Seasons Greetings

December 19th, 2008 (Sally).

Seasons Greetings to you all. We wish for you a very Happy Christmas and hope that the New Year brings you good health and happy times.

We are writing this letter from our unit at Mooloolaba, on the Sunshine Coast (which it truly is), with the ocean views stretching to the horizon and a gentle sea breeze wafting through the door. It's a very relaxing place to escape from the pre-Christmas rush and is giving us a chance to share special times with our family. We are also reuniting ourselves with the surf and the beach after our self imposed exile of fifteen months and walking everyday to try and burn off a few excess kilos which we acquired on our gourmet tour.

In the few days on the Gold Coast when we first arrived home we managed to catch up with some friends but look forward to seeing more after Christmas.

Our year in France has been a wonderful time for us both. Our original expectation was that a year would suffice, but all it has done is whet the appetite. We are planning to be back in March to start our next travels in April with the hope to follow the Tour de France on one stage at least. It was a real joy to share the experience with some of you and already we have two lots of visitors planned for 2009 with several thinking or planning trips which may include a visit to us.

People have asked us what were the highlights. It was all a highlight and we can honestly say there was nowhere we would not eagerly go to again. Our week in Jordan was very different but very special. Petra and swimming in the Dead Sea would have to rank on our Bucket List... tick. There are photos on the website if you are interested.

Back in Australia we have spent most of the time catching up with our family who may have stopped growing in numbers but have made up for it in physical growth.

Deb and Mark are leading very busy lives in Sydney, their four boys are active in hockey with all of them playing in club and state teams. Sam at 18 has finished school and is waiting for a university placement where he hopes to study sports media, that is unless he decides to travel for a year instead. He now towers over his parents and is considerably taller than Tony with Will, in his last year at High School, not far behind in height. Will has expressed interest in becoming a builder much to the delight of his Grandfather. Mack has just left primary school and is joining Ed at Balmain High. They are all off to Japan for a skiing holiday and we plan to spend some time with them in Sydney when they return.

Gill has all her family away from school now, Kristy is working for Gill and celebrated her 21st birthday last September. Scott is loving his work at Action Motor bikes and in his spare time is riding or spending time at the gym. He is so tall now but also slim and so strong. My welcome home hug was like hugging a tree. Paula had her 18th birthday in November which we enjoyed with family and friends at Draculas, two days after Matt's 16th birthday.

Gray and Suellen are enjoying their new house in West End, Brisbane. They now have a back yard for their very active six year old, which they share with a possum, three bantams, two cats and all the neighbourhood kids. We have had Elsie and Joey here for a couple of days which made us realise how much energy is required to entertain children that age.

Nicole and Louis have also spent some time here, I think Louis may hold the record for the most time in one day spent in the surf. His normally black hair has been bleached brown to the same shade as his skin. He and Nicole leave on Boxing Day for some time with their Japanese family before they and Miles meet up with the Nollers at the ski fields.

Best wishes for health and happiness throughout 2009. We look forward to receiving your emails. What a small wonderful world we live in.