Well, I did it - survived Christmas Day! Now, don't get me wrong, we had a lovely Christmas Day but when you are the host it is a long, long, day. Especially when:
- Your landline is playing up so when friends and family from Italy and the U.S. ring you cannot hear each other properly and you have to yell at the top of your voice to be heard!
- Your dishwasher is broken and you are faced with having to wash dishes for 21 people by hand!
- Your back is playing up and it hurts every time you need to bend over to get something out of a cupboard!
- At 7.30 am you realise that you need to polish the silver cutlery for the 21+ people to use later that day!
This became a family bonding experience, as everyone else got up I dragooned them into helping!
But, by 11 am all was calm and organised and by 12.30pm the Christmas festivities were well underway. Here are some pics to share with you:
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| TraderVic is cooking mode |
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| Beef Wellington made by TraderVic and DS1 |
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| DS2 and my 90 year old mother |
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| My 93 year old father |
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| My mum and my DF Linda's mother who had come all the way from Hawaii to have Christmas dinner with us. |
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| My Xmas pudding - it is flaming but you cannot really see the flames. |
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| My friend, Evan (far left), from work who comes from England and so has no family in Oz - his first Australian family Christmas (normally he has had his Xmas's with other English expats), my DS2, my Dad and my darling Uncle Ron (far right) |
DS2 and his best friend, Julia - still drinking buddies! The photo below this one shows them at age 18 months sharing a bottle or two! (P.S they are now both 20 - DS2 turned 20 on Boxing Day).
What a wonderful Xmas Day we had - love to all my family and friends.
hugs,
hugs, 
