our first christmas in australia

Because we got lucky to have rented a small house but with a really humongous backyard here in Sydney, it became the perfect place to do just about anything — gardening, playground and all. So when Christmas was approaching, my neighbour friend and I already started planning a backyard Christmas party and envisioning all the outdoor parties we can think of moving forward.

Inspired by the ideas set up I found thru google, I wanted to build my own long table — like seriously go to the hardware store and hammer  and nail ’em from scratch. But I didn’t have all the time to do it, so I decided to buy those ready-made foldable ones anyway, luckily got on sale at Bunnings. The mismatched chairs are taken from our own dining and living room chairs. We asked everyone else to bring extra camping chairs to accommodate more seating or just squat as they please. I picked up some roses and wild flowers from the backyard too to add as centerpieces with the mismatched candles. Also reused our existing fairy lights and bought additional solar lights (that didn’t get fully charged up sadly). I was worried there wasn’t going to be enough light around at night but guess who showed up to join the party? Oh Mr Moon did — all shining brightly under us with the stars while we enjoy alfresco dining. As I looked around, I felt so grateful that all fell simply into place — though we surely miss spending Christmas back home in the Philippines, we are blessed to be surrounded with new friends and families we found here in Sydney that made it a lot more meaningful. Everyone brought their own food to contribute on the table and piled up wrapped gifts! And we borrowed the neighbour’s toy slide to add as a kid’s corner too for the little ones to have unending fun!

Endless thanks for everyone who came, shared their spirit and love for Christmas!

You’ve made our first Christmas in Sydney truly memorable! And all your gift of friendship mean more than any of those wrapped gifts honestly but thank you again and again!!!

This little automatic bubble-blowing toy Santa was a life-saver — Thanks for all your hard work, lil Santa! 🙂