Ben went to Shanghai for work the week before Christmas. He was able to shop at the airport and buy wonderful outfits for Jack and Ella and a very nice Tiger Eye stone bracelet for me. Good job Ben! Jack loves his outfit and did martial art moves the rest of the night. Ella would go and look at herself in the mirror over and over.
We wanted to watch a move that night, so we had the kids over a couple of more presents. They opened up coloring books from Jennifer and new crayons.
We have recently moved to an apartment complex right by Sydney Olympic Park, where the Olympic games were held in 2000. There are many parks and nice facilities in the park. The kids had fun playing at this playground which is right next to the water feature in the pictures below.
Jennifer knows how much Jack loves Scooby Doo and sent him some Christmas decorations to hang on the windows. Jack and Ella put up the scooby doo stickers all over the windows and have moved them around a number of times.
Here are more pictures of Patrick and Maeve with Jack and Ella…
Jack will be headed to Kindergarten at St. Marys at the end of January, so I wanted to get a couple of pictures with Ms Jo and Ms Belinda before he left.
Anne had a North American Christmas Party with us, friends Nadeane and Kevin with boys Ryan and Nick (from Conyers, GA), Erin from Canada (Chris and Alexa could not make due to being sick). Anne cooked a wonderful turkey - it was so good!! We had missed turkey and all the food associated. The kids and I received wonderful presents. Below are a few images of Jack and Patrick playing with their velcro ball gloves from Erin.
Still opening Christmas presents…these are mostly from Santa. Ella was given a new baby (that she can get in the bath with her) and a stroller. Jack was given a car park (and about 20 new cars from Michael, a really nice guy upstairs). They have a new table and chair set with fake food. Ella likes to set up the table with her babies, it is amazing how long she will play. She moves the table inside/outside, by the tv, by the big table, arranges babies, they go in the chair/in the stroller, Jack gets served… Jack likes to play with his car park, but it is hard to play and keep Ella from demolishing. Jack loves his new videos from Nana and Papa Wene.
I have just now uploaded the pics from Ella’s birthday at Anne’s house. The weather was cool, we couldn’t go to the pool, so Anna invited us over to celebrate. She set out snacks for the kids, they played and Ella was given a really nice shape puzzle and a threading set. The toys were a hit as the kids are still dragging them out.
The kids liked prancing around the house in their Santa Hats.
Ben’s work organized a wonderful Christmas Party for the employees and their families. The event was held at a bowling alley. There was lots of food, prizes, bowling, laser tag and video games for the families to enjoy. Jack and Ella loved bowling.
