We wish you a Merry Christmas.....

It's that time of year again, in fact it's already come and gone. As you can see by the date we are 2 days into 2011 as I write this. Where have I been you might ask. Nowhere really but since my last update time seems to have sped up and disappeared very fast. For any Harry Potter fans out there you may remember in one book they had a time turner. I think I could have done with one of those over the past few weeks.

I returned to work in late November starting with a 4 hour day and increasing each week until I was back to my normal hours. All went well and I was very glad to be back to 'normal' again. In early December we had a wonderful night seeing Mary Poppins at His Majesty's Theatre. It really was SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS! We had heard so many good things about it and we were not disappointed. The following week we went and saw the latest Harry Potter movie. It was good and I'm now looking forward to seeing the last one later this year. And on the way home we stopped to see the Myer Christmas Windows. The story this year was the Nutcracker and as usual was just wonderful.

During December the Silly Season begins in earnest and this year was no different. I had my work Christmas function at a little place in Fed Square, Bill's the following week at The Skinny Dog, a pub in Kew. Funny name, great pub. A good time was had at both. We had dinner with Astrid & Hans at The Rising Sun, our favourite steak place, one Friday night and then returned with some other friends the next week. A pre christmas cum meet the new management drinks night downstairs was also a nice way to see some of our neighbors and wish them Merry Christmas. Time was marching on and I finally got the tree up, the presents wrapped and the cards sent and then it was time to get ready for our big Christmas.

This year we had all the Family coming from Perth to spend Christmas with us, Our first Christmas all together since we came to Melbourne and our first with our two little Grandchildren, Corbyn & Amelie. We were looking forward to it and we were both on holidays so could relax and enjoy. They all arrived on Wednesday 22nd and after finding David & Sarah's car and hotel (not everyone could fit in here) we headed off to Bonbeach to have our Christmas dinner with Mum, Maree, Jarrod & Aaron. We would not be here for Christmas Day hence the early celebrations. We had a great night and it was wonderful to see Mum with her Great Grandchildren.

The next morning we were ready to go once more. We were off to Jamieson for Christmas. We stayed in two little cottages next door to each other at the Jamieson Valley Resort and we had a wonderful time for 4 days. Children really do make Christmas so much more exciting and even though our two little ones are still very young it was so good to spend the day with them and see their faces as they opened their pressies. Of course, Amelie just loved the paper and the boxes but Corbyn was thrilled with Thomas the Tank Engine and Rory the Racing Car.

Christmas dinner was a bar-b-que, ham & salad but in true Christmas tradition there was still too much and we ate leftovers that night. We had a wonderful few days with blue skies & sunshine, even it it was a bit chilly in the mornings. Bar-b-ques for dinner each night and once the babies were asleep it was Uno & Yahtzee that kept us amused. We even managed to play tourist on Boxing Day with a drive up to Mount Buller where it had snowed only a week earlier. No sign of any left while we were there but lots of people riding mountain bikes downhill and coming back up on the chairlift. The little house we found on the way up the mountain was so cute we just had to stop to see if anyone was home. No luck so we kept on going.

Our days at the cottages were very laid back and with no other guests for the first 3 days we were able to wander anywhere we wanted. Bill & I also managed a couple of chats with our hosts, Angie & Freddie, on their patio. Freddie is a photographer and of course he & Bill can chat for hours about cameras, lens, birds and scenery. I didn't think Bill would get much camera time this trip, other than the kids, but Corbyn proved to be a real little bird spotter and Poppa was still able to get some great pictures of quite a few of the local birdies. The Bower Bird by the river while we picnicked one day was just amazing.

As with all holidays the time comes when we must return and we did this on Monday morning. We drove home through Alexander and came home via The Black Spur, one of the nicest drives in Australia, I think. Gareth & Taegan had never been that way and were suitably impressed. Too tired to do much that night we walked up to South Melbourne for fish & chips. A nice way to end our big adventure. The next day had been designated as a shopping day by the girls and we headed off to DFO Southwharf where many a bargain was purchased by all of us. From there we caught the tram over to Harbour town for lunch and some more Retail therapy. Again a success. A short rest at home before we all set off to Chelsea, this time to celebrate Aaron's birthday. We had another good night with Mum, Maree & the boys.

The next morning we were able to catch our breath as David & Sarah went shopping. After a quiet morning we hopped a tram for a day at the Zoo. We arrived at lunch time & met the others a short time later. What a great time we had. Melbourne Zoo has 2 baby elephants and we saw them both. Even though there were lots of people it was easy to get around and see them. The little elephants, Mali (pictured) & Ongard were so cute, and one of the chimpanzees had a tiny little baby as well. A bit hard to see that as Mum had covered herself with a sheet but we did get a glimpse. Also our beautiful Tigers have cubs as well and the 4 babies were just gorgeous. Not so little any more but just beautiful.

With David, Sarah & the kids leaving the next day we had a farewell dinner together at the Blue Room in South Melbourne. We all enjoyed the meal and someone else got to do the dishes. The only way to go I think. The next morning Gareth & Taegan headed off to spend the day at Chadstone and we went to the airport for our first farewell. The time had flown and even though it was sad to see them go we had had a wonderful time with them all. It was very special to be able to spend some Nana & Poppa time with Corbyn & Amelie and get to know them a little. Thank you so much for coming and spending Chritmas with us.

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas as much as we did and I'll leave you there for now and continue tomorrow

until next time............
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