Our Christmas holidays were filled with a few fun adventures, beginning to paint the outside of our house, a beautiful friend’s wedding, delicious food (bacon jam being a major highlight) and many special family moments.
Celebrating 27 years married to this guy today! ❤️
They say that it’s not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages. Whether that is true or not, I’m so thankful to have found a guy who is not only an amazing husband but also the dearest of friends.
Thank you for your unwavering faithfulness and for making me laugh on a daily basis.
We recently got to attend our son’s graduation ceremony as he received his Bachelor of Nursing degree. There were limited numbers to attend but it was so special to have most of our family able to be there, especially my Dad who hasn’t been well. It was also Dad’s birthday!
So proud of you Mykah! You’ve worked so hard during a difficult three years filled with so many disruptions and difficult moments (hello Covid!).
It was so special to be able to celebrate with you!
It’s a new year, so the perfect time to upgrade the photo wall in our kitchen with some of the highlights of 2022.
It’s definitely grown in size since our kitchen renovation back in 2016 (see here).
Originally, I ordered the prints through Social Print Studio and they were amazing quality but not cheap. This time I did them effortlessly through Harvey Norman Photos choosing 4x4” and the white boarder. I also applied them using double sided tape rather than my original method years ago of blue sticky dots that did not last well!
Such a great way to celebrate each year that has passed and get those lovely photos out of your phone or camera and displayed.
If you want to do the same (or even print an annual photo book - I’ll save that for another post) I encourage you to create a folder on your phone for a photo wall or album and throughout the year when you take photos you love, add them to the album. That means when it’s time to create, the photos are there and ready to go.
December was a tough month as it included burying Symon's mum along with me injuring my back, then the family getting covid again! But there were so many beautiful moments throughout it as well, just like the year of 2022.
Highlights for the year included going to Wellington with my daughter Shemayah, our church thriving despite a tough season, Mykah graduating as a registered Nurse, amazing moments with friends and family, the best Christmas Production, finishing more renovations to our house, and Totoro coming into our lives.
I'm sure I've missed things but I’m going to keep this “1 second a day” daily snippet tradition I post monthly over on my instagram going as it reminds me every day to take a second each day and be thankful no matter what the circumstances.
To check out our one second of every day for a year video, visit here!
Happy New Year everyone!
To check out my annual year in reviews, visit here.
This Christmas will be a little bit different with two of our family members missing this year - Symon’s Mum (Grandma) and my Nana (June Nan).
It felt strange this year not purchasing them their usual Christmas treats. Mum Drake always loved and looked forward to her annual homemade calendar featuring photos of the kids, grandkids and great grandkids from throughout that previous year.
While June Nan always loved her chocolate covered ginger. She knew I got it for her every year, but without fail would act surprised.
Memories are funny things, often triggered by locations, smells and traditions. This means occasions like Christmas are filled with treasured memories and often time when loss is involved it can make those seasons extra hard.
I still miss my brother dearly, nearly 23 years later, but cherish one of my most favourite Christmas memories with him as a child.
It feels just like the scene off “A Christmas Story” (no not the part with the leg lamp) but the part where the family are gathered around the Christmas tree and all the presents have been opened, then the Dad points out something hidden over to the side of the room, and there Ralphie finds his dream toy - yet in my memory my Dad pointed out an odd shaped gift and it was a surprise for my brother. It turned out to be his very own unicycle!
I remember feeling so excited for my brother. The shock, surprise and joy was equally mine as well as his, even through the gift was not for me. That summer my memories are full of my brother learning to ride that unicycle. He spend many hours learning to ride it in our passage way then out on the back lawn holding a rope strung up across the section until he mastered it.
Loss can ring extra loud at this time of year, but when I start to remember the good memories and cherish them with a thankful heart the deep loss melts into joy, thankful to God for the precious gift of those we love greatly.
Introducing our newest family member Totoro (fondly known as Toto), our blue English Staffordshire Bullterrier puppy.
We've been talking about getting another Staffy for some time now, but always said it would be in a couple of years time. Plans changed when we came across these pups in Thames for sale!
We miss Boo so much still, so it's pretty special having a new staffy around, although we are missing sleep abit (it's like having a newborn again!).
