christmas decs are up

i am a sucker for beautiful, traditional christmas decorations. we bought a new tree this year. a beautiful full green tree from myer with frosty tips like a real snow edged tree. it looks absolutely stunning, especially with the gorgeous decorations we got (snowflakes, birds in glass domes and deer heads from target australia, red and gold balls from big w australia.) and the twinkle lights from kmart australia. they are brilliant, with a button for multi function twinkling.

i must stop and confess here, doug and i stayed awake until 3am ish putting all the decorations up, 1. because we love to see the kids eyes when they wake up and they are just there waiting for them and 2. let's be honest, any one with even one child knows how much easier and faster it is to put them up with no little hands in the way. sad but true.

i love to set up my nativity scenes, including the first one i purchased, the original willow tree... my last big spend before doug and i got married... which my dad made a creche for (not without grumbling i might add) he said it would never be happening again - 

until i bought the large size willow tree holy family and my mother convinced him yet again. what a good man he is.

this is my newest and i love the way it looks, tall figures with a word of inspiration across the base. super cute.

and my mini one that came with the pictured book from deseret books (which is still available here and worth every cent!) i love nativity scenes so much, because they remind of us of the true meaning of christmas and bring such joy to our home, as well as giving us the opportunity to teach our children. madeline moves between them, touching the figures and telling me about baby jesus. what a sweetheart, having children at christmas truly brings magic to your home. 

miss samoa pageant

on monday night we watched the miss samoa pageant on television with dougs cousins. held each year, the winner acts as an ambassador of the country for the next 12 months as well as receiving certain prizes. watching the pageant was really cool, there was a segment for traditional dress as well as the bathing suit segment, which was nicely replaced with a sarong segment.

we read about the pageant in the paper the following day and we were so amazed to read the words of advice from last years winner to the new miss samoa, "do not try to do this alone, you will need the lord's help. be sure to turn to him in prayer and ask him to guide you." what perfect advice. advice that you would not often hear in the world today. how i love the samoans and their love for the lord.

we were also captivated by the handcarved shell crown worn by the winner. each year a new crown is commissioned for the winner - mum and dad actually met last years miss samoa and held the crown - they told us of the intricate carvings and how beautiful the crown was.

doug and i have always shared a love and appreciation for polynesian tribal carvings, so my eyes nearly fell out of my head today when i saw the necklace above at pacific jewell (the most amazing jewellery store... unfortunately they do not have a website, i'd love to show your their stores) and i quickly snapped it up as a late birthday gift for doug. it's a swordfish carving, done by a local artist... the same one that does the miss samoa crowns! apparently his work is sold in their stores - and i am beyond stoked to have been able to buy a carving by such a talented artist. what a beautiful souvenir of the islands for us to treasure.