Aunty Pip and Liam came to stay on Christmas Eve - Marcus had gone to bed when they arrived so he was very surprised to see them on Christmas morning.
I did a lot of the preparation on Christmas Eve - made mince pies, cooked the beef and gammon and Sam made brandy butter as requested by Pip.
Marcus was very excited when he woke up to open his stocking gifts - he has really got the hang of unwrapping now!
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What's in here? |
When we went downstairs he didn't notice his kitchen wrapped up behind him - but once he did he just wanted to play with it for quite a while before doing any more unwrapping.
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Spotted it at last! |
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Mummy Sam helped him unwrap some accessories | |
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Getting cooking! |
Aunty Pip and Liam joined us and Marcus got going on some other gifts
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This is a big one! |
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Wow! |
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More accessories! |
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Christmas balloon! |
I got dressed and started on the dinner - the turkey was already cooking and smelling delicious!
Around 12.00 people started to arrive - Charlotte and James, Hanna, Rob and two very excited little boys!
There were eleven of us for dinner - including three small boys, a vegan and a vegetarian, all wanting lunch. We also had to juggle three dogs - two of which couldn't be together! Everything went to plan and we sat down to eat around 1.15!
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Nearly all sitting down! |
Before pudding we opened the gifts that Vickie and Jerry had sent from Australia - the boys loved their hats!
Everyone else loved their gifts too - we were thinking of buying new table mats so perfect for us!
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Marcus looking cute! |
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Rowan and Daddy |
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And a big smile from Theo! |
Sam did the magic with the brandy on the Christmas pudding and we finished eating!
Marcus loved the Christmas pud!
We then opened more gifts and chilled out with a drink - some of us chilled more than others! Our gift from Charlotte and James mysteriously said to look in the side alley - I was concerned it was livestock, but it was a lovely wooden planter for the deck and some trellis to help hide the ugly cables. What a lovely surprise!
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Just resting my eyes! |
It was noisy, chaotic fun and everyone had a great time - Marcus didn't even have time for a nap!