Our Christmas

Christmas used to always be my favourite time of the year.  It was school holidays, summer and it was so fun to celebrate Christmas as a family.  But it just isn't the same now that Aaron, Noah and my Dad aren't here. I don't want my boys to dread Christmas like I do, so I try to make it fun for them still, and they all look forward to it.


Our Christmas season started late November as we went to the Christmas Parade.  December is crazy busy with end of year events going on, so we decided to put up our tree at the end of November while we had some time at home together.    This was the first year that Kobe didn't need someone to pick him up to put the star on.

Kobe has been begging (or bugging is probably the right word!) to make a gingerbread house.  I'm not a baker at all, so I compromised with a kit from Coles which he was so excited about.

 Kobe and Harri had fun putting it together one night.

In early December we went down to Glen Huon with my Mum, to spend the weekend with my brother Jared and his family for my nephew Jack's birthday.  It was good timing as they had their local Carols by Candlelight while we were there.  They were actually really good (especially for a little country town) and had amazing fireworks afterwards.  My niece Bridey has grown so much. She's such a cutie.

We always love visiting our favourite Santa who came to Noah's funeral.  He's such a lovely man and when he saw us walking up he said 'here comes the Kings!'. I never know if he's going to remember us, but surprises me every year.  He made us laugh when he was asking Jalen if he had his driver's licence and was saying how it's different these days and how Rudolf just does everything to pull the sleigh.
 One night while Erin was staying we went out and looked at some Christmas lights. 

On Christmas Eve we went to swap presents with Nanna and Pa (Aaron's step mum and dad).  They always spoil the boys.

All of my family were away this Christmas so Mum came and stayed with us and woke up at our house on Christmas Day which was nice.  On Christmas Eve we had our usual picnic in the lounge room and watched the Carols on TV.

Kobe was the first one awake on Christmas morning and didn't wake up until 7.15 am which was great.  We then woke everyone else up.

 We had a very easy lunch of seafood and salads.

 In the afternoon we went to the beach for a couple of hours with my cousin Tim and his wife Helene and her family who were down from the mainland, and also Erin and her Mum Cathy. It was fun to have a quick swim and play some cricket.

It's hard to feel merry when you are missing so many people, so I'm glad that Christmas is over so we can really enjoy summer holidays now.