Christmas Parties!

I've noticed this year that there are a lot more Christmas parties in Australia than we ever had in the US. Colin and I each had a work party, I had another party at work for our volunteers, and a third party with the Young Women's Network support group I coordinate. And then, Colin and I had a party for our friends on Christmas Eve. I'm all partied out, and it's not even New Year's Eve yet!

Here are 2 photos from my work Christmas party. It had a western theme, so don't mind the outfits :)

This is the group I work with in the Gold Coast - Frank (with whom I job-share), Rachel, me and Vicki

These are some of the people I work with in Brisbane - Jack (the guy dressed as an Indian, is the quietest person I know at work, so it was hilarious when he showed up in this outfit), Lucy (with whom I job-share in Brisbane), Marg (my manager), Colin and me

Getting ready for Christmas

Since I knew I wouldn't get to see my family on Christmas this year, we got ready for it before I left :)

Now that we're back in Australia, it's hard to imagine it's going to be Christmas in only 9 days. The temperature has been about 85-90 degrees, with about 90% humidity! It just doesn't feel like Christmas. But, I'm not complaining too much - I guess it's better than the ice storm that's happening at home right now. We bought our Christmas tree last weekend and decorated it on Saturday. We're having a Christmas Eve party with our friends in the Gold Coast, so I'll definitely post some pictures from that with our tree. We going to Carols on the Beach tomorrow, which was one of the very first things we did when we arrived last year. We've also been to lots of Christmas parties already - I think I've been to 4! I'm all blogged out for now, but I'll post some more pictures soon!

Out with friends

In addition to Girls Night, we also had a few nights out with the whole crowd in Denver. Did I mention that I miss home???

And one more picture from Wisconsin that I love :)

Girls Night Out

One of the things I miss most about Denver is Girls Nights. So, of course we had one while I was home. We went to this cute little wine bar called the Cork House. It was the first time any of us had been there, and it was really great! The drinks were yummy and the food was delicious. And the best part was that we went during happy hour, so it was all really cheap too :)

Jean, Joni and me before the others arrived

This was just before we left, Sophie was ready to go! :)

This was so much fun, and I miss you all so much! Thanks for making it such a great time when I was back.

Susan's Third Annual Chili Cook-off

Two years ago one of my best friends, Susan, came up with the brilliant idea of having an annual chili cook-off. I look forward to it every year, and so I was feeling sad that I was going to miss it this year, living in Australia. But, then Susan decided to have it while we were home - yay! The chili cook-off starts in the afternoon, and everyone brings a chili to enter in the competition. Then we eat chili all day and everyone votes for their favorite. This year two people made vegetarian chili, so I was very spoiled! I think there were a total of about 7 or 8 chilis. Here are some pictures from the night.

me, Susan, Jean, Joni, Sophia and Carrie

This is a picture of the winners, along with Susan

Jean took first place! I didn't get to try hers, but Colin thought it was delicious. Thanks for having when we were home Susan! You're the best :)

Thanksgiving with Family

Colin and I just got back from our trip home for Thanksgiving. We had the best time! And, as usual, the time went by way too fast. My mom made Thanksgiving dinner for about 30 people, although there were actually only 10 of us there (and 3 were kids!). Here's all of us.

We got to spend lots of time with the kids while we were in Wisconsin. Here are some of my favorite photos.