the lion king!

i have the best flipping friends in the world... today i got to go to the lion king musical at crown perth, thanks to my gorgeous friend keryn who had an extra ticket.

i was completely and utterly blown away! what an amazing show. disney have such an amazing team and put so much thought into their design, sets, music and especially their costumes... i could barely spare a second to blink... and during some scenes barely knew where to look, as everything was so incredible. 

my firm favourite in the show was definitely zazu (the kings assistant dodo bird), he was incredibly done by a puppeteer and really stole the show. 

two very enthusiastic thumbs up from me,,, if you aren't planning on going, change your plans.  

nye - laters 2015

well, another year has come and gone... and 2016 is already here knocking on our front doors! seems like just yesterday we were welcoming in the last one... eep! last night we were invited to a very kid friendly new years eve celebration at our friends house and these two monkeys loved every second. there was absolutely no stopping them and they partied hard, well into the night, not stopping until we finally got home at 12:45am and i popped them in their beds.

we had a pot luck dinner first... followed by cheesecake by me (recipe to come soon... stay tuned) while the kids played and watched a movie, and the adults jammed out song after song in the lounge room thanks to stella's karaoke machine. what a night!

madeline and cooper

we had a great night and were so glad to be able to spend it with the kids having so much fun... here's hoping this year brings some wonderful things along with it. 

happy 2016! ♥

summer fun

we raced out the door this morning to try and catch a movie with a friend at the local cinema, only to find it sold out on our arrival. boo boo boo, so instead we were forced to down some awesome chinese food at the restaurant opposite and then check out some of the shops nearby. the kids, as you can see don't need any assistance with entertaining themselves...

and home again in the arvo for party time in the pool joseph got for christmas from nanna and grandad. thank goodness for water in this heat! it was so easy to set up and the kids loved every second of it. ♥

hello! hillarys calling...

public holidays are the best... and this one was no exception, our friends rob and bianca have (just) moved back from kalgoorlie (yay yay yay yay yaaaaaay) and suggested we head over to the childrens beach at hillarys boat harbour for a dip. so we did!  

it's no secret that i don't overly love the beach (i can't help it, i hate sand!), but i think i may be able to be persuaded in the future, the kids were so excited and had the time of their lives... plus it was so hot that the water was a relief to paddle in while the kids splashed and joseph ran in and out of the water.

what a gorgeous day to be at the coast, how lucky are we to live so close? plus burgers at grilld afterwards? the perfect night out.

boxing day sales

at christmas dinner at my brothers house last night, doug mentioned how badly he wanted to check out the boxing day sales... and my niece grace almost fell off her chair with glee... i mean really, what could possibly be more exciting to a 12 year old female than the prospect of all day shopping with newly acquired christmas money, accompanied by someone other than your parents, who clearly is not going to patrol what you buy? absolutely nothing! so miss grace jumped in our car and this morning we headed off to joondalup to check out what was on offer.

to be perfectly honest, although there was lots of bargains to be had, i didn't really get anything too exciting. doug got some shoes and tshirts, grace nabbed some cute clothes and a diary... it was a fun day though, fighting the crowds, chilling with my little family...

and dealing with the hulk. haha

the most wonderful time of the year...

i love christmas! i love pretty festive tables and decorated houses and just the vibe that is in the air as we go about our normal schedules... knowing that christmas isn't far away... and now it's here!

the kids woke up this morning, joseph calling us to lift him out of his bed as maddie raced excitedly through the house exclaiming over the gifts under the tree... and the new bike parked behind mum and dad's bed!! after breakfast we retired to the lounge to open gifts and as usual the kids were loved rotten...

hats and copious amounts of toy cars were amongst our joseph's favourite gifts...

while maddie lost her mind over this pineapple cup that daddy had bought for her...

joseph also loved his new basketball set from poppy and grandma

and madeline's absolute favourite gift was her "raphael ninja turtle" costume which even had a hard shell! best present ever, well done poppy and grandma.

the absolute highlight of my dad was when dominique aka sister kendall skyped us from new zealand where she is serving her mission. she was so happy to see us and we loved having a chance to catch up... we are proud of her and her dedication to serve the lord.

my mum and dad at lunch

madeline and poppy with their crackers at lunch, what a gorgeous face... she is laughing at one of the lamest jokes ever... how do snowmen get around? on their icicles!

after lunch and skype and relaxing we headed off to my brother jareds house for dinner... where more craziness ensued... ben and doug had a field day with the cracker toys, deciding that the mini combs they got were much better suited to their eyebrows and beards. hahahaha.

grace and i chilling out... (please note the beautiful grecian crown i got from mum for christmas)

and my beautiful boy. i could look at that face for hours ♥

my favourite photo of the day... just makes me laugh every time i see it, 5 of the 8 goodlet grandchildren (laura is in the u.s. with friends for christmas, jared david had other plans and jonas is of course with his parents in brisbane) number 9, another for aaron and katja is due in just a week and we are so excited! 

and me with my love

christmas is indeed my favourite and fills me with such joy. i am so grateful to celebrate the birth of the saviour each year with family! it really is...

the most wonderful time of the year

twas the night before christmas

twas the night before christmas and in the kendall house, as per tradition there were things to do!

a few christmas carols and then luke chapter 2 is always on the agenda, this year doug's father steve read it aloud to us... i love to hear the story of christ's birth, straight from the scriptures, a simple yet everlasting account. we then watched the church nativity video, which always makes me so emotional, marys trust in the lord, the savior being born in a stable... it's so incredible. 

steve reading from our family bible

our beautiful tree ♥

maddie was old enough this year to want to leave milk and some treats out for santa, she was so cute, she picked out just the right ones, they had to be arranged "just so"... and she had to pour the perfect amount of milk. i am sure she'll get a thrill out of them being gone in the morning.

i love christmas... it's the most wonderful time of the year. ♥