At the end of our last year's Christmas Letter I wrote that Kevin was looking forward to Christmas so much...usually this is his attitude...
But that was mainly because he was ready to come home from Cairo - in actual fact his three month stint has now stretched over much of this year too!
However, Christmas last year was pretty difficult - Mum ended up having emergency surgery in the early hours of Christmas Eve and remained in hospital until after the New Year. If you read Mum's Newsletter (the next post on here) you will see that both she and Dad are doing pretty well - with a lot of support from us and all her family.
Despite this we did have some good times...a year ago today Dan was here from Australia and he and I walked up Thorpe Cloud in Dove Dale!
We managed to visit the oldest pubs in Nottingham, Derby and Cambridge, visit Sophie and drive down to Andrew's boat.
Our next visitors from Australia were Tom and Aiden - they came for Christmas.
Some of the highlights of their visit were when Ella, Leo and Lucas came up - we went to Andrew and Kathryn's for dinner...
and we had a bonfire and fireworks in our garden.
In fact I think Tom kept that fire going the whole time he was here!
Even though Mum was in hospital we still managed Christmas Dinner for Dad, Liz and Pete, Andrew, Kathryn, Caroline, Tomi, Michael, Sophie, Tom, Aiden, Kevin and I.
Over in Australia our granddaughters were up at 5am on Christmas day...
Kevin has spent a lot of this year in Cairo - so in February Sophie and I went over to visit.
We saw all the sights!
For my Birthday in April, the three of us did something completely different, climbing Mam Tor in Derbyshire.
Kevin was back here for Easter - he came back just in time to help with a yard sale -
Mum Dad, Liz and Pete were away from the action, in the garden -
Colin and Lynn came over around then too...
In Australia, Izzy was 5 in April, Aiden 17 in May and Jas was 9 in June!
While Kevin has been away both Sophie and Liz have been to stay with me quite often and I have been down to stay with Sophie. We saw 42nd Street in London early in the year and Annie later. (Recently a whole group of us went down to St Neots to see Sophie in Sister Act - an Am Dram production.)
In May, Sophie and I nipped over to Anglesey - and a real highlight of the trip was a visit to Bodnant Garden where the Laburnum Arch was magnificent!
Mum and Dad came over to our house several times in the Summer...
I have been on 4 crafty retreats this year, including a Tim Holtz workshop.
On another flying visit in June, Kevin and I managed to go down to Devon for Ella and Leo's 40th's - the theme was smurfs, trolls and fairies!
We were not sure whether we could make Menai - but taking turns with the care of Mum and Dad with Liz, we managed to do a week each. Unfortunately while we were there the weather was not fit for sailing but we did manage kayaking!!
And on this day Andrew took his boat out...
For Soph's Birthday she and I went to Harry Potter World - we have photos of both of us flying broomsticks!!
Soph and I also went back to Anglesey at August Bank Holiday and saw some of our favourite places...
No visitors from Australia for Christmas this year - but Kevin and I did spent October there so we have seen our boys and families...
We spent the first two weeks with Matt, Nikki, Jasmine and Isabell - sailing, rafting, camping, going to the snow and attending a Pixie Party.
We also did some crafting...
We then moved on to Melbourne to stay in Dan and Lizzie's new home.
We then went with them and Tom and Aiden to Tasmania for a few days.
A lovely holiday - 4 weeks went so quickly!
Anyway we came back and Kevin went back to Egypt...
Wishing you all the best for a Happy Christmas and a wonderful 2018!
Sue and Kevin
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Wishing you both a Very Merry Christmas and a Great New Year 2018 Sue! Hugs always! Germaine
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to you and yours Germaine! Have a lovely Christmas and a fantastic 2018! xxx
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