Alexandra and John Joyeux Noël 2019
Bonjour tous,
Wishing you a Merry Christmas, as we reflecting on the past year – life has been good and in a way, nothing has changed, but plenty has happened 🙂
Thomas is still at his college St Jean and went up to the 4th grade in September. He continues to play football, studies well at college and enjoys his friends there.
We didn’t get as many snowboarding trips this year in the Alps, but when we did those days had perfect weather.
We had a great family trip in August in Hossegor on our 3 week summer holiday and also exploring more of the Landes region. Thomas had 2 friends there this time, one who lives around there and another from his college.
John is still working for Safran Aerosystems as a Project Manager. He travels to the boarder line between Germany and France, 3 days per week.
Alex continues her teaching role at Jane Mc Lucas as a Business English Teacher , which has been busy but allows her to keep her travelling distance to work at a minimum.
Another stray cat has walked into our lives, ‘Oreo’, with a black & white blotchy coat. He replaces ‘Milk’ who sadly died last August.
It’s been a surprise year having family in Europe. Firstly Isabella, Thomas’s cousin moved to live in Paris with her boyfriend Ben. Thomas & Alex visited them in April and John caught up with us for the day. It was great to see Paris & Versailles again and unite with Isabella.
To follow Kevin came to stay with us for the first week of August, we saw each other around my working schedule and his ‘La Tour de France’ cycling routes. It was such a real treat to have my brother here and to show him around Lyon. And lastly to top it off, I joined Annemarie with Isabella and Ben for a September weekend in Montpellier. It was just wonderful to catch-up with my sister and have a good time together.
For DIY on the house we are getting the roof finished then put it on sale in the spring, yes I’m still l looking for that magic wand! Also in September, John & I joined in the ‘Lyon Free Bike’ again which took us on different secret tourist routes throughout Lyon https://www.lyonfreebike.com/
In late February 2020, Alex will be flying out to New Zealand for 3 weeks, staying with Mum and Dad in Auckland, and boy she can’t wait! She is excited to spend time with them both & helping out where needed. Shes looking forward to spending time with family and relatives too .
Thomas wanted to come even did John, but taking 3 weeks off for John was too long, as France closes down in August. Also for Thomas his NZ or AUS cousins will be at school during those 3 weeks so he’d be restricted on activities. She has a feeling there will be a fun family get-together in the not so distant future.
In May 2020, Thomas is looking forward to his class trip to England for a week. The itinerary looks interesting from visiting Canterbury – Leeds Castle, London – Covent Garden, Natural History Museum, Camden Town (where they will be set free to shop) Watford for Harry Potter, Tower Bridge, Globe Theatre, London Eye and to finish with Brighton & Hove for some fish’n’chips.
Wishing you all happiness at Christmas, especially our hearts go out most of all to Nana & Poppa who will be spending Christmas in Wellington.
Joyeuses Fêtes et Bonne Année 2020.
Love from Thomas, John & Alexandra.