That Was the Year That Was

Wow, what a year 2009 has been! So much great stuff happening and so much stuff that will stay with me for a long time. It was certainly a vast improvement on the pile of crap that 2008 was.

We started the new year in a positive way, with our best buddies Steve and Ally:

It was a great night after a really good Christmas; the perfect way to bring in a brand new year.

A few weeks later saw the first 'dream come true' events of the year: not 1 but 2 trips to see the mighty Metallica. The first gig was good but I was right at the back, however the 2nd was amazing as we were in spitting distance and they were fantastic! Still listen to the cd from that gig constantly!

April and May saw hen nights and weddings, namely that of my cousin Laura. If only PC World didn't still have my broken PC (after 5 weeks, grrr!) I could share pics. However, it was a gorgeous wedding with beautiful weather and lots of laughter with my family.

Event of the year had to be our holiday to this place:

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be holidaying in Antigua! And on top of all that, I got to see my only sister get married there:

Was definately an experience of a lifetime!

2009 also saw me complete my degree and go back to work; both big things in my life and putting me back on the road to not just being 'mum'!

Roll on to the end of the year and December has been all about these 2:

Christmas just has to be about the kids and do you know what? My kids deserved a good Xmas this year. They're both doing so well in everything and I'm very proud of them, they should have a great Xmas!

They certainly seemed to enjoy it anyway:

Christmas has also been filled with lots of family and friends, just the way it should be! OK, a little piggy reared it's ugly head too, but on the whole it was a good Xmas.

Then full circle to this week and Emily has seen out her year living her dream seeing Miley Cyrus in concert with her BFF Hattie:

What a great way to end a great year!

So, 2010? Who knows! We already have a few things coming up and this next year sees some big birthdays and anniversaries and there's at least 1 holiday already in there. Whatever, I just hope that 2010 is happy and healthy for us all!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! x

The Wedding Album

Finally, after 3 months Gem and Dave's wedding scrapbook is finally finished. Enjoy!

Fun In The Sun!

A few randoms that don't fit into any other posts, just show what a great time was had by all!

The wonderfully quaint Mary's Outhouse:

Where they did the best ribs in the world:
The great jelly fish rescue:

Feeding the fish:

Xander and his new best friend, the pool:

Mother-of-the-bride and Bessie man having an afternoon cocktail-fuelled game of black jack:

The 3 kids playing in the pool:

Xander and the hotel's tortoises (" Hiya Mummy Toytus, Hiya Baby Toytus!"):

Mid afternoon pool activities with our American friends:

The hobby-cat'ers, Rob and Piaras:

And Finally...The Wedding Photos!

After days of promising, here's a few of the best of the wedding pics:

And The Bride Wore...

... a lot of novelty items!

OK, not for the actual wedding (pics will be up this weekend, promise!) but it would seem between us we had bought half of eBay's fancy dress items! First of all there were the array of pirate outfits on the first night. Then, the morning after the wedding, Gemma graced us poolside with this get-up: My sister's a Mrs, sniff!

We then had a night with official Tate Match tshirts. Everyone had the same but G&D got special ones:

And the final night was Hawaii night, complete with Hawaiian shirts and garlands:

and special all singing-all dancing flashing ones for the bride and groom:

Emily took her hula outfit:

And Xander his special mini Hawaiian shirt:

Roger borrowed Ellie's grass skirt but I'm not convinced he got the hang of it:

Between all that and wedding outfits, I'm surprised there was any room in the cases left for actual real clothes!

The Most Picturesque Hairdressers In The World?

Now, I love going to my hairdressers. I've known her for years and we always have a good chat, plus I get to drink coffee and read magazines which is a luxury these days. However, all I get to stare at is my ugly mug in the mirror!

On holiday, we let Emily have her hair braided (and it served a practical function keeping it out of her face!). It took an hour as her hair's so long but look at the hairdressers my daughter got to sit in!

Now that's a much better view than my unmade up face I can tell you!

Em looked cool afterwards:

So much so that Ellie and the girls' new friend Bliss had their's done too:

As the braider had so much custom from us, she insisted on doing Xander a free braid!

What a cool little rasta dude!

My Fave Holiday Pic

Well, apart from the wedding pics that is (which will be on here soon, I promise!).

This pic was taken on our second night in Antigua and I love it! The kids went to play on the beach (which the bar overlooked) and they just seemed so happy to be there!

A few other faves of the kids. This one was taken on our Hawaiian themed night and has the kids with the other bridesmaid Ellie:


Me and Em enjoying a pre-dinner cocktail (OK, hers was fruit punch, but she liked to pretend! Mine was NOT fruit punch!):

Xander loved the pool, especially when we found this inflatable taxi for him to play in:

And finally, on the way home, Xander's rather unconventional way of sleeping on a plane!

Right, I suppose I should actually come back down to earth now and do some work. Boo! Or I could just go and book another holiday...hmmmm....

The View!

One thing that certainly lived up to expectations in Antigua was the scenery, it was gorgeous! Even when it rained it looked idyllic and, with my son being an early riser all week, I got to see some beautiful sunrises down on the beach!