December reflections | Christmas, a Birthday & holidaying

It’s been a wonderful few weeks of holidaying in the countryside of the Wairarapa, enjoying the build up to Christmas, and our daughter Sophie’s Boxing Day Birthday, catching up with friends and enjoying the long light evening’s of summer.

Our oldest daughter finished school for the year at the beginning of December and we’re loving having her home. She performed in her annual dance show, which was wonderful, and it’s amazing to see how quickly she has settled back into life and her hobbies in New Zealand – having only returned from California at the beginning of October.

The Pohutukawa trees are in full bloom and the garden is thriving with a bountiful crop of tomatoes, strawberries and peas.

Our daughter Sophie made an amazing new friendship, whilst holidaying in Martinborough, in the Wairarapa (her first ‘boy-friend’, ahem!). They are both nature loving, tree climbing adventurers!

We bought a holiday house in Martinborough, loving the open space of the countryside and the friendly atmosphere of the little village, surrounded by vineyards.

It’s only an hour an a half drive from our home on the south coast of Wellington, so an easy distance for us to escape away for a weekend or a night. Here’s a few snaps from our week’s holiday in the Wairarapa –

Our puppy, Cocoa, is reaching five month’s old now and is so adorable and a great addition to the family. He took his first paddle in the sea the other day!

Christmas was beautifully relaxed and Christmas Eve was a scorcher! Our neighbour and friend has her Birthday on Christmas Eve, so we enjoyed celebrating with a meal out in the evening – and I took her off in the morning for some child-free pampering and lunch.

Christmas Day wasn’t as sunny and hot, but beautiful all the same. We enjoyed a relaxed morning opening presents (making sure puppy didn’t run off with paper!), pavlova and summer berries in the morning and dinner in the late afternoon. Our oldest daughter gave us all hilarious cards, with her usual kookie humour reflected in the greetings!

We celebrated our Boxing Day babe’s birthday a few days prior to Christmas, so she could be sure of seeing all her friends. She loves the ‘stone grill’ at the Southern Cross in town, so we booked a table and enjoyed a fabulous few hours of good company and food on the 23rd December. Her new ‘boy-friend’, from our holiday in Martinborough, joined us – with his lovely Mum. They ended up staying over at our home that evening, so we had a really wonderful time.