The Adams Family Christmas Letter for 2005

Here is our year’s update letter, as I know I won’t be able to write all this on each Christmas card, however good my intentions! What I’m aiming for is not having to post our Christmas cards in the holidays after Christmas – which is when I actually have the time to write personal notes!

2005 has been the Year of the House. Although we broke ground last year, this year saw the construction of it and we have been very involved in its planning. We’re not sure whether we’ll be in before or after Christmas, but it will be soon. It really is our dream house and we plan to be in it for the next 20 years at least. When we are in, it will have heaps of room so please come and visit!

George (born Sept 2004) has spent this last year going from a tiny baby to a little boy full of energy and smiles. He is close to walking and is “talking” without recognizable words. This February saw his christening, and September his first birthday. He is such a good-natured little boy, and is a dream child so far. We call him Sunny Boy because is always very happy to see you, and is a big cuddler.
He is an Adams baby in that he looooves food, and lets out a squawk of protest if you are eating in front of him and not sharing.

Lucia is 2 and a half and has started kindergarten, which does her a world of good. It never ceases to amaze us that our little baby has turned into a girl with her own thoughts, opinions and observations. Every day she comes out with another one – today’s was “Mummy, my teddy has gone shopping!” That apparently meant she couldn’t find it. I left them with a babysitter for a trial run yesterday while I went and did the grocery shopping – so for now if something disappears, it’s ‘gone shopping’. She also loves reading and music, and although we realize that we might be the littlest bit prejudiced, she seems to be very intelligent. She is beautiful and sweet and good, and we love her so much.

Matt continues to endure the daily train commute of over an hour each way, but doesn’t seem to mind it too much. He is happy with the joys of country life, and has bought a shotgun. Highlights of his year were the annual duck shooting weekend and a goat shoot! And I am really enjoying being a mostly stay-at-home mother with the odd bit of work here and there. I don’t know why they say “stay at home” – I’m always going out to coffee groups and play groups and music, etc!

2005 also saw Robyn and John Adams (Matt’s parents) buy a house in Greytown. They wanted to be closer to the grandchildren as they move towards retiring, and Greytown is a lovely place not too far from Wellington. They are still in Wellington until their house there sells, and we are living in their Greytown house until our new one is ready. It’s been fantastic living there as it has a large lawn and lots of space.

Greytown is seeing a slowly growing community of Americans. Whereas I used to be knows as “the Yank”, there must now be 5 of us. We are planning a Thanksgiving dinner, and hoping to introduce the Kiwis to the joys of pumpkin pie and turkey!

Our sheep are doing well. 2 new rams (boy sheep) joined the flock of eleven ewes (girl sheep). One of them – Legolamb – was a little boy’s pet who was raised in his backyard. We had to promise not to eat him! He is very friendly and sets a good example for the other sheep by running over to us when we call him. With the rams, the sheep had a good lambing and we now have 10 surviving lambs.

Our section now has a name – Wetherby. It is an old English word meaning “Ram’s Meadow” – which is just what our back paddock was when it was still a farm. We’ll see if it sticks. Right now we’re trying it out - Lucia calls it “the yellow house” for now.

Our Siamese cat, Vanilla, died in May this year. We were very sad as she was very much loved. She is buried at the section, er, at Wetherby under a silver birch tree. I swore we wouldn’t rush out and get another cat, but less than a month later we fell in love with a ginger Manx kitten named Tom. He –no, she is another real character. (Yesterday we brought him to be neutered and were told that he is a she!) Anyway, it thinks it’s a dog – she comes when you call and follows us around.

Daisy Dog is 3 this year, and continues to be such a character and a dear part of our lives. She can have a photo next year.

We hope you have a truly lovely Christmas with lots of good cheer, whether it’s a winter one up north or a summer Christmas “down under”!