2016 Begins

Whilst Steve and I were in New Zealand we talked about taking it easy on the old dining out in the early part of 2016 and he wanted to lay off the booze a bit. Take it a bit easier he said! So to aid the staying in we bought a Weber! Influenced by James who we stayed with in NZ and seeing it in action contributed to our decision.

So the new toy came home with us along with various other accessories so Steve could make BBQ magic and the boy has done well!

We've enjoyed various home cooked delights with the Weber including an apple and strawberry crumble!

Facebook has had a Way Back When trend and funnily enough my family started WhatsApping some delights from the family archives beginning with my mum sending through some of her wedding pictures! My little sis looks so much like her and Amelia looks so much like my little sis! There are some true classics and I have spent a lot of time looking at them and laughing to myself. The picture of my cousin Carine in a pink outfit with helmet hair is a delight!

It's also been my birthday and I spent the day at work. My boss (relatively new as I changed roles in November) left a box of gourmet chocolates on my desk as she had the day off in my honour! She went fishing with her nephews! And I felt so loved as friends swung by my desk with gifts and good wishes and there was a gorgeous delivery from my little sis. Unpictured is the mini raspberry tart that was gifted to me by my team member Debbie that I had for breakfast and incidentally, I ended the day with a miniature lemon tart! 

Birthday lunch was a delicious birthday burger feast complete with candle with Stef and Royal Stacks and birthday dinner was pasta at Tipo 00 with Kirsty and her mum.  And there were more gifts at home and also from Kirsty including a spa voucher from Steve and an additional one from my in laws including parents in law and aunty and uncle in law and cousins in law! Double spa time - winning! Especially in January when Steve works super hard. I think his gift of spa voucher is also a gift in disguise for him as it keeps me out of his hair!

We've been to every Australian Open since we've been in Melbourne and this year was no exception.

We had great seats behind the umpire a dozen or so rows back. They were meant to be in the sun but the morning was wet so the roof was closed and when it dried off we missed the majority of the sun but it was warm. We did get some sun but we hadn't brought any sunscreen until I remembered I had a mini sample 10 ml tube in my make up bag so that prevented burnt thighs and knees and Steve scoffed at the size of it but but served him well!

We caught up with Kirsty and her mum after the games on Rod Laver and we enjoyed a Legends game with Ivanisivic, Bahrami, Forget and Pat Cash before an evening wine. It was a great day out and we didn't get home till late. 

It's Australia Day today (Tuesday) and it's a public holiday. It feels a bit like a Sunday though and we enjoyed lunch at a local pub and Steve barbecued lamb for dinner. Traditionally for Australia Day, families and friends gather for BBQs and we felt we had our Aussie Day festivities actually on Sunday as Shern and Jon invited us round. Some great BBQ food, salads and lamingtons for dessert. Very traditionally Australian even if there was only one true Australian amongst us!

And now I leave you with a slide show of Amelia's Christmas adventures and some other family pics. She started nursery this week! Such a grown up! We're very proud of her because there's been no crying and she has done so well at settling in. We'll be seeing her in July for a family holiday in Malaysia and I'm so excited. We have proper conversations on the phone now and she really knows how to get round Steve. Her openers have been "I love you. Can we go on holiday?" How can he say no?