Engagement Fun

Sculling the (non-alcoholic) wine for the toast

Yesterday we drove to the city to help celebrate our eldest son, Daniel's, engagement to the lovely, Cate. We are so proud to have Cate as part of our family. It's a great feeling to see Daniel so happy and so in love, and to see the way that he and Cate compliment each other. Their engagement party was a great time to catch up with friends and family we haven't seen in ages, and to meet the rest of Cate's family too.

Us with 7 of our kids, their partners and our Grandson
(Amy and her boyfriend are missing from this one)

Felix, as usual, was fantastic on the 4 hour drive. At home he is not at all interested in watching TV, but in the car he loves to watch his Play School dinosaur DVD or the Wiggles. I have to remind myself to keep my eyes on the road when I'm driving because I love to look back at him, in the rear vision mirror, and watch his face as he listens to his favourite songs. One of his favourites is a dinosaur song which talks about a dinosaur shaking it's head. He watches it and shakes his head frantically from side to side and then walks his hands up his chest when they say "Stomp, stomp, stomp".

It was an early start for us because Felix woke up at 4.30am that morning. He only had a 40 minute nap during the drive and then had a lot of excitement at the party. He was a little bit overwhelmed by all the new faces and all the people who were coming up to talk to him so he didn't want to be held by anyone except for Nathan, Isaiah, Aaron or me. He shook his head whenever anyone else tried to pick him up and hid his face. By the end of the day he still wasn't giving out cuddles, but he wanted to point to everybody's noses (he's just realised that everyone has one), and he happily gave out some kisses. When he gives someone a kiss, he also has to kiss the person next to them and the person holding him as well.

Walking practice at the party

Regardless of the fact that Felix didn't want to be picked up by many people, he certainly got lots of attention. People I had never met before came up and said, "This must be Felix". He was all smiles and loved the attention. He even did his 'crazy face' for a few people. He had lots of "Oooooh's" and "Ahhhhh's" when he saw the engagement cake (which looked like it was made of Lego, with Lego Cate and Daniel on the top). Cate's Mum got a great photo of his "Ooooooh" face!

4 Generations
Our son Joel, his son Noah, my Grandma, me & my Dad

It was beautiful to be there to see my Grandma meet my little Grandson Noah for the first time (her Great-Great Grandson). She couldn't wipe the smile off her face. My Dad hadn't met him before either, so he enjoyed meeting his Great- Grandson for the first time too. We were able to take a photo of the five generations; Grandma, my Dad, me, Joel and Noah all together. As you can probably tell, I love making memories through photographs and this will be one that I will treasure.