It's a long time since I've been here or even visited anyone so I thought I'd take time to do a bit of a roundup of the past month or so.
I hope you don't get too bored while I catch you up :)
It's been a busy time since the end of October. At the end of the month my sister in law celebrated her 84th birthday and then the following weekend she and her husband celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Only half their family were able to make it to their celebration dinner but the whole bridal party were in attendance. Unfortunately no one got a photo of them together. We all had an enjoyable evening together - and the waiter was a robot :)
Family at 60th wedding anniversary dinner.
I've already shared about clearing out the two spare bedrooms and then before we knew it it was time to head to the airport to pick up my sister who was arriving from Australia. Grandson arrived the following morning on the redeye flight and was picked up by his aunty, she was already up and had been at work so volunteered.
It was a busy few days with sis wanting to catch up on all the family so we had lots of visits, coffees and meals out.
On the morning the day before the wedding Grandson rang his sister, the bride, to have a chat. She was in a bit of a fluster trying to get the venue set up with only a couple of others helping her so we all piled in the car and went over to help. It looked lovely by the time we had finished, even if some of us had no idea how to tie a bow. I just pretended I was tying a bow in a little girls sash.
Then it was back to the house to finish blowing up balloons to take round to decorate the newlyweds house and bedroom. Someone decided it would be a nice idea to put red balloons, petals and chocolates in their room to surprise them when they arrived back after the wedding. I think they enjoyed it :) I hope so.
I'd like to say the wedding day dawned sunny and warm but no. It was fine but no sun and a very cold wind. The bride's dress was backless, sleeveless and beautiful and she must have been frozen as it was an outdoor wedding. The venue was lovely but to be honest I was hoping they'd move it indoors. We weren't the only ones who went home between the ceremony and the reception to have a warm drink. Caitlin was given away by her paternal grandfather, he looked so proud. Her father had passed away when she was just 13 years old. It was good to catch up with them again.
proud Grandad and Granma with Caitlin
The reception was fun, it was only a small wedding and most people knew each other. Round tables and family groups.
The next day we were all invited to a barbecue lunch at Caitlin and Brayden's. It was also a chance for the kids to come as well, they hadn't been invited to the wedding. We spent a relaxing couple of hours chatting, playing with the kids, they had outdoor games set out for them and catching up again.
Then it was home for a freshen up and out again for dinner at a Chinese restaurant in town with our son and his wife. We were celebrating his 50th birthday. Just them, his sisters, their husbands, his aunty and us. A lovely immediate family time.
We'd spent part of Friday wrapping little parcels - 50 silly presents for 50 years. It was a lot of fun watching him open them all.
And I've also had a Christmas/end of year function to attend where the food was delicious and we sang Christmas carols accompanied by the harp. So unusual and lovely.
And after all that Sis got back home and discovered she had covid. Youngest daughter and I are currently recovering and my GKB has come down with it. Wonder if we picked it up at the wedding? Who knows. We were out and about a lot that week.
So, I hope you haven't been too bored - if you got this far.
Keep well and enjoy this Advent season.
Diana
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