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| Here I am at Russell Falls in Tasmania with my new Ausiie hat!!! |
| Glenn's Journals 12-24-02, 12-25-02 & 12-26-02 Victoria We awoke around 5:30 am this morning as the ferry was announcing our arrival into Melbourne Port for 6:30 am. We returned to our cars around 6:15 am and were off the boat by 6:45 am. This was much quicker than last time which took us an hour to depart the ferry. Once off the ferry we had to find our way to the mall to do some Xmas shopping. First things first we could not located our Melbourne map so we had to stop into a mini market to buy a new map. Once we knew where we were we headed off to the mall only to learn that they did not open until 8:00 am. We drove back to John and Elaine's where we had breakfast before headign back out to the mall. We arrived at the mall around 9:30 am in time to beat the rush. We shopped around the mall for hours including myself getting a haircut. The biggest purchase of the day was the engagment ring we bought Erin and the wedding ring we bought for me. After shopping at the mall including lunch we returned home. Dinner was with John and Elaine tonight which we thouroughly enjoyed. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and recovering on sleep due to the lack of sleep on the ferry last night. Merry Christmas!!! 12-25-02 Victoria Today is Xmas day and the family is all due around 12:30 pm today. They will celebrate Xmas at home with their immediate family (kids) and then come to John and Elaine's for afternoon brunch. We helped Elaine as much as we could prepare for the brunch by setting the table and doing whatever we could in the kitchen to help. The families started showing up around noon including Jennifer and and her husband Steve and their two kids, Ryan (8) and Josh (6). Tim and his wife Sue, who are in town from London for the holidays are here along with Sue's mother Margaret and her partner John. Rose and her husband Brad along with their not quite one year old Charlotte arrived as well. Their would be fourteen of us for Xmas dinner. The boys quickly showed off their new toys and headed for the computer while they waited to be called for the opening of the presents here. Josh took the honors of handing out presents to everyone. The Andersons have in place a "pick a name" program in place where you just have to buy for one person up to $100. I like this idea so you don't end up going broke or having to buy "little" things for everyone. You receive better presents this way. Xmas, including dinner, went off without a hitch and was enjoyed by all. We finished dinner around 3:30 pm before some folks had to leave for other engagements. Tonight was spent relaxing around a jigsaw puzzle that Elaine had received for Xmas. As a matter of fact Elaine, Erin, and I stayed up until 1:00 am finishing the puzzle. 12-26-02 Victoria Today is Boxing Day here in Australia. I am not sure of the true meaning of Boxing Day but it is also Jennifer's birthday. First thing this morning I took a phone call from my brother Phil. It was nice to hear from him, as it is the first time we have spoken on the phone since I left in September. Phil had just returned from a trip to China on business and I was very interested to hear how it went. Phil also congratulated me on my engagement to Erin and our upcoming wedding. I mentioned to Phil that I would be the first in the line of Roberts kids to get married, but he corrected me to say that he and his girlfriend Dee Dee had gotten engaged only two days before Erin and I! I was pleasantly surprised. I was even more surprised when Phil said that he would be a father before we would, as Dee Dee was pregant and was due in July. WOW!!! Erin and I were very congratulatory to both him and Dee Dee. I even spoke with Dee Dee for a few minutes and congratulated her myself. I still can't believe it!!! After the exciting news from Phil, I had a light breakfast as John and Elaine's family were all due over for brunch around 10:30 am for Jennifer's birthday. The whole family showed up close to on time where we enjoyed a complete brunch including omelette, muffins, fresh fruit, orange juice, cofee, tea, and whatever else anyone wanted. Elaine works very hard to make sure everyone is happy and has enough to eat. Brunch went very well and the party dissipated around 1pm, as Brad was heading off to the cricket match and others had other plans for the day. Erin and I spent the day relaxing, even taking in some sun and working on a jigsaw puzzle with Elaine at night. Meals today were mostly sandwiches with leftover ham or turkey from Xmas day. Erin and I headed off to the movies to see Lord of the Rings but the car had a dead battery, so we did not get to go. We worked on a jigsaw puzzle and watched a movie on the television before calling it a night. |