Boy has this year gone fast!! It has been a couple of years since I found the time to actually write a xmas letter and for that I apologise. Even now I have to resort to email just to get this done....so I hope I have all your email addresses correct!
Our family is still growing up and nothing is more evident of this than my eldest baby- Emma, who has just recently got her P-Plates and her own car. She is thrilled to be independent in her cute little Hyundai Excel 3 door hatch - white. So beware on the roads....
Nicholas has grown so tall that I now look up to him. He is a very capable young man with a passion for motorbikes and this year has finally got his own Honda 250XR to ride virtually everyday! He will still do things that I ask him to though…here he is all dressed up with his mum at the Kernewek Lowender this year in May. This is the largest Cornish Festival held outside of Cornwall, UK and is lots of fun with the whole community joining in. Sarah was part of it again in both the school choir and Maypole dancing team, which I assisted with again this year.
Emma has now completed Yr 11 at Banksia Park International High School with a solid report at the end of the year which will allow her to do Maths, Physics, Chem, English and Photography in Yr 12 next year. At this time she is keen on entering Engineering – Mechatronics at Uni SA after finishing school, but we still say that she can change her mind when the time comes…
Nicholas has had a brilliant year and made it through Yr 8 with flying colours and all A’s & one B. Great report and he has enjoyed his year at Harvest Christian School. He is into his 5th year of guitar lessons & still loves playing all the time. He has also performed this year in the school worship band to broaden his experiences on the guitar. Football & Tennis are the sports played this year and whilst his footy team ended up just above the bottom of the ladder, he still enjoyed himself. Tennis is going well and they may even make the finals at the end of the season for his first year in B Grade.
Sarah continues to shine at school, even when she would rather stay home!! She was the runner up DUX of Year 5 this year and also participated in school choir along with thoroughly enjoying Netball & tennis, both of which she is quite good at. Sarah also started guitar lessons with the same teacher as Nicholas and is enjoying them much more since swapping over. Her passion/hobby is scrapbooking these days and she is collecting more ‘stuff’ just like her mother has with quilting I think. She also loves going riding on her motorbike with her big brother most nights & weekends.
During the year my business has remained very busy, with trips all over Australia installing & training people with their new quilting machines and computerised systems. We were able to bring the kids with us in July to install a computerised system in New Zealand. Shame about the freezing cold weather BUT the kids now have passports and we all had a really good time! We spent the first week in the North of the North Island and visited Kauri Forests, Bay of Islands and the girls even attended a Circus school on one day whilst I was teaching a class. The second week saw us in a motorhome travelling south of Auckland and visiting Rotorua, going skiing and many more attractions from the windows of the motorhome…
Sadly, whilst we were in New Zealand our beloved Gran was finally at peace. We had spent some time with her whilst she was in the Royal Adelaide Hospital before we left and was not sure how long she would keep fighting. On our first morning in NZ we got the call and whilst it was very hard, I also knew it was what she wanted. We love you & miss you Gran.
The highlight of the year for Paul would have to be a weekend we spent in Melbourne/Koo Wee Rup at the 20th anniversary of his Rural Youth Exchange to the UK. There were 5 Australians and 4 Kiwis that went to the UK in 1989 and EVERYONE plus most partners managed to attend an amazing, unforgettable weekend hosted by the wonderful Van Dord family in Koo Wee Rup. What memories, stories and friendships renewed on this weekend. Thanks guys….
We also have some new members of our family to have fun with. We have moved Mr Hicks’ dog – John the Kelpie, 14yrs- back to Constantine Farm so that he could associate more with humans and also obtained a new playmate for him. We welcomed Belle – 5 1/2 mth old Border Collie, into our family in October! She is a gorgeous female pup, with great instincts with our sheep and is thoroughly loved & spoilt by all of us.
Harvest has only just finished for us on the weekend, but today they have headed off to a cousin’s farm to help them finish before more rain is forecast in a couple of days. It has been a very frustrating harvest with either VERY hot, windy weather where we could not reap due to fire danger (& there were a few fires around here, but not on our place thankfully) or we had rain that stopped everything as well!
The yields are definitely up & can’t complain about them, but as usual the prices are not nearly as good as has been in the past. The nature of farming as usual….but better than the past couple of years.
From Paul: (for those interested)
Wheat – from 14 to 23 bags/acre
Peas – from 10 to 16 bags
Barley – from 10 to 25 bags
Canola – 6 bags
Lentils – 12 bags
We are now organising the caravan to go away for four days over Christmas up the river at Morgan. We are really looking forward to a no stress, relaxing time with family members and lots of friends & extended family visiting over this time. Kym, Amanda & the boys are bringing their ski boat and we will have all the kids bikes and other goodies to keep everyone outside & amused!
Then it will be off to Robe for us for 2 weeks for our annual relaxing break before the mad rush of the new year sets in. Already I am booked to go to both WA and Vic to install machines as well as two here in SA in Feb. Paul will come with me to Margaret River & we might try for a couple of days just for ourselves whilst mum & dad come up to stay with Sarah & Nicholas for a week.
We are also thrilled to be having cousin Tess stay with us for a week whilst in Robe. Sarah is very much looking forward to having her cousin stay with her for this time. It is not often the girl cousins can be with each other face to face for any length of time except on Skype these days…
We hope & trust that the shock of actually receiving this letter from us this year does not spoil your Christmas celebrations vbg…
Have a wonderful happy, joyous & blessed Christmas and a happy & safe New Year!
love always
Tracey, Paul, Emma, Nicholas & Sarah
(along with Belle, John, King Gus & Impy – the 2 cats!)
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