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25th I	25th II	26th
1990	Aldies in the morning. Everyone got a santa hat. I wore the brooch that plays 3 Christmas songs and the Santa badge that has blinking eyes. It was the usual yell and scream the whole time with little or no parental control. After we ate Doug went out to fly a kite (because we had claimed we had a better time when he was gone). We managed to get him in to open gifts.
1991	Aldies came at 2PM. We played Pictionary. They left at 4:30PM when David got cranky.
1992	Dad called and we spoke to him, Lavonne and Chris. Fornusek/Bells. Met Paul's mother, Mike Hickford, his daughters Tracy and Debbie. Also Mrs F's friend Doris, her son Jeremy and his friend Belinda. Had a chat with Chris Bell about University of Auckland. Discovered that they play Trivial Pursuit! Back home for a turkey meal. Steve Graham stopped in with a bottle of wine while we were at Fornusek's.
1993	Went to Maraetai. I was the only one to go in. I walked way out and then swam back in. We all walked to Omana and Dad was interested in the mussels growing on rocks.
1994	Whites came at 4PM - over to park to play cricket and check out their walkie talkies. Lovely turkey meal with an excellent '92 Morton Estate Riesling. Played their new Charades game. Jackie very funny. Played buckets with David and Matt.
1995	M - Dad called and said he has prostate cancer and will be checked if it has spread. Gail and I walked with Malcolm and Maureen Todd. Played Risk with kids.
1996	W - Aldies came at 11AM. James upset because I touched him and he was in a rotten mood the whole time. Chatted in lounge and ate in the kitchen. Out for basketball and in for gifts. Willie and Fornusek phoned to wish us a "Merry".
1997	Th - Doug over for RnR Scattergories.
1998	F - Called mom. Granich's for a barbeque lunch ('98 Montana Sav Blanc) with David. Met Alika (an Indian lady) and her husband, Brian (maintenance at Steel Mill), Melinkas' boyfriend, Wade and Peta's fellow, Junior. Roy showed me how he treats his pool. They gave us a variegated pohutakawa (metrosideros "midas").
2000	M - deVilliers over and I swam with the boys. Needhams came for a barbecue (excellent '96 deRedcliffe Semillion Chard). Gave the boys rubber dice, stacking kiwis but they didn't take the marbles because I had written "Fred" and "Mark' on the tags.
2001	DeV's came for a romp in the pool (video) - Julian fell off their giant crocodile and had to be rescued. They just discovered South African section at Woolies in Pukekohe and brought over JellyTots and Sparletta Creme Soda. Roché doing a great job at Skillz. Ann, Russell and Chris came and I got into the pool with the boys. Tried out Chris' Christmas prezzie - Crazy Catch, a cricket ball return (video). Gave Marcel a reindeer poo dispenser and Julian a kelaidoscope (his had just broke today!). Had an excellent 2000 Montana chardonnay with the meal outside, more cricket and then dessert out under the Christmas lights. In where I skunked Russell twice at cribbage while Gail taught Ann Rummikub and the young'uns played David's new Monopoly® card game. Gave Chris a soccer pen with bulging eyes. He is staying with us for a few days.	deV's Rummikub
2002	Doug came by early for a swim and to give us a basket of goodies including sail boats that we raced in the pool. Mine tore across while his just sat, but I couldn't make the last 6 inches and capsized and after 9 minutes his yellow sailed boat touched the finish wall. de Villiers arrived at 2:30PM and the boys were straight into the pool with David while the adults caught up on the year's news. They have the house up for sale and are looking for something larger. After they departed we made the place ready for Emery, Chris and Russell. Bit cool outside so we visited indoors and had a big meal. I gave Chris a laser light with strobe effects.
2005	Russell, Ann and Christopher joined us for supper. A most excellent Timara '04 Cabernet Merlot.
2006	Elaine and Bob came for a lunch and gift opening.
2007	Elaine arrived with a hand-crafted card and a basket of gifts (large cup for me). We had an excellent Huntaway '02 chardonnay with a ham meal and Renee's baked goodies for dessert.
2008	Steph came at 5PM for a meal (an excellent pinot gris) and visit.
2010	Sa - Ne came over for Steph's visit. Had a ham meal with a great cornbread, several games of Sequence, coffee and cake. We gave her a basket of goodies and in turn she gave me a Merlot and earrings to Gail. Had to jump her car as the battery was dead due to a loose pole connection. Angi and Carl called.
2011	Sa - Went to McLaren Falls Park and did the Rimu Totara walk where saw a very small falls. Then had a picnic on the water at Cherry Bay which is loaded with Canadian geese, black swans and ducks with a couple tuis flittling around the place. Very nice place and we must go back, especially since we didn't see the falls. Interesting to note that the vast majority in the park were Indians. And I liked the look of all the rocks at the first bridge.
2012	T - Trish rang (off to Uncle John's). Alhambra.
2014	Th - Atmore's at noon for a punch drink. We went to Kwan Chow at 1PM - place was packed. We all set about stuffing as much as we could. Blair went for desserts 4 times and one time he told a lady that he was from an orphanage and she let him go ahead of her. Not cheap at $45/person but we did score a Tauranga calendar. Began the first Pixie Pit Scrabble game with Gail (and Anna) with "recover" for 82 points.
2017	M - Kathy and Roche called. Party dogs with Truffles came around 1PM. Broke out Terraforming Hellas which I won. Russell called - still not in TeKawhata place. After a steak supper, with a sharp Montana 2016 Merlot, we played Istanbul.
2020	F - Fran left a message. Played "A Column of Fire" for the first time - seems easy.
2022	Su - "Castles of Mad King Ludwig", couple games of "5 Tribes". Mini pavs for dessert and then "Stone Age".
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