Christmas

Christmas in New Zealand is definitely a new experience. Not only is it warm, when we are used to bundling up in coats & gloves but there aren't many Christmas decorations on the homes. Sure the mall is decorated but we are accustomed to seeing 1000's of twinkle lights, huge blow-up Santas and lots of evergreens beautifully adorned everywhere. And, I haven't found a radio station dedicated to playing 24/7 Christmas tunes so we've resorted to cd's. I'm not at all complaining because I love the fact that the kids get to experience a warm "beachy" Christmas and have a summer holiday at the end of a very busy year. It's just taking some getting used to and almost seems surreal that it's really Christmas. It has made me more in tune to the reason we celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It's easier to focus on the true reason of the season without all the usual distractions. Another blessing of our journey.

Last weekend, while Ben was on call, I took the kids to have their picture taken with Santa. It was so fun gearing up for the visit to the mall. They were so excited to know Santa came to our mall to see them and couldn't wait to meet him. We wrote our Santa's lists before we left so we could put them in his mailbox to take back to the North Pole.

We arrived at the mall, and after a trip to the loo (why they can't go before we leave the house is beyond me) we got in line to see ol' Father Christmas. While waiting MaeMae insisted she did not want to sit on his lap. We finally got our turn and Calvin sat down beside him but MaeMae still refused. I sat Caroline down on his lap, she took one look at him and started shrieking. Poor gal was scared to death so I ended up with the girls on my lap and we got one good pic. What a funny experience! Caroline was shattered the rest of the day, grabbing me if anyone said hello to her.

Summer Holiday

Come late December and thousands of Kiwis get ready for their annual holiday. They look forward to lazy days at the beach or the bach (or crib), games of backyard cricket, food on the barbie and the holiday uniform of shorts, jandals and T-shirts. From before Christmas until after the New Year, we take our summer holidays – some people have said it’s our end-of-year prize for being a New Zealander.

The pohutukawa tree with its crimson flower has become an established part of the New Zealand Christmas tradition. This iconic Kiwi Christmas tree, which often features on greeting cards and in poems and songs, has become an important symbol for New Zealanders at home and abroad.

Trimming our little NZ tree...

The kids had fun and it was fast...voila! Done in 5 minutes!

Caroline has gotten the "say cheese" part down pat.

MaeMae's Santa List.

Calvin's Santa List.

There he is! We are so excited at this point...

Delivering their Santa lists in his mail box.

Off they go to the North Pole for the elves to start making!

MaeMae managed a smile, Caroline was shrieking and Calvin was cool, calm and collected. Santa didn't know what to think of this bunch. :) They each got a santa chocolate afterwards and were happy to go play at the food court play area. It was a fun day, despite the tears. We definitely missed dad who had a terribly long week and on-call weekend.