christmas for the kendalls

christmas was a little different for us this year with dougs dad in hospital. we know that it's unlikely he will come home - and we are preparing ourselves for the worst - but trying to be positive and make things normal for him. oli stayed overnight in the hospital with him so he would be with family, which left doug's sister to come and be with us and the kids.

and we had a great morning! we got up and unwrapped presents with these excited kids... who always know how to make christmas magical. i guess it's just part of being a child!

alex was completely smitten with his singing baby shark toy and cuddly bluey. he was loving all of it. crawling around, getting into everything and nosey-ing into everyones gifts.

maddie and joseph are so much fun. no matter how small or daggy a present is, they just love everything. it's hilarious. doug bought them a pair of wind up poos with racing helmets on called "skid racers"to race up and down the hallway. joseph insisted we needed to take them to the hospital to show steve, as they are forever making poo jokes to each other and he wanted to show him. of course they started poo races on the floor of his hospital room hahha.

maddie loved showing alex all his gifts as they were open and read his bluey books to him the minute they were out of the paper.

joseph was thrilled with his super mario gifts and a new retro sega console!

as well as this super special gift from poppy and grandma which he claims he had wanted for 39 years!! we were dying laughing when he was yelling that as he opened it. "finally!" hahaha

my highlight was some new sunnies - and dougs was bluetooth bose headphones.

it was a happy family morning, even if it was missing a coupe of our favourites :(

❤

we went into the hospital around lunchtime and took some of our cooked breakfast to share with steve and oli. he was thrilled to see us all and enjoyed his cuddles from the kids and a few presents we bought him - including the angus young pop! vinyl we'd managed to find.

these days with him are so precious and i am so glad we have been able to take the time to keep visiting and taking the kids in, even though joseph is "sick of the hospital!" too bad mate. we all are, especially your poppy.

dinner at jared and donnas - with my fave nieces and nephews 

and some more cuddles with this little elf. 

it was a good day! 

kendall christmas 2018

christmas with kids is the best thing ever, especially when you have a delicious new baby to cuddle. after showers and cuddles and watching the nativity video... we put some treats out for santa and the reindeer, then packed the older two off to bed.

they love their baby brother so much, it makes my heart sing.

baby alex stayed awake for a little while with us while we finished things off, and chilled under the christmas treat, before he nodded off too.

getting some zzzz's in before a hard day

finally we had everything ready to go for the morning (once doug finished putting together the bike his parents bought for joseph) and we went off to bed too.

the morning bought so much excitement from the kids, and much to my surprise, out of everything they opened, their favourite items were these cheap mario and luigi caps i got as a last minute idea from ebay. winning! they had them on all morning and were leaping all about the place pretending they were in the game. so funny and actually super adorable.

baby alex showed absolutely zero interest in christmas as expected, but looked around while we opened our gifts and had a cuddle with daddy and i. both madeline and joseph were a lot older (madeline 5 mo and joseph 10mo) at their first christmas so having a small baby that is sleepy and not doing much is new.

maddie with her christmas stocking. we all have handmade ones from nanna, even alex, yes, she delivered just in time!

doug with the playstation mini special edition that i pre-ordered for him months ago. i am so proud, i managed to keep it completely a secret, never mentioned it whatsoever and he had no idea it was coming.

dougs parents and their next door neighbours keryn and lyndon arrived for brunch and then keryn stayed for dinner as well once lyndon went to work, we had the most lovely relaxed afternoon. perfect for this mum of a small bub.

my gorgeous inlaws having a laugh. we are so lucky to have them living so close. we love seeing them with their grandkids and having them around all the time. 

what a beautiful christmas! it really is the most wonderful time of the year ♥

christmas with the kendalls

i, along with everyone else i know, love christmas! it truly is "the most wonderful time of the year" and to celebrate the birth of our saviour, with family by our side is one of lifes greatest blessings.

we are lucky enough to have both sets of our parents living within an hour of our home, so we had them all over on christmas day... brunch with dougs parents and then both sets for dinner! my kids seriously have no idea how lucky they are to have them all around.

mum and dad and the grandparents* certainly delivered and the kids got some gorgeous gifts! madeline got a gorgeous doll that looks just like her (not the one in the link, hers has red hair, freckles and brown eyes ♥) the our generation dolls are so cute! such good value for money too. we were stoked to find them!

(*note: my kids talk about santa... and i neither confirm nor deny his existence. for us, the main focus of christmas is to celebrate the birth of christ and i am not fussed if they don't believe in him. plus i am the youngest of four, with only brothers [the eldest of which are 11 and 9 years older than me] so to be honest i can't actually remember believing in santa... we just tell the kids that the things in their stocking are from santa and they seem cool with that)

and joseph was blown away with this ride on lightning mcqueen car... you should have heard him squeal. so much fun! i can't wait to see him drive it once he really gets the hang of it.

and this book. what a crack up. more for doug than joseph i must admit, but so good.

we had the best day and put two very tired and happy kids to bed at the end of it. christmas comes but once a year, but with it comes so. much. love! ♥

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"for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called wonderful, counsellor, the mighty god, the everlasting father, the prince of peace." isaiah 9:6

christmas 2016

christmas is on a sunday! and i love it. what better way to celebrate the birth of our saviour, than by attending church and hearing of his birth through scriptures, sharing of family traditions by members from around the world and the singing of hymns, 

i was privileged to be one of those singing from the pulpit, singing as part of a duo with my friend maddy, a sally deford song "when mary sang her lullaby". it was such an amazing experience telling a beautiful story and i loved being able to share it through song.

after church we rushed home for family brunch, to read the bible story and to open our presents, but first of course, a family photo together!

my little love dying to get into the presents

steve with a gag gift from doug and i... years ago this guy was a contestant on an australian music reality tv show. steve and doug spend hours bagging him out and asking each other about their selwyn cd and teasing each other about listening to and loving his music. so... when doug came across his cd on ebay, we had to buy it for him. as you can see, he secretly loved it. 

maddie getting into the spirit of things

bryan was pretty thrilled with what the gifts for him held... his one desire was a boomerang and santa delivered haha. i feel it important to add here that he took it outside later in the day and was actually successful in getting it to come back! i mean seriously, i am an aussie born and bred and i don't know if i could manage that! okay, let's be honest, there's no way.

joseph in complete car heaven with his gift specially chosen by daddy... a lightning macqueen with pieces that click on and off so you can play dress ups. 

what a wonderful day it was, to spend time with my kendall family and to just be comfortable together. i am so grateful today and always for jesus christ who was born all those years ago and who lived and walked on this earth. 

merry christmas! may we always remember the reason for the season ♥

the most wonderful time of the year...

i love christmas! i love pretty festive tables and decorated houses and just the vibe that is in the air as we go about our normal schedules... knowing that christmas isn't far away... and now it's here!

the kids woke up this morning, joseph calling us to lift him out of his bed as maddie raced excitedly through the house exclaiming over the gifts under the tree... and the new bike parked behind mum and dad's bed!! after breakfast we retired to the lounge to open gifts and as usual the kids were loved rotten...

hats and copious amounts of toy cars were amongst our joseph's favourite gifts...

while maddie lost her mind over this pineapple cup that daddy had bought for her...

joseph also loved his new basketball set from poppy and grandma

and madeline's absolute favourite gift was her "raphael ninja turtle" costume which even had a hard shell! best present ever, well done poppy and grandma.

the absolute highlight of my dad was when dominique aka sister kendall skyped us from new zealand where she is serving her mission. she was so happy to see us and we loved having a chance to catch up... we are proud of her and her dedication to serve the lord.

my mum and dad at lunch

madeline and poppy with their crackers at lunch, what a gorgeous face... she is laughing at one of the lamest jokes ever... how do snowmen get around? on their icicles!

after lunch and skype and relaxing we headed off to my brother jareds house for dinner... where more craziness ensued... ben and doug had a field day with the cracker toys, deciding that the mini combs they got were much better suited to their eyebrows and beards. hahahaha.

grace and i chilling out... (please note the beautiful grecian crown i got from mum for christmas)

and my beautiful boy. i could look at that face for hours ♥

my favourite photo of the day... just makes me laugh every time i see it, 5 of the 8 goodlet grandchildren (laura is in the u.s. with friends for christmas, jared david had other plans and jonas is of course with his parents in brisbane) number 9, another for aaron and katja is due in just a week and we are so excited! 

and me with my love

christmas is indeed my favourite and fills me with such joy. i am so grateful to celebrate the birth of the saviour each year with family! it really is...

the most wonderful time of the year