Great Christmas and Welcome to the New Year

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Hoping that Christmas treated you all well and that the New Year arrived with a bang. We had a great time with Amy, Jeremy, Holly and Ella as well as Warwick and Pam, Sarah and Brad and their 3 young ones, Honor, Taj and Emerson. The kids were so excited on Christmas eve and enjoyed writing notes to Santa on the driveway to ensure that he knew where to stop. In the morning they were up and about early and when let into the room that Santa's foot prints led to there were screeches of delight. A good brekky after wards, and then presents from Parents, Aunts and Uncles and of course Grand Parents. Great fun with lots of laughter. Christmas dinner was fantastic and by the end of the day we of course were as exhausted as the kids. The weather treated us kindly for the next few days and then we headed up to Gisborne to spend New Years at Pam and Warwick's new apartment down on the waterfront. Di and I are both very envious as it is just such a nice set up. I love watching the changing mood of the sea and their front balcony looks out over the port and beach. Very easy to spend lots of time just sitting watching the world go by. Holly and Ella had a great time with Honor, who stayed on while Brad and Sarah headed north. We watched people fishing, saw a couple of big King Fish landed from a tidal creek, and even had a chance to catch a few herrings with the girls which was fun. We now head back to Hastings and will look after the kids for a week while Amy and Jeremy work. All good fun and very relaxing. I had a day on a river and had an excellent time with quite a few trout landed. So thats the catch up and 2016 has started off really well. Lets hope it proves to be an enjoyable year for everyone. Pip/Rod.

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Photos

Twas The Night Before Christmas.
The kids write notes to Santa on the drive.

All Ready For The Morning.
A stocking for every one.

Santa Must Have Been.
Holly and Honor wait outside the room that Santa entered.

Oh; Look at this.
Every one looks to see what Santa bought.

Do I Have To Eat This?
Emerson isn't sure about eating a pancake man.

Yum.
All ready for breakfast.

The Santa Cook.
Warwick preparing the pork for Christmas dinner.

Cooking Time With Amy and Jeremy.
Preparation in the kitchen. Christmas Dinner is almost ready.

Christmas Present Time.
The wrapping flies as the presents are opened and everyone is happy. So much fun.

Yum.
Pork Belly from the B'Que. It was beautiful.

Yum.
Broccoli salad.

Lets Eat.
Right. Lets enjoy.

Yum!
Pavlova. Delicious.

Yum.
Sarahs magic dessert.

Waiting To Bloom.
Ella with her Sunflower that she raised from seed.

Golf Anyone?
Holly and Ella enjoy a game of Mini golf.