Christmas 2011

What a wonderful Christmas we are enjoying this year! To begin with, Dave has a paid leave for 17 days! It's the first time in years that Dave has received a paid holiday. It's a nice benefit.

We went to Christmas Carols on the lawn at EV Church. It was a lot of fun! Neo had learned a song and happily sang along on stage. I love singing Christmas Carols. We all enjoyed BBQ and a time with friends. The kids each consumed their own fairy floss too. One of the highlights of the night for Tristan was chasing the young people wearing trash bags adorned with lollies. What a unique way of distributing candy :)

Neo sings for Carols Night

Christmas Eve day was spent chasing around for last minute food items in the morning. Followed by an afternoon at the medical centre with Neo who had a fever of 102.5 F by 3pm. I knew it would only get worse. The waiting room was packed when we arrived. The doctor was wonderful and spotted the middle ear infection immediately. Neo had conjunctivitis too. We were fortunate the pharmacy was open until 6pm for urgent cases like ours.

At 2:30am Christmas morning, Neo made his way to our bed, stopping by the Christmas tree to check on Santa's progress :) After a quick dose of pain meds, he was content to return to sleep for a few more hours. Zoe was awake at 5:30am wanting to announce the arrival of Christmas to the slumbering household. I convinced her to hold off until 6am. The 3 younger children flew to the tree and distributed gifts while I woke Clara. Clara was not impressed with the hour, regardless of the day, and returned to her bed, where she remained until a more respectable 8am.

The PJs are wonderful and fit quite well. Thanks Aunt Ranae and Grandma Stallman. :)

Thanks so much everyone for sending packages. The children were very happy with their gifts! Tristan's Ipod touch was a gift from Grandma Sorenson, Grandma & Grandpa Smith and us. Likewise for Zoe's Nintendo 3DS. Clara's big gift was a unicycle and Neo received a bicycle and helmet. The books were well received. Zoe is thrilled with her Peter Rabbit mini books. The gifts from the Met from Aunt Jen and Uncle Bob were spot on. Thanks so much! We always love goodies from Trader Joes. Dave is looking forward being in the stands on 5 January for Australia v India Test Cricket at the Sydney Cricket Grounds.

Beautiful weather for the cabana.

The weather Christmas day was awesome! Sunny, with a bit of breeze and 80F. We swam in the pool and sat out in the cabana.

Clara and I braved boxing day for the 3DS Mario Kart game, new clothes for each of us, new earrings from the jeweler for Clara and a Kindle for me.

Happy New Year to all!

Completion of the 2011 School Year

Neo graduated from Preschool.

Today, December 16, is the last day of school! In the last few days, there have been parties, a talent show, a "thank you" tea, Christmas carols, and report cards. All these events were wonderful and treasured.

Tristan on Presentation Day

We received two invitations to attend "Presentation Day" at Copacabana Public School to see Zoe and Tristan receive awards. Tristan had earned an honor and was to be awarded. There are 6 students from each classroom awarded for various academic or citizenship achievements. Tristan received top honor from his teacher, Mrs. Wilson. His award was for "Academic Achievement and Effort in All Key Learning Areas". He also received a book.

Zoe examines her award on Presentation Day

Zoe and Tristan were both recognized as people who had completed the Premier's Reading Challenge. Zoe also received a sports Pennant for competing at the Brisbane Water level of Cross Country running.

One of the paintings that was submitted for Clara

Neo had a Christmas party with his preschool class. He also participated in a graduation ceremony. There will be a family Christmas party on Monday night at the Surf club. Neo is thrilled to be ready for "big school".

We are excited for Clara as her painting will be on display in a local art gallery. Her teacher submitted two of her paintings on her behalf for the selection committee. Her painting will be part of an exhibition displayed from 16 February to 14 March at the Gosford Regional Art Gallery. According to the Exhibition website, "around 80 artists were chosen from 300 submitted to appear. The link to the Gallery Exhibitions page is here. In addition, she received an award for being the "best Visual Artist in Year 8".

Clara's painting that will be exhibited....here it's not finished.

We are very proud of each of our children and their achievements this year.