Our very merry little Christmas...

We had a really, really nice Christmas. I think one of my most favorite moments was seeing Jesse dressed in his Christmas outfit. I don't think he felt the same. Ha! I just had to share one more photo of him wearing it. Check out the look on his face! Jesse spent Christmas at the kennel and I missed him like crazy cakes.

I spent Christmas Eve day learning to make pavlova (an Australian classic Christmas dessert) with my neighbor, baking cookies and running a few last minute errands. Christmas Eve, we headed off to our friends, Geoff and Ange's place for food, drinks and good times. There was a lot of food and Christmas crackers! I love Christmas crackers. This is one tradition that was new to me when we moved to Australia but most definitely one I will carry on.

Our lovely hosts on Christmas Eve...Ange and Geoff and their adorable little tree.

Bruce and Claire joined the fun too. It was a bit of an orphan Christmas Eve, for anyone away from family and without plans. Seriously, what would one do without friends?

Christmas Day, we went to our lovely neighbors' house for Christmas morning breakfast. I think it could quite possibly be the best breakfast I have ever eaten!! Dale cooked us an Aussie breakfast...bacon, eggs and pancakes, all cooked on the barbecue. Yum! We took the Canadian maple syrup and eggnog, which we used to make Christmas morning eggnog lattes. Double yum! Seriously, we each had two!!

From there, we jetted off to the airport and boarded a plane to Brisbane, where we used to live. Our friends, Rej and Clo hosted a delicious Christmas Day dinner...

It was nice to see all our old friends again!

And, yes, there was more food...lots of it! Seafood is an Australian tradition during the Christmas season. I wasn't complaining!

Steve-O in his new Christmas clothes.

Kate was due on Christmas Day and had Baby Gully the day we left Brisbane. She made pregnancy look fabulous!!

The weather was pretty rainy for most of the time we were in "Sunny Queensland", but we did manage to get one trip to the beach in while we were there. Baby Gabriel didn't seem to mind the cloudy skies. :)

Dan and Amy were kind enough to let us stay with them while we were there and as always, were amazing hosts. Thanks guys!

I'm surprised at how few photos I took over Christmas this year. I honestly think I was too busy eating to snap pictures! We returned to Melbourne on the 30th and then hosted a quiet but nice New Year's Eve gathering. We ate more food, drank champagne at midnight and watched the fireworks. More good times!

A big thanks to everyone who helped to make our Christmas season so special. I am so thankful for our friends!

I took our tree and decorations down today. It was sad. I truly love Christmas and everything seems so bare once all the decorations are put away. Just all the more reason to look forward to next year! Plus, I have a really good feeling about the months to come. I really believe in my heart that 2011 is going to be a great year! xoxo