She quickly roused everyone else out of bed for present opening.

They didn’t get a lot this year in physical presents but tickets to see Annie from Nan & Pop and tickets to the Harry Potter exhibit and a night in Sydney from us (all co-ordinated to be on the same weekend).

After presents we got dressed and went to have breakfast at the buffet again.

Today I had a strawberry smoothie shot – actually I had two . And there were chick pea patties today. Of course, I had some of the rye bread and a pastry.

We’ve really enjoyed the live music during meals. Today we had Christmas carols.

Christy had to leave during breakfast to finish having her hair braided.

Then it was time to go watch for Santa’s arrival at the beach. The girls (bottom, right of photo) went down to sit in the water, and you can see Santa right near the reef line.

He arrived via kayak, after a big walk along the reef line (poor Santa), and handed out lollies to the kids.

Such a fun idea. But I have to wonder what the kids(used to a fat, white Santa) thought of this black Fijian one.

While we were there our old neighbours found us. They are currently living and working in Fiji and stopped by on their way to a Christmas lunch. I haven’t seen them in many years so it was lovely to catch up and I know Mum & Dad really enjoyed the visit. Kevin spent the time giving i-pad lessons to their daughter .

When they left at 12.30pm we headed for the pool and scouted out some lounges in the shade.

We went straight in for a swim, then read…

while waiting for lunch to arrive. Today I had a BBQ wrap, it was chicken but they made it vegetarian. And OMG it was delicious. I’ll definitely be having this again before we leave.

After a few more hours of swimming, reading, trying to sleep, and an ice-cream, we went back to the room where I showered and got ready for tonight (including makeup!!!) and enjoyed a cup of tea and a magazine. We didn’t see much of Christy today as she spent much of it with a new friend.

We had our turn down service early today (I assume due to limited staff).

And at 6pm headed to the Sundowner bar and grill for our Christmas dinner.

Loved the special Christmas cocktails – how cute are they?

The table was set beautifully.

We took some photos just as the rain pulled in.

I don’t know why Kevin always looks so unimpressed. I promise he is having a good time.

He looked a bit cheerier when his Santa’s Kiss cocktail arrived.

The first course of our four courses – bread. Yummy. The lighting is very dull EVERYWHERE indoors here in Fiji so you’ll have to excuse the dark photos.

Time to pull the crackers and tell some corny jokes.

Course 2…. On my goodness….SOOOOO much food.

We loved the guitar player. He was amazing. There was a mix of Christmas music and classics.

The girls had ducked out half way through dinner but Amy came back towards the end.

Third course…. we asked them to bring less food… not sure if they listened…

My plate….plus more potatoes…

Fourth and final course….dessert….this yule log was my favourite….

Christmas pudding…

and ice cream….

A very delicious and delightful end to Christmas Day in Fji.

Hope you all had a wonderful day, wherever and however you celebrate.

This year I was far too busy to make cards so ordered some online from Snapfish. These were a fold out card and I love how it turned out. Lots of photos to reflect our year.

We’re in the midst of packing for Fiji – our limo is arriving at 5am tomorrow to take us to the airport (yikes!) so this might be my last post till we’re there. In case I forget – I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Once we decided we’d be spending Christmas in Fiji we knew we’d really miss spending Christmas Eve with our friends – a tradition dating back to my childhood. So we decided we’d have a pre Christmas Eve party before we left. Now I was either having too much fun or my arthritis was bothering me or both, but I have hardly ANY photos. It was dreary day but a few brave souls (i.e. kids) had a swim. And poor Sarah (Powell) wasn’t able to come as she has the chicken pox.

However, there were games….

There were laughs…

There was punch made by Kevin…

There was pizza….

There were yummy desserts…

There were friends and family…

There were kids who did not want their photo taken…

There were very cute babies…

There were puppies with presents…

There was the mayhem of gift-giving and present unwrapping…

There were good times had by all….

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iUIZToBlUk

It’s not  much of a tour this year as I haven’t decorated the whole home but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Front entrance….

Rather naked Christmas Tree…

Christmas Village….

Kitchen…

My desk….

If you want to see more decorated home be sure to drop by the Nesting Place for the 2011 Christmas Tour of Homes.

Well I’m happy to say that Christmas 2010 went much better and was more enjoyable than 2009. Except for being crazy busy for most of December and a slight stress attack on the 23rd everything went swimmingly.

There were goodies to be baked and eaten…

cards to be made and posted…

presents to be wrapped …

and opened…

shortbread and milk to be left for Santa….

good times to be had with friends and family…

tables to be set…

Christmas lunch to be made and enjoyed…

toys to be played with…

a movie to be watched…

and a nap to be had…by a lucky few…

and lots of cute photos to be taken…

I have made a slideshow video which has lots more photos – hopefully it’ll be loaded later today. Meanwhile, today is all about a jammie day – pottering around getting the house back in order, having leftovers for lunch with Mum & Dad and watching some of our UK trip video.

This is my favourite photo so far this season…

Reflections… a prompt for Picture the Holidays…which I am also behind in .

Plenty of shopping – love using my Christmas bags.

Flowers in Christmas colours and my new tablecloth by Dandi (a new discovery – great quality)

Christmas albums – love getting these out and reflecting on past Christmases.

The print and wooden reindeer are two of my new purchases this year. Both were bought in Canberra.

And a scene from our Christmas village.

The internet is painfully slow this morning so I’ll share some more later.

Saw this on Rachel’s blog (think it’s doing the rounds) and thought it a fun idea.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, though sometimes wrapped presents will get put into gift bags

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artifical – always has been. It would be fun to have a real tree – they sure do look great – but I’d feel bad about killing the tree .

3. When do you put up the tree? The last few years it’s been mid-November

4. When do you take the tree down? After boxing day – which is why I put the tree up so early

5. Favorite gift received as a child? Toss up between Baby Alive, a guitar, trampoline and roller skating (the daggy kind that clipped on to your shoes).

6. Hardest person to buy for? My Mum or Dad – they seem to take turns each year. Mum’s birthday being in December doesn’t make it easy.

7. Easiest person to buy for? ME!!! I never have trouble buying a present for myself . The kids are pretty easy as well, though it’s getting harder as they get older.

8. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail and it’s still homemade for me

9. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas with the Kranks. Love the Santa Claus movies too.

10. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually October – just buying things as I see them. Most is done in December.

11. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Probably.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? It was Santa Mallows until they stopped making them. Now it’s shortbread and Gingerbread muffins.

13. Lights on the tree (colored or clear)? Clear – white, definitely not blue.

14. Favorite Christmas song? Driving home for Christmas – Chris Rea

15. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home – ever since Amy was born

16. Angel, star or ribbon on top of tree? A silver star, though I like the idea of ribbon

17. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning, with PJs given to the girls on Christmas Eve.

18. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? How crowded the shopping centers get. Luckily I’m a morning person and can organise to get their early. We also have end of school year so it’s a very busy time socially.

19. What do you want for Christmas this year? To enjoy our first Christmas Day without any extended family.

20. Traditional colors (red and green) or other colors? Uusally red, white and silver – but this year I’m going silver and purple for xmas lunch.

Please let me know if you do this. It’s a fun way to think about the season.

Best of all, nothing arrived broken. They won’t replace any international breakages and last time I had a tea pot break. This time it was packed much better.

Three beautiful Christmas mugs… how will I choose which one to use each day….

a very cute tea pot for one…

a large Christmas tea pot…. to serve tea to guests….

a tea pot cossie….I’ve never owned one before but this was so cute…and it actually works… great for a big tea drinker like me

some cookies I couldn’t resist buying… being that chocolate and orange together is my very favourite combination.

and another jug to use as a vase…

There was also 2 Christmas towels . Indulgent yes, but they are making me so happy….and they were on sale .