Christmas, New Year & Abraham

Shhhhhh!  Jos turned the big FIVE-0 on the 5th January!  Happy Birthday!

In Holland, there is an "Abraham & Sarah" tradition - when somebody turns 50, if its a man, then he has seen Abraham, and if its a woman, she has seen Sarah.  I can't say for certain if Jos has seen Abraham - maybe after a few drinks - who knows what he would look like today?

To celebrate your 50th birthday in Holland you would usually decorate the frontyard of the house with an Abraham or Sarah puppet. The lifelike puppet would usually represent something that the person does or enjoys - for example, you may dress up the Abraham puppet as a musician if they play an instrument.

Unfortunnaly I didn't find out about Abraham until the night before Jos' birthday - however, we will be celebrating Jos' birthday with family and friends together with a housewarming party later in the year, so I will have my chance then.

A shot of Jos with his cake last year (Maddy made this cake):

And this year:

They say that you start to degenerate after turning 50, as evidenced by this photo:

We had a small celebration for Jos' birthday - attended by 3 others - not enough people to celebrate a monumental occasion, but we will make up for this with a large party later in the year.  Jos received some wonderful gifts and wishes from family and friends from here and overseas, and there was only one thing missing on the day - his family in Holland, who were never far away from his thoughts.

Now for A few Christmas shots:

Oscar joining the presents under the Christmas tree:

Jasper wanting to hide from it all:

Christmas 2010 will be a little more exciting, with a few guests joining us from Holland (and maybe Queensland?).  They have even announced this at our local shopping centre, do you know who will be joining us?

And last but not least, more photos of our house.  Remember my blog last December?  The builder managed to complete the house to lock up as promissed.  This week they will be installing plaster.  He told us we will be in our house by April:

Guest bathroom:

Ensuite spa bath

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends, near and far....