We travelled home to the United States again this year for Christmas, but before departing Perth, we were able to participate in some Aussie Christmas celebrations. I learn new things about the Aussies all the time. The first celbration was D's daycare Christmas Party. The invite give date and time and, at the bottom said, "No BYO." My thought was, "How sad they have to tell parents not to bring booze to the daycare Christmas party." We arrived and learned that they tell the parents that, because the daycare provides the booze! Seriously, the daycare provides the beer. I took a photo as one dad helped himself. Glass bottles, on the playground.
We also attended the 2008 Perth Christmas Pageant, which is a parade. It was lots of fun. The Wiggles made an appearance as well as old St. Nick. Here are the kids enjoying a quick snack before the show.
Our month away in the US was terrific. It was really, really cold outside, -50 F wind chill in some places, but the homes of our family and friends were toasty warm and everyone made us feel so comfortable and welcome. Thanks everybody!
C was taking steps prior to our trip, but he really got the hang of walking while we were back home. It was really fun that he timed it so well!
Next stop was Iowa. We drove to Ankeny to visit my brother and sister-in-law. They announced the marvelous news that they are expecting their first baby in August. We are excited about the new little addition to the family. After a couple of days, it was time to travel south to Creston to visit my dad and stepmom and T's parents.
So much to do and there's never enough time to do it all. But we sure gave it our best effort. We were back and forth to Ankeny, Des Moines, and Creston. Meeting up with family and friends was so much fun. Above, the kids are both happy as they sit and the laps of Santa and Mrs. Claus. What a treat to have them visit the family Christmas each year!
D remains a big fan of Santa Claus and couldn't wait to prepare him a plate of cookies on Christmas Eve. Alongside the cookies is a bag of reindeer food (Oats and glitter, I think).
It was also really nice to spend Christmas mass at Holy Spirit Church in Creston. This is the beautiful old church where I was baptized, T and I were married, and C was baptized. What fun it is to put the kids in their Christmas outfits, all festive and beautiful, sing Christmas carols and visit baby Jesus in the nativity on the altar. It was a great morning.
All of Christmas day was fun. The kids enjoyed the gifts Santa Claus brought, lunch with my dad and step-mom was lovely, and the afternoon with T's family was really nice. D recieved a new digital camera. She's used to my LCD screen showing her the image. Her's does not have a screen but shows the number of images instead. She took a photo of her great-grandfather and said, "Hey Great Grandpa! I took your number!"
Christmas night, once all the activity slowed, we drove down to Kansas City, where more family was gathering. My uncle Kevin and his fiance Sherri were hosting us all. It was another marvelous stay. 4 nights, great food, and lots of laughs. The above photo shows my brother Nick practicing his baby feeding skills. He's a natural. Of course, C is a total chow-hound. We were able to spend some time with friends in Overland Park, Olathe, and Lee's Summit. Thanks Susie and Charlie, Brenda and Tim, Glenda and Dave, and Joe and Rebecca! We miss you all!
T's parents had us to dinner and playtime several times throughout the trip. Thanks for the yummy eats!
We also attended the 2008 Perth Christmas Pageant, which is a parade. It was lots of fun. The Wiggles made an appearance as well as old St. Nick. Here are the kids enjoying a quick snack before the show. Our month away in the US was terrific. It was really, really cold outside, -50 F wind chill in some places, but the homes of our family and friends were toasty warm and everyone made us feel so comfortable and welcome. Thanks everybody!We flew in to Rapid City, South Dakota just in time for my mom's 50th birthday. It was so nice to visit her at her home. We were able to recuperate from the 30+ hour journey and spend some quality time. Since we don't really spend much of Christmas time in our own house, we don't put up a tree. It was really nice to choose a real tree (from the Wal-Mart parking lot) so that D could hang the lights and the ornaments. We all laughed while she hung at least 15 from the bottom branch, all crowded together. And then sat back and exclaimed over and over how beautiful it was. Thanks for putting up with the needle mess mom! It was a great experience for D!
C was taking steps prior to our trip, but he really got the hang of walking while we were back home. It was really fun that he timed it so well!
Next stop was Iowa. We drove to Ankeny to visit my brother and sister-in-law. They announced the marvelous news that they are expecting their first baby in August. We are excited about the new little addition to the family. After a couple of days, it was time to travel south to Creston to visit my dad and stepmom and T's parents.So much to do and there's never enough time to do it all. But we sure gave it our best effort. We were back and forth to Ankeny, Des Moines, and Creston. Meeting up with family and friends was so much fun. Above, the kids are both happy as they sit and the laps of Santa and Mrs. Claus. What a treat to have them visit the family Christmas each year! D remains a big fan of Santa Claus and couldn't wait to prepare him a plate of cookies on Christmas Eve. Alongside the cookies is a bag of reindeer food (Oats and glitter, I think).It was also really nice to spend Christmas mass at Holy Spirit Church in Creston. This is the beautiful old church where I was baptized, T and I were married, and C was baptized. What fun it is to put the kids in their Christmas outfits, all festive and beautiful, sing Christmas carols and visit baby Jesus in the nativity on the altar. It was a great morning. All of Christmas day was fun. The kids enjoyed the gifts Santa Claus brought, lunch with my dad and step-mom was lovely, and the afternoon with T's family was really nice. D recieved a new digital camera. She's used to my LCD screen showing her the image. Her's does not have a screen but shows the number of images instead. She took a photo of her great-grandfather and said, "Hey Great Grandpa! I took your number!"Christmas night, once all the activity slowed, we drove down to Kansas City, where more family was gathering. My uncle Kevin and his fiance Sherri were hosting us all. It was another marvelous stay. 4 nights, great food, and lots of laughs. The above photo shows my brother Nick practicing his baby feeding skills. He's a natural. Of course, C is a total chow-hound. We were able to spend some time with friends in Overland Park, Olathe, and Lee's Summit. Thanks Susie and Charlie, Brenda and Tim, Glenda and Dave, and Joe and Rebecca! We miss you all!As a special treat, T and I handed the kids off to my dad and stepmom and we stayed in KC for New Year's Eve and News Year's Day, just the 2 of us. We stayed on The Country Club Plaza and went out for great food, shopped, and made (tentative) plans for our eventual return to KC. What fun! Of course, we failed to get a photo of ourselves all dressed up for New Years. I swear I'll do a better job with photos next year!
Another drive up to Des Moines took us to see our great friends the Hunt and Dukes families. No kids this time either! We were able to make our annual stop at Outback Steakhouse and play some card games until late into the night. Always wish we could stay longer- but there was yet another family gathering to attend!
We spent Sunday with several of my siblings, eating great food and exchanging gifts. So fun to see my nephew Q take to walking while grinning with pride! What a sweetie!
T's parents had us to dinner and playtime several times throughout the trip. Thanks for the yummy eats! Returning to Creston, it was time to get ready for the journey back to Perth. It's quite a task getting all that stuff: new clothes for the coming year, Christmas presents, enough diapers to last 30+ hours, our fav US foods that we can't get in Oz, all into our luggage allowance. But we did it. 8 checked bags and 3 carry-ons later, it all made it on the plane. 4 planes, in fact!
Thanks for the great memories everybody! Our trip home was fantastic and we are already looking forward to US trip 2009! Just 10 months to go!
1 comment:
Oh, the diapers, the diapers! Someday there will be an easy way to travel with 1.5 days worth of snacks and diapers in your carry on...until then we'll look like sherpas with our carryons and kids ;)
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