Hard to believe...

But here we are almost at the end of 2010 !!! and WOW is all I can say ...

I know I haven't blogged for a while, but I thought I'd better put a few lines together to see this unusual year out ....

No I'm not going to bore everyone with the story of my year ... regular readers will know most of it ... all I have to do is fill you in on what's been happening this last month ... and then we're all up to date ...

I can hardly believe that only 1 more week and Paul returns to England AGAIN !!! 5 weeks gone in a flash !!!

So this month has seen ...

Kelsey finishing (1st in his class I might add) Primary School for the 2nd time in his life LOL ... when you consider 2 years ago he finished Primary School in England ... we have an incredibly exciting New Year ahead for him ... going to High School ... joining the big pond !!! LOL

Still go a few bits and pieces to sort out for him before he starts ... like uniforms and his school stationary !!! I waited as late as possible for the uniforms cos he has lost soooo much weight.

We decided to stay at home in KZN for December this year ... we've hardly seen anything of Kelsey ... he's now at that age where he wants to do his own Thang!!! Spends lots of time with his mates and new Girlfirend !!! Jessi (sadly for him ... she went away for Christmas to Mauritius!!! ... left on the 20th, but is back on the 6th !!!) ... BUT Heine and him have kept each other company ... he does have a pool you know !!! and Lynette (H's mum says they keep each other out of mischief) ... don't believe that for 1 minute!!!

Nan and the kids joined us for Christmas ... they stayed just over a week ... unfortunately she didn't stay to see the New Year in with us ... :-(

Christmas was AWESOME !!! Again June put on a fantastic spread on Christmas Eve ... with 20 people sitting down to a scrumptious dinner of Roast Lamb with all the trimmings ... this year June and the boys (Paul & Kelsey) decided as her lounge was too small for 20 people .. they changed her garage into a Santa's Grotto ... snow scenes and all ... it was great (well done to Paul & Kelsey for the decor and of course June for the food) ... they even moved the Christmas Tree into the garage after we had eaten dinner (and after the kids had all gone to bed) so we were very cruel on Christmas morning ... the kids woke ... rushed to where the tree had been and found No Tree and NO presents .... the look on their faces ... (such cruel buggers we are !!!)

When we eventually got everyone up and the kids had searched June's garden several times for the Christmas Tree it was decided we had to get the spare chairs out the garage for all the grown ups ... I thought the kids were going to start crying !!! Then we opened the doors and OMG !!! This year we were supposed to be 'economising' !!!! I'd hate to see what it would have looked like if we had done our usual OTT spend !!! LOL

There were twice as many presents this year as last year !!! BUT in fairness we did have more kids this year ... on the guest list was :
Granny, June & Irena, Babes, Nishi, Yudesh & Siana, Nan, Russell & Niki, Janet, Paul & Kelsey, Lawrence & Penny, Mariana & Wendy ... and don't forget the 4 dogs: Bella, Indi, Shadow & Kleo....IT WAS CRAZY...

Kelsey played Santa and handed out gifts, and gifts and more gifts ... the kids were over the moon... Wendy & Mariana had never experienced a Bell/Gembicki Christmas before, they were GOBSMACKED !!! to say the least ... and when they left they begged to be able to come back again next year ... in fact I think Mariana paid us the best compliment anyone could have "I never knew Christmas could be like this till I met you all ... Please can we come back again next year?"

(I have to mention ---in case you didn't know it - June & I both LOVE Christmas x;-)

So we do tend to get a little carried away ... but it's once a year and it is meant to be a very special time ...

With special friends & family together, spending time together, reminiscing together, talking about missing loved ones, wishing others could be there, filling the time with love & peace ... and that is exactly how I felt this Christmas Morning ... very blessed to have all these wonderful people in my life xxx

Penny's folks joined us on Christmas Day around lunch time and even though the weather was it's usual shitty rain and mist etc... we still had a braai ... ate drank and was Merry !!!

I was thoroughly spoilt for Christmas ... as was everyone I think ... but I just HAVE to mention that I got an UPGRADE on my camera ... what I mean to say is ... I got a NEW camera !!! The Nikon D3100 (Nikon SA was doing a deal Paul just could not resist apparently)... and I got an incredibly LARGE lens too: 170-500mm!!! Sure I'm gonna get some serious sports photography out of that eh??? And maybe the odd safari too LOL (Paul says that's me sorted for this Christmas and my next birthday)!!! Kelsey bought me the tri-pod that I NEED now to support camera and lens LOL !!! Oh well it is worth it ... and I do love my photography...

I wasn't going to even mention the weather in this post !!! but I guess I just have to ... considering we have only had 3 hot days since Paul got here !!! and 2 out of those 3 we just had to go to the beach and BURN !!!... so even though the weather has been shitty I'm sporting a summer tan LOL... Paul is hoping that there'll be a couple of hot days for him to top up his tan next week !!!

Nan left us on Wednesday with webbed feet !!! Now she knows I am serious when I say it does nothing but piss with rain here !!!

And the remainder of this week Paul has been playing D.I.Y Dan... Paul got fed up of falling over Kelsey's shoes in his bedroom so he started with a shoe rack, which has now progressed to a bedside cabinet for him and me !!! and a built in shelf/storage area in the dining room and 1 in my bedroom too !!! Well Paul was just looking for an excuse to buy himself some more power tools!!!

Tonight ... after everyone decided to bale on us !!! we are going to just have a family dinner out and celebrate the New Year with the 3 Bells,Granny, June & Irena , then we're gonna collect our 2 dogs and go up to June's to see the New Year in at her house ... we kinda have to be with our dogs cos people get a little stoopid with fireworks here over New Year and all the dogs get stressed and upset.

Mind you I'm not a huge fan of New Year celebrations anyway ... I'm more of a Christmas person ... so I'd be just as happy curling up in front of the TV till midnight ... but I'm gonna make the effort and try to enjoy it with the special people around me.

To everyone I know and love ....

WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST EVER 2011 ...
MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE,
MAY EACH OF US GET THAT LITTLE MIRACLE WE ARE PRAYING FOR :-*)
MY WISH TO YOU ALL IS THAT YOUR 2011 IS FILLED WITH PEACE, HOPE, LOVE & JOY ...