invocare christmas party 2013

last night we had our work christmas party at the hyatt hotel in perth city. thanks to my amazing sister-in-law niques for my makeup job, mate jo for my hair and asos for the incredible dress (totally worth the gamble of shopping online)... i had an awesome time! the chicks spent a good part of the afternoon hotting me up and i am eternally grateful - as being 7 months preggers at the work christmas party doesn't really make me feel that hot.

here's me and the bun... 30 weeks, 3/4 of the way through!! bigger than i was with maddie, but still good. 

and a shot of our beautiful family - maddie is so cute and was so happy to be having a family shot... she smiled away and giggled with us - for once making it easy.

we had an awesome night, good times, good music and hanging with mates from work. it was a little sad though, as there's only two weeks left before i go on maternity leave, and then susie will be moving to l.a. with her boyfriend in january, so the three of us will be split up very soon. guess it just means we'll have to take advantage of what time we have left together. :)

the co-ord chicks. love these girls to bits! ♥

christmas decorations

i love christmas.

so much.

and the bit i love the most, i must confess is the setting up of my multiple nativity sets! i discovered last year - a wonderful gift shop at a centre, not too far from our house (i don't think i should publicly announce where... you'll see why in a minute...) that ever so kindly make their amazing nativity sets half price the day that they reopen after the christmas break. i love it! and that's how i managed to persuade my lovely husband to let me purchase this beautiful jim shore "babushka-esque" nativity set. and the willow tree large nativity set you can see below last year. i was so excited to open them this year, because i had never actually had them out of the box - and especially to put the willow tree in the custom made stable that my ever-patient and long suffering father "whipped up" at mine and mums insistence. i know it was no easy feat and i hope he knows how grateful i am. (i am sure he would have enjoyed it more if he could have heard all the people complimenting it as they came to visit over christmas!)

so... saying that - and showing these two off, i can't wait to see what i am going to score this christmas!

p.s. if you happen to live in perth, send me a message and i'll email you the details! totally worth it, but i highly doubt they'd appreciate me publicly declaring their sale!

samoan graduation

here are my lovely parents hanging out with dougs cousin apollos in samoa, on his church college graduation day. we could not be any prouder - he came away with dux of the school - and my parents were so happy to be there for it. mum excitedly told me about the lei's that people make for those who receive awards, which as you can see were heaped on him. 

his two younger brothers then joined in the fun for some more photos, although i think the only thing they managed to prove was exactly how short my parents are! sorry mum and dad - but you know it's true!!

mum said she can't get over the way they are treated over there, almost as if they are royalty, being asked to lead every school procession, hand out awards, sit in the front row at every meeting, eat before everyone else... but it's because the missionaries are so important to the people. i am so pleased they are being treated so well, makes missing them that little bit easier. i just hope they don't get too used to it though... i want their heads to fit on the plane when they come home! 

love you both and miss you so much! 

a night in bethlehem

tonight was our ward christmas party - and wow did they go all out!! the theme was a night in bethlehem and our rec hall was decorated to look like a marketplace, with food stalls all about... we entered through the foyer, and paid our tax (a canned item to go to the donation bins our ward has been filling for the christmas appeal) before receiving a bag of coins to buy our dinner. 

we made our costumes that afternoon along with some friends, the boys were the most fun, queen sheets with a neck hole, a hole each side under the arm to thread a belt through - and a piece of cloth and a tie for their heads. us girls were rocking a robe with a belt and a tied headband - and our little ones had pillow cases with neck and arm holes along with a ribbed piece of fabric tied around their waists. easy! maybe we should just rock on back to biblical times, there'd be a whole less worrying about clothes wouldn't there!!

part of the evening was also a nativity play, complete with songs... the highlight was definitely watching some of our friends play the three wise men. they were amazing!

dinner from the stalls was great - biblical style, being served by all these lovely people. what a wonderful idea and so well done! we had turkish bread, beans, fresh fruit, kebabs, icecream (which i am fairly certain didn't exist in biblical times, but you know, maybe i'm wrong...) and were most definitely full - with coins left over!

as you can see from the pictures, everyone got right into it - there were very few people who weren't dressed up to the theme :) was extremely cool, especially all the jokes being thrown at doug for his beard - with people wondering if he had grown it especially for the night... hilarious

each of the stalls looked amazing, i can only imagine how long it took to set up everything up, but i know it was definitely worth the effort! it really helped everyone to get into the spirit of things and imagine christmas that little bit better.

mum and dad this is just for you! old brother nick from our ward sends his love - and of course he had to be the one running the fruit stall - nobody else is nearly as qualified as him to do so. the fruit was perfect and up to the usual standard we would expect from him, and he even gave us some freebies to take home afterwards. his wife put the whole thing together and deserves all the credit... it was incredible. wish you were here to share it with us!!

peter pan

tonight we went to the kalamunda performing arts centre to see my crazy beautiful niece laura play the lead in her school production - peter pan! she tried out for another part and was offered peter - what a legend! it was such a fun night and she did her part so well, plus i am a sucker for a good high school play, i'm not going to lie. there was songs as well - and the cast had the audience well entertained all the way though, especially the young bloke that played the dog (nanna) and the ticking alligator after hooks hand. 

peter pan and wendy caught on the marooners rock as the tide rises steadily 

"to die would be an awfully big adventure..."

us with our girl after the play ended - nonna called from samoa and demanded that we go and buy some flower for the prima donna of the play... (which she loved mum!) it was a great night, and although kalamunda isn't just down the road, i am so glad we went ♥

grandies

i awoke this morning to find this amazing picture of my fathers parents on facebook - taken at my friends parents wedding, many years ago. it was their wedding anniversary today and they had revisited some old pictures, which stirred some amazing memories in me - and then my family as i reposted this photo.

my grandma phyllis was apparently the most amazingly talented singer, with an incredible alto voice. according to everyone i know that ever heard her sing, she was blessed with the "voice of an angel". i like to thing that i got my gift of song from her, and that it would have made her proud when i sang at granddads funeral all those years ago. she passed away when i was just 6 years old, and the only memories i have of her are fleeting at best. one thing is for sure, i cannot wait for the day that i am finally able to sing a duet with her in the next life. 

my grandfather was the most amazing person i have ever known. at 86 he was still going strong, walking to the chapel to clean and just to do whatever he could help. he was funny, slightly quirky, had an amazing sense of humour (for those of you who are blessed enough to know someone scottish, you will understand this!!) and always, always, always had time for me. everything a grandchild could ever need.

i can't wait to see you both again when the day comes x

hayleys backyard bday ❤

my friend hayley and i were born three days apart - and all through school we would whine and moan about how we had so much longer to wait than everyone else because our birthdays are in december (yeah i know, i know, that made no sense at all - we still get one every year, at the same time...) only this year we are turning 30 and hayley decided to throw a party in her backyard, complete with games (twister spray painted into the grass - which i am kicking myself for not getting a picture of, elastics, badminton with bunting for a net...) a candy bar, chocolate fondue, a cotton candy machine - a punch fountain and a slushy machine!! it was supercute and old school cool and we had a blast - especially miss maddie who was spoilt rotten with sugar overload from everyone at the party.

hayley's funky cotton candy machine, which i of course couldn't leave alone until i had worked it out...

ta-dah!!!! :) the only one that worked all night - perhaps i just need more practice...

and the choc fondue, which as you can see, jen clearly decided that the biscuit didn't already have enough sugar on it. 

backyard parties are the bomb and this one was no exception, hayley did a great job!

happy birthday bebe!