Our Christmas

We were so absorbed living our lives around Christmas, I didn't get to write about it then.  But the highlights included:

Getting together with my family - At Mum's place the day culminated in a game of slip-n-slide on the new lino in the sunroom.  One of the guys would push one of the kids, who would zoom to the other end of the room.  Great fun!  Miss 4 is thrilled with her 1/8 size violin, and Mr 5 loved his new excavator (pictured digging bike jumps at his Nanna's) ...

... we had Christmas dinner at my Dad's place, where Mr 5 learned to BBQ and stayed up very late to talk to a cousin in China, via Skype.  We missed a Christmas gathering here, but will get together with my husbands family soon, for a kid's pool party and play day (there are lots of cousins on this side).

Christmas Camp - each year our church has camps in several places around Australia.  We went to Bateman's Bay and had a week of fun, fellowship and ministry.  Our aim was to focus on spiritual things, not the food, accommodation, or bugs.  All of those things were great though (I loved the lack of bugs), and we heard inspiring talks and lots of testimonies of what the Lord's done in people's lives.  We met many new, lovely people, and caught up with friends we haven't seen for a long time.  It was fantastic for the kids, as we had the whole conference centre for our group, and could see the playing field and trampoline from the common rooms and cabins.  

So they had a lot of freedom at camp, as well as frequent walks to the beach.  Paradise!

Being together - it was so good having Pete on holidays, and all of us living in one room for a week.  We really miss having him home now that he's back at work.  In the week before Christmas we worked like crazy to finish the homemade gifts (dolls house and backyard road signs ... yes finally some pics!)

There's so much more to say, but that's a taste of what I've enjoyed.  We really just feel so thankful to God and blessed in the life we share, and in the hope we have for the future.  To express it all is too hard for words, but we appreciate it every single day.

Hope everyone is well, and having happy days!