As usual after we have stuffed ourselves silly at my Mum's house we drive down to Inverloch to 'Shirwell' - the original family holiday home of Matt's great grandparents generation, newly renovated this year by his aunty and uncle. Matt's parents have built their new home on what was a bush block, right on the beach with views over to Cape Liptrap. It has been such a long time coming and we were super excited to see the finished product of so much hard work and planning that goes into building 'the house' that will become the heart of our family now.
And of course, there was a baby to snuggle, a pregnant cousin to admire, so much delicious vegetarian fare, a huge salmon on the barbie and the smells of mint and mango in the air. Christmas dinner at 'Shirwell' is a highlight for me - this year on the new deck by candlelight with all our loved ones chatting over a glass of wine. Bliss.
The following days have been filled with more baby snuggles, more delicious food, strong coffee, late lunches and walks on the beach with the dogs. We drag out the opening of presents down here, it is just far too relaxing! We finally opened some gifts today, and yesterday did our traditional Kris Kringle round-robin type game we do every year. The kids were happy with the handmade and cheap toys (of course) and the grown-up's shared their goods of chocolates, homemade biscuits, jams, coffee beans, scarves and the like. Just the way Christmas should be - our family together, sharing, giving, laughing.
We are feeling so very blessed, full of joy and gratitude to be safely home with our families and to have enjoyed such a lovely Christmas both at my family and Matt's. In the coming weeks we will be finding our feet, making some pretty big decisions and continuing to discover where 'home' lies. In the meantime...I'm going to have another mince pie.
