Thinking of You Over There...

And remembering the times we've shared,
the laughter and the tears,
make me feel you're not far away,
but really very near.
Miss you during the Holiday Season.
Love Cara and Scott

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......

...Ya in Guelph.Merry Christmas from the Gilfillans and Dad!!

A Kiwi jingle Bells

Dashing to the bay,
in a Kombi campervan,
Christmas at the beach-the family's master plan.
Dad is at the wheel
and mum sits by his side
we kids are squabbling in the back
as we go for a ride.
Oh jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way
Christmas in New Zealand on a sunny summers day, ay!!
Jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way!
Oh what fun it is to have a Kiwi Holiday!
we stop off at the shops
to load the chilly bin,
hokey pokey ice cream
soon dribbles down my chin.
We jump into the van
heading for the shore, dad fiddles with the radio
to hear the cricket score.
Soon we're at the beach
our rellies shout "g-day"
We swap our Chrissie pressies, a boogie board-hooray!
The grown ups call us in
they've laid us out a spread:
lunch is fish n chips
and cheerios in bread.
L and P to drink
pavlova, pud and pie
Anzac bikkies, choccy fish and it cracker Kiwi kai!!
The kids are keen to play,
but the dads all want to nap
the sunscreen starts to fly,
as mums go slip slop slap.
We race out to the sand,
to play a game of touch,
but all the cuzzies are too slow,
because they ate too much!
The bbq heats up,
the sun begins to sink,
our teas as good as gold
we've scoffed it in a wink
It's nearly time for bed,
we've had an awesome day,
celebrating Christmas time,
the real New Zealand way!!
Oh jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way
Christmas in New Zealand on a sunny summers day, ay!!
Jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way!
Oh what fun it is to have a Kiwi Holiday!

Price WaterHouse Christmas Party

The accountants in New Zealand sure know how to have a good time :)

Friends in Wellington

Me again. This past weekend we had some friend arrive to stay with us in Wellington. Melissa came from OZ, Marissa came from CHCH and Eva came from Ottawa. They arrived to a normal Wellington afternoon....high winds, but we were still able to get out and see stuff. Saturday it rained, we went to Te Papa, then to see James bond, in the theatre were Lord of the Rings was released. Saturday night we went over to a friends place for a BBQ, (Dave and Vicki's)Sunday we woke up with some hang overs and headed north for more drinking...to the wineries!! We enjoyed the afternoon over the mountain range and the sun shine.

Our Tree is Complete

All everyone back home.
Our "First" tree is up and looking nice. We had a blast putting it up. Even though this is our second Christmas as a married couple, this time last year we were living with good old Dad in Guelph and put up the Kleinknecht family tree. So this year it is nice to have our "own" Gilfillan tree.
Anna-
Thank you so much for my tree ornament, I love how we have continued our tradition, that is so meaningful to me. The best part is how our ornamewnts are so unique to eachother. This year we sent some Kiwi ornaments home to Chad, Kristine, Mia, Carolyn, Quinn, Dad, Brandon, Jill, Steve and Denice as well, so the tradition continues even from a far.

Christmas in New Zealand

Scott and I put up our Christmas tree this weekend and enjoyed some NZ wine while we decorated it. The tress in NZ are different than what we are use to. They either have "real trees" or "alternative trees" by alternative they mean "fake" I will post some pics later the the tree all decorated but you can probably guess "my" tree is dressed in purple!!! It was weird putting up the tree as the sun was still lout and you could hardly see the lights glowing and it is warm here. I reckon it will be a one of a kind Christmas experience.

More Pressies keep arriving in Wellington

Another exciting package arrived today from home. Scott and I must have been good this year...or they think we were b/c they really don't know how naughty we really are in New Zealand.lol