2012 ending and time for another Christmas letter……..
While a quiet Christmas passed at home in Melbourne we gained a new addition to the household as we finally committed to getting a dog. Hence Cookie entered our life from the RSPCA shelter with some trepidation and a little fanfare. A nervous, if cute, buddle of energy with some issues which we hoped to overcome.
We also dragged out the camp trailer again and headed down to Wilson’s Prom for a week end of quiet contemplation and energetic walks with a splattering of the Melbourne cousins. Though a little chilly this didn’t stop the girls jumping waves.
This year also marked Siobhan’s entry into High School and she started Year 7 with great gusto and a huge bag. The big excitement was when she found she would enter the digital age and get a laptop to cut down on the books she needed to cart around. In reality she now had two bags to take back and forth and a sore back to go with it.
Kiara was also enjoying the freedom of being the only one at Primary School and blossoming in confidence. Netball continued to keep her busy throughout the year with her trying out for the club rep team. While she didn’t get selected she did make it to the final trials and showed great energy. She is certainly going to try again next year.
Come Easter we realised it had been too long since we visited Sydney and so headed up to visit the family and see how mum was getting on. Michelle and Steven were kind enough to put us up and we had a great time visiting cousins and the Harry Potter exhibition. We even managed a few days at Bateau Bay to catch up with Sue & Steven and Chris & Reg.
Winter holidays found us at home for once which was fortunate as we could celebrate Siobhan officially becoming a teenager with her thirteenth birthday. Part of the reason we were at home was that Siobhan was in the school production of Guys and Dolls so part
of the holiday was used up with rehearsals as she became one of the Crap Shooters. BAFTA award material if we do say so ourselves.
Unfortunately midyear also saw Auntie Margo, who Cath had been looking after for a number of years, starting to go downhill and in August she passed away.
September holidays were very busy, first with elephant hunting, then alpaca shearing and finally a visit from the MacSweens. I’m not sure how we fitted it all in two weeks.
Kiara also had her own brush with the theatre when her school put on the Lion, the Witch and the Walk in Robe. While a bit shy up front, she found her niche in the prop department.
Unfortunately despite much effort our little four legged visitor couldn’t overcome his stressed past and we found we couldn’t handle his fear/aggression. So with much tears he had to go back to the shelter.
As the year came to a close it came time to reflect on the progress of our two lovely daughters. Siobhan continues to grow and is now as tall as Cath. She achieved excellent results at school with a number of academic awards for English, Maths, Religion, History, Health and PE. She has also taken up guitar and the house echoes with music plus the odd mist note. Kiara has also had an excellent year produce some great results at school. She has also taken a liking to the eReader Paul got for his birthday and we struggle to get her to stop reading at times.
Cath has been busy pottering in the garden when she can and renovating the house when not in demand at work or amongst the needs of the extended family. She has been at the Alfred now long enough for some long service leave. Paul finally got some chooks though just on loan. Fresh eggs were very nice in our omelettes so they might be back soon.
This Christmas we will be spending in Sydney so I am sure there will be lots of exciting stories to come out of that. As well we are planning for our first long service leave break with a trip through central Australia and down the west coast.
Til next year and stories of further adventures.
Paul, Cath, Siobhan & Kiara.