christmas eve

christmas eve fell on a sunday this year and it made for a wonderful sabbath! everything had to be done by saturday afternoon, so there was no dealing with shops, just a chance to be home with our family and prepare for christmas day.

our church service was at 9am, combined with the other ward that meets in our chapel, which was nice and the program was made up of musical items and reading from the scriptures. i sang guard him joseph with my friend maddy as part of it. it is such a gorgeous song, have a listen here (not us!)

after dinner, we read the story of the nativity in the bible (luke: 2) which is a long time tradition from my family, before putting the kids to bed and putting their gifts out.

i can't wait for tomorrow!

marry christmas to all and to all a good night! ♥

gingerbread and christmas houses

our annual gingerbread house decorating evening with the pinker family took place this evening and the competition has become quite fierce. the kids were at it with their chosen grown ups, trying their hardest to outdo each other and i must say, i'm pretty impressed with the results. hearing them laughing and playing about is definitely the best bit!

once the houses were done, we wandered down to the "christmas house", a house close to us that is decorated to the nines each christmas, complete with a santa who greets the kids, characters from frozen who dance in the driveway and loud christmas music - every childs dream!

i finally managed to get the kids into the santa chair for a photo... and not surprisingly at all, this is what i ended up with. i'm not even mad, it shows their personalities perfectly! haha. a few more blocks of wandering and amazing christmas lights later we went home to bed with tired and happy christmased up kids.

it really is the most wonderful time of the year!

christmas goodie plates

well... it's that time of year again, when i pull a few semi all nighters to make goodie plates for the western power boys. yes, it's a lot of cooking, yes it takes a long time, but yes it is absolutely worth it. i was inspired by the years of goodie tray making i watched as a child and seeing as my mothers efforts are still well known, i know these will be remembered long after the goodies are eaten.

this years trays consisted of: (starting at 12:00) salted caramel slice, white rocky road, popcorn and seed brittle, chocolate truffles, chocolate rocky road, peanut butter cookies, (then the middle) brownies and fudge

recipes can be found here and here

the popcorn and seed brittle is new to the line up this year (and will definitely be staying from now on... give it a go! it is so easy and so yum! (plus vegan/ gluten/ dairy/ egg/ nut free!!)) and amazing! recipe for this one can be found here

popcorn and seed brittle

2 cups (440g) caster sugar
1 cup cooked popcorn
1/2 cup (100g) pepitas, toasted
1/2 cup (75g) sunflower seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

1. line a baking tray with baking paper. combine sugar and 1/2 cup (125ml) water in a medium saucepan. stir over low heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves
2. increase heat to high and bring to the boil. cook, uncovered, without stirring, for 7-8 mins or until golden brown. set aside until bubbles subside. add popcorn, pepitas, sunflower and sesame seeds and swirl to coat.
3. carefully pour the hot popcorn mixture onto the lined tray. set aside until cool and hard, then break into pieces.

lite n easy open day

today the kids spent the morning at lite n' easy in canning vale, at the annual "bring your kids to work day", checking out where grandma oli works. with a treasure hunt, face (well arm) painting and a sausage sizzle, i think it's safe to say they had a good time. plus... they finally got to see where grandma works, which was the best bit for the two of them!

♥

girls breakfast! ♥

 

some of the lovely girls from church organised a girls breakfast yesterday at a local cafe (mecca gourmet) for three of us that had our birthdays in one week. such a fun morning with lots of laughs.

dom and i

amy and i - our breakfast was actually on her birthday...

the crew playing blackjack with the deck of cards we found on the shelf behind our table 

and the cakes that were whipped out at the end

squad goals. our ward is great and i feel very lucky to be surrounded by people who love me!

schools out for summer!

this little ball of energy has finished pre-primary and passed with flying colours. according to her teachers, she's reading at a year 1/2 level... she loves to write... and is a whiz at maths. i'm so pleased that she loves to learn as i know it will open so many doors for her in the future!

madeline has been in class with lara and sophie two years in a row and they are such good friends, we just hope their little squad remains together next year so the fun (and our mum dates) can continue.

congrats on making it through pre-primary little one. the sky is the limit!

road to bethlehem 2017

one of my favourite parts of christmas is going to the road the bethlehem at the seventh day adventist church in canning vale. we have been going for years... and now with kids, it is even more fun!

it is an amazing night, with a full live walk through nativity, acted out by members of their church. so much effort goes into it!

with my little man, waiting for the evening to begin

the angel gabriel proclaiming the birth of the saviour to the shepherds

  

seems a little obvious, but the best bit is at the end when you reach the stable and see the baby jesus lying in a manger (or sometimes being held by his parents if he happens to be awake) while angels sing of his birth. it's just so beautifully done and i love that it's available to us to be a part of!

and they came with haste, and found mary, and joseph, and the babe lying in a manger

luke 2: 16