Welcome to the McMahan Blog

Hello visitors, family, friends, neighbors and others to the Redgrove McMahans blog where you can catch up on all the 'exciting' and maybe not so exciting goings-ons here in this posh town we call Cheltenham. Have a look and see what we have been up to and leave us a comment or two.

Cheers mates!

Sunday, 26 April 2009

Christmas 2008

Here are some happy pictures of our Christmas! What a GREAT one it was!!



Elizabeth happy about her gift!!







Jason contemplates what his gift could be.





Cora excited about her stocking gifts!

Santa Owen


Mr. Chips did you make this mess?

Thursday, 23 April 2009

Munich and the Christmas Markets

It’s Christmas and time again for that honored tradition of visiting the European homeland for the holidays and, most importantly, the Christmas markets. Our base this year was Munich. This year, being our last year for these wonderful excursions, we held nothing back! We took day trips to Salzburg and Innsbruck as well.

Upon arrival we drove into Munich to get a feel for our environs. First stop, Hofbrauhaus, the greatest beer garden in the world!


Jason and his large brew.











We did come to see the Christmas Markets and that we did! Each one having their own appeal.

Mom and Owen feeling a bit chilly in Munich.



Cora and Owen skating at the Salzburg Market

Cora with an angel at the Innsbruck Market










Not only did we get to go to Christmas Markets, we also managed to squeeze a day of drving through beautiful Bavaria! We made stops in Neuschwanstein, Fussen, and Bad Tolz.


Mom and Dad and a great view of Neuschwanstein.









Another day was spent in Munich checking out the more historical and educational sites of the city

The German Museum--a must see when in Munich!


Munich War Memorial












On our journey through Munich we happened upon a tradition at the Munich Christmas Market, The Running of the Krompuses. According to Legend Krompus was a scary creature that would come and if the child had been bad he would steal the gifts that St. Nick had left them OR if they were really bad may even capture the child!!


A scary Krampus with Elizabeth! Have you been a good girl this year?








Our last day we headed out of Munich to our last stop of Augsberg. WOW!! What a treat! A huge Christmas Market was awaiting us and we didn't even know it! We totally enjoyed our "surprise" market and the entire town Augsberg. What a fabulous ending to a super trip!

The children enjoying a final German Sausage at the Augsberg Christmas Market.

Tuesday, 21 April 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OWEN & DAVID

The beginning of December brought along 2 very important birthdays! First, Owen turned 13 years old this year! (my first baby is a teenager---AAHHH!!) A rousing sleepover party was planned with 8 boys invited! Well, the campout didn't exactly workout due to weather but they managed to have fun sleeping in the living room!



Owen and his mates camping out in the living room! GREAT FUN!!










The following week was our dear friend David's birthday. We won't say how old David is this year, just that he is older than Owen. Good times, good cake, and good karaoke was the order of the night! Once again another fun time was had by all!


David's chocolate cake
McMahan & Lewis cake toppers made by Cora
Frosting by Owen








HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUYS!! WE LOVE YOU LOADS!!!

Sunday, 19 April 2009

Back on track with lots of news!!

OK-so we've been remiss in our blogging! Sorry about that. Life doesn't slow down in the McMahan family these days! Too much to see, do, and experience before we head out of here in JULY!! We'll try catching up on our trips (there's been numerous) and family happenings (loads!) but for now you'll just have to be happy with these two tidbits of McMahan Accomplishments!!

WAY TO GO MR.CHIPS! Back in September Mr. Chips was taken to the vet for an ear infection. While there his owners got a bit of a telling off from the vet for allowing their dog to be 5kg overweight!!! You heard us--5kg!! That's 11 lbs. for all you Americans reading this blog. How embarrassing, I'm ashamed of myself! How did that happen? Who knows! Anyway, we had to put him on a VERY STRICT diet! And I mean strict--no treats whatsoever, small rations of diet dog food, and more consistent, longer walks.
Poor Chippy.
So we started out. Boy, giving your dog no treats is difficult! I couldn't do it. So I started give him carrots (thanks DeLisles for that tip)! Crunchy, healthy carrots!! He loved them. Then I tried peppers! He loved them--didn't matter what color-he gobbled them up!! So now our dog was eating diet dog food and carrot and pepper sticks for snacks! On top of all that he was getting 2.5 miles of walking every morning and a short walk each evening. In 8 weeks he lost 2.0 kg (4.4 lbs) by Christmas he had lost another 2.5 kg (5.5)!
WAY TO GO CHIPS!!
He's now on a healthy diet of rice, peas, and hamburger along with carrots and pepper sticks for snacks! And WOW-what a difference in his energy! He's back to be our peppy little puppy! WE LOVE YOU MR.CHIPS!!



Mr. Chips looking slim and happy!











Another bit of exciting news is the completion of THE QUILT!!
Elizabeth has wanted to make a quilt for a long time, a really long time. She finally was talking about it to a friend and discovered her friend makes quilts, even was teaching a class to make quilts!! What a great thing!!
Thanks to Aileen, Elizabeth made her first quilt and finished it just in time for Easter(just a bit behind schedule)! She now has 2 more quilts on the go--I bet you can guess who those are for!
WAY TO GO ELIZABETH! You can check that one of your list of things to do.


I DID IT!!! Thanks for all your help Aileen!!