Our Christmas was a little busier than normal since we had Tony’s parents to stay with us for two weeks. We all had a lovely time together and did lots of fun things. Instead of going into any detail I’m going to jot down a bunch of words that sum up our Christmas holiday and remind us of the memories we made.
BMX Track - Hayden had the track to himself and we watched him riding his bike
Stars Wars Undies - Grandma bought over lots of these in her suitcase for Ashton. He was so excited about them he chose to wear them backwards so he could see the picture better. He put them in a back pack so he could show his friends.
Movies & McDonalds - Grandma took Hayden & Ashton on dates with her.
Christmas carolling – We had a lot of fun going Christmas carolling in our ward. It was a beautiful summers evening and lots of people showed up. We made it to 7 homes and were still carolling at 9pm in daylight.
The 12 days of Christmas - We had fun doing the 12 days of Christmas for the first time to a family at church.
Dessert at Bishops House - This was my favourite part of Christmas which was after the carolling. The boys and I didn't get home until 11:30pm. Three of the brethen in our ward played their guitars and a group of us sat on the floor singing our hearts out to songs like Under the Boardwalk and Stand By Me.
Rudolph play in Takapuna - Grandma and I took the boys to see a very funny kids play while Grandpa and Tony went to a restaurant and ate spare ribs. The play was better!
Franklin Road - One evening we went into the city to Ponsonby. At Christmas time all the houses on Franklin Road in Ponsonby are decorated with lights (not a common thing in NZ). Hundreds of people come every night to have a look. Franklin Road is very long and steep and lined with huge old trees. Most people park their cars to walk up one side of the street and down the other. There are hot chocolate machines and carollers to add to the atmosphere. I finally persauded our family to join in the fun and walk down the hill.
Christmas Eve dinner -We had Christmas dinner at our house and invited Mum & Peter, our friend Daniel from church, my brother Travis and two our our past homestay students, Yuki and Hitomi.
Christmas morning - Santa delivered many presents including those wished for. Hayden got his Nerf Gun, Ashton got Lego and Noah got a new Thomas train. Opening presents;
Bakeries - Grandpa loved to regularly stop at bakeries to buy apple slices, custard squares, cream donuts, chocolate eclairs - yum yum.
Banana bread - I love to make homemade banana bread and Grandpa loved to eat it.
Magnums - Grandma's favourite ice-cream bars. She was able to have one three or four times while she was here and tried to buy one at the airport before she left. Can't beat a Magnum!
Thomas train - Noah got a remote control Thomas train for Christmas which plays the Thomas song. Noah played with his train so much that we could all hear the tune in our heads during the night when the train wasn't going!
Wildfire -We took Grandma and Grandpa to our favourite Brazilian restaurant. You are continuously served different types of meat until your table turns the traffic light to red to show that you need a rest from eating or can't eat anymore.
Digging for Pipis - Grandpa got really excited about going to the beach in Whitianga one evening and digging for pipis in the water;
Trampoline - A year ago the boys got a trampoline for Christmas. We didn't put it up because we weren't sure where it would fit and Tony kept complaining about having to mow underneath it (spoil sport Daddy!) Grandpa finally took it out of the box and he and Tony worked hard to put it up. It fits perfectly in our front yard and of course, the boys love it!
Whitianga & Hahei- We took Grandma and Grandpa away for a night to Whitianga in the Coromandel. Tony booked us into a very dumpy & smelly campground which no one was happy about, so Grandma paid for us to stay in a very nice motel right opposite the beach. Our room had a beautiful bathroom and slept 7 people. Grandma and Grandpa had their own room within our room, but the boys could still hear them snoring at night!
Temple trip -Tony, Sandi & I went to the NZ Temple to do endowments for some relatives. Grandpa stayed at home and watched the boys. He took them for a walk, made a pot of soup for them and even kept the house tidy!!! The only problem of the day was when the temple phoned our house looking for us because we didn't show up for the sealings we had scheduled at 2pm (we changed our minds and forgot to notify someone). Grandpa got very worried and thought something had happened to us. He searched the ward directory, finally got a hold of the Bishop and the Bishop called the local hospital to see if we were there. We all learned two important lessons; Always cancel your appointments with the temple so they don't worry relatives, and no matter what part of the world you travel to, the church is the same everywhere. The members are always there to help in time of need.
Lego -The boys spent many hours this Christmas building lego. Ashton was very excited to get a big box of Pirate lego and Hayden helped him put it together. One afternoon Grandma decided to make something and impressed everyone with her lego building talents (with the help of Ashton & Noah);
Tree trimming - It seems to be tradition that when Grandpa comes to stay he goes outside and trims a few trees for us. Tony makes a list for him of what he wants done while he's at work! Grandpa trimmed our big willow tree around the back of the house and shaped the little tree infront of the kitchen window.
Sugar cookies -Grandma did some baking and made her very popular sugar cookies decorated with green and red sprinkles.
Homemade strawberry jam - Grandma taught me how to make my own strawberry jam.
Ashton’s bike -Grandpa tried to teach Ashton how to ride a bike. Ashton spent lots of time learning how to pedal fast. He has his speed and confidence up but we haven't taken the training wheels off yet;
No comments:
Post a Comment