Christmas Lunch

 We were very spoilt, we headed over to Bindi and Simon's for Christmas Lunch and the place just looked magical and very Christmassy!

 It was a magnificent spread and we enjoyed a lovely meal together, it was just delicious. 

 We had lunch with Bindi, Simon, Charlie, Mia, Gary, Arlene, Matthew, Ben, Bindi's parents Bob and Theone and Bindi's friend Nicky from Vienna.

 Then it was time for the Christmas Pudding, which I did manage to set alight, but nearly set alight the bench top and tea towel in the process! I am down one pudding charm this year- only 4 left, they are slowly disappearing.

 Later on in the afternoon, some more friends of Bindi and Simon's came over for the afternoon and we had the traditional game of holiday bingo- all lots of fun and more food!

It was a very wonderful Christmas!

Luna and Benji

 Luna and Benji having a quiet moment

 Then poor Benji got wrapped up like a Christmas Present

He is such a tolerant dog!

Christmas Day

 Santa obviously found his way to our place as he ate the almond bread and the reindeer had some carrot

 The big kids were not up early so it was up to Matthew and Ben to open the presents. Ben was more interested in the wrapping and the cardboard.

 Gary and Ben

 The Christmas Table after Santa had been

 Lachlan finally got up and decided to open his presents 

Amy was a little perplexed at this present from her dad after a little more investigation she discovered some money between the clamps!

Christmas Eve Sausage Sizzle at the Cotter

 Arlene and Ben

 Sausage Sizzle down the Cotter

 Lachlan, Charlie and Matthew

 Ben

 Lachlan

 Charlie, Matthew, Ben and Gary

Lachlan, Charlie, Matthew, Ben and Gary

Christmas Eve we headed down to the Cotter for a sausage sizzle, it was a lovely evening and a very pleasant way to relax and catch up before the madness of Christmas Day. The temperature was just right and the Cotter was lovely and green with lots of shady trees and a great playground for the kids. 

Luna and Jack

Believe it or not- we were not game to leave these two dogs alone together for the first two weeks- now they are the best of friends!

Raspberries for Breakfast

While Amy Sleeps Sue Walks

I cannot seem to sleep in no matter how hard I try so I often have a couple of hours to explore when travelling with Amy as she likes to sleep. This time I headed out for a walk through Melbourne, exploring the parklands, enjoying the lovely buildings, got to see Melbourne without the crowds, all decorated up for Christmas and of course see the Myer Christmas Windows without the crowds.

Melbourne Chocoholic Walking Tour

Amy and I came down to Melbourne for the weekend to celebrate her 20th birthday. One of the things we did was a Chocoholic Walking tour and it was  lots of fun.

We started of at Haighs Chocolates in the Block Arcade where we met our guide, had some tastings, got a discount voucher for Haigs then headed through the arcade to our next stop which was Ganache, where the owner came out and chatted to us then we had another sample.

Then we headed down to the Lindt Cafe for some more tastings, a stop along the way to look at some of the street art and a look at some of the different architecture in the different arcades.

Next it was through to the Royal Arcade to visit Koko Black, then on to the Laurent Patisserie for afternoon tea.

Lots of lovely cakes to choose from!

Yummy Chocolate Mousse and meringue.

On the Monday before we flew back to Canberre we had to return to Koko Black to use our voucher of a delicious hot chocolate we had a lovely time.

Fudge Making With the Missionaries

One of the missionaries in our Ward at the moment is from a family that owns a fudge shop so they came out on Monday night and made fudge for us. Elder Howse is used to making big batches so had to reduce the recipe and wasn't happy with the outcome - he said it was a bit too crumbly- however we didn't mind as it tasted awfully good! Amy decided on lavender fudge- which Elder Howse had never heard off but I think was quiet pleasantly surprised! He wants to get more flavour ideas of Amy.