Happy (belated) Australia Day

It was Australia Day last Thursday and I decided to mark the occasion by making mini pavlovas. 

cream-filled meringue delights!

 Everyone was very happy to have a special dessert - even Old MacDonald.

"Oh goody! Mini pav!"

Paloma loves Vegemite and I have recently (thankfully) found a local supplier.

Mmmmmmm Vegemite toast....

It's one of the few foods that she will happily gobble up, and is a regular on her breakfast menu (and occasionally for dinner). 

Incidentally, I heard there was a bit of excitement about Julia Gillard's shoe on Australia Day.

Paloma's Aussie friends

Paloma is developing quite a collection of Australian animals, thanks in large part to Auntie June and Uncle Normie. 

The other day, we got them all together to see the whole collection. 

I think the Big Merino counts as an Australian animal, don't you? 

 

Hello, third trimester!

The last 28 weeks have flown by, and suddenly we're in the third trimester already. 

BITO learning about gardening.
(That's the plum tree we planted for Paloma right behind us.)

I'm starting to feel pregnant and finally getting comments from strangers. 

BITO bump with lamb. 

We have started sorting through Paloma's old things. Paloma really liked this 'hat': it's actually a pair of shorts that I crocheted for her. 

She doesn't need to know that her hat is actually a diaper soaker....

oops...

Apparently there were a few technical glitches in our last post.

It's all fixed now, so you should be able to see the photos.

Sorry about that!

... and it was a very Merry Christmas!

We had a truly wonderful Christmas break in Taos. The Brandenburgs are fabulous hosts and spoiled us for four days straight with lots of great food (tamales and posole for Christmas Eve is Howard's favourite meal of the year), lots of fun and lots of play. 

Here are a few highlights...

Waiting for Christmas...

Exploring Great-Grandmommy Frances' beads with Grandaddy. 

O! Christmas Tree!

Playing games with Cathy. 

I suspect that Paloma is going to be a video game player too...
[She really enjoyed swinging the controls around and 'walking' off cliffs.]

Tuckered out...
[And sleeping in a big girl bed!]

 A hike near John's Bridge...

Arroyo Hondo, just upstream from John Dunn Bridge - brrrrrrr....

Howard bouldering on John's Wall. 

A quick walk down to the bridge.
[It was 20F and we didn't last long.]

 Christmas Day...

Checking out everyone's stockings
[that magically appeared during the night - thanks Santa!]. 

Hmmm... I wonder which present to open next?

A new beanie for Paloma!

Fascinated by technology...
[Both of them, methinks!]

A new beanie for Howard!

Paloma, hard at work, cleaning up after the morning of gift-giving. 

 After Christmas...

Reading some new books on Christmas night.

Drawing and working through puzzles with Grandmommy.
[A great gift from Bill McHargue - thanks!]

And now...


Howard just left for a few days to go deer-hunting in the Capitan Mountains. Paloma, BITO, Semilla and I plan on celebrating the new year by going to bed early and waking up to a brand new year!

Happy 2012, everybody!

Merry Christmas!

We are currently packing to head up to Taos for a very white Christmas!

Paloma has been getting into the spirit of the season.

PS Thanks to Leslie and Karen and Karin for a beautiful solstice dinner last night.

See you again after the Christmas break!

Happy Christmas 2011

From our family to yours, we wish you a very merry Christmas and a joyous new year!