Christmas; "it's the most wonderful time of the year"

Our Christmas of 2014 was one of the most special as we had not been sure if we would be in England or NZ and it seemed such a perfect culmination of our trip to celebrate it in Stoke and share it with so much family.

In the build up to Christmas we helped Granny make the Christmas pudding

 and wrote letters to Father Christmas 

We did LOTS of shopping which was not easy with our little rascals

All of efforts were rewarded with lunch at Carluccios 

We had a brilliant visit to see Paul and Becci

Mylo had the important job of choosing a tree and bless his heart he chose the smallest one available so that he could reach the top for placing the star :-)

Mylo became an expert hand at helping out with the dishes  

but his favorite pastime along with Felix was snuggles with Grandpa

We went to a very fun Baby Sensory Christmas Party with fabulous ride-on reindeer's....

Mylo LOVED the inflatable snowmen

 and all of the excitement of the parachute (although Felix looks a bit unsure!) 

and quickly befriended a giant reindeer

LOTS of Christmas stories were shared

 A very special story was "father Christmas comes to Stoke on Trent"!

 and indeed he did!!!

The anticipation and delight was palpable! 

We had a wonderful Christmas breakie

Mylo was committed to ensuring he utilized every piece of his present from Father Christmas

while Dad took his role of kitchen hand very seriously ;-)  

in fact you could almost cut the tension in that kitchen

Mylo was beyond excited to see Auntie Amelia.....

..and Liam, Uncle Ed, Auntie Ali, Archie and Toby! 

Look at our gorgeous Christmas table! 

 What a feast! Mum did the most incredible job

Her homemade Christmas pudding was so good that it was on fire.....

 literally .....

 Oh the relief! 

Mum also made Christmas cake and Pavalova

upon which Mylo practiced telekinetics 

 while Felix practiced his Jedi skills on Liam 

 Mylo soaked up story time with Meals and Liam 

While Felix put his feet up 

Boxing day was a jammies day 

Soon after Christmas we had a brilliant visit to the theater in Manchester with Meals , Liam and his sisters to watch "we're going on a bear hunt"!

We had a lovely lunch with Liam's Dad and family 

with the kids in the family not being able to resist the fun park! 

Both Mylo and Meals have added a massage chair to their Christmas list for next year

We also caught up with Liam's mum and brother who were so welcoming into their home. 

Midst all of the excitement and celebration the boys enjoyed some down time together which served as a good reminder as to what this season is all about xx