A Whole Year Today and Christmas

Beleive it or not it has been a whole year today since I started blogging. Where has this year gone. I want to thank all you beautiful people who have come and visited my blog and left me such encouraging and caring comments. It is funny how you forget little things, and this has been a great way to remember and keep a recored of the different events and things that have happened in our lives during the past 12 months. Looking forward to continuing it again this year.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas Day, and that you stopped to remember the birth of a Saviour. Ours was a lovely day and therefore I have lots of photos to share (more for my future reference). Both Colin and Sarah slept over at Pete's also so we all woke up together Christmas morning, We each opened a present before Breakfast - had a quick breakfast of and then all went to church. Our big kids got to "Citipointe" church in Mansfield and they had a wonderful service - the focus being on "The Perfect Gift". how God gave his very best gift to us in HIS SON JESUS. What gifts are we going to bring to God. - our worship, our service - and we some sang beautiful Christmas Carols, just walked away being in awe of all God has done for us this wonderful day, and the cost of his gift to us. It was pretty awesome too being in a service with so many others praising God. I reckon there were probably close to a 1000 (the church was pretty packed out) at the service on Christmas morning.

We came home and put the turkey in the oven and set the table for lunch, and then had our gift giving. Now this always takes some time in our house, as Steve hands one gift out at a time, we all wait until that person opens their gift and share with them the joy of receiving before the next gift is handed out. It gives us all a chance to appreciate the thoughtfulness of each other, and allows us to really thank each other too. My Mum and Dad arrived in the middle of our gift giving and were able to join us also. This pretty much took up the rest of the morning.

Then the girls hit the kitchen to cook the roast vegetables whilst the men carved the meat. I had prepared and peeled all the vegetables on Christmas Eve and also made the Cauliflower au gratin, so it only needed was to go in the oven and the vegetables on the stove to cook. My sister and her husband, family and Mother in law all arrived close to 1pm, we sat down to lunch at 1.45pm. Normally we would make our own Christmas bon bons and have verses of scripture in them so that between us all we can read the Christmas story around the dinner table. I did not have time to make them this year, so Sarah and I bought Candy Canes, and we typed out the real story of the Candy Cane that Katrina shared with us on SofF, and everyone received one of these, and Steve then read the story before we started our meal.

Steve got an X-Box 360 Elite and a heap of games (the excuse being that we can use it as a Entertainment and Media Console- not just for game playing) and my neices and nephew got a Playstation, with these guitars that you play to try and match the patterns of the music. (Can't quite remember what it was called - just knew they had a ton of fun on them) Most of us had a go and we all had a ton of fun playing this during the afternoon whilst a couple of others had nice big sleep.

All the games that Steve got for his X-box were four person player games, so in the evening we all had a go at some of the family games that he received. Sarah got a DVD for Christmas so we all ended up watching it at the end of the evening.

Chloe and I both got new cameras for Christmas so we had a great time taking photos throughout the day, Pete scored a Bar-B-Que and there was talk of a Bar-B-que dinner, but we were all too full from lunch to attempt to eat much dinner (just had pickings from lunch and fruit) Colin got CD's, music DVD's and a new piece of equipment that will allow him to play around with recordings, He was pretty stoked. Sarah received all things cupcakes, and vouchers so that she could shop yesterday. Sarah has a passion for shopping. I love this time of year, I love that we can celebrate the birth of Christ and that we can get together as family and enjoy each other also.

Yesterday we hit the shops for the Boxing day sales. I have never been to a city sale before, and I don't think I am in a hurry to do it again, The bargains were fantasic, but you had to queue for ages just to purchase the item. We queued in Myers for 45 minutes just to buy shoes, The queues in Jay's Jays were all around the store and out the front - unreal (consequently we didn't think the bargains were good enough to warrent the queue to pay for them). There were crowds everywhere and parking was a bit of a nightmare. Think I would much prefer shopping in the country to the city. I still did enjoy the company of my girls and it was fun to see them get a thrill out of the bargains they managed to get.

Just had to share this photo of Steve with his new fishing cap. He received this from a friend in Rocky who knew how appropriate this cap would be for Steve. He loves it, considering he loves fishing.

We are having an easy day here today - a bit of cleaning, a bit of baking (cupcakes of course) and a bit of relaxing. Might get to read one of my new books. Great day for relaxing, it is cool, and overcast - good staying indoors weather.

Not long to go now until the New Year ........bring it on.

Christmas Lights

Just love this time of year, on Friday night, my son-in-law took a group of us out to see the Christmas lights around the area in which they live. It is a little tradition that they started last year when "FALLING SHORT" (their band) bought the bus. We really had a great time touring around South Brisbane singing Christmas Carols, at the same time as admiring the sights. Just wanted to share a few of the photos we took, even though they aren't the best photos.

Also on Friday, Sarah and I went out together to finish a little Christmas shopping, and stopped in at "Freedom" where they had this gorgeous tree reduced from $150 to $36. What a bargain, it even came with Christmas lights as well. We were so excited and you should have seen us driving up the Motor way, with the tree firmly stored between us, brushing our shoulders and face with it prickly leaves. We both had a grin from ear to ear. Had to stop off and buy a few decorations to decorate it as well. Sarah and Colin have been married for nearly three years, and this is their first Christmas tree. I don't know whether I was more excited about the bargain, or seeing Sarah so excited and animated as she decorated their very first tree.

Also thought I would share a photo of my wonderful husband, totally in relaxation mode, enjoying the break after such a busy year. We have had a great time in Brissie catching up with the kids. It has been kinda of fun too, doing the Christmas shopping together for a change. We normally don't get much of a chance to go shopping together, so this has been kinda special. We have even managed to go out for coffee together a couple of times too, as well as take in a movie. Just gotta love the holidays.

Tonight we went to "Citiponte Church" with the kids for their Christmas Carols Service. It was really great, very loud, and the carols were arranged quite differently, but we are really enjoying sharing this special time of the year where we remember the birth of Christ our Saviour with our family.

I want to take this time to wish you all a very Happy Christmas, may you celebrate the reason for the Season - the birth of a Saviour, and I pray you appreciate and enjoy your time with family this Christmas. May your New Year be rich in blessings, joy and peace for you and your families. God Bless

For to us a Child is Born,

to us a Son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders,

And HE will be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

What a beautiful wedding

Well no scrapping to share with you at the moment. We are finally on holidays, and it feels so good to be away. The last few weeks have just been crazy, and I really wondered if we would ever get going. We left home a lot later than we expected, got to the Sunshine Coast late Saturday night and then into Brissie yesterday lunchtime with a couple of hours to spare before the wedding,

Our good friends Ian and Kathy's daughter Linda was married yesterday and we wouldn't have missed this wedding for anything. What a year they have had, two engagements, two weddings, a grandchild, and another grandchild on the way.

Their children are almost like our own, so there was no way we would miss being at Linda and Alan's wedding. We have known Linda since the day she was born, and she is 25 now. She made the most stunning bride. She was just so radiant on the day, so in love - I just know these guys are going to have the most awesome marriage. Everything about the day was perfect, including the weather. Thought I would share some photos of the special day.

Got some lovely photos of Ian and Kathy with their gorgeous grandchildren also. Daniel was only born 7 weeks ago, and he is so gorgeous. Got to catch up and meet this precious child for the first time at the wedding, and I made sure I got my fair share of cuddles. Ian and Kathy have been wonderful friends to us now for close on 30 years. They have been awesome role models for us as parents, and we have learnt lots from them in regards to raising our own kids. Even though they are not perfect, their family is the model family, they live out their faith daily, they respect each other, love each other and genuinely enjoy spending time together. They have been wonderful friends, always there to encourage, uplift, support, pray for us, and always go out of their way to spend time with us. We love you guys to bits, we treasure your friendship, and thank God daily for you all. It is really difficult to put into words just how much we really appreciate your love and friendship, but as a family we have been blessed immensley just by having you in our lives. We look forward to many many more years of wonderful friendship together.

I also managed to get some photos of our three great kids, all dressed up too - not the best photos but then it is rare I can capture them all dressed at the same time, so had to snap a few photos even though they were pulling all sorts of weird and wonderful faces. Well only a week to go to Christmas. It is hard to beleive. Spent a good part of today Christmas shopping. Have most of the things I need for lunch except the fresh food. Also organised the decorations today. Tomorrow we plan to finalize the presents and hopefully decorate the tree at Pete's. He already has gone to a lot of trouble, and has Christmas and fairy lights all strung out in his front yard and his around his patio. It just looks beautiful. This is really a wonderful time to reflect and praise God for the precious gift he gave to us - his only Son. This is what Christmas is all about, remembering the birth of Jesus. We are looking forward to doing celebrating this.

Just before I go - huge congratulations to Amy and Mik on the arrival of their very precious daughter "Amalia" last week. Must be something about Qld babies being eager to arrive as Amy also did not make it to hospital. Praising God though for her safe arrival and I am sure she will be such a blessing to you both.

Also want to congratulate Cass and Dale on the arrival of their very precious daughter "Annabelle" who also arrived at the end of last week. So glad to hear that you both are doing well, and Cass we can't wait to see the photos. I am also sure that Annabelle will be a wonderful blessing to your family also.

Well not a lot more to share at the moment, but I am sure there will be some great holiday shots to share again soon.

So Proud of My Girl

Still not a lot of scrapbooking getting done in this household but do have lots of photos and some great news to share this week.

Firstly, I am so proud of my girl. Chloe is not really an academic sort of kid, school work does not come easy for her, she really has to work hard at it. Well this year she won the Year 11 Graphics Prize and had to go to Speech Night to have it presented to her. This was a huge thing for Chloe, and I am so very happy for her and so very proud of her. Have some photos to share.

First photo is of Chloe coming down off the stage with her prize. Second is with one of her close school friends. They look so good in their formal uniforms. Also had to take one with her Dad all dressed up in his academic gown too. As far as speech nights go, it was pretty good, the whole evening is very professional, and formal, but their is something also very moving about the whole evening.

The other exciting news is that Pete has also got through his exams again this semester. It has been a really hard semester for him as he has been working really long hours. Some times he is working 11-12 hour days, and then if you add into that the travelling time to and from work, it hasn't been easy to come home and even feel like studying, so Pete I am so proud of you also for not only sticking with your studies but getting through your exams as well.

The other really exciting news is that for me as of Day 1 of School, 2008, I am transferring to the General Aides at school and will mostly be working in the Library. This is a major change for me because for the past 11 years I have been working in Special Education. The last couple of years have been extremely hard with lots of injuries and lots of stress, and particularly this last little while, I seem to be spending most of my income on visits to the Chiropractor or the doctor. I guess I am the sort of person that internalizes the stress and in the long term that is not good. Secondly I have got to a point where I have had enough of the abuse, and even though I know that some of our kids don’t really understand, they are lashing out, there is only so much you can take, and I am well and truly ready for some new challenges.

Part of me is excited about the changes, and another part of me is sad, because I really do love a lot of the kids I have worked with and I really feel that in a lot of cases I have made a difference in their lives. Who knows one day I might go back as I really do feel for a lot of our austic kids and have a real soft spot in my heart for most of them.

It is a very busy time of year here at the moment, with visitors for the next three days again. (My sister and brother in law arrive tonight as my niece is having some surgery in Rocky tomorrow) We have our school Christmas Fair tomorrow evening, our Staff Christmas party on Saturday evening, Chloe’s youth group break-up on Sunday (family picnic at Stoney Creek), so it will be a full on weekend. I am sure that my sister will be keen for us to shop on Saturday also as it is not often they get to come into town.

Although I haven't really done much in the way of scrapbooking I did manage to finish my gifts for the "Pay it Forward" so hope to have them in the mail this week girls. Had fun doing these, hope you enjoy them. Thought I would share them also.

Did a pit of a photo shoot tonight too, as I am in the process of writing our Christmas letter for 2007. Managed to get some photos of Chloe in her work uniform and some photos of Chloe with her boyfriend James, so thought I would share them also. He is a really nice guy and spends a fair bit of time visiting. We have also grown to appreciate him and enjoy his company also.

Well not a lot more happening. We are off to Brissie next week to attend our very dear friends daughters wedding. I know it will be a wonderful time and I am sure Linda will make a gorgeous bride. Then we plan on celebrating Christmas with family at our son's place. Should be a wondeful time of family togetherness. Can't wait.