Rice Salad

1 cup brown rice

2 spring onions

3 stalks celery

30g dried cranberries

1 tin whole kernal corn

1 red pepper

walnuts/sliced almond/sunflower seeds/tamari seeds

Cook rice according to packet directions. Cool. Slice spring onions, finely dice celery and red pepper.

Toast your chosen seeds and nuts and add a splash of tamari or soy sauce.

Mix all together in a large bowl and stir through the dressing

Dressing

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp finely diced ginger

1 tsp finely diced garlic

3T soy sauce

Put all ingredients in a screw top jar and shake to combine

Sofia's Mermaid Party

Our eldest daughter Sofia turned six this week. She is interested in mermaids at the moment so I created a birthday party with a mermaid/underwater theme...

 My two nieces came to help with decorations, set up and organising games

 Sushi

 Grape 'seaweed'

 'Starfish'

 Sharks in jelly

 Clam shells with pearls

Cheerio Octopuses

 Little coloured tin buckets for the guests to collect their prizes in and take home

 Treasure hunting. I photographed some beachy objects (sunhat, suncream, jandals, bucket and spade etc.) and printed the pictures. Zoe and Willow then hid those objects around our yard with a picture attached to each. At the end the girls found a beach towel with the 'treasure' wrapped inside

 Water balloon target throw

 Zoe handing out prizes (we had mermaid stickers, mini bubbles, gold chocolate coins, a pretty bracelet, star shaped scented bath oil and some sweets

 Pass the parcel

 The birthday girl

 Cake time

 Seaweed Limbo

 Tallulah takes a turn

This incredible mermaid costume was a gift from Sofia's friend (made by her Mum! So clever)

Baptising Haniteli

On 3rd November we baptised our son in a Tongan Catholic Ceremony. Afterwards we celebrated his baptism and coming 1st birthday with the church community and some friends. With the help of family and friends we put on a lunch for around 100 people.

 The girls helping their cousin and Aunty prepare the ngatu (tapa cloth) to be used as a back drop in the hall

Boys spit roasting 10 pigs in the early hours of the morning

 The cake(s)

 Pretty big sisters

 Hani with his godmother, our niece Felixe

 Hani's godfather, our nephew Vincent, having a last minute practise of his reading

 Proud Aunties

 Lots of guests!

 Sign painted by Paula's friend

 The front table

 The man of the moment in his Tongan outfit

Hani not looking the best with a nasty cough that had us taking him to the 24 hour doctor to be put on a nebuliser at 4am on this morning...poor little chap.

Australia Holiday

A few photos from our recent trip to Sydney. It was a first aeroplane journey for Haniteli, first trip for us with three children and it all went really well. It was so nice to catch up with Paula's family and visit places we had not been before in the Sydney area. The kids had a lovely time with Aunties, Uncles and cousins. We enjoyed beautiful warm weather. Ten days in the big city was enough for us and we were ready to come. Glad we had left before the big bush fires in the Blue Mountains. It was amazing and sad to see places that we had visited days earlier being devastated by the fires.

 Crazy cousins dressing up

 Featherdale Wildlife Park

 

 Hani with Aunty Mia

 Hani with Uncle Soa

The Three Sisters at Katoomba

Paula and Na admiring The Blue Mountains

Haniteli with Aunty Mafi'ila

So many balls!

Fun times at Ingrid's house

 Sofia by the harbour in Newcastle

 Testing the water at Shelley Beach near Wyong

 Bondi Beach

 Coogee Beach

 Brothers

 Fun in Uncle and Aunty's pool

Cousins and second cousins

We love family time!