Our house

Hallway

Living space

Our lovely kitchen, which features a double oven perfect for baking

Swimming at Dad's house

We forgot to take Hugo's nappy off before he went into the water and it was FULL

Dad's house is perfect for a swim on a hot summer's day

Discarded

Hugo laughing at Kristian's antics

That's a little better now...

Dad and Hugo

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

At Yum Cha

Hugo gives his Uncle Andrew a cuddle

He loves doing blowfishes against the glass

Christmas 2005

For Christmas this year Kristian and I invited the whole family over our house. This was our Christmas tree, which looked perfect in our new, very modern looking house

Sunset tree

Kristian and I prepared a HUGE feast that included an antipasto plate, marinated lamb cutlets and chicken drumsticks, gourmet sausages, glazed ham, herb coleslaw, pasta salad, green salad with pine nuts, lime, semi-sun dried tomatoes and garlic and them an eggnog tiramisu for dessert. Kristian went to the markets for all the fruit and vegetables and did such a good job!

Strawberries and cherries

Juicy mangoes

The eggnog tiramisu trifle was delicious though we didn't take a picture of my first attempt at a chocolate pavlova as it resembled a big, flat burnt biscuit... sob...

Esther did us proud by perfectly glazing a leg of ham

Kristian had fun on the BBQ cooking the lamb cutlets, marinated chicken drumsticks and gourmet sausages (duck, orange and pistachio, chicken, sage and pistachio, chorizo and pork, herbs, garlic and roasted tomato, YUM!)

Andrew and Hugo play as we wait with excitement for everyone to arrive

Esther, Rebecca, Andrew, Mum and Hugo chill in the yard

The boys (Dad, Kristian, Leno, Pino, Michael, Aaron and Nathan) relax in the house

From the garden looking in...

Rebecca and Esther lounge in the garden

Dad challenges his grandson Aaron to a game of chess. We won't disclose who won ;)

Mum in the garden with Hugo

Hugo and me

After lunch we open presents before preparing for dessert. This is Andrew taking Hugo to the presents

Rebecca

Hugo naturally had the most presents... not that he seemed to care :)

Aaron poses with his parents, Pino and Rebecca as we open gifts packed under the tree

Grumpy bum

We were very proud of how Kristian and I wrapped Hugo's presents, so much so that we almost didn't want to unwrap them... almost...

Hugo won't open his presents so Kristian and I oblige...Woohoo!!! A funky designer baby dining set!

Yay!! Some DVDs!! (We love how Hugo looks on in this picture from a distance at us having fun opening HIS presents.. hehehe)

Yay!! A pool!

Hugo warms up to his presents

Michael and Aaron

Nathan

Kristian teaches Hugo how to ride on his fantastic toy

Busy, busy boy

What a pookie face!!

Hugo followed his cousins around for most of the day, watching for a distance. You could tell he wanted to play with them but didn't quite know how

Hugo

Hugo plays with some more Christmas toys

Me and Hugo

Our family: bottom row from the left is Michael, Dad (Bob), Nathan, Hugo, Me (Catherine) and Esther and the top row from the left is Andrew, Kristian, Rebecca, Mum (Karen), Aaron and Pino

Mum poses with her four grandchildren (from the left): Michael, Nathan, Hugo and Aaron

The astonishingly intelligent Nathan (who's currently obsessed with maps and a computer dictionary) goes to town with Google Earth with his younger brother Michael