Hello to our friends & family (on every side of the globe), 14 December 2011
It is with mixed emotions that I write this year's Christmas Letter. Most of you will have heard that Peter and I were planning on visiting Canada this Christmas and had booked our trip in July and had arranged to see the Miracle of Christmas with Mom and Dad in Pennsylvania and we were all very excited. But alas, Dear Dad went home to be with the Lord at the end of August and we moved our trip up for obvious reasons.
Whilst it was a very bitter sweet trip, we were also able to catch-up with a lot of family and friends and at times the trip seems so surreal, but we captured some great pictures and below are a few collages I have created. There were so many highlights of the trip; for Peter – the Blue Jays Baseball Game and for me – the lovely afternoon at Niagara-On-The-Lake with Mom and Peter, not to mention all of the wonderful visits with family and friends. I have also included an awesome picture that was taken of Mom and Dad just the week before he took his final flight home.
So, we will be spending Christmas at home in Springfield Lakes this year but a lovely bonus will be seeing Chase on Christmas Day.
Our year started with the devastating floods in January and Peter and I had the opportunity of helping a couple John and Gael from the Centenary Suburbs and we have since caught up with them over a lovely dinner and heard the story of their house being rebuilt. Even now as I have started writing our letter, I am sitting along Brisbane Terrace in Goodna that was completely under water and it seems so surreal to imagine that it even happened, but I only have to look across the street and I can see the evidence as some houses are still bare, waiting for reconstruction of their walls and residents waiting for insurance settlements. They are predicting another wet summer again but they are keeping a close eye on the levels of the dam this year. I still remember our drive back to Brisbane from Gladstone after spending Christmas with Beth (Peter's mum) and how the road was closed because it was flooded, and even when it was finally clear for us to pass, the level of water was so high to the bridge, it was incredible and scary all at the same time. I have included a picture which might help you appreciate it a tiny bit.