After our time at Hunter Valley, we dropped in at Stuart and Paula's home at Avoca Beach and caught up with them as well as Scott and Anna Marsh. And we got to meet all the children including the gorgeous Stella Marsh and beautiful little Angeline Poll. Of course, Annabella was all grown up now and Noah will be the next Hercules - tall, muscular, strong, but with a sweet face and a fantastic laugh. Though brief it was really lovely and surreal to be meeting up in Australia after spending a few years with them in Singapore.

I took advantage of the fact that Alan is a dentist and working in Sydney to finish up the crown that was oh, so expensive to do it had it been anyone else doing it. He did a nice job and my tooth feels so much better. I just have to return another time to do the other 3 molars now.... Dentists are far more useful than doctors in my opinion...

A dear friend Monique and her family who I had known in Singapore more than 3 years ago, who has since moved to San Francisco was holidaying in Sydney week before the new year. So I got to catch up with her and meet her beautiful daughter Quinn. We looked after Quinn while Monique and Jay attended a wedding and I have never looked after an easier 2 year old. I was beginning to wonder where I was going wrong with my 2 kids! She stayed overnight with us and we took her to Balmoral the next day to meet Monique and Jay for lunch at the Bathers Pavilion which was really lovely.

Not long after that it was New Year and then it was time for us to return back to Singapore. We had such a lovely time in Sydney with family and friends and the weather was really nice and cool too. However, we would be lying if we didn't admit that we were also looking forward to go back to some routine and our home. And Matthew had developed asthma while in Sydney due to the pollen and mould, so we were keen to go home in hope that the symptoms would calm down which they did.

2007 now, I wonder what our almighty God has in store for us!

These are some photos taken in Sydney and the Hunter during this time.

I started off December with a week in Sydney with just Mia. It was enjoyable just having some one on one time with her for a change. We stayed with my parents in Epping and I caught up with family and some friends. Mia started off very clingy, but after the first week, she started to relax. How much of that is because her big brother and daddy arrived after a week, I am not sure.

The weather was surprisingly cool and we had to borrow and buy a few warmer clothes for the kids. Wei-Han worked the first week that he was golfed some, and we caught up with some close friends and extended family. For the rest of the time, we mostly took the kids out for short trips to the city, Luna Park, Manly and the likes, though we couldn't take the kids out daily as missing their naps got ugly. We also spent an hour or so occasionally driving Mia around whilst she slept. She liked these expensive naps....

Christmas Eve was fun as we started our tradition with our immediate family on the Yap side as well as the extended family who hadn't gone off elsewhere for holidays. It was held at my parents' house. My cousin, Jack was the amiable Santa this year. Though Matthew was playing well with Jack only a few minutes before that, he wasn't so keen on the white bearded young man next to the Christmas tree. So Jack removed the beard and Matthew was happy being Santa's little helper and distributed presents to everyone. Of course, Matthew and Mia were spoilt silly with presents. Especially Matthew who received toys from almost everyone. The night ended with the cousins playing poker once the kids had gone to bed, and their parents chatting which was different as the parents usually played mahjong or some card game.

We spent Christmas morning at St Thomas Anglican Church with Fiona's parents and Daniel and Patricia. The service was really special and as usual, Simon Manchester's message was brilliant. God has really gifted this man in evangelism and communication.

We spent Christmas lunch at Wei-Han's parents home with Wei-Hoe and Chui-Yan. It was a lovely relaxed lunch and we got to open presents before Mia went down for her nap. O course, the kids got spoilt silly again : )

Shortly after Christmas, we drove to Hunter Valley and spent 2 nights there with our families on both sides. We stayed at the rustic Lovedale Cottages, which had a good indoor pool, a putting green, tennis court and a strip for cricket practice. Lots of things for kids to do, but of course, being in sterile Singapore for so long, I found the floors a little too dusty and was watchful of the seemingly giant red ants crawling everywhere outside. But it was nice to see chooks running around outside freely, some even waiting at our door in the mornings presumably waiting for some leftover bread, which of course Matthew and Mia happily obliged.

Wei-Han, Wei-Hoe and Nathan (Wei-Han's good mate from school) got to play a round of golf at one of the nice golf courses designed by Greg Norman himself. They had a good time there. Some of us visited some wineries, while others played or minded our kids. I got to spend a little time with my beautiful niece Emma too which was nice. When Mia was around me, she would get incredibly upset whenever I carried Emma. I just discovered only yesterday that if I held a baby and brought the baby down to her level, Mia is totally ok with it! Her curiousity got better of her jealousy.

While at the Hunter, my mum who had an infected navel felt worse and was admitted to Cessnock Hospital overnight. She spent most of her time in the Hunter at the hospital and we were all bummed about that. But she got better and the infection recovered well and that was the main thing.

It was a real treat to do something like that and with growing young families, I don't know how how many more times we will be doing this, so this was really special.