invocare christmas party 2014

i technically still have a job. yes, i'm on maternity leave and have been for almost 10 months, but i'm still employed and on the books until i formally resign... so we were invited to the christmas party, held tonight at the hyatt regency in perth city. and as always it was great. lots of laughs, good music (for the first time i can ever actually remember. note to the organiser, keep that dj's number...) and of course great food. our friend kindly had madeline, who rocked the night away with her two girls of a similar age and another friends daughter came to look after joseph. so easy done. i fed him and put him to sleep, then we scooted out the door! win.

and the best bit? i went shopping in a friends wardrobe for the  fabulous dress i have on, wore shoes i'd had for years... and yet another girlfriend came around to do my hair for me. cheap as... so glad to have good friends... made the day run smoothly and everything was ace.

my friend mel and i. one of the best and funniest people i know.

thank goodness for work functions. the one night a year all the stuffy (haha hardly) funeral directors can let their hair down and get the party started. it's always a great night and i know i'll be bummed when the day comes that i'm no longer on the list.

more wedding prep!

my friend viviennes son is getting married in january and after offering to lend a hand, i spent last night wrapping jars for the reception tables. i really struck it lucky a few years ago, finding 50 odd decent sized jars (with lids) for sale on gumtree for only $35. winner. 

after speaking to the mother of the bride and discussing options at length, we decided to wrap them in lace and ribbon... they'll each have a tealight candle burning in them, making a pretty lace pattern on the tablecloths. they ended up being so cheap to make though, as i bought all the lace we needed on ebay here for only $8 all up including postage to australia, and all the ribbon here for $2. i wonder how they even make any money!!! but made it easy to do things cheap while still looking good!

they are also having a jar (in this case mason jars with handles that i also had handy) with a bouquet of dried flowers on each table, between three of the candle jars above. it's going to look awesome and i've been so glad to be able to help!

some of the finished product, waiting to be delivered.

this is also my first actual wedding gig. surprise! i am going to be an actual paid photographer - and i am so excited (and scared!! hahaha) it's going to be an awesome day. can't wait!

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. 

ward christmas party 2014

tonight we had our ward christmas party... an international "destination" christmas. there were a group of stalls around the rec hall with selected countries (featured were australia, england, new zealand, the united states of america, argentina, chile and samoa) and of course i was given samoa (due to my husbands heritage) along with my friend florence who is samoan... and our friend brenda kindly chipped in to help. as people arrived for the evening, they were directed through "customs" where their canned food was confiscated (going to the annual foodbank for people in need over the christmas period), they were given a passport and watched a safety video, before being escorted into the main hall by the air hostesses (our wards young women).

each stall then provided a sample of their national food options (yes... we had chop suey, made lovingly by the girls today while i was out high tea-ing with my girlfriends. legends!) and had some items from their country on display and some music playing in the background. it was such a cool idea and there was lots of questions, comments and satisfied munching. people were also encouraged to wear their national dress and i scored when brenda turned up to our house last night with a puletasi (the samoan dress i am rocking in the above picture). it's the first time i have ever worn one but i loved it... was super cute. maddie is obsessed with hers (was a gift for her before she was even born) and couldn't wait to put it on.  doug's shirt is a 'toa samoa' rugby shirt that we purchased in samoa... and baby joseph was rocking his tribal print shirt from the flea market in apia.

then came the incredible part of the evening... the organisers had arranged for everyone to make their way out into the back lot for 'carols by templelight'. we are so blessed to have it right there in our backyard, and to sing sacred carols in its light was just beautiful and something none of us will forget in a hurry. 'twas a great night!

our little set up, complete with my carved nativity and fale from our recent trip to samoa

high tea for hayley

one of my oldest and dearest friends hayley is leaving us to move with her husband-to-be to sydney. he's in the army and as she explains it, it's her first army wife duty. not that we need an excuse, but it was the perfect one for a girly afternoon and a gas bag. we headed out to maddison cottage in guildford - a perfect little vintage tea house. i have seen a few people post over the last year saying that they had been there and how good it was... and it certainly lived up to the hype.

there were two large three tiered trays of delicious treats delivered to our table, more than enough for the five of us, considering one of our friends had paid the extra for the gluten free menu option (necessary as she's coeliac) and was given her own little one too. we were all hungry and the food was good!

for $34 each (the saturday price) we got some great treats (apparently the best gluten free out!!) some awesome tea, including some great herbal options for me, the mormon. it was an awesome afternoon and i highly recommend you check it out for a special occasion... or just because. i'll be heading back soon for sure. ♥

further proof...

elder bruce r. mcconkie once wrote: “there are … millions of sincere and devout persons who disbelieve, oppose, and openly fight the book of mormon. … what is it about some words on a printed page—all of which are clean and uplifting and pertain to historical and doctrinal matters—that arouses such violent antagonism?

“men ordinarily do not rise up to fight the bible; they do not organize mobs and incite them to shed the blood of others because such persons believe in the scripture of the old world. … the violent opposition to the book of mormon is one of the great evidences of its divinity. if it were not of god, lucifer would not overly concern himself with it.” (a new witness for the articles of faith, salt lake city: deseret book co., 1985, pp. 59–60, 462.)

like i needed further proof, but this says it all. every time i hear people questioning my beliefs, which is over and over... i just need to remember this. it's hard because it's worth it.

.......

(the above quote is an excerpt from a general conference talk given in december 1989 by dennis l. largey called: "enemies of righteousness." you can, and should, read it here!)

primary presentation 2014

(theme photo courtesy of latterdaychatter.blogspot.com)

a big sigh of relief, our primary presentation "families are forever" is over. phew. all the hard work that our kids have put in over the last year has come to this... and they were amazing! i am not just saying that... they really did put in a lot of effort and this big fat softie looked at them during one of the songs and got completely overwhelmed and emotional... and had to hold back the tears (which of course set off another one of the leaders...) i can't help it, i just love them all so much.

it was especially amazing to hear the two "music leader choice" songs that i picked myself "the things jesus asks of me" which you can buy here and "teach me about the temple" which you can get here. they are such beautiful songs and i am so grateful for people who spend their time writing music for us to sing praises to our father in heaven. there are very few things sweeter than hearing children sing. 

i am feeling so inspired now and couldn't wait to get into next years music and see what we'll be doing... one of the pick your own song themes is "jesus christ is the son of god, and he is a god of miracles" i did a bit of hunting and came across a song called "the miracle" by shawna edwards - which i have purchased for our primary to sing. it is amazing. i listened to it once and can't get it out of my head... go and have a listen here. i am so excited to teach it to them. i can't wait to get into the new music! :) bring on 2015!