Rob and Maree's wedding

On 8 June 2012, Rob and Maree were married on a surprisingly warm and dry day in Aberdeen, with a reception at the Pitodrie House Hotel.

The ceremony and reception were both great fun, reflecting the families and their Scottish and Australian backgrounds (complete with Aunty Leslie's "medley of Scottish and Australian tunes" as the bride and groom left the church).  The hotel and grounds were beautiful (as was the bride, obviously), and I have to give special mention to the haggis canapes. Divine!

It was a shame that Jo and Euan couldn't come along, but it turned out to be a real blessing, as my Thursday night flight was diverted to Glasgow due to thick fog, resulting in a 3 hour wait in the airport and a 3 hour coach journey across Scotland, arriving at the hotel at 3.15 am (to be woken by the next-door school at 8am!).  I didn't really get a chance to enjoy the hotel's facilities (i.e. bar, whisky room, etc.), although I did have a sneaky session in the gym in preparation for our holiday (undone, I suspect, by the aforementioned haggis canapes and a full Scottish breakfast on the Saturday morning).  

Congratulations to Rob and Maree, and best wishes for married life.



Photos here

Snow days and sunny days - January 2012

Trying to wrap up all our January pictures in one album, you'll find amongst these photos some unseasonably sunny weather, Euan's first proper haggis supper, and the first of 2012's snow (and our first trip to Kinsbourne Green common in the snow).

New Year Get-Together (Millard clan)

Here are just a few photos from the get-together we had in January at The Cross-in-Hand in Heathfield (Russell's pub) together with everyone (and that's a lot of people) from the Millard side of the family.  There were a few left-over Christmas presents and all the children played together both indoors and outdoors.  As usual, Tim over-ate at the sumptious buffet!

Late May Sunshine With Granny and Grandpa

 You'll have realised before now that we find it difficult for some reason to upload our photos within 5 months of taking them!  In an effort to rectify, or at least improve on that, we've decided to intersperse the oldest uploads with the most recent.  With any luck, we'll meet in the middle, sometime round April.

With that in mind, here are the photos from our great weekend in the glorious Cotswold sunshine with Granny and Grandpa (and a host of visiting morris dancers).  Combine the sunshine and nice food with a trip on a train, and you won't see a broader smile on Euan's face!

Jubilee Weekend

Three quarters of the way through the Jubilee Weekend, we're pausing for breath and - at 8.30pm - the sun is in the sky!  

We started the weekend at the Herts County Show with George, Harriet and Beatrix, Arada, Matt and Benji.  The children were captivated by the 'Devil's Horsemen' stunt riders and the tractor display in equal measure.  We saw prize chickens, sheep, goats, alpacas, horses and (huge) heffers; enjoyed pies, donuts, a picnic, black pudding sausage and veggie tagine; and were entertained by Suffolk Punch horses, alpacas, dancing sheep, mounted games and a pack of beagles.  We finished the day in the glorious sunshine.

As the rain really set in on Sunday, we all found shelter in town for a lovely Bank Holiday lunch, heading home afterwards to watch the river pageant unfold from the comfort of the sofa.  We watched the excellent Super 8, which I'd recommend to anyone who wishes they still made films like E.T.

Today, Toby, Rachel, Archie and baby Harry came to visit.  We ducked the rain showers and had a lovely day, managing to spend a little time in the garden and in the park (between yet more delicious meals).  Tomorrow, we're off to see Eug, Tim and Adella, who have sensibly decided to cancel the barbeque and book a table in a nearby pub!

New Year 2011-12 in South Creake

Click above for the photos

We didn't really have any plans for New Year, so it was lovely to have a last-minute invitation to Norfolk from Toby, Rach and Archie (pre-Harry). (It turns out I forgot to mention this in the January blogs!).  We returned to the beach at Wells, with the two boys in the rucksacks, and fed the ducks in the pond between big, hearty, winter meals, sharing a glass of bubbly whilst watching Jools Holland ring in the New Year.  As always, Archie and Euan had a great time playing together.  Click here for the photos.

April showers, May showers...

We've had a lovely couple of weekends with our friends from Durham. 

Echoing last summer's road trip, we had a visit from Jez, Debbie and Tallulah two weeks ago.  Tallulah has grown a lot since we last saw her, and has taken to moving round the floor on her knees - getting up to quite a pace.  We had a few trips to the park and to the Discovery Centre for lunch and to sit on the big blue tractor, finishing Saturday with a grown-up, home-made meal for 4 and a few bottles of wine.  With Sunday brunch at Okka, we were well fed for the weekend!

Last weekend, we took a trip to Shropshire to see Sarah, Rob and Lucy and (for Tim) to meet Lottie for the first time (even though she's already 7 months old!).  We took a stroll through the wet and muddy woods, and Euan and Lucy played hide and seek behind the trees. 

Tim, Eugenie and (still Euan's favourite) Adella joined us for the rest of the weekend, and we had a surprise visit from James, Catherine, Katelyn and a 3-month-old Toby.  Tim got a little practice in, holding a sleepy, snoring Toby while the girls made cupcakes.  Thanks to Sarah and the family for putting up with all of us, and preparing some amazing food.

Christmas 2011

It has taken the usual 4 months to get round to posting our Christmas photos.

We blogged in January about all our visitors and trips over the Christmas period, so if you'd like a reminder to go with the pictures, click here.

Christmas no.1 was with Granny and Grandpa Reid: gingerbread men, a crib service, champagne, Torta di Risotto and Christmas morning itself. Click on any of these photos for the full album.

  After a lovely Christmas Dinner of spinach, mushroom and chestnut filo pie with tomato and ginger coulis, we settled in for Christmas no.2 with the Howards and Grandma and Granddad Concannon.  Photos are below. I've taken some liberties here, including in the above album a late November shot from the Harpenden carnival and the picture below, from Euan's Christmas Party at Thomas's house.

Our final Christmas Party after a quick trip to the zoo and before heading to Norfolk was with the Callingtons and Aunty Paula and Uncle Dave.

And here are the zoo pictures.  It was too nippy to hang around, and there will be plenty more photos from the rest of the year as we enjoy the annual membership.  These fellas had just finished a long night shift but were happy to sign autographs and eat carrots.

Roof work - December 2011

Euan, November 2011