Well, the time has flown by and now it's 2009! Happy New Year everyone :) I thought I would just post our annual letter on the blog for those of you who I might have left out by mistake - sorry!
Enjoy!
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Christmas 2008
This time last year we (Richard, Christine and Hanna) started to get ready for our 3 week holiday in Cape Town over Christmas and New Year. One year later we (Richard, Christine, Hanna and Marc) are getting ready for family visits over Christmas. The year has just flown past. So many things happened and changed our lives. But let’s start by looking back over the year.
As we said, we were very much looking forward to our long Christmas break in Cape Town. As we hadn’t been in South Africa over Christmas for 9 years, we decided it was time again. Christine was pregnant with Marc, Richard was working hard, trying to settle down in his new job as a financial consultant and Hanna was busy growing and exploring the world. The long break was needed desperately and that was also the “motto” of the trip: Do as little as possible and enjoy the free time.
We saw friends and family and enjoyed the warm african sun (some of the time – it also rained quite a bit) but before long it was time to go back. It was also the first time that Hanna had flown (long haul) and that alone with Daddy, so this was an experience for all concerned as well. She took to it like a duck to water and as we are going back to sunny SA for Richard’s sister’s wedding in February, she hasn’t stopped talking about it. She packs her bag once a day at the moment (which is very stressful for Mommy). She will also be doing the trip alone with Daddy again, and we will see if his nerves are strong enough to handle it yet again.
Back in Austria Christine was struggling through her last weeks of teaching before going on maternity leave and preparing everything for the arrival of Marc. Richard was back at work and constantly doing courses in order to get his qualifications as quickly as possible. Hanna’s second birthday passed without a hitch, with the exception that a two year old is big enough to open her own presents and make the related mess. She had a great time with her friends and you can see the pictures on our website. All was still relatively quiet until....
Marc was born on the 8th of April. In comparison to the “Hanna ordeal”, Marc’s birth was extremely easy for us both as Christine had a caesarean at exactly 9h15 on the day in question. No stress, no fuss, no problem. Right from the beginning he was a very pleasant and cheerful baby – of course he still had has his moments – but we all do, don’t we. Hanna and Marc could not have been more different babies. For one Marc wasn’t a screamer in the first 3 to 4 months, and he was much bigger. He was wearing kit that Hanna only put on after 6 months. And boy can he eat, 3 times faster than Hanna and twice as much. He suffered from stomach ache a lot (as do most babies) but once we got past that it was plain sailing. Marc also does everything faster than Hanna – he had 6 teeth within 6 months and is already crawling and trying to stand. Unfortunately neither of the kids has learnt how to sleep, and so we still have mainly sleepless nights.
Life with two children is definitely another step up on the stress factor level. Soon we were asking ourselves how it could have been possible that only one child made us struggle. Marc has developed well and Hanna has been trying to get used to having a brother – which was and still is not the easiest thing for her. Unfortunately we had a slight wobble when Marc had to go for a small operation when he was 6 weeks old. We were both worried sick but thankfully, everything went very well and Christine was even able to go on a one week holiday to Italy with the kids and friends a week later, while Richard was working like a Trojan at home.
Due to Marc’s birth we didn’t plan anything for the summer holidays, so we decided on short notice to go and visit family in the UK for a week. As usual the Gathercole sisters (and their partners) looked after us in stunning fashion and we had a wonderful time away from the stress that we call home. It was super to see everybody again, and we will hopefully be able to visit again in 2009 to examine and check out the new cousin after (he / she) has arrived in May. That was the most exciting bit of family news for us in autumn, firstly that Claire and Gavin were expecting their first little buddle of joy, and secondly that Michelle and George were going to tie the knot (get married) and that we would be able to make the wedding after a long and complicated time table arrangement for Christine.
The rest of the summer Christine and the kids spent on the lakeside with friends, Richard was building up a stock of customers and passing one exam after the other, to gain his full qualification as a consultant. It was very stressful for him (and thus also for the family) as he was constantly away on training camps / seminars or courses. However he has mastered the situation with extreme luck and has passed all exams so far and should be finished his full qualification by the beginning of 2009. He has managed it in under a year, which is the shortest time possible, and has also seen quite a lot of success in the company, being one of the performers in 2008.
For Christine, the beginning of September was stressful as she went back to teaching accounting half-time. While she works, Hanna and Marc are at day-care (or with Oma or Daddy), which they both love. She is enjoying her work very much, but it is far more stressful than she planned. However as the kids get older it is becoming easier.
Sporty wise we have done absolutely nothing this year. Finally in autumn we did a couple of orienteering events again and are both trying to get fitter, but it is an extremely long road for us both. Unfortunately Richard’s bone infection has not been removed and a third operation is necessary but due to the painful process of the whole thing he has decided to keep pushing it out until a more convenient time. Richard continues to train one or two athletes however and is still a little involved that way. Thankfully Hanna has also grown to love all things sporty and we are very active in a number of kiddie groups and sporty events. She loves climbing up things or swinging on ropes. However her favourite exercise is running which she does as often as she can (and she is quite quick these days).
Every now and then we also go and visit the “Saturday Morning Stories” at the English Centre in Salzburg. This is mainly to get Hanna in touch with other english speaking children (and hence her english speaking ability) and also because it is a great free time activity. Unfortunately, although she understands english perfectly she still prefers to converse absolutely in german. Hopefully that will change over time. Other than that she seems not to display a great artistic talent but does love to draw and paint. Maybe maths and science will be her strong points.
And now we have reached Xmas 2008. As stated before we are currently preparing for the whole family to come and visit (except brother Mike) and are looking forward to this immensely. We are hoping that we will have a white Christmas this year, but as many of you are aware the climate has other plans for us at the moment and we are having a December that reminds us of April. Even some of the flowers have started to bloom again. Go figure.
We hope that this letter finds you all well and enjoying life and getting ready for a great time over Christmas. We wish you and your families all a Merry Christmas and Happy New year and a very prosperous and healthy 2009. We will look forward to crossing paths with as many of you as possible in 2009.
God bless and with much love from the family Gathercole!
P.S: Don’t forget our blog (http://eurogathers.blogspot.com) where you can also find a link to our online photo album. Both Christine and Richard can also be found on Facebook.
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