Happy New Year To You All - Welcome To 2016

Happy New Year to you all.  I hope you are all well, have had a lovely festive season however you chose to spend it and have made it to 2016 safely and without incident or bushfire.

We spent 10 days in New Zealand with my family which was an extra trip for us as we were just back there in September.  But my youngest brother and his partner were coming back from Korea so it was an opportunity for us all to be together which may not happen for a while.  While they were in New Zealand my brother proposed and now we have a wedding to look forward in early 2017.

We booked 2 holiday houses at the beach and hubby and I were lucky enough to have one to ourselves while the other 6 adults and 3 kids stayed in the other. Guess who got the most sleep.  Our house did come with play equipment which my nieces loved and they even got me in the little cubby house for a while with the 2 of them which was a little squeezy.

Our holiday house

2 of my nieces on the play equipment

"Yes Aunty Fee there is room for you too", Mmmm yes well there was but crouching in there for 15 minutes
 was more of a thigh workout than I had planned

The beach where we stayed has a river that spills into the ocean so we had the ability to spend time in the sheltered beaches of the river or out on the main beach.

This area of New Zealand has black sand which I think is very beautiful.

There was lots of excitement opening presents and my youngest niece did as most 1 year olds do and enjoyed the wrapping most of all.

Helping nana with her present

 My grandparents came up to visit on boxing day and the girls were delighted with the gift of bubbles that they received.

My dad (now known as naughty poppa) introduced my youngest niece to marshmallow santas.  Well you can see from the look on her face how much she loved them.

There was fun in the sand.

We fished most days and were lucky enough to catch enough to have a few meals which was such a treat.  I only caught little fish that got used for bait but it was still a nice way to spend time with the family.

I got a chicken for Christmas to replace the ones we gave a way after moving from the farm to the suburbs.

My bother brought me a kimchi pot from Korea.  It holds a few litres and was the smallest one they could find as most Koreans make 25 kg or more at a time.

Hubby got me a sugar free cook book which I wanted.  We have been cutting back on sugar for a while now but more about that in another post.

Every year the city in New Zealand I grew up near has a festival of the lights.  The park which is a series of lakes and gardens if lit up and host outdoor movies and concerts every night for most of December and all of January.  We took my Nan along to listen to a concert followed by a stroll around the lake to admire the lights and find the giant sleeping in the tree (check out the link).

Enjoying the concert

Lights on the lake and in the fountian

Selfie in front of the waterfall

Lights around the lake along the pathways and across the bridge in the distance

The mirror balls over the bridge and the rowboats that you can hire all lit up 

The glow zone where the black lights come into their own

 We spent New Years with my cousin, her husband and kids who I refer to as my niece and nephew as my cousin is more like my sister since she is the daughter of my mums identical twin and only 6 months older than me.  Our dads have also been friends since high school so you can understand why we are a close family.
There was another trip to the beach, more fishing and a evening of fun, drinks and action at the pool table.

Christmas and New Year were fun, noisy family affairs and it was great to see all of the rellies.  But it has also been nice to come home to some peace and quiet.

How did you spend your Christmas?