A Kiwi Christmas

An early start as expected led to the most wonderful day. Our previous years have been in our old house, this one was the first in our new house which we moved into in January this year, and special it was.

Christmas Eve Michael and I put up Bethany's present from Santa which was a playhouse. We covered it in a sheet and we popped a note on from Santa. We were terrified though she would wander in through the night and spoil the surprise!!

Luckily she didn't, and it was kept as a wonderful surprise for the morning. Although you will see from the video a normally loud Bethany was quietly stunned I think. For the first time this year she actually took her time to open her presents, carefully giving each one the appreciation it deserved.

We had a lovely morning, mammy and daddy enjoyed their first glass of bubbly at 8.12am!!

Daddy was given a Scalextric by Santa (seems you can never be too old!) and I was given some beautiful jewellery. Good job Santa!

I then set to making a traditional roast dinner. It's been something we have always done in both families, it's something that Michael and I have fond memories of. The moments of sitting around the table with the ones you love sharing in the happiness of the day. This is something we want Bethany to have memories of too, so on the BBQ went the Turkey and the Pork....and they emerged with mouthwatering results too.

After a few more bottles of bubbly we couldn't do anything else but lay back on the sofa and watch Bethany play with her new toys.

It certainly gets harder being away from our parents every year, that's one thing that never gets easier. Skype is the most amazing invention ever, I cannot ever be more thankful than for Skype, to be able to talk to the ones you love 'face to face' is unbelievable.

A magical day, even Denver had a pile of presents for him to enjoy and he loved all the left over dinner! Thank you all dear family and friends for not only thinking if us but for keeping our love alive despite the distance.

Anyway, in true Dawes style, here is a video of our 2008 Kiwi Christmas...