after christmas shopping...

yesterday we did some opping with dougs parents - i have managed to get his dad addicted over the years he has known me and i am so proud... we were hitting up the local gsi and doug found this amazing babushka doll, genuine and all - still with the russian tag on the bottom!! what a find. i was so excited it wasn't even funny... so we snapped it up - and the best bit? they only wanted $5 for it! :) thank you! i would go as far as to say that this was my op-shop find of the year, which is a pretty big call considering that there's only a few days left! 

we also went to the shops to buy some things for dinner and i came across this store at innaloo shopping centre that had all their christmas things for half price!! i am a sucker for beautiful christmas decorations, mainly of the nativity description and nearly died when i saw these ones. we snapped up this jim shore one above, the willow tree one below (not the background though - totally getting dad to knock one of those together for me, i am sure he'll be furious thrilled!) he made the one for the smaller set i have and it is beautiful, so i am sure we can get another out of him...

we also got these adorable koalas as a nativity! we cracked up when we saw them and had to have them. what a day full of bargains. just the way i like it.

kendall christmas 2012

on christmas morning doug and i were woken up by the pitter patter of little maddie feet down the hallway to the lounge where we were sleeping. oli had helped her out of her cot and let her run in to us. she stopped dead at the door though when she saw her toy car parked beside the christmas tree. oooooh! ooohhhh! she rushed over to it and patted it, the hugged the front as if to say - is this mine? she was so so so excited! and spent the whole day in and out and in and out of the car. best investment we've made in some time i think, it was amazing to see the gorgeous
look on her little face!

donna and jared bought maddie this adorable play tent 

which she also loved!

my mum and dad came to have lunch with us and dougs parents were here too of course, so we had a beautiful day with family just chatting, laughing and playing with maddie. family to me is what christmas is really all about ♥

it was so nice to have oli and steve here with us for christmas and see how delighted they were to have madeline with them. children really make christmas so much more magical. there was lots of discussion of them wanting to move to perth and be closer to all of us, so let's see what the new year brings!

it's christmas time!

a friend shared these on instagram on christmas day and i couldn't resist doing the same here. (i am so in love with instagram! follow me! @jadekendall) i think too many people have forgotten what christmas is actually about. it's not about getting presents, eating and having a holiday (don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that i don't enjoy all of those things!) but christmas is about the
birth of jesus christ! 

i remember last year seeing a post online about atheists celebrating christmas - "the way i see atheists celebrating christmas is like this - i don't believe in you, but i am totally coming to your party..." cracked me up, but it's true. if only more people recognized what christmas was actually about - then we could keep the spirit of christmas in our hearts,

all year long

christmas eve

merry christmas eve everybody! we have made our own traditions this year... first of all we watched the first presidency christmas devotional, which you can download here... and a small nativity clip produced by the church, including testimonies from the first presidency, which you can watch here, before finishing off the night by watching my favourite movie (which coincidentally happens to be a christmas one...) love actually!

we are very lucky to have dougs parents her with us for christmas this year and maddie is enjoying every minute of it. this morning i caught her sneaking up to dougs dad, looking up at him and patting him on the knee before putting her arms up for a cuddle. i am pretty sure that she won his heart all over again with that one smooth move. she is loving all the attention - of course.

and what will the morning bring? there are already piles of presents under the tree with our little miss's name on them. i know she is going to have the time of her life.

maddie has also been gifted this amazing advent calendar tree by her aunty jen (rumour has it they'll be available online next year from her online store on madeit.com.au) it is the coolest thing ever - we have been putting on one of the handmade felt decorations each day and tomorrow we can put the star on the top.

i am so grateful to be blessed with the knowledge of what christmas is really about and hope that tomorrow reflects that. but in the mean time...

merry christmas to all,

and to all a good night!

nursery

my little girl is growing up way too fast! yesterday was her first day of nursery and it made me so sad. kept making me think of her first at church, so teeny and new... and now there she is running, playing and laughing. she was so cute - and played nicely with the other kids. i even managed to snap this cute pic of her in the middle of dancing time. what a little doll.

birthday breakfast

the day after my birthday i had breakfast with my two best friends from high school jennifer (who is still my best friend!) and hayley. and what a hilarious breakfast it was! we were cracking up over all kinds of things that happened in school, people we knew and where they are now, and just general craziness! i see jen all the time and have seen hayley quite a few times in the past year, but seeing them together was hysterical- hayley even brought along some pictures for extra entertainment... although i must admit, i quite frequently try to forget exactly how tragic i looked in high school. oh dear.

at the beginning of the year, i was on kalgoorlie visiting friends and spent the afternoon with hayley and her family for the first time in a good 10 years. it was like no time had passed at all and i remember her mum saying that if she closed her eyes and imagined that the baby she was holding belonged to someone else that she could quite easily believe that the last 12 years had never happened and that we were the same 17 years old running amuck and loving our crazy lives the same way we had all those years ago. it still amazes me that i have such a bond with these two lovely girls and i am so grateful to have known them and still know them now. thank you girls for such a lovely morning! love you both.

another year older!

so... last week (the 14th people... send me some birthday wishes next year...!) i had my birthday. and it was a wonderful day. i had to work - sigh... but the crew i work with made it extra special for me by covering my desk in chocolates and burning candles, and then singing happy birthday to me in chorus as i arrived in the building. such sweethearts.

i also made this packet cake (yes i admit, i cheated - i was running extremely short on time... i'm a busy working mummy!) to scoff at morning tea with them all, only to have the icing look like crap. so out came the leftover sugar butterflies from ella's gender reveal party and i fixed it! it looked good after that and didn't taste too bad either. thank goodness. not my finest effort...

when i finally got home from work after going to beverley's retirement party as well, doug and miss maddie were waiting for me with gifts and cake. two of my favourite things. 

doug got me this amazing kirstin ask necklace from my favourite store, wild lily empire. i am so in love with it and can't wait to wear it. i am so lucky to have a husband with such good taste! he and maddie also got me some earrings from there too. so spoiled! :) what a lucky girl i am to have such gorgeous people in my life!