THE Christmas Letter

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.

What to do ...

... when it is 12 degrees below 0 outside? Easy question: push your little brother in a toy box 'round the flat.

Christmas and New Year come and gone

Times have been very busy here, as we had Richard's family here for a visit over Christmas. We all had a wonderful time and, I hope, so did our guests! The only disappointment was the absence of snow!

Granny and Grandpa arrived on the 18th. The following days we took easy as both kids were quite sick.
After the arrival of the rest of the family on the 22nd it was all about getting ready for Christmas. The evening of the 24th, that's when the Austrian celebrate Christmas, was great. We celebrated at my parents house with the usual croud. All visitors added we were 20 people. We were a bit worried beforehand, however it worked out wonderful and was a really nice, festive evening and Christmas celebration. My personal highlight was Hanna's eyes when she saw the Christmas tree and the litt candles while George was playing "Jingle Bells" on the piano! Thanks George - that was a perfect moment!

The next days we spent eating, drinking and doing the tourist thing - a horse carriage ride in the old city of Salzburg. A real first time for me - and I have been living in the area ever since I was born :-) - and another highlight of this week.

Richard's brother Michael stayed on until the 31st. Finally things got less hectic and we enjoyed a few quiet days. On one of these days we drove to the Postalm in search for some snow. We found it. The weather was amazing and there was about 50cm of snow. Enough for skiing. Hanna tried out her new skies. We wanted her to get used to them. Even while skiing inbetween my skiis, it was difficult for her to keep the balance - the skiis literally "ran" away from her :-). Well she is still young - there is hope :-). Finally it started snowing here in Henndorf, so I hope there will be lots of opportunities for "training"!
On Tuesday Richard, Michael and a couple of friends went go-karting. After a short introduction and training periode, they all competed in a race. Richards' comment: "I had forgotten how much hard work go-karting was!" Well, considering that he has never done anything like that since I know him (and that is over 11 years now) - no wonder he has forgotten - it has been a while :-).

The 31st we spent celebrating Richard's birthday, running the annual "Silvesterlauf" in Seekirchen and celebrating the New Year at home with our kids and friends. As we had a "bad" night the night before - we didn't see very much of the new year before we fell into bed!

In this spirit, we wish you all a Happy New Year! May it be a great and exciting one for all of you!
Richard, Christine, Hanna & Marc

P.S.: Photos can be found online.

Absence

Due to lack of excitement in our live :-), we have been absent on the blog for quite a while. I created a new web album, to see what keeps us on our feet!Have a great week!
Christine

No time for blogging

...Because we are having an absolutely marvelous autumn here in Austria, I have no time for posting any blogs. We are spending almost every free minute outside - during the week on the playground and on the weekend we have been doing quite a bit more hiking. Which is great, don't get me wrong - however housework and preperations for school have to be done in the evening after the kids have gone to bed and posting blogs is being postponed and postponed.

Next to spending time on the playground or in the mountains, Richard and I ran a mixed-fun-relay. It was great fun. We were both surprised with the outcome - Richard was, I think, a bit surprised how slow he was (for 4,2 km). I, on the other hand, was surprised that I could run relatively fast (19:30) - well, if you consider that I have hardly done any running since 3 years. I miss regular running, I would love to run more often - unfortuately it just doesn't work out. I will keep trying and maybe some day ...

Well, I won't bore you any longer.
Have a nice week!
Christine

King of the castle

As I am almost 6 months now, I thought it was about time to post a blog. Mmmhhh, what can I tell you about. Well, I have had a great life so far - mummy always jumps when I open my mouth ... Daddy is a bit of a harder nut - he also tries to convince mum to let me scream every now and then - fortunately he wasn't very succesful so far :-)

I have got a big sister, Hanna. To be precise, at the moment she is a bit bigger than I am but I am trying very hard to catch up with her - weight-wise I am doing great - I only have to gain 4 more kilos!

I am sure you would like to know what I am doing the whole day. I like to sleep, preferable in the morning, that's when I am most tired - it's all that screaming during the night - it tires me out ... . Also mornings are boring because Hanna is at daycare. Once Hanna is back, life is getting a bit more exciting here, I like pulling her hair - if mummy brings me close to her - which is quite often, I already told you I just have to open my mouth and she jumps ... If I don't pull her hair, I like to pull her pullover or T-shirt or nibble on her books. Nibble, that reminds me of my toes, yeahh I don't know if you guys know that you have toes on the end of each leg - very interesting things - found them the other day and they are great things to bite, nibble and play with!

Other than that I can tell you that I don't like lying still - definitely being still is only for when I am asleep. I like to jump around (with mummy's help) and roll myself from the back to the tummy and back. Soon I will be rolling through the flat - man, I am looking forward to that!

So, that's enough for now - have been sitting still far too long ... :-)
Cheers,
Marc

A weekend in the mountains

Our birthday present to mum was a weekend together in the mountains. It was not easy to find a weekend that suited everybody, however we managed - and it turned out to be a great one. We chose Rauris as our destination. Rauris is situated on the edge of the Nationalpark Hohe Tauern. It is still in the district of Salzburg and therefore not far for us to drive.
Richard, Hanna, Marc and me already left on Friday after lunch. The kids had their nap in the car on the way there. When we arrived we went for a walk through downtown Rauris, which didn't take us long :-) and then waited for the rest of the crew to arrive (mum, dad, edith and arthur).
On Saturday we went for a big hike - big, considering our circumstances and the fact that we have to carry 2 children around as well. We did something that we normally wouldn't do (unless in winter to got skiing) and used the cable car to go up the mountain and started a 4 1/2 hours hike over 2 peaks from the cable car station. It was absolutely wonderful and the scenery really stuning. Hanna and Marc had a great time (well, Marc slept almost the whole way) and we had a good excercise.

On Sunday we took it a bit easier. We had a big Sunday breakfast and left a bit later for a walk in the Rauriser Urwald. This is a forest area, which is not "looked after" and therefore very natural. For the orienteerers: it reminded us a lot or skandinavian woods with lots of little boulders and blueberry bushes, little marshes and ponds. We loved it! In the end we walked much further than we had planned. Unfortunately it started to drizzle on our way back, but we could make it back in time to a restaurant before it really started to rain! In our online photo album you can see a few photos of our weekend!

It was a wonderful weekend - all 5 of us enjoyed it immensely! For me it was also the last holiday weekend, as schools started again on Monday. I had to swap my always-ready-to-go swimming bag with my school bag! Although I am sure it will be a hard year - with the 2 kids and a half time teaching job, I look forward to it. It is good to get out and think about other things than nappies, feeding and household stuff :-).

Have a great day!
Christine

Photos from the hiking girl

Have a great day!
Christine

Stoawandl or "Stonewall"

Today we did one of our family excursions. The weather is absolutely fabulous at the moment, however autumn is coming, so we decided agains going to the lake. Instead we went for a hike up the Stoawandl, which is one of the peaks behind Henndorf. I don't dare to call it a mountain - but it is definitely a bit higher than a hill (about 1.000m above sea). The walk is through the forest on little pathes and partly on forest roads. I carried Marc in his Baby Björn (8kg) and Richard was responsible for Hanna (13,5kg). We were hoping that she would walk quite a bit, the rest of the time, well, Richard had to carry her. Hanna actually walked quite a bit on the way up - much further than we thought she would. For those who know the area - she walked until we hit the 2nd forest road. On the way down she got tired and Richard had to carry her most of the time. We all had a really great time and with all that extra weight that had to be carried :-), we also had a good excercise. It was great fun and reminded us of the days when we used to run our Sunday long runs regulary in this forest.

Other than that there is not too much exciting things happending here. Richard painted our passage and did an excellent job. Hanna and I enjoyed a couple of days on the lake and I am trying to go for a run every now and then (I normally manage once or twice a week). On a morning run this week I noticed the first yellow leaves on the fields and realised that autumn has arrived. I really love that time of the year!

Have a great day!
Christine

Sunny days, day trips and 60 + 30 = mum + me = surprise birthday party

Finally the weather changed and all of a sudden our days were filled with spending our (Hanna, Marc and me) afternoons at the lake. Going to the lake is always good - in terms of keeping Hanna busy and satisfied. There are lots of children to play with, a little paddling pool to have fun in and a big sand pit - short: there are lots of things to do and therefore little time to be bored and being difficult. In other words great for mum :-)!

On one of these really nice and hot summer days Richard took some time off and we decided to go on a day trip. We always wante to see Hallstadt, a celtic village in the Salzkammergut about 70 minutes drive from Henndorf. Hallstadt is very scenic and picturesque and lies inbetween high mountains on the foot of the Dachstein glacier. Therefore the Hallstädtersee, the little lake by the village, is really really cold as the water is coming straigth from the glacier. We left Henndorf at lunch time and had a picnic on a swimming spot with view on the village and the mountains. There we spent quite a while and, except for Hanna, all had a swim - brrrr - it was freezing cold however the perfect refreshment on a hot hot summer day. In the late afternoon we had a stroll through the village, had coffee and ice cream in a littel cafe on the lake and I went to see the famous Bone House.

On Saturday we celebrated mum's 60th birthday, with a big birthday party in a little restaurant directly by the lake. Well, at least I thought it was mum's birthday party. As we arrived there I found out that it was also a surprise party for my 30th birthday, which actually was already a couple of weeks ago. It really was a big surprise. Although Richard and Edith claim that they had almost given it away a couple of times, I had absolutely no idea. It was really nice and I enjoyed myself a lot. We had great food, the location by the lake was absolutely wonderful and we were very lucky with the weather. It had been pouring with rain in the morning but had cleared up in the afternoon! A great surprise! Thanks to everybody - for organising and also for everybody who came to celebrate!

As you can see our days were filled the last couple of weeks! I hope it continues like that - then I always have something to blog! So stay tuned!
Have a great day!
Christine

P.S.: Pictures will follow!

Rainy Days and Early Morning Pyjama Parties

The last week was decidedly rainy here in Henndorf - no July weather in any case! Anybody who has dealt with children before, knows that after a day or two at home with very little to no possibility to run, jump and fall, these little ones get very frustrated and start to drive their parents mad. With Hanna's "Tagesmutter" (daymum) and friends on holiday or sick, we were pretty much on our own to entertain ourselves. In a way that was good, as I started to do a very close research on what was happening for children in and around Salzburg. And that is how I found out about "The English Centre". The Centre offers a whole lot of activities for adults and children - also during summer holidays. The best thing about it is that everything is in English. I was looking for a similar possibility since weeks, as I want Hanna to be exposed to other people - and especially children - talking English. I believe that children learn best from their young fellows. So we have been there twice last week. We went to see the puppet show on Tuesday and to the Saturday Morning Stories. Hanna enjoyed it immensely and I think from now on we will be regular visitors to The English Centre.

This picture was taken at about 6 o'clock in the morning - Hanna's preferred waking up time - and therefore my time (and often Marc's) to start the day. First thing we do so early in the morning is have milk (Hanna) and a cup of tea on the couch and a good morning cuddle!

Have a good and hopefully not too early start into the next week!
Christine

P.S.: The weather is improving ...

Photos Photos

We updated our online photo album.

Here you can see the photos from our trip to London at the beginning of this month.
Here you can see pictures from Andrea and Bernhard's wedding on the 12th of July.

Have a great day!
Christine

London

From the 2nd to the 10th of July we spent in Sutton / London with Richard's sister. We haven't been there for 2 years, so it was really nice to get the vibe of a big city again. It was mainly a family visit, so we spent most of our time with Claire and Michelle, Gavin and George. Besides,the weather didn't allow much more anyway. We didn't even took part in a time trail, because we didn't feel like getting soaked. That's how times change :-) ... Instead we went to the South African store and spent 30 Pounds on South African sweets and snacks ... Another highlight was the visit to the zoo and amusement park. Although we spent a huge amount for the entrance fee we had a really great time and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Hanna was fascinated by the gorillas and loved the "flying elephants"!
We came back last Thursday after a very short night - leaving Claire and Gavin's house at 3 o'clock in the morning to catch our plane at 6. Needless to say that we were all quite exhausted that day. It didn't take long to get us back into our daily routine.

We had a wonderful time and it was great to see everybody!
Thanks to the London crowd!
Have a great day!
Christine

Braai ...

... and for the non South Africans ... barbeque :-).

Wanted to post a couple of photos from a braai we enjoyed last weekend!

I hope you had a great weekend!

Cheers!

Christine

Summer, Sun and Salsa

Lots of things happened in the last couple of weeks, however we still managed to recover from all the stress around Marc's operation. Originally I had planned to go on a one week holiday with my mum, the children and a friend of mine as well as her son Simon and her mum on Saturday after Marc's operation. With all the excitement and uncertainty the few days beforehand we didn't know whether we could leave to Lignano, Italy, or not. After Marc had another check in the hospital on Saturday morning, we decided to go. The doctor agreed as long as we would come back for another check one week later. Therefore we had to cut the holiday one day short. My friend Verena and her son Simon were very pleased that we could join them. Lignano is a very popular tourist destination for Austrians. The reason is because it is situated on the sea and in very short driving distance from Austria (4 1/2 hours from Salzburg). The main language spoken in restaurants, shops and coffee bars is German - quite sad in a way. None the less we had a really nice time on the beach and in the sea. Hanna was busy playing and fighting :-) with her friend Simon and I was busy with treating Marc's cut the way the doctors ordered. This made the holiday a bit less relaxing as I had wanted it to be! However it was still a great week!

Another highlight in May was a two hours Salsa workshop or lets rather say a Salsa "Crash Course": This dancing workshop was a birthday present from one of my friends. She had everything organized: a babysitter for the time of the workshop and even a 'replacement' for Richard just in case he wasn't keen on doing the course with me. Richard decided he wanted to join me. We had a really nice time although things could have gone a bit slower for us. We managed to follow everything quite well for the first hour but after that we struggled a bit to say the very least :-). I guess we need a refresher course soon - we will see whether I can Richard to do one with me!

Well, that's that for the moment!
Have a great week!
Christine

Whew - all back at home....

Just a short post to let you all know that Marc and Mum are back home after being released from hospital this morning with flying colours :) We have to go back for a control on Saturday, but it's better having him back home than having him in the hospital.

Hopefully Christine will be able to go on holiday like she planned next week with some friends, leaving Dad and Aisha at home to sulk around.

Thats for the well wishes and SMS's, hope you are all well,
From us.

Bad news, good news in one..

Yes, sorry to say today I must start this entry with some bad news. As some of you might know poor little Marc had to go into hospital this morning for an operation on an Anal Fistula, which is essentially a boil close to his anus, caused by a blocked tube between his intestine and his skin. Yesterday it was fine, we didn't see anything, but after a hard night, in the morning the boil broke through to the skin and we were concerned.

I was able to drain it myself, but Christine still wanted to take Marc to the hospital to get it checked out. Thank goodness. They were able to diagnose the problem straight away and Marc was booked for an op at 12 noon. In the end the op. only started at 14h00, but then after 45 minutes the good news. Everything ok. The boil was properly opened and drained (it extended almost 1,5 cm into the body cavity), everything was cleaned and he was returned to the room still asleep at 14h45.

He (and of course Christine) have to stay in the hospital for the next few days, so that they can keep an eye on it and ensure that it stays clean (the boil). He was awake after 2 hours but had not eaten before I had to leave to get Hanna from Omi and Opi. He was obviously in some discomfort, but fell asleep again just as I was leaving. I'll give you some more news tomorrow when I know it.

22:44 - quick update from Christine. Marc is doing fine and eating properly again :)

A new Picasso?

Hanna just loves painting - the messier, the better! Therefore I like to hide her most favourite finger paints. However she sometimes finds them anyway and then I have no chance and Hanna, sorry the new Picasso, enters the stage. The result you can see on this photo!

The last couple of weeks were quite busy. We were getting ready for visitors. Michael, Richard's brother, and Claire and Gavin, Richard's sister and her husband, visited us around the 1st of May. We had a really nice time - especially Hanna felt very spoilt being the centre of attention. There was always somebody around to play with and opening all these presents - even if they belonged to somebody else - was pretty exciting for her. Hanna and Marc provided enough action - so we didn't have to worry too much about a interesting program for our visitors :-) !

Check out our photographs of the last couple of weeks on our webalbum!

Wishing you a great weekend - for us it is a long one :-)!
Christine

Marc is back home!

Morning all,

Here is a very quick update for all of you who have sent emails and SMS's about how it's going....

Fine thank you!

Both Mom and Marc are back home and are doing exceptionally well. Marc is eating and sleeping (and of course, the other thing that comes with eating) all the time, but is really well and picking up kilos, and is back to 3.21 kg this morning. He is chalk and cheese to Hanna so far (touch wood, pray to god, beg that this doesn't change) and we are really very happy.

Christine is going really well and she has recovered from the operation very quickly this time round. We have all settled into the new routine back home and all that needs to happen now is that Hanna needs to start sleeping through - then we will be like... well... really happy.

We hope that you are all well and thank you all for the wonderful presents, cards, flowers and well wishes. Love from the family gathercole,
Richard.

P.S: there are more photo's online if you want to look :)

Some more news....

Geez, some more news...is that even possible? After months of nothing then twice in the same week.... *grin*

Yes, Yes, I will try to be a better blogger, and am just fitting in one or two short stories to keep you all posted.

Firstly Marc and Christine are both doing very well. Marc lost the usual 200 - 400 grams but is fighting back strong - he is eating strongly but mostly he just sleeps. Christine is doing really well, and is out and about every day for her little walks. They will be coming home on Tuesday (if you wanted to know) and will remain there for another week or so before we can start moving about with any sort of freedom again.

Secondly, Hanna is moving on. Now that she has a little brother some things have had to change. First thing to go was the baby bed. She now has a normal bed (no bars) and is also big enough to reach all the door handles, so as a result - yup you got it - cold feet Hanna comes to join me at 6 am in the mornings - man I look forward to that *grin*. And she just can't sit still for longer than about....well...3/10ths of a second - so my mornings have just got longer (he says with a long face).

Thirdly, we (the royal we, as in Hanna) are moving towards potty usage on a regular occurance - regular means everytime I remember to put her on it - and then she (aaaaarrrrrggggg) pushes and "lo and behold" I need to clean the potty out again. We are actually quite glad about this as those throw away nappies really aren't cheap, so we save where we can.

Fourthly, I'm unfit and need to do something about it, but that story can be told on my other blog! No seriously I'm going fine, feeling quite tired, but looking forward to having the family under one roof from Tuesday onwards.

Hope you are all well,

Keep Well All,
Richard.

P.S: More photo's on the web album :) I'm sure you know where it is by now......