow afternoon she won't be so excited, teehee.

I can't wait to see all our families again and to catch up with friends, I'm just praying that the kids don't get sick like they usually do when we go away - keep your fingers crossed for us!

We hope everyone has a very safe and Happy time celebrating this Christmas and that you get to spend it with the people you love and care about. If you are driving please drive safely. Look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!!

love and best wishes
xxxxxxxxx

Finally.....

I have finished the Christmas shopping - I got the last few things today and I can tell you I am so relieved to have it all done!!! I had grand plans that I would have it all done by the beginning of Dec but here we are the 19th and I've just finished, lol.

Now I just have to get the house in order, presents wrapped and everything packed for our big trip south. This time of year really is frantic but it's such a wonderful time that it makes up for it all!!

I noticed there seem to be a lot of photos of Ella on here but not too many of Huddy so here's one I really like:

and one of him being "dog boy"

Huddy crawled and then walked around for ages carrying things in his mouth like this hence the name dog boy. Very funny, he doesn't do it as much any more.

Another Christmas tradition...

Yesterday afternoon we went onto town (in the pouring rain) to see the Christmas train in Myers, the windows and the huge Christmas tree in the mall. We went with our very dear friends Kath, Mark, Ruby & Max and had a lovely time. The kids were so excited which was contagious I must say. We went to the little Christmas train first. Ella, Max & Ruby were very excited standing and waiting with their gold tickets..

but this is what happened when Ella got on :(

needless to say she got off again before the train had even started.
The train driver took Huddy to put him on and when he tried to put him in his seat he started crying too so he didn't go for a ride either. No convincing could get Ella back on the train! They both still got a little bag of goodies which was nice.

We went to the Myer windows which this year is the story of Wombat Divine, a lovely story about a wombat who wants to be in the nativity play but isn't right for any part until the other animals decide he could be the baby Jesus. It was gorgeous and the kids loved it. Really sweet book by Mem Fox which I must get to add to our Christmas collection.

There is a huge tree set up in the mall every year so we went to see that - Ella was astounded. Her words were "its enormous mummy!".


and then later after dinner we saw it all lit up


We had a really great time so I think this will be become another Fletcher family Christmas tradition!!

HOHOHO!!

I made us a new Christmas decoration for the house which I'm pretty pleased with, I had grand ideas of using part of it in our Christmas cards but the kids decided not to co-operate with me. What's new, lol.

I thought I would share.

Fun Girls night out with great friends!!

I had a girls night out last night with some really lovely women I have met since moving up here to Brisbane. We went out to a Turkish restaurant - Caravanserai in West End (for those that know Brissy) and had a great night with good food, good wine and good company. We did a KrisKringle and I got spoilt with a kids cake cookbook and some really yummy Rocky Road from Megan. Thanks Megan!!!


These women have made the move here and our lives so much easier and happier. They are such wonderful, caring ladies and I would like to thank them heaps for making us feel so welcome and for including us in their lives xx.

Here's a fun photo of us from last night.......

Busy days

I haven't had a chance to update so have a few things to catch up on!

We have been really busy the last few weeks as I'm sure has everyone else, it's a crazy but wonderful time of year. We had a wonderful weekend celebrating Christmas last weekend, we caught up with some of our fabulous friends and had lovely Christmas food and wine - yum!! The kids had a great time opening presents and they were both very very spoilt - thankyou Amanda, Dave & Nathan and Will & Faye.

Wiil & Faye came for lunch on Sunday and bought these huge Christmas bags with the kids present inside, Ella was very pleased when she had found them.........

and even more pleased with what she found inside......

as was Hudson too

the bag proved to be popular too....

Ella had fun handing Will & Fayes present out too which was lovely.

We have a new Family Tradition.....

We bought a lovely wooden Advent Calendar for us this year so we can start a new family tradition. The kids are loving opening each little door and finding what is inside, each one has a little decoration to hang on the tree & wreath. Ella wants to do more than one a day though.

I think its lovely to have traditions that you do with your family each year. I was reading yesterday about a lady that wraps up her Christmas books and then for the 12 days before Christmas they unwrap one and read it that night before bed. I thought that was a lovely idea, I will have to remember that for next year!