they're home/ my birthday

i got the best birthday gift this year... my parents got home last night!!! it is so nice to have them home and safe and all the grandchildren are loving it too. my eldest brother and his children came to our ward today and we all sat together as one huge family... then home for birthday lunch.

i got a selfie stick from a friend who knows i appreciate ridiculous gifts and doug and i were cracking up giving it a try when everyone left. classic. i don't know how keen i would be on using it in public... (how embarassing right...?) but it was a crack up here at home. selfieeeee!

my beautiful best friend jen also gave me this amazing hand made clutch. she actually made it for her handmade store to sell online earlier this year and over the months that have passed i have continued to hint that if it didn't sell that she should give it to me for my birthday. i like it so much that i even told doug to buy it for me! then at dinner the other night, lo and behold i unwrapped my gift and there it was. as subtle as a brick eh. hahaha.  

doug bought me a new purse (mimco! squeee) that's a beautiful deep green with cutout stars all over the top layer of the leather, and a new dinner set. both very happily received, my husband knows me far too well!  

it was a perfect birthday. especially having my little ones to cuddle. i can't get over what a sweet baby joseph is, especially when he asleep snuggled up to doug like this. 

♥

reindeer noses

i spent one night this week making a special gift for my primary children to give to them all after singing time on christmas sunday (what my family has always referred to the closest sunday before christmas as)

i have seen the idea of reindeer noses on pinterest quite a few times and loved it... so wanted to make my own. i hunted around a little and found this gorgeous free template over at overthebigmoon.com (thankyouthankyouthankyou!!) which was exactly what i had in mind (i love it when you find exactly what you are after!) so had them colour printed at officeworks on some light card, popped 8 malteasers and a jaffa (for rudolph of course) into a cute little polka dot bag and got to work with a stapler. 

i could not have been any happier with the final product and i am sure the kids are going to love them! cheap and cute, can't beat that!

lemon glazed cheesecake

i made a deal with a friend of mine, that if she came and did my hair for my work christmas party this year that i would make her some form of baked goods, of her choice. she chose lemon cheesecake, so true to my word... here it is. google found me a great recipe, which i knew i was safe with, as it was from the coles supermarkets website, meaning for once all the ingredients were available in australia! yay! 

it was a bit more in depth (compared to some of the other simple cheesecake recipes i have seen/made over the years) as it's a baked once, topped with lemon glaze, that gives it that beautiful sunshine yellow top. taste though, was a+ and i am certainly filing the recipe away for future reference. christmas day perhaps? yum yum yum. you can find it herehttp://www.taste.com.au/recipes/sunny-lemon-cheesecake/2042d51a-7415-4eed-856f-e23a1a4a1681.

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