The lead up to Christmas........

We woke early the next morning and were soon contacting family and friends to make arrangements to catch up over the next two weeks.  

Our first stop was that afternoon to see Corbyn and Amélie with their Mum And Dad.  Having brought most of their work home from school Nana and Poppa were proudly shown some of their workbooks from earlier in the year.

Soon after we joined the traffic for the slow crawl up the Mitchell Freeway to have dinner with Taegan, Gareth and to at last meet our newest little grandson, Noah.   What a pleasure that was, a gorgeous little boy with a happy disposition and a ready smile for all.  Not too long before I was having my long awaited cuddle and enjoying the moment.  

It did take a little while before I handed him over to his Poppa who enjoyed the moments just as I had.  Taegan and Gareth are enjoying being parents and look like they have been doing this forever.

The next day we spent the afternoon having a walk around the Beautiful Lake Claremont.  Bill had been told while we were in Cheynes Beach that this was a great place for water birds.  It was and we enjoyed an hour or so before heading off for the evening with Anne and Paul who are off to spend Christmas with the Melbourne family, didn't coordinate that very well did we!  

Thursday saw us shopping first and then returning to Sarah and David's place for dinner and some Nana and Poppa time with the kids.  They have certainly grown up a lot, as they do, in the last year and at almost 5 and 7 they are real little personalities.

On Friday Bill got up early and returned to Lake Claremont while I stayed right where I was for another hours sleep.  He enjoyed the quiet time and once home the day started to heat up for our first real touch of scorching sun.  37 deg was the forecast but it made 39- ugh!  

We found an air conditioned shopping centre for the morning and spent the afternoon with Gilly and Gary.  It was great to see them again and here all their news.  And we stayed cool too.  We had arranged to visit Deb and John that evening but unfortunately on the way I got sick and we had to turn around and head home.  I spent the next day in bed having to cancel another dinner on Saturday as well.  I think I had dehydrated in the heat but am fine again now and drink so much water its a surprise I don't slosh.

On Sunday we met all the family at Sir James Mitchell Park at South Perth and enjoyed a lovely day, sausage sizzle and a kids playground, what more could we want.  And got lots of cuddles with a very happy Noah.

Leaving the park we drove home for a short rest under the awning before heading off to Beechboro for dinner with Sandra, Vicki and Viktor.  A great night was had by all and Vicki's Strawberry Santas tasted as good as they looked.  Thanks for having us again. 

On Monday after lunch we met Taegan at Joondalup Lakeside SC to finish shopping for Noah and then went on for dinner with Lorraine and Hans at their place.  As usual Lorraine spoiled us and we enjoyed a great fun evening.

Tuesday was a big day with lunch at East Vic Park with Tammy, loved meeting Willow, and seeing Paul when he arrived home from Katanning.  That nightwe were off to The Red Cray in Belmont for dinner with Pat and Russell who I had cancelled on Saturday.  It was a great day and we enjoyed seeing all our good friends.

On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, we just chilled at home catching up on the chores and wrapping the last of the presents.  A quick outing in the afternoon saw us visit the Margaret River Chocolate Co. in the Swan Valley where we sampled the goodies and yes we may have come away with a bar or two of something.   Back at home it was a quiet night in getting ready for the big day tomorrow.

Hope you have all been nice not naughty this year and are all expecting a visit from Santa.  We are looking forward to spending the day with our WA family, the first time here since we left 91/2 years ago.  We'll tell all next time

so until  then..........