Ice Skating

5th January 2013: The children have been pestering us for ages to take them ice skating, so before they went back to school we decided to take them.  They were thrilled to bits.

We hired some penguins for the children to help keep them up on the ice.  Ismay and Eden took to skating like a duck to water, and Mia with some encouragement from daddy, made a lot of progress.

This picture was taken just before mummy fell over!! After being so careful, she fell over just before we went home. It was quite painful but funny, and the children wanted to help make mummy's cut lip better.  Ismay helped by getting tissues to stem the blood flow!

Layla's Baptism

Leyla's baptism: 19th January 2013

Treacherous snowy conditions almost cancelled Leyla's baptism, but Jordan and Clare decided to go ahead with it and all the Howlett siblings were able to be together for the first time in a long while.  The Butlers came over from Canada especially for the occasion making this day even more special.

Aunty Elisabet made the most of being able to cuddle the canadian neice and nephew contingent.

Leyla looked absolutely stunning.  Unfortunately her dress didn't arrive from Salt Lake in time, so she wore one that her friend had used, and Mia told me it was the perfect dress.  The service was very moving, and Leyla had requested that her cousins sing "I like to look for rainbows" which they all did beautifully.  Because of Leyla's example, Mia asked us if she could be baptised.

Mummy was so happy to be with all her sisters again.  What a blessing to have loving family.

New Year! New Beginnings!

The French celebrate epiphany on 6th January with a "Galette de Rois" (or Kings cake, which celebrates the visit of the wise men to Jesus following his birth). This is a pastry dessert made from puff pastry with a frangipan filling.  A fieve (small ornament) is hidden in the cake, and whomever finds it in their slice is crowned king or queen and adorned with a paper crown.  We pay homage to this tradition every year, as our legacy from our time living in France and we invite a family over each year to help us celebrate.  This year we had the Forsyth family over.

The girls helped me make the Galette de Rois.













Adam found the fieve and so was crowned king.  He let Eden wear the crown though.  We have some lovely friends and it is a real blessing to be able to spend time with great people, making happy memories.

Ismay's Birthday

13th January 2013: Sweet little Ismay Mackenzie Helen turned 6! On Saturday she took all her friends to the cinema to see the Lorax. (Quais, Grace, Kate, Mya, Libby, Fearne, Seb and Lucas).

Ismay had so many presents.  She had fun opening them all.

After Church we invited the Basford family over for birthday tea.

Ismay requested a sweetie cake, so mummy made one as per her instructions.  Her comment when she saw it was: "Mummy, you've done a really good job this year!"

Winter Adventures.....

January: We had some heavy snowfall this month, and the children and I enjoyed walking to school using the sledge to put all their school things in.  They each took turns pulling it, (and when mummy's back permitted, mummy let them take turns in sitting in the sledge and pulled them too.) School closed early one afternoon, but for the rest of the time the children got to enjoy a snowy, sledgy walk there and back.

When school closed early (18th January), Daddy came home for lunch and we all enjoyed sledging together on the hill in Randlay.

Our car couldn't get onto our street one night as it was so slippy, so we had to park at Grandma's after mummy finished work and walk home from there.