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.
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.
posted by Kim family in Singapore at 7:06 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home