|a pretty a day is here and away|

Documenting life's beauty, as seen through the eyes of a lady blessed with everything a girl could dream of, and more: five gorgeous kids, patient and providing husband, an adorable dog, a very cheeky frog, and still time enough to get crafty and creative in the kitchen or with my trusty needles, thread and yarn!
The joys of being Queen of the household! Rejoice, and the world joins in!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

23rd December 1985

It's unreal! Twenty-seven years ago, I married the man of my dreams. Five gorgeous kids, 9862 mornings of waking up to handsome, handsome Alfred, so many fun house parties, and countless day-to-day adventures after, we find ourselves here, today! "Wow" is definitely an understatement!

In the pre-dawn hours of that morning, I could hardly wait... The biggest party of my life was just about to begin! Everyone was dressed up and jolly, even more so since we were to marry just two days to Christmas. Father Christmas has been superbly generous, I must say!

Oh, what memories! A leaf through the pages of our photo albums brings all of them back even clearer than I remember: the overwhelming moment-by-precious-moment walk down the aisle arm in arm with my Pop,  the all-important "I-do's", the moment we held our breaths as we exchanged rings, feeling like royalty in my gowns, the sharp tailored suits for the gentlemen who mean so much to me, and most of all the happy faces of my proud parents and our excited friends, sisters, brothers... cousins... everybody!

In his sermon that day, Father Alfred Chan told it sweetly... that 'A' being the first letter of the alphabet, and 'Y' being towards the end of the alphabet, how lovely it is that Alfred and I found each other in this great big world. Finding a great man like Alfred who is always bold in his endeavours and selfless when it comes to the people he loves... this is a giant gift that I have always been thankful for.

Today we celebrate twenty-seven great years of marriage -- more than half of each of our lifetimes -- and we will look forward more than ever to all the decades to come! And to share our lives with our children Ben, Mel, Mimi, Kimmy and little Nick is a great joy that I cannot start to describe... So Alfred, cheers to years and years of together-ness, and cheers to your good looks!


Through the yesterdays
And tomorrow's dreams
In the here and now, when you're next to me
Even simple things feel just like new
Every moment I'm with you.

XOXO
Yol

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

'Tis the season!

... to be jolly! and trust me, I love a good time! This holiday season is especially sweet, since Kim's gladly done with her A-levels. This means she's back in the scene after that godawful lengthy study period that we had to put up with - hmph! She's been missing out on some of our family trips because of school, so we wasted no time in making up for it, starting with... A short getaway to Phuket - I'd been there two decades ago, perhaps, and had a swell time! (The all-time favourite memory was... going paragliding without knowing what exactly I was in for - without an inkling of what "paragliding" was! All I knew was, get strapped to this contraption, step off the -- wha?! step off the cliff?! And yeah the rest of that story ended in lots of screaming and laughing, need we say more? Oh the days of youth are great ones... You look back and think "WHAT WAS I THINKING!" and then you look at your kids and go... "Oh be still, my heart!")

Stories of my heyday aside... my best home-pals and I had a great time by the beach this December... and so many of our December vacations tend to sway in favour of pristine beaches and sunny isles...

Kim and Nick went straight into the surf... and were promptly soaked and bobbing about at the mercy of the playful waves, much to Nick's delight!
 And oh, the days and glee that followed... they were such dreams! We watched the sun rise and set on the deck of a fine boat, and drinks were aplenty on board... as you can see, beer was on the menu, also much to Nick's delight!

And on land, there was much adventure too - Ben was very excited to hear that elephants would feature greatly on this trip!

And Kim found a little baby runaway on the beach one morning... just stomping about, minding her own business!


 And, lesson of the morning: elephants have such curious trunks! 


 What did I say... elephants galore! 


Ahh... little trips to new places, especially with family, are one of the biggest joys!
How grand, and how lovely, to spend our days this way :)

So began the annual holiday fanfare! To celebrate Kim's graduation, and to congratulate Mimi on her University pursuits thus far, their Papa Alfie surprised them with a trip to Korea! The girls and I were watching KBS dramas one night, talking about possible future visits... and what do you know, Alfred went and got them that trip, with Nicky as their chaperone! Those lucky, lucky gals!

Mimi was all smiles aboard, tucking into what was to be the first of many Korean snacks~ 

 This was one of the first pictures they sent home... wandering someplace on the way to a cave, I believe!

 
Those cold December days, with a little snowfall every now and then, will surely be some lasting memories!

And it's so nice to find kids that get along so famously, and no matter how far from home, always find time to write back and say "Hey Momma!"



In typical fashion, these kids went out and got ice cream one night, in spite of the cold, because Nick insisted that "In a cold place such as this, you can take your time with your ice cream!"

That cheeky boy...
You never know what to expect from him! And when he returned home, glad to escort his well-looked-after sisters, that little man looked just a little bit taller!

Mel, Alfred, Ben and I had our own little road trip while those three were set loose upon Korean soil, but we were -- as always -- glad to have them home... especially with all that Korean shopping!!!

Good night, and happy December (speaking of which, we finally put those nice ol' Christmas decorations up on the tree!)
Yol

P.S. Kim's got some photos up on her blog here... Click, click, click here for Kimmy's blog! 
so you know where to go for more on that girl's fun!
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