5 wish you all a Happy New Year!

Happy New year to you all from the Ansells!
We hope you all had a good Christmas, we had a lovely Christmas, however, it was a bit odd for us this year for a number of reasons; firstly being on a remote Island in the middle of the South Atlantic, secondly, the weather was hot and sunny (not right I’m afraid, I don’t think I would ever get used to Christmas in summer!) and thirdly, all our Christmas shopping was complete before the 20th October when the shipping company shipped our goods, so there was no Christmas shopping with cheesy Christmas music for us! That may be a blessing though.
There have been lots of Christmas parades here on St Helena in the run up to Christmas which have helped to remind us that it really is Christmas! Ruby took part in some of them as a cheerleader. The Hawaiian themed parade for St Pauls primary school, the Christmas eve parade and the opening of the boxing day games. We also saw the highlight of Christmas on St Helena, the festival of lights which was great to be a part of, we were all draped in fairy lights and glow sticks, walking through Jamestown following a Santa with glow in the dark eyes!
We have been lucky to have my mum to stay for Christmas and New year, it has been so nice to have someone we know on the island. The kids, Matt and I have been looking forward to seeing her for a long time. She brought us lots of treats, including magazines for me which highlight how out of date with fashion I will be on return to the UK! I feel some shopping trips coming on…
Christmas day consisted of lots of present opening for the kids in the morning, Matt also had a real treat this year, he got a whole Toblerone, a moisturiser and a packet of mentos!  We had Christmas day lunch/dinner at the new hotel on the island; Mantis St Helena, which I have to say was very impressive, I think it’s always a good sign if you can’t walk after Christmas dinner!
Between Christmas and New-year We have also been busy, the weather has been good, and we took Nanny on a boxing day walk, to  BBQ’s at friends, a boat trip to do some dolphin watching and swimming, as well as brunch at Bertrand’s Cottage.
New year has been a quiet one for us this year but as usual the kids made it to midnight and we played lots of party games along the way. No hangover on New years day was a treat!!
We are now on countdown until our March leave,  We already have lots planned, including 10 days in Cape town before we hit the UK, Matt has worked for a whole year without leave so a holiday before we get back to England will be very welcome.
Before we go on leave we hope to see some Whale Sharks, it is the only reason Archie is here he says! Hopefully they will arrive within the next 3-4 weeks and we can swim with them, it would be amazing if we get to see them. If we do, we will try and show you some pictures. There are advantages to living here!

Thank you to everyone who has sent cards and gifts for Christmas, we feel very loved.
We will blog again soon
Jo, Matt, Isaac, Ruby and Archie xxxxxx

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