Christmas party!

Well yesterday was just plain busy! We farewelled my Sister her husband and two of her children for a 6 week stint in Europe! Lucky them and my niece who is about to have them arrive in England who hasn't seen them for 2 years! So the excitement is huge! Then we had Keith's Christmas party! It was a lovely evening Dunedin turned on a 25+ day and it was a lovely evening! I have up loaded some photos to show how much fun was had! Sunday is a low key day here lack of sleep ensures that!

Hugs Ruth

PS yes that is DH(Keith in a kilt!)

Our Christmas tree Angel

Hi all, this morning a package arrived with a special treasure inside and Emily was so excited! We had such a bad week! I have had a migraine for almost a week and working through it has been difficult!

Last Thursday our 15 year old tree that we have put up every year did the most amazing swan dive off the table and onto the floor where it smashed some of our favourite christmas decorations. So that day I went out and bought a new Tree! I didn't imagine that an 8ft tree would be that much bigger!

So we have worked all week on the decorations and while I was surfing the net I saw this amazing angel and she arrived this morning along with the very cute stork carrying a special delivery from China!

So I have up loaded photos of the new Angel on our tree and Emily helping decorating the tree!

Hope that you are all having a slow lead up to Christmas! That is the wish I have asked for!

Aiden had prize giving and has finished school for the year! He was one of the top 3 students in his class for German! So well done!

We are now in the lead up for Christmas and we are taking it slowly!

Hugs to you all!

Ruth

Families receive their referrals

Well families with LIDS of up to 14 December have received their referrals all except our friends in Australia they should get theirs today or tomorrow! It is an amazing feeling seeing your babies face for the first time! Then the excitement of sorting packing etc! We can't wait for our turn! That should be in the next few months! The problem we have we don't have a LID date so it is hit and miss a bit! we think it is around 5 January 06 so we will go with that!
Well the kids are waking so time to sort breakfast!
Hugs Ruth

Christmas cakes

Yesterday as part of our usual Christmas preparation we back Christmas cakes to the recipe I have used for 23 years! The cakes make the house smell heavenly and everyone contributes with this task it was so great to see Aiden show Emily how to decorate the cakes with Almonds and say to her in a few years you will be showing Alice how to do this!
We all stir the mixture before placing it into the tins to cook! New Ovens are tricky though the top of a couple are a tad too brown or should I say black but with more brandy and icing sugar they will be just fine! the children also need to see there is nothing perfect about life it is how we react to it all!
So to all our American friends I hope you have a happy thanksgiving and know that our thoughts are with you as your days get shorter and cold and as ours try and warm up!
Hugs Ruth

Nana heads home!

Well after a fraught 3 weeks Nana is now deemed well enough to head home back to living by herself with support! That is the bit she doesn't like but the other options were really Frightening for her.
She has been diagnosed with dementia and that living independently will be from now on a month by month assessment!
Her legs are clearing up but they need to be dressed so a district nurse will head to her house each day!
She has to have her home help shower her once a week and that will be frustrating for her and no more adventures out to town!
So we have a very grumpy Mum/MIL/ Nana.
What has been so interesting for us is how nice everyone thinks she is and how compliant! However they pushed her too hard yesterday with new rules and she vented it was so good for her to do that and now we are all on the same page!
But she is excited about heading home.
Now it is a wait and see game which may be a frustrating time a head for us!
Hugs Ruth

Aiden's Gt Grandma is sick!

Aiden's Birth great grandma is sick so this adds a new level of stress in the house! Grandad Denys has been up to Napier again this week and it sounds like it isn't a good position for her. She is in hospital again and it looks like the nursing home she was in she wont be returning too. more supervised care is going to be required!
So send all your thoughts to Aiden His Birth Mother Toni and Grandad Denys as we weather this storm out!
Hugs Ruth