My view on Christmas morning at 6:01am.

I mean, Chance was ready to give me my gifts at 5:00am so I can’t really complain!

I had the privelege of hosting my extended family on Christmas day and boy was it a cracker! (Pun intended. Always.) I put my hand up to have it at our place months ago, and enjoyed the anticipation and planning in the lead up to the big day. That’s half the fun, isn’t it? Anticipation is the absolute best. Even though I had been pottering downstairs on and off for days, Christmas Eve came around and I still hadn’t cleared out the area adequately. I was starting to get a little frazzled and wondered how on Earth I was going to get it all done. Thankfully, I have incredible friends who came to my rescue and whisked the kids away for two hours so I could really get stuck into it.

Everyone had a blast, and on their return, the kids couldn’t believe how much I had gotten done. It’s amazing what I can achieve when I’m not interrupted every five minutes!

I love my dodgy old house. So many random nails to hang stuff up on, and reminds me of our house growing up in Kelvin Grove – that old, homely feel. We really are so happy here. Anyway back to Christmas! Christmas Eve evening we hosted our dear friends for dinner and a little gift exchange. I didn’t get a photo of the adults, but we did get one of the kids. This is a last year/this year comparison shot.

Christmas morning was a flurry of excitement as usual, but we do try and take the time to unwrap each gift separately and enjoy each other’s excitement. Gran and Grumpy joined us mid-morning for more fun and lots of great food!

We got to have a relaxed morning and lunch time, just setting up, listening to Christmas music and trying to stay as cool and hydrated as possible! The kids had amazing time on the water castle we borrowed from our friends! Darby kept calling it the HoGo, and Julius explained that it was “half waterslide, half jumping castle and half pool.”

I mean, he’s not wrong! But Why did Darby call it the HoGo? I kept wondering that until I saw the box, and it all made sense.

I didn’t get a photo with the kids on the day (such a face-palm) but I did sneak a selfie here and there.

There were a few absentees which is generally the way – so hard to get everyone together, and so understandable at this time of year, and our first Christmas without our beloved Nan – but we had a wonderful turn out and everyone had a great time, as usual.

Amazing food, the best family, some wonderful gifts, and the weather, although a little fickle, was actually quite pleasent for the most part. More wonderful memories made with some of my nearest and dearest, and more loved poured into our beautiful home.

I hope your Christmas had somewhere between a splash and tidal wave of goodness and that your New Year has begun with hope and anticipation. Ours has certainly been eventful but that’s a story for another day.