Beach day

Now that we don't have a pool anymore we have to head to the beach for a refreshing dip. Today was very hot and with a gentle off shore breeze it was perfect. So we set up our little umbrella...

Did some body boarding...

Enjoyed the sun...

Pretended to be an ironman...

And went home feeling nice and refreshed.

I finished my quilt on Boxing day that had been a work in progress for a few months. I am very happy with the end result...

Christmas Day

On Christmas Eve Nicole, Janelle and Sarah got together with Kelsie and Teagan to go Christmas light looking. They decorated Kelsie's car, turned up the stereo with Christmas carols and off they went for a few hours...

They had a great time getting into the spirit while Peter was home in bed with a migraine and I was at work.

Christmas day was fairly quiet, here's how we spent it...

We had our present opening session at home..

Follwed by our traditional photo shoot...

Little Sonic also came to visit and seemed happy with his little bone...

Then we packed up and went over to Busselton for lunch at Mum and Dad J's house. First more presents to open...

Then some lovely food to enjoy...

A nap for Sarah...

Some "brain training" for Janelle...

A chance for Nicole to show us her Hannah Montana impersonation (thanks to Mara's present)...

A mum and daughters rest on the couch...

A Nanna and grand daughters photo...

Some very crackly music from the old gramaphone...

Then it was back home to clean up our mess...

And finally put some water in our new spa...

And get some bubbles!...

After a lovely walk down the beach and a feed of leftovers we climbed into the spa (much to Bella's disgust as she couldn't see us) and relaxed for an hour.

Bliss!

Its here

Today after many weeks of waiting our new spa arrived. It took 4 men to get it off the truck and into position (well we are still debating where it will go permanently).

We now have to read the instruction book (much to Peter's disgust) and watch the supplied dvd on how to set it up and operate it. So we may not be enjoying the soothing bubbles for a day or two.Last week at the high school assembly Sarah received an award for her excellent work in Society and Environment....

Well done Sezzles!

Now that all that hard work at school is over for the year she just can't seem to get out of bed in the morning...

10am was todays get up time.

Janelle made some truffles today and I started my annual Christmas pudding but it didn't get much further than this...

It will be steaming away for 5 hours tomorrow.

Recognition

Even though my 10 year anniversary with Woolies was a few weeks ago, last night the manager presented me with an official recognition...

I got a "10 Year" badge, a certificate of achievement and a $100 gift card.

Dummies and Gnocchi

A few months ago Sarah decided she would like to do some volunteer work in the community. She loves fossicking through second hand stores we thought the Salvos would be a good place to go. We had to go through the high school for insurance purposes and fill out a few forms.

She is enjoying the work they have been giving her to do. Today was special as she got to dress the window dummies for the first time in her choice of clothes...

I did notice they all had the high waist trend happening!

Janelle decided to use some more of our large potato supply and make some Gnocchi. She has already made Potato soup and Potato scones. It was a good idea until we realised how much mess and how long it took to make!

It was yummy and it used up over another kilo of potatoes (and a kilo of tomatoes to make a sauce to go with it).

Ironman

Today Janelle and I drove over to Busselton to watch some of the Ironman. This is certainly a tough race with the competitors having to do a 3.8km swim followed by a 180km bike ride and finishing off with a 42km run. We got there when they were already over 7 hours into the race...

It was a very hot day with the temperature reaching the mid 30's. We watched some runners going through the food and water stations, they also wet them with a spray of water...

Then we had a look at the transition area with all the bikes...

We had a look in some of the big tents they had set up with things for sale etc before making our way to the finish area. We got some seats in a grandstand not far from the finish and in the shade. It was a great view. The first guy came in with a time of 8 hours 13 mins, he was from New Celedonia , second place getter was from Scotland and third from Denmark.

We decided to stay and wait for the first female. She was from New Zealand and finished in 9 hours 16 mins. Her name is Gina Crawford and Janelle was very inspired by her. She has found her blog and having a good read about her training etc.

We left just before 4pm and there were still some competitors doing the bike riding. They would be running well into the night!