Hello!

Hope all is well and christmas was the best ever!!
We left our house-sit in Carine on the 22nd and spent the afternoon unpacking - again! We took the train to Leedervile where Amy's Dad's cousin lives and we were treated to the yummiest, homliest and lovliest 2 course dinner (even champagne!) We even managed to wangle a promise from Janine, John's partner, that she would take us to Parliament House as she is a local MP.

On Wednesday we did our much-anticipated christmas stocking shop where we set a limit of $25 and bought each other gifts to open on xmas morning. Of course, we both went over the budget as we found ourselves full of ideas for each other, i guess that's what happens when you've spent 6 weeks together. We treated ourselves to lunch in a cafe before heading back to Manning to wrap up the presents and put them into Mary-Ann's old tights.
We decorated the teeny tiny xmas tree (a twig of Rosmary from the front garden) then were picked up by Sarah, who took us to to the outdoor cinema at Burswood which was lovely! We took a picnic and a few blankets as it was pretty chilly and saw 'A Christmas Carol', we had a really nice time and are determined to get back to another outdoor cnema :)
After we were dropped home we begun our attempts to get into town for half-priced cocktails at Carnegies. Firstly we missed the last bus and so had to call a taxi, which got the address wrong as so was 5 mins late. By the time we got to Canning Bridge station, the next train to Perth was 30 minutes, and we were appauled to recieve a text from the boys saying that for the first time they had ever heard it in a club, Mr Brightside (our song!!!) was playing. We then had to walk from the station and wait in the queue to be let upstairs. It was midnight (xmas eve) by the time we got to the bar! The cocktails were yummy but the place shut at 1:00...!!!! Much to all our disappointment, after walking around a bit we realised nowhere else was open, not even the traino, so Chuey's dad kindly took us home. It was quite amusing as the boys were in actual disbelief of the epic fail of Perth to have good night life.

On christmas eve we packed again for Miss Maud's hotel, which was gorgeous! (A treat from Amy's grandma to us both for christmas) and headed to the restaurant where we had a crazy late lunch at about half past 3 which was delicious. We were then treated to a pastry each (Mary-Ann finally got to try a Vanilla Slice) which we scoffed on while watching Alvin and the Chipmunks back in the hotel room. We spent the evening at Ellen's family's home having drinks and a christmas dinner. There were goody bags on the table with all kinds of things in! Including scratchies, which we won $4 on! The meal was delicious and the company lovely, good to be doing a big family thing for christmas. After we had eaten presents were exchanged and we were so greatful, and quite surprised as we hadn't expected anything, to recieve really generous gifts from both families! When we got back to the hotel room we had a little midnight feast on all the goodies we had been given!

Christmas day! We woke up at 7:30 to open our stocking presents which both went down very well! We met grandma and headed to the restaurant for the best breakfast in the world. You could literally choose from any kind of breakfast thing! There were pastries, all kinds of yoghurt and fruit, croissants, all kinds of bread roll, preserves and cereals, pancakes (big and small), french toast, toast, and all the usual cooked breakfast bits. Amy managed 3 big pancakes with maple syrup, 2 rolls with scrambled egg and a plate of fruit, Mary-Ann managed 2 big and 2 small pancakes with golden syrup/cream and berries, french toast, scrambled egg, toast, mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese, a bread roll, a danish pastry, and a plate of fruit and yoghurt.
After we had caught a taxi home and unpacked we were picked up by Amy's Dad's cousin and his family who took us to Cottesloe beach. It was so much fun! But felt nothing like christmas. The beach was packed and we had such a good time swimming. We even rewrote the words to 'White Christmas':

I'm dreaming of a beach Christmas,
just like the one we had in Oz.
With the big, blue ocean,
and sun-screen lotion.
To hear,
sea shells on the shore.

We caught the bus home and once showered and rid of the sea, opened our christmas presents from home!
After this we waited for the phone calls from home which were lovely and made us feel much closer to our families, but were also quite sad in that we weren't spending christmas with them. We cooked a bit of a failure of a christmas dinner with Yorkshire slab, lumpy mash and watery gravy. Still, it was pretty yummy. We then got to talk to Jess on the phone which was so so so nice!!! The rest of the evening was spent eating xmas goodies :)

Boxing day we moved into our second house-sit, so it was a day of packing, unpacking, getting the shopping in etc. The only fun bit of the day was going to James' in the evening with everyone, we played Balderdash which was a giggle and then some card games. By the time we got home it was about midnight and we got attacked by, you guessed it, a flying cockroach!!!! This time it was an insect killing spray situation.

Today we enjoyed a lazy morning and then caught the bus and train into town to buy a new, cheap, larger suitcase for Mary-Ann to take East, since we have the 20kg weight allowance so it doesnt make much sense to try and squeeze it all into the teeny tiny one. On the way home we decided to walk from the train station, an hour later we got to the house and were absolutely exhausted! But it was a good bit of exercise and we followed it up with 15 minutes on the trampoline. Going to make pizza now and watch some rubbish tv.

Lots of love!!!
xxxxxxxxxx