Christmas dinner

Christmas dinner was a generous plate full of roast chicken, stuffing, steamed asparagus, roasted potatoes and gravy. We had the same for lunch the next day.

Happy face socks for everyday of the week.

Kevin found new ties in his Christmas stocking.

Kevin opening his gifts in his stocking.

Kevin made a lovely and delicious breakfast on Christmas morning - french toast with berries and a side of bacon.

This year, we purchased our christmas tree just down the road from us. This tree is a non-drop pine tree. It smells lovely and the pine needles really do stay on the tree.

Champagne for everyone!

Birthday gifts

Look at all the birthday gifts and cards!

Singing Happy Birthday

Kevin's 30th birthday celebrations!

Lighting the big THREE-OH candle.

Kevin's 30th birthday celebrations!

Christine planned a birthday drinks surprise party for Kevin at a gastropub in Blackheath, London. All our friends from his frisbie team and all our friends from Canada joined us for an evening of catching up and drinks and cake and nibbles. Christine baked a double layer lemon and chocolate cake and decorated the party area before Kevin's arrival.

Dinner with Judy and Brian, Toronto visit

Dinner together at Revo restaurant, Etobicoke.

Christine got published - The Guardian newspaper

The Guardian newspaper (a UK financial newspaper) approached me for an interview on how life is after the credit crunch. This was weeks ago and I didn't think my story would get published, but was very excited to find an article written about me on the front cover of the "work" section of the Guardian newspaper.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/oct/25/workandcareers-creditcrunch

Kevin and I were super excited indeed!

Wedding venue booked!

We have finally made progress planning our wedding and have secured a wedding venue in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The Brock House is situated near Jericho Beach and we will have an outdoor wedding on Saturday, August 8th, 2009.

www.brockhouserestaurant.com

We will send out "save the date" notices to all our family and guests this weekend.

Kevin at the driving range and photo from Gibraltar Rock

This was taken at the top of the Gibraltar Rock near the airport on the day we returned to London. It's the Mediterranean Sea.

home made fajitas at the Villa, Spain

We stayed at a villa within walking distance to a golf course which had gorgeous views. We mostly ate outside due to such warm weather.

more photos in Ronda, Spain

This was taken after a long drive up the mountains in Ronda, Spain. It's a beautiful village.

The family

This was taken at aunt Margaret and uncle Roger's wine & cheese evening at their house. Everyone is all grown up now. Kevin and Shawn's haircut look so similar in this photo. In this photo from left to right

Toronto visit Sept 2008

It was lovely catching up with friends and family during our 9 day holiday in Toronto, Canada. This is photo of the Stedmann's having cake at a local bakery after a yummy thai dinner.

Ronda Drive

In Spain, we decided to go for a short drive to a town called Ronda. Little did we know, it was in the middle of the mountains! The trip back down the mountain was a dusk, and here is the beautiful sunset we saw.

Gibraltar Monkeys

After a two hour flight from London, we landed in the "British" portion of Spain. Once we landed, we walked across the border and spent a long weekend basking in the sun. On returning to the airport, we had enough time to visit the "rock", and here are the great monkeys.... I understand they are actually apes, as they do not have tails, but I'm no expert! They were great though!

Hospes Amerigo hotel

The courtyard between the hotel restaurant and the hotel itself.
More photos can be viewed if you click on the link below.

http://www.epoquehotels.com/h.php/alicante-hotels/boutique-hotel/h/hospesamerigo/l/en

The tram in Alicante

This photo was taken inside the public tram transportation. Within 30-40 minutes, we travelled to other neaby beaches where there were less tourists. All the signs were in Spanish and we missed our stop because we assumed the tram would stop at each station, but it doesn't. It only stops if you press the stop request button which is the same button to open the tram doors. (a little too subtle) but we got to the beach no problem in the end.

"Paraguayos"- funny looking flat peaches

We found this at a local Supermacado (supermarket). We wanted to get some fruits to take with us to the beach and found these funny looking peaches next to the fuzzy peaches. It's called Paraguayos and they tastes similar to peaches but the flesh is white/yellowy instead of orange and they are delicious. In America, these are commonly called "donut" peaches.

Hospes Amerigo- famous buffet breakfast

We realised we were too amazed by the yummy buffet breakfast that we had forgotten to take photos of the buffet breakfast bar. But here is a photo of their tasty breakfast buffet. There are more photos of the hotel's interior on their website. Just click on the link below.

http://www.fuenso.com/index.php?seccio=hospes_descripcio&establiment=1&desti=1

local area alongside the beach

On weekdays, this area is full of retired folks who just come out and enjoy the sun with their grandchildren. On weekends, there are many hawkers who sell little tinkets and things. According to history books in the bookshop, this area existed since 1828 and it looks pretty much the same now as it did back then with wooden chairs freely set up for locals to sit around and enjoy the sun whilst chatting about current events. The beach closest to our hotel is just located behind the palm trees.

The Beach

We went to a nearby beach called El Campello. There were less tourists and the area is more residential and commercial which is very relaxing. We took the local tram which has very clean interiors and all cars have air conditioning. Here's Kevin putting on sunscreen before soaking up the sun.

Alicante, Spain June 2008

Kevin standing outside the Hotel "Hospes Amerigo" Truely an amazing experience. This hotel was rated one of the nicest hotels on TripAdvisor because of it's location and friendly staff. We most definitely would return whenever we visit Alicante again.

Dinner at "Inside" - Greenwich

We found a lovely cute little restaurant locally in Greenwich. We absolutely love going for meals here. It's consistently delicious every time! Some of our favourites include the mussels for starter and the seared halibut with grilled vegies for the main. http://www.insiderestaurant.co.uk/index.asp

Raspberry Meringue pie cont...

pie making process...

Home made Raspberry Meringue pie

Christine's first attempt in making a Raspberry Meringue pie. She found the recipe from a leisure magazine. The key is to use the freshest ingredients. Kevin loved it so much, he helped himself to a whole quarter of the pie that evening.

Kevin playing ultimate frizbie

The weather is most definitely getting warmer in London. This weekend was the first we've seen so many people come out to the park with their puppies and we've never seen Greenwich market so busy with tourists. Here is a photo of Kevin playing ultimate frizbie with his recreational league at Greenwich Park.

London Marathon April 2008

The London Marathon passed by our local village. Kevin and I were able to walk down to the foot of our street to watch. There were live bands playing at 10am in the morning to support the runners on this warm spring day. The race ended near Buckingham Palace that evening. The fastest runner completed a 28k run in 2 hours and 6 minutes. http://www.london-marathon.co.uk/site/

The Vatican Museum

Save NowSpiral stairs inside the Vatican Museum.

Rome Trip March 08

A week before Easter we went to Rome for a weekend. If you like pizza and pasta, than Rome is definitely the place for you. We were fortunate to have good weather (18 degrees and mostly sunny). There are many sites, but I personally think the Colloseum is my favorite. Christine enjoyed the food!