You better not doubt...... Santa came to town

We have been married for just over a week and been living in our house just over 2 months and stil Santa managed to find us.

For the first time in about 12 years all the Atkinson's are together for Christmas. We have been fortunate enough to spend our first Christmas in our new home with the Smeeton's (Chris' sister and family) and his folks.

Sadly Santa was not able to bring all the boys gifts over but he left them a note saying he had made a stop at their home in Bloomington as well.

Looks like he made a feast of the treats Oliver set our for him..........

Rumble Tumble

Last night after we had opened all our spoils, I got stuck in to pack it all away and turned around to see Rum Tum nestled into my wedding dress on the kitchen counter.

Now, I have never seen him on the counter before - even if there are dirty dishes around so I was very surprised and although it was a very sweet sight, it was most certainly not to be encouraged....

I quickly snapped the shot and then chivied him off the counter and covered the dress properly. (I had left it out with the full intention of taking it off to be cleaned)

Ag Shame!!!! Not allowed to attend the wedding and then chased off the dress and its just oh so comfy - what can I do MOM!!!

Spoilt Rotten

Well I think the pictures say it all!!!!!
We have been so spoilt and will thank you all appropriately when we return from our honeymoon in January

The Dust has Settled

Wow, what a year we have had! This past weekend we finally got married. What a fantastic weekend with all our nearest and dearest. The weather was really kind to us and we had a few drops of rain at the rehearsal on the Friday as well as on arrival to Moolmanshoek after photos. It is said that rain on you wedding day is a blessing, and we have truly been blessed by the rain at all the appropriate moments so to not disrupt the proceedings of the day.

No wedding is complete without a few minor hiccups.....
* Chris and Dion almost missing the service due to a flat tyre
* Brian O not having a tie from Euro Suit
* Max sticking her finger in the fan during the ceremony
* Mark & Jo shredding a tyre on the way home
these are just a few that we will all giggle about in years to come.

Plato said that we are born half a circle & spend most our lives seeking out our other half. Together we have found our other half and completed the circle.

Tree Frog ..... NOT

With Christmas just around the corner and us finally living in a free standing house with a garden with gigantic jacaranda tree, we decided to get into the Christmas spirit and put some lights in our tree. While at Makro today we deliberated on the length of the lights and felt that maybe the 45m would be too long. Eventually we decided to just go with the longer length and this afternoon Chris reverted back to his childhood and climbed into the tree to string the lights. We soon realised that in actual fact 45m is not that long but will do the trick for now. So a jolly HO HO....

Pamper time

Last Saturday, I was truly spoilt!!! In fact, not only once, twice but THRICE.

While in London, Lara, cooked a special breakfast and she and Emma then presented me with a lovely gift.

Then after Kelly & Rory's wedding we went through to Durban for the day. Shortly after we arrived at Mark's, the doorbell rand and low and behold there were the Hewisons and Merv. Melanie had managed to secretly get hold of some of the Durbanites and have a little get together for me. I was hugely surprised!! With hindsight, I must admit everyone had been a little out of character leading up to the weekend while making arrangements to get together for lunch, but never would I have thought that's what was cooking!

Finally JHB....With my bridesmaids so far away, Jeanie & Tracy K offered to organise a pamper party for me. Poor Jeanie had been given so many "DO NOTS" that I think she regretted her offer. I was adamant that I was not be dressed-up or made a fool of. When it came to reveling my spoils, I was to take a piece of paper from a bowl. Jeanie then read what had been written and I was to guess who it was from. The idea behind it was "remember when". Once I had successfully guessed who's remember when had been read, I was allowed to open the pressie. This is truly the nicest way to break the ice and for some of the girls to get to meet each other before the wedding. I am so blessed with fantastic friends and we had a very civilised afternoon-even though we had a little stripper. Thanks Luke for being the cutest bare body we could have wished for!

Homely bliss

I know it has been a while since our last update. Things in the "gonnabe" Atkinson household have been somewhat hectic to say the least. We finally moved into our mansion just over a month ago and have settled in rather well. As with all new builds and renovations we have had a few teething problems but fortunately nothing to drastic. I think the most amusing teething problem was the discovery of our heated toilets Thanks Shaun for finding it) The plumbers had somehow managed to plumb hot water to our 2 downstairs toilets. While the idea of how hygienic it could be we also realised how costly it could be. That has been rectified..... Other than that we had the odd leak etc.

During our first month here we have had little time to enjoy the fruits of our labour. With yet another trip to London for the Odendaal wedding, a trip to Natal for the Lindsay wedding, a trip to Ficksburg to organise our wedding, bachelor and pamper parties etc etc. Whilst we have been here, there have been odd jobs to perform around the house. Chris has got quite good at delegating others to use his tool box.

I will endeavour to try post some internal photos soon.....

Friend or Foe

Two weeks after we moved into our house we dashed of to London for Brian and Lisa's wedding. We had a fantastic trip albeit all to rushed with merely 2 nights there. We also had a lovely time with Brett, Lara and the kids. I have been especially lucky to have seen them 4 times this year. Shortly after we got home, I noticed some glass on the floor in my studio. After a little investigation, I discovered a bullet hole through the window. This is rather disturbing as it seems to have been deliberate rather than an accident. Why I say deliberate, is that there were in actual fact TWO shots fired. The first only damaged some plaster/paint work but the second has gone through the window, hit the ceiling and then wall finally landing on the floor. Our basic CSI has determined that it came from across the road at a slight angle. As far as suspicions go, we feel it may have been a disgruntled subcontractor who admitted to misleading me in his quote and then proceeded to overcharge us. As you can expect, Chris has refused to pay and hence this debacle.