Greetings from the 2 “oldies” in Auckland as Christmas 2018 comes to a close.

We look back through this year to remember…..At the end of January we were estactic to welcome Annemarie home in New Zealand as she had been unable to return for about 4 years. She was only here 10 days so we made the most of her return, even though I went down with a nasty infection whilst here, but she was the best nurse ever!

It was great to also welcome the rest of the family home for a few days(apart from Alex from France) whilst Annemarie was here. It was so good to all be together, as being so far away, it is a rare occasion.
After Annemarie left, we had the pleasure of welcoming my dear late cousin Gretta Murphy’s daughter Mary O’Halloran from Co. Cork, Eire, back to NZ. We all enjoyed seeing Mary again, as she worked here for a couple of years some years back.

We were very proud to have our first grandchild Isabella Russo (Annemarie’s daughter) graduate from Georgia University USA, with double Hons BA degree and then to hear that Kevin & Teresa’s youngest daughter Amelia had been accepted Into the Hamburg Ballet Academy in Germany on a 2 yr Scholarship.

At the end of August we had a great holiday in Denarau, Fiji with my elder brother Brian & wife Heather for 10 days which was very relaxing.

Life in our Retirement Village St Andrews continues to keep us busy with many activities offered, as well as trips to various places and theatre outings. We are so lucky to have most of our siblings near to where we live and meet together often for lunch or coffee, at our age it is rare, thank God for modern medicine.

We are spending Xmas this year with Clare & Marco in their new home they have built in Greytown in the Waiarapa.

It is my first time in this area and we are very impressed with the atmosphere here with such lovely homes surrounded with beautiful trees & gardens hidden away.

The many gift and speciality shops in the township are a real gem…I might even dare to say, they even beat St Heliers, Auckland – lol ;-)!

Have a wonderful Christmas and even better New Year 2019
Love, Jay & Marie

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