Dear All
Well another batch of photos...I promise not to do it again for a while and if anyone prefers not to get photos please let me know, I do understand. Some of you have seen pictures of our house in summer, well now you can see it in winter, it is amazing how things look so different each season.
As you can see, the girls had an absolute ball in the snow and enjoyed making their snow angels, I sent one with the photos, they really do look pretty good. The sled that they are running around with cost us $8, real "rip off" don't you think!? It has given the girls so much fun, it has probably been one of our best buys. If the temperature is not below 0 Celsius I walk up to fetch Jess from school with the sled and they both fit in it quite well for the ride home. Kirstin loves the ride up to school she lies down in the sled and really enjoys the ride! I guess it is also good exercise for me.
We are expecting snow, sleet and rain tomorrow, so it could get very messy as none of the snow has melted yet because it is so cold. The snow also gets really hard and forms a crust so it is not as much fun to play in anymore. Also it is just too cold for the girls to go outside. On Wednesday I had to go and shovel the driveway (thank goodness it is short) and the sidewalks (pity we live on a corner!) and after about 20 minutes all Kirstin wanted was to go back inside. Jessica only had to be at school at 10:45 because of the weather. Of course I have had to drive in this weather and it has not been too bad. I was really wary in the beginning and was happy to just stay home but that is not very practical in this weather because you can't walk around!
Jessica has made Malcolm and I very proud, she has completed her Reading Recovery programme 3 months early! She got a certificate and had her picture taken by Dr. Kloseck, the principal, and she was so excited about it all. She is now reading books with a lot of text and some of them are as much as 62 pages long! Her progress has been astonishing. I guess it is in her genes as both Malcolm and I loved t read when we were kids. I also go to the library and find books with titles like "Bony Legs" and such so she loves to read them and all the better if Kirstin is willing to listen! Luckily Kirstin loves listening to Jessica read, she generally sits with us at the dining room table while Jessica does her homework, and if she is familiar with the book and Jessica gets stuck she lends her a helping hand. I always have a good giggle because she is always right on the money with the word.
Kirstin has also got into the habit of calling me "mother" a lot of the time. I do not know where she got it from, but I find it rather amusing. A lot of people have commented on the girls and how much they have grown, so I have measured them and here it is:
Jessica was 119cm before we left and is now 126cm and Kirstin was 99cm and is now 107cm. so they have both grown quite a lot.
I had better end off now, Malcolm has just got back from Spinning, he wants to die! He has been 3 times now so at least he has found some form of exercise for himself. I have been to a spinning class but Kirstin has to go to "Young Care" and does not enjoy it as she says it is for babies, so I am not sure whether I will be able to do spinning.
Well hope you are all impressed with another letter so soon, spoilt brats I say, HA HA.
Have a good week and I expect SOME letters when I log on Monday morning......
Lotsa love
Nats and family

24 January 2001

Dear All

Hello! I hope that this letter finds you all well and in good spirits.Well I guess it is about time I sat down and wrote another letter to you all! It is not so easy to write such long letters anymore for 2 reasons. One is that life has settled into a pattern so we do not have as much exciting news to tell anymore, and secondly, I am very busy at the moment. The most exciting news for this month is that we finally got snow! I was beginning to doubt that we would get snow this year, because we tend to have flurries, which amount to nothing. But the snow did come, about 7cm accumulated, which is enough to pull a sled on. So of course I drove up the road to the Family Discount Centre and bought one for $10.00. I used the sled to fetch Jessica from school and pulled Kirstin along. Kirstin had an absolute blast in the sled, and on the way home Alice, Jessica and Kirstin all squashed in for the ride home! It was good exercise for me, pulling all 3 of them! When we got home Jessica did her homework and then we went and played outside in the snow. It was so cold my legs went numb. We could not build a snowman or have a snowball fight because the snow was too fine and powdery. I do not think the kids have ever enjoyed a warm bath as much as they did that night! Malcolm came home from work and was like a little kid, he wanted to play in the snow and have snowball fights and run around like a lunatic. The girls and I graciously declined as we were warm and toasty in the house and nothing could have moved us! On Saturday night the girls went to Dorota’s for a “sleepover” and Malcolm and I met Brett and Sharon in the city. We were supposed to go and watch a Ukrainian dance, but the tickets were sold out so we went to Times Square instead. It was –13C and we were walking the streets, lunacy is what it was! We walked along Broadway for a while and then went and had dinner. After dinner we did some more walking and went to a little pub called the Pig and Whistle, that Malcolm used to frequent when he was in New York on his lonesome. We had dessert there and a couple of drinks and it was really great. The atmosphere in the pub was so warm and cozy. Unfortunately it could not last and we had to brave the cold once again for the walk back to Grand Central for the train ride home. I got so cold that I actually went numb and the walk to the station was a pleasant one because I could not even feel the cold. My life has settled into a routine at last, and a very different routine to the one I had in S.A. I go to aerobics 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings while Kirstin is at school and I have been very good and have not missed one class. This is very impressive for me as I have never enjoyed going to the gym, but I really enjoy the step class that I do. I have also tried the Spinning class and I might start doing that 2 a week but I am not too sure about that yet. I also managed to book the kids into the swimming programme at the Rye YMCA (the gym) so they start swimming lessons next week. Kirstin will be going on Mondays at 13h00 and Jessica on Thursdays at 16h00. The classes are 45 minutes long and they are both so excited to start their lessons. I am pleased because it can be very difficult getting them into the swimming programme because it is very popular, and the children that are already in the swimming programme get priority over newcomers. But now that they are in the programme they are almost guaranteed to get spaces in the new classes for the next session because the have a “roll-over” week for members who are already in the programmes. Once rollover week is complete the classes are opened to new “students”, with limited positions available. We have also been to the Rye Presbyterian Church a couple of times and Jessica really enjoys the Sunday school. Kirstin is not as keen and she sat with us today because she did not want to go to her “school”. I am sure that once she is more familiar with the church and her surroundings that she will start going to her classes. We are expecting a snowstorm on Thursday and the weathermen are predicting more snow than we have seen in the last 3 years so we are waiting to see how much snow that might bring. Perhaps we will be able to build our snowman then! Well I guess that covers all my new for the moment so I hope to here from you soon…. And I will write again when I have more news. Thank you to those of you that have been sending me letters, they are greatly appreciated and enjoyed by us all!LoveNatalie, Malcolm, Jessica and Kirstin

New Year 2000

Good Morning to you all!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!
Well can you believe that the Year 2000 has arrived? I remember, as I am sure some of you do, how I used to think ahead to 2000 and wonder what I would be doing and what my life would be like. Who would ever have thought I would be in the U.S.A, certainly not me!
We had a stupendous New Year party, one I shall never forget, which is as it should be. There was not a huge crowd of people, Robin, Dorota and their 2 boys, Sharon, Brett and her brother Richard and of course us... We had decorated the dining room with streamers and balloons and laid down a feast fit for a king. We made a punch which was a huge success, tasted like more all evening! Dorota makes the most divine "cake" with onion, hard boiled eggs, cream cheese and caviar which you spread on biscuits. Now I am not a huge fan of any of the ingredients but the taste is out of this world! We also had a cheese fondue, crudite platter, fruit kebabs, chicken and beef kebabs, chicken liver pate and some biscuits and chocolates. Jessica and Kirstin helped make all the kebabs, (they were all mini kebabs) blew up balloons and generally volunteered to help wherever needed all day. They were both so excited for the evening ahead, even more so than Christmas! I think that they were thrilled about staying up so late, there was no way that we were sending them to bed on this occasion! When Dave, Barbara, Alice and family popped over for a drink at about 11:15pm they must have thought we were all slightly mad, we had moved all the lounge furniture and were all dancing with the kids, swinging them between our legs and having a ball! They went home shortly before midnight to phone family in San Francisco. We watched the count down on TV, of course it was at Times Square and to everyone's relief no bombs went off. It was a very big fear here, they cancelled the New Year street celebrations in Seattle due to the threat of terrorist attacks. Of course the kids were exhausted and all went to bed at about 12:30 and we settled down to coffee and biscuits and sat around chatting until about 3 am. The kids woke up at 9:30 (Kirstin) and 10:00 (Jessica) and Malcolm, Sharon and Brett woke up at around 11:00. We had a lazy day, Sharon and Brett left at around 12:30 and I cleaned and vacuumed and finished tidying up. We invited Robin and Dorota to lunch, left overs of course, 2 quiches which had not been touched the night before, kebabs and salad. On Sunday we had a lovely day at home, the kids painted and I made a milk tart for tea. We watched a video and Malcolm and Jess played a couple of games of checkers. It was very peaceful and relaxing after the busy festive season. On Monday Jessica and Kirstin went back to school and I went back to aerobics and am rather stiff today! And I guess that covers my news for now. Hope to here from you all soon and I hope you all had an excellent Christmas and New Year! We are all very excited about our trip to S.A, it will be April before we know it! I am hoping to leave New York on about 7 April, Malcolm will follow a week or so later. So see you then! Well some of you anyway...
Lots of love Natalie, Malcolm, Jessica and Kirstin.

29 December 1999

Dear All

Well hi there again, hope you are all enjoying the festive season. I just thought I would send a short update of our week. On 24 December we took the girls to see a new movie called Stuart Little, based on the book written by E.B White. It was the first time we have ever gone to the movies together and we all enjoyed it, I recommend it for children and adults alike. We took the girls out to dinner afterwards and then went home and listened to Christmas carols and drank egg nog (the girls did not enjoy it so they had hot chocolate). After they went to bed Malcolm and I sat around chatting until midnight and of course Santa stopped by to put all the presents under the tree. Somehow having a winter Christmas makes it all feel so....right! A fire in the fireplace, a decorated tree and perfect weather for a hot feast. The shops are bursting with everything Christmas and the spirit permeates everything. But I digress...
At 7:15 two very excited little girls came and woke me up and told me that Santa had been to our house! They were like little bouncy balls, all excited and oh so nosey about what could possibly be in all the brightly wrapped parcels. They both got their "top" wish list gift, a car for Kirstin and a bassinet for Jessica. Of course their were a few other good things under the tree so all in all we had a great time opening gifts.

We went to Robin and Dorota for Christmas lunch which was absolutely delicious, as usual Dorota outdid herself in the kitchen. A visit to the Gardys is always very relaxing and we had a fantastic afternoon, it was the next best thing to being at home. We only left at 8 pm and I guess that was Christmas in a nutshell.

On Sunday Dave and Barbara (neighbours one house away, Alice's parents) phoned and invited us to join them for some "Christmas cheer". It was marvelous I have to say. They had also invited their neighbour from the other side and Barbara's parents, aunt and uncle and her brother all arrived. We had a fabulous time, it felt more like Christmas than the actual day had been. I guess it was sitting around with a family gathering even though we were not part of the family, it was just special. Malcolm observed the S.A holiday on Monday which was a treat for all of us and we had a lazy morning pottering around at home. Later in the afternoon we went Christmas shopping for the house and bought some indoor plants. It is also a great time to buy tree decorations as everything festive is marked down 50% after Christmas. We also bought a few party "things" for the New Year celebration which is at our house. We were also invited to join Dave and Barbara and have decided that we shall join each others parties for part of the evening so it looks like it may be lots of fun. Also lots of work ensuring that we have enough snacks for all concerned. I do not know how you all feel in S.A but to us it is just another New Year, yes exciting that we are going to see 2000 but not hysterical about it, some people here are stocking up on candles, torches, batteries, water, tinned food etc. There may be a few glitches but I don't think it is going to be all that bad. Perhaps I will be mistaken but I just sort of think that life will just go on like any other New Year. I am looking after Dorota's two boys for the day so I had better sign off now. Hope that the New Year treats you all well and I shall write again in the Year 2000!

Love Natalie, Malcolm, Jessica and Kirstin

Thanksgiving etc 1999

Jessica made these outfits at school for Thanksgiving...

Hi all of you!

Well I guess my letter is long overdue now, I will concede that once a week was a bit optimistic as I had no special news to tell. But this week has been a lot of fun with Thanksgiving Day on Thursday. But let's go back a bit first.....On Saturday (a week ago) Kirstin had a temp of 104, which is just over 40C. We just gave her Tylenol and undressed her and let her lie downstairs with us while we hoped and prayed that her temperature would subside. It did within 30 minutes to our relief. On Sunday Dorota invited us to there place for coffee at 3 p.m so that we could chat about Thanksgiving dinner. The kids love going there and they ran around with Adam and Michael while we sat around chatting. We ended up staying at their place for dinner and ordering the first decent Chinese food since our arrival here. Jessica and Kirstin love the rice so they have a really healthy dinner when we get Chinese (oozing sarcasm). But I guess that it is better than Mc Donalds. During the rest of the week I did some shopping for Thanksgiving day and received a free turkey from A&P for spending $250 during the past month. It weighed more than Kirstin, well almost, 22 pounds worth of turkey. I am keeping it for Christmas because Dorota is cooking the turkey for Thanksgiving Day. I also bought a new dinner service, an 8 piece set for $50, I needed a new set for the table as I have 3 partial sets and I really wanted one full set. On Wednesday Jessica finished school at 2 p:m for the Thanksgiving Day weekend because a lot of people travel to their families, it is the most travelled holiday/ long weekend in the USA. I did most of the cooking on Wednesday evening because I really wanted to relax and enjoy my day on Thursday. We had decided to eat at about 5p:m so Robin, Darota and family came around at about 3, Sharon and Brett arrived a couple of hours before them. I had set the table in the morning and we had a lot of traditional foods and decorations. Traditional items included: Indian Corn (for decoration, it has multi coloured kernels), candy, fruits and nuts and then of course the foods for the meal itself. I made a Butternut Soup with croutons for Starters and we had carrots, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower cheese, acorn squash, roast and mashed potatoes and of course turkey. Oh and let us not forget the traditional pumpkin pie and you cannot get more American than the good ole apple pie. The turkey was by far the best turkey I have ever eaten. It was not at all dry and stringy and the kids, especially Jessica thoroughly enjoyed it. The turkey here are very different from the ones in S.A. according to Robin and Dorota. They said that the turkey in S.A are imported from France which is why they are smaller and not as nice. When you all decide to visit, we will do a turkey as a celebration of your stay with us.... Brett and Sharon spent the night with us and on Friday we went shopping. The malls were a nightmare, we did not know that the day after Thanksgiving is a huge sale day everywhere. But I was pleased because I got the kids each a pair of dungarees, a long sleeved shirt, another 3 piece outfit for each of them and myself a pair of track pants for $100. Kirstin's 3 piece is a pair of green and black striped ski pants (sounds terrible, looks divine) a cream coloured long sleeved polo neck shirt and a navy blue waist coat in arctic fleece with the Winnie the Pooh characters all peeking from between brightly coloured buttons and autumn coloured leaves decorating the bottom all the way around. I think it has to be seen to be appreciated though. Jessica's is not as exciting, it is purple which is her favourite colour with ski pants decorated in hearts and a purple button up jacket in arctic fleece to match with big round lapels. They both look delightful in their outfits though I must say. On Friday evening we went and got videos, Waking Ned Divine which Malcolm thoroughly enjoyed and I just enjoyed and Message in a bottle which had Sharon Brett and myself in tears. If you want to watch a sad but good movie it is a must see, but have a BOX of tissues handy. We had left over Thanksgiving dinner and ate Ben & Jerry's ice cream..... (oops). On Saturday Brett and Sharon had to go home so we took them to the station for the 3:06 pm train. The kids wanted to wait and watch them get on the train so we waited.....and waited......and waited....the train was late. We saw this as a sign and Brett and Sharon came running down the platform (after a lot of nagging from us and the kids) and spent another night with us. We went and dropped off Robin and Dorotas platter and gravy boat an then went to the beach and the park for a walk and were joined by Robin and Darota. We wondered all the way along until we got to this huge jetty were there were lots of people fishing. We watched a beautiful sunset and then wound our way back to the car. We went and got videos AGAIN, because we can. We got The Thin Red Line which I did not enjoy, it went way over my head as there was no real story line. A lot of big names with small parts I must add. I just asked Malcolm if he would recommend the movie and he says he is not sure. I also rented Stepmom which I am going to watch today or tonight, I have been dying to see it so I am looking forward to settling into the couch for that. Malcolm and I are taking the girls fishing this afternoon with Robin, Michael and Adam. I may opt to visit Dorota as the weather has cooled down considerably, today is 8C. There is a chance of snow here on Tuesday, so I am holding thumbs. I am not telling the kids just in case it does not happen. So it looks like our wonderful Fall is coming to an end. We are watching a woodpecker in the garden while I am writing this to you, pretty cool hey! Well I guess this is the end of my letter, no more news to tell...... I will not say until next week, but rather until next time some exciting news comes my way. Hope you all have a wonderful week and speak to you soon. Lots of love Natalie

Week ending 15 November 1999

Hello everyone! Well another week has flashed before my eyes and for once I have nothing exciting to report! After our visitors last weekend I had a fair bit of catch up house cleaning to do which took up most of my time. On Friday we got a school report for Jessica and I am pleased to say that she has settled in very well and is coping with First Grade. Her teacher has experienced Jessica's "strong will" but Miss Corbusier is a no nonsense teacher who generally gets things done. Kirstin had no complaints about going to school, except for this morning but I took her anyway and we had no tears or anything. Our cable got disconnected earlier this week as they have now realised that Paddy Campbell no longer lives here, and she has not been paying her bill. I don't think she phoned to have her cable disconnected when she moved. So we have gone from 70 odd channels to a pitiful (ha Ha) 7 or 8. We decided not to get cable and bought a video machine instead. Kids videos are also pretty cheap here so we can start a collection again. We are hoping that we will be able to take our TV and VCR with us when we go back to S.A. It does work on a different system, but apparently if you use the TV and VCR together just for the purpose of watching videos it will work, after fitting a transformer of course. We will see when we get back to sunny S.A. I think that the cold may be here to stay now, it looks like this whole week is going to be rather chilly, in the 40's (early 40's) which I think is about 6 or 7 Celsius although I could be wrong. Anyway I did say that my week was rather unexciting and I have lots to do today so I am going to break a new Nadalie record and end off my letter now. A nice short one today folks, but better than nothing!
Lots of love Nats

7 November 1999

Dear All
A quick aside....I am hoping tha Angus can rustle up some pictures of their trip to NY, I was shocked to discover that I only had 3, and they are not that great!

Hello everyone! I hope that you are all well and enjoying the summer in S.A., the cold in the U.K and the warmth in California. I hope that that just about covers everyone. We are all very well as long as we are wrapped up in our jackets. We have had a very bust week and weekend so this carries a warning: Long e-mail with plenty detail. If you don't like it....don't read it! Monday and Tuesday flew by pretty quickly. I did some shopping for our first guests, a duvet for the sleeper couch and groceries, nothing much exciting there. On Wednesday morning I had to go to Jessica's reading recovery lesson to observe and discuss her progress with her teacher. It was at 9:30 in the morning which suited me just fine as Kirstin has school. I dropped Jess off and then rushed home to get Kirstin to school on time and horror of horrors, Kirstin did not want to go! I asked her why and she said she was hungry (she had eaten breakfast already) which I found a little strange so I said she could have a granola bar in the car on the way to school. Then she didn't want to go because she was feeling sick! So I said if she was still feeling sick at school that I would fetch her. We were in the car by this stage on the way and she started howling and saying "I don't want to go to school please", so of course I got a bit more worried and started questioning her again as to WHY. She said it was because she did not like having 2 teachers and because they shout at the class when they don't put the toys away and that she does not know where all the toys go. By now she was in a state and I was worried, so I just took her home. Anyway she came to Jessica's reading class with me in the end. Jessica was not at all surprised to see Kirstin and after the lesson we went home and I phoned Malcolm and told him how well Jess was doing according to the teacher and that Kirstin did not want to go to school, he suggested that perhaps Jessica had something to do with it. So when I fetched Jess I said to her "You didn't seem to be surprised to see Kirstin in your reading class, why didn't you ask me or her why she was there, you knew she had school?" and she said "I did ask her, when we went to the bathroom" (there is a bathroom in her classroom). Anyway it turns out that Jess wanted Kirstin to come to her reading class and told Kirstin to get out of going to school! Sly,sly, sly! But it was also rather sweet that they conspired together just so that Kirstin could visit her reading class. I also knew that come hell or high water Kirstin WOULD be going to school on Friday! Malcolm was rather nervous about his first trip to JFK as every time he has been the drivers he has had have taken him along different routes. But he looked on the route finder on the Internet and in our map book and discovered that it was very straightforward. It is very expensive to park in the city so he caught the train to work on Wednesday morning and came back early to leave for the airport at 4 p:m for their 5 p:m flight. He made good time. So we now know that the airport is only an hour from home...depending on traffic! The kids were thrilled to see Angus and Marianne and were very happy to know that they were staying for more than one night. Jessica had school on Thursday and was very good about going. I felt sorry for her because Kirstin was staying home and enjoying the guests but Jessica was very practical about it. She said that she "knows that she has to go to school because she has a lot to learn." After dropping her off we went to White Plains to the Galleria shopping centre to buy "Fall" jackets for the girls and just to wonder around aimlessly for a while. Marianne and Angus bought the girls each a dress for Christmas with Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer print on the shirt and on the front of the dress, very cute! Marianne and Angus wanted to give the girls their gifts early so that they could enjoy watching them open them so while I fetched Jess Marianne wrapped them all and put them at the fireplace. The girls were in agony because they had to wait for Malcolm and Angus to get back from watching the rugby before they could open their gifts. They both love their dresses and they also got a money box with a lock and key and a beanie for the cold weather. Malcolm and I were also spoilt... Malcolm got a Pink Fly disc for the computer which has ALL their stuff from year one to date. (or whenever they did their last album) I got some lovely dishtowels and pot holders in blue for Holland and we got a bottle of Apricot Brandy in a Delft blue bottle which is beautiful! Now I also had another plan up my sleeve and at about 8:30, ten minutes before dinner and after a "wrong" number call I suddenly realised that I had not made dessert and Malcolm fell right in ... what about Ben & Jerry's (ice cream)? I said I would dash out and get some before dinner was ready, although I had already slowed dinner down even thought he guys were starving. I went to the Rye Marriot hotel with Marianne,( I had told her my surprise already) to fetch Terry who had just flown in from Canada! I decided to get B&J anyway to make things authentic so we dashed into A&p and got 2 tubs. When we got home I ran in and said that dinner would be in ten minutes, with my ice cream purchase in my hand of course. They were watching "Whose line is it anyway?" and grunted their approval. So I went back to the kitchen to finish dinner quickly. Terry walked through to the lounge and sat down next to Angus on the couch with a beer in his hand. He walked straight past both of them and neither of them even looked up! He sat there and then said "Howdy Boys!" and they both looked at him shocked. I was doubled over laughing! I could not believe how they just SAT there and STARED! Afterwards Malcolm said he was so surprised he didn't know what to say. Anyway we all sat down and had a great dinner, and drank Dom Pedro's and Strawberry daiquiris until midnight. On Friday Terry went into the office with Malcolm as he also had some work to do and I took Kirstin to school. She did not want to go but I just took her in peeled her from me and handed her over. It would have been easier for me to keep her at home because of the hours but I need to see if she is going to be happy or if I should just keep her at home. I have decided that if by the end of November she is still not happy going to school that I will keep her at home. Isn't it funny, how she went from marching in to not wanting to go? I think it may just be a delayed reaction but I will have to wait and see. Angus, Marianne and I went to town and I bought them breakfast, bagels ( what can I say?) and we went to the beach and enjoyed them in the warm sun and cold wind. Angus drove us to the beach and then to Kirstin's school to fetch her. She came out of her class smiling holding up a leaf that she had painted so she obviously had a good day. Then we just went browsing around the shops for a while before going home. Malcolm and Terry came home at 3 p:m, same time as I fetch Jess and we sat around chatting. Angus had cleaned up the fireplace for us and set up a fire for later in the evening and Malcolm broke up some wood that we had in our garden. Then we all set of for an early evening of ice skating. We went to an ice rink in New Rochelle, about 7 miles from home. I was worried that they would not have skates for Kirstin's size but they did. We all got our skates on and got prepared to fall all over the ice, except for Terry and Marianne who have had a lot more practice than we have had. I did not know whether I would still be able to skate. Kirstin and Jess got on the ice with us holding on to them and the rails. Marianne took them around in turns and I slowly found my feet or should I say skates and got a bit more confident. Not as stable as I used to be, but I did manage to go around with the kids. Kirstin loved going with Marianne because she just wanted to go fast. Marianne held her with both arms around her waist and Kirstin's feet between Marianne's and skated like that, Kirstin did not have to much to do! They both found their feet okay and we watched some kids having a lesson and discovered that the learn to walk on the ice. So that is what we did with the kids. Jessica caught on extremely quickly and walked around giving other beginners lessons which was extremely funny. Our daughter still very obviously in the learning phase, " teaching" other kids how to skate! Kirstin also managed to walk very easily but was not happy with the speed so she opted for Marianne! Malcolm and Angus were the funniest, holding on to the rails and sliding all over the ice. But by the end of the evening there was a vast improvement in both of their abilities. We all went out to dinner afterwards to Applebee's and then home to bed as we were all exhausted. On Saturday the guys went to Robin and Darota's to watch rugby and we went to the Westchester mall to the Crate and Barrel (stunning home store, kitchen through to bedroom) where I bought some Margarita glasses. Then on to the Disney store where I bought myself a jacket for the Fall weather. It is red and black and of course has Winnie the Pooh and Tigger on it, I never thought I would buy a red jacket but it actually looks quite good on me! In the afternoon everyone went to the beach with the kids and I stayed home and cooked in peace. We were having a full house, Brett and Sharon and Robin and Darota (and their 2 boys) were all joining us for the evening. We just had a good old S.A meal, a casserole with chutney and some salads and Dom Pedros for dessert. We lit the fire and drank a few cocktails. It was a wonderful evening, and not too much of a late one because we wanted to go into Manhattan early on Sunday morning. Well as usual our plan was not perfect...Malcolm had decided to drive to a station closer to Manhattan because the New York marathon was being run and we did not want to struggle to find parking and get stuck in traffic on Angus and Marianne's last day. Well we had a race against the train and lost! The trains only run every hour on a Sunday so we decided to alter plans a bit and go to Queens and catch the subway into Manhattan. Now please spare a thought for Terry as I tell this story because he was in the back (Boot) with all the luggage! We do not know our way around Queens, nor do we know where the good and bad areas are but I do know that Flushing Meadows is a decent area so we decided to park there because we knew that there would be subways. BUT before we got to Flushing we spotted the Shea stadium so we decided that this was also good because the subway would run from there too and there was plenty of parking. The station looked deserted when we drove up so we asked a guy if the underground was running and he said yes the number 7 train. Well the evening before Brett and Sharon had told us that the No. 7 train was not running this weekend because they were doing maintenance work! So bang went that idea. Now we had not experienced bad traffic at all so I suggested that we just go and park in Manhattan at the garage around the corner from Malcolm's office so that was plan, oh I think about E. The streets were not busy so it did work out well. Then Angus fulfilled his dream, we caught the subway and he was rather disappointed, no seedy people, no weirdo's, just people like us. We had brunch in Greenwich Village and walked around a bit. Wen to George Washington Park and watched some Asian guy entertaining the crowd for a while and then went on to Central Park, by bus this time so that every one could see the sights. There were a lot of runners finishing the marathon in Central Park but we had a really pleasant walk. Then back to the car to get Angus and Marianne to the airport. Angus was flying home and Marianne to Canada on a business trip. We left Manhattan at 4 p:m, convinced that this would be plenty of time. Unfortunately we got very stuck in traffic...we managed 3 blocks in 30 minutes and Malcolm was boiling with rage at the traffic. I got out of the car and asked a man in blue for directions to JFK and he suggested the Midtown Tunnel which we had not tried before. It goes under the East River. Well thank goodness traffic lightened up and things went a bit faster. BUT the Marianne looked at her ticket and it did not say JFK, it said EWA New York. I suggested that this might be Newark but t we all knew that there was absolutely no way to make both airports. We finally got to the airport at 5:30 and bid our farewells. Now we had real traffic to fight on the way home. Then comes the call from Angus...Marianne's flight is from Newark. The taxis were charging $90 for the trip which was just crazy so we turned around and went back to JFK. When we got there Marianne had managed to find a shuttle bus and was on her way to Newark. Angus had waited for us to tell us. He had also discovered from the 1800 number for United Airlines that there were no more flights leaving for Canada from Newark so Marianne was going to be stuck for the night! Well there was absolutely nothing else we could do because it was late and we had no clue as to how to get to New Jersey. So we just decided that we would go home and wait for a call from Marianne. We finally got home at 8:00 p.m, please take note that this was 4 hours spent in the car. I warmed up some leftover stew for dinner and got the kids to bed. Marianne called and said that she could get a flight from La Guardia at 7:10 a:m, same time and place as Terry's flight to Canada so she caught the Connecticut limo to the Rye Marriot and she phoned me when she arrived at 10 p:m to go and fetch her. We were all exhausted so after a drink we all crawled into bed because they had to be up at 5 a:m for the next round! I have never had a day like that, it was fun, then annoying, frustrating, and finally relieved but exhausted! All in all we had a wonderful weekend and the up side to our whole adventure was that we did not get lost once. Malcolm now knows how to get to JFK and La Guardia blind folded and we also know that we will make sure of air ports in the future! International flights will be JFK 90% of the time, but we will still make sure! We also discovered that Connecticut Limo is a great way to get here from any of the air ports in New York! Okay I had better sign off now as Kirstin is in need of nourishment! She went to school this morning, slight protests so let's see what happens. Thanksgiving is the next celebration on our list and that should be fun. I went to the library with Kirstin after school and I got a book on Thanksgiving to read to them, it is a history of Thanksgiving, so I will learn with them. Anyway until next week have fun. Oh one more thing ...it is FREEZING today, thought you would enjoy that bit of news! Lots of love to you all. Love Natalie

Weekend ending 31 october

Hello all of you out there!
Well another week has wizzed past, can you believe how time flies? We are all fine and I hope you all are too. As most of you know Malcolm got back on Tuesday. He was supposed to be home at 5 p.m but the plane was delayed by an hour and he got caught in traffic so he only got here at 7 p.m! There were tons of "treats" from S.A. which was great. It is funny what you miss, I was dying for Bovril toast! So my diet shake went out the window Wednesday morning! We also got a few things from Holland, the kids each got a clog money box and some other toy which you look through and it distorts everything. I was spoilt with a pot stand (for decorative purposes only) and a spoon rest in the blue and white pottery. Now I want to collect as much as I can! I would love to have the pot stands he got decorating my kitchen walls! On Wednesday he went to work, I tried my best to keep him home but he had to go in. On Thursday Jessica had her Halloween Parade and party at school. The entire school dresses up in their costumes and parades around the Osborn, a retirement village next to the school. All the parents line up outside the gates and cheer them through. Of course this all helps build up the excitement of Halloween for the kids! Malcolm and the girls also had to carve a pumpkin so that we could proudly display it outside our front door. On Friday it was Kirstin's turn to dress up and have a class party. Jessica stayed home because school was closed for her due to a teacher's conference for all teachers in Westchester County. Alice came over to play and I took them all to the park when I fetched Kirstin from school. They played for about 2 hours, until I could not stand to sit there any longer! Saturday.... and rugby at Robin's place! He has a dish and they have a pay per view system here, where if you want to watch the rugby you phone and give them your credit card number and they connect you. It was on at 10 a.m so, and no laughing please...we sipped tea and ate biscuits while we watched! It was rather strange as we kept thinking of all our S.A and European friends and supporters drinking beer and braaing wors! I said to Malcolm that if you could see us now you would all be laughing. On Saturday afternoon we just stayed home pottering around the house and trying to clean the windows which is virtually impossible. I bought this cleaner which you attach to a hose and spray on the windows, but it did not have the desired results. On Sunday Malcolm watched the France New Zealand game with Robin and came home with a ladder for me to try and clean the windows but the ladder does not reach! I think I am going to get a quote to see how much it will cost to have them cleaned! We also did some cleaning up in the basement and then got the kids ready for Halloween. As most of you already know Kirstin was Princess Dot from A Bug's Life and Jessica was a Witch of the Web. They looked great. I drew a web on her face, just below her eye and a tiny spider dangling from it and then I put black eyeliner on her eyes and some mascara, dark lipstick completed the "look". Then the wig, (an 18 inch long black one) was put in place and she looked magnificent! I have taken pictures so I will have to get prints, in fact I can get them put on to e-mail when I get them developed which I am thinking of doing. Then we went to William's party which was also great fun. Louise (his mom) had made up a Halloween packet for each of the kids and there was a flashing light in each bag for the kids to wear around their necks to make them visible to people and traffic. Jessica's light was a Jack o' Lantern and Kirstin's was (Leon you will want this) a scream face from the movie! When everyone had arrived we all set off with our loot bags. Typically there was nobody home at the first house we visited, but they had left a bowl of candy outside the door. The next house was very prepared the had a table set up and the kids lined up went around the table got there treat and exited. Kirstin caught on very quickly and when we got to the next house she just ran off across the lawn! We decided to split up because there were just too many kids bombarding each house at once so the little kids "worked" one side of the street while the older kids did the other side. Kirstin and I went off with the "littlies" and Jessica and Malcolm carried on with the older kids. I had a good laugh at Kirstin she had such a ball running from house to house. Eventually she was knocking at the door, saying trick or treat with her bag held wide open for the treats she knew she was going to receive! We were out for an hour and a half and then went back to Louise's house (mansion) for pizza. Dave was mixing margaritas in the kitchen and when he ran out of that it was orange juice and after that was finished he used cranberry juice! They were all delicious though! There was "grown up food" (louise's words) in the dining room but I settled for pizza in the kitchen, where all the fun was! We left at about 8:30 and it was so funny walking back because the streets were already so quiet. The kids candy bags were rather heavy as were their eyelids because the clocks had been set back so it was really 9:30. I weighed their bags this morning and they weigh 1.250 kilograms each! Anyway this letter is a day late because of our evening out and you will only get it Tuesday because the time difference is now 7 hours! It is now dark by 5:30 p.m, can you believe it! Oh I must also add that the weather last night was brilliant, I did not even need a jersey! Today I am wearing jeans and a T-shirt because it is nice and warm outside. Apparently the cold will return around Wednesday, just in time for Angus and Marianne's arrival! They are staying until Sunday and we are all very excited to see them! Well I guess that is about that as far as my news for the week goes so have a good one and enjoy the sun! Lots of love Nats

24 October 1999 No 2

Well hello AGAIN
So you are all wondering...has she nothing better to do with her time? Well I could be downstairs watching the news, which by the by is not as depressing in sunny S.A and can actually be rather entertaining, except for the few icky stories that do pop up from time to time. But I had a great weekend, nothing exceptional mind you, I just decided to tell you all about it. Sharon and Brett did come round as planned and we drank the usual and I taught them how to play Uno which brought back many fond memories of many of you reading this. This morning we rose to a beautiful sunny day, until we went outside...freezing! But our mission for the day was bagels for breakfast, to be eaten at the beach. So armed with a bag of bagels and a few Cafe Lattes, we braved the weather much to the kids delight and sat in the sun watching the sea eating breakfast.
The kids ran down to the beach and played in the sand and I marvelled at how, as long as they are having fun the weather just does not bother them. I think it was the best bagel and Cafe Latte I have had the privilege to eat and drink to date! But all good things have to come to an end, and there was a train to be caught so I took Sharon and Brett to the station. There is a great park across the road from the station and Kirstin who spotted it on her way to school has been itching to go so me, braving the weather and hoping to find a seat in the sun took them to the park. They made friends with every child who appeared and had an absolute ball, but an hour later with a "froze" nose I could take it no more, the clouds were blocking out the sun I bundled two reluctant little girls into our "high car" and set off for home.
The weather made me think 'library' (pictured left) so when we got home I phoned, and lo and behold the Rye library is open 1 - 4 p,m on a Sunday! The kids were thrilled at the prospect of becoming members of a library again so back in the car and off we went. Well the library was amazing, about 5 computers with educational games at the kids disposal, tables and chairs, a window seat (unfortunately no too comfy but looks good) and some chairs were parents were sitting reading to their kids! Needless to say we spent all afternoon there. I got cards for the kids, at no charge and no limit on the amount of books they are allowed, I did not tell Jessica about the limit because we would have needed a cart to get out of there. They also have reading mornings for the little kids so I grabbed a schedule, something for Kirstin and I to do when going to the park in the morning
gets too cold. I am also considering doing some volunteer work at the library, it is something I can do with Kirstin because she loves to sit at the little tables and page through all the books she can get her hands on.
I would like to volunteer in the children's room, so I might go down in the morning and speak to them. When I asked the librarian if they need volunteers she practically offered me a job so I guess they would fit me in.
Jessica chose a Dr Seuss book (with a little prompting from her mother) which is a beginners book and she read the first 3 pages to me, I nearly exploded with pride! She has been in the reading program at school for a month and I can't believe how well she is doing! We get homework every day and she always reads the books to me with little or no help, but they are really basic,the picture literally tells the story, so I was not sure as to how well she was really doing. Now I can safely say that she is well on her way to literacy.
Darota fetched me at 6 p.m and we took the kids to Applebee's, which was great, a real family restaurant and for all of us (4 kids, 2 adults) the 'check' totalled $42.00! I was home by 7:30 and the kids went straight to bed. So as you can see my weekend was not all that exciting, just very relaxing and great for the girls. Oh and just to let you know that I am still in touch with S.A sport, even though I am NOT a rugby fan, cricket for me any day, WELL DONE SPRINGBOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay now this is it and as it is 10:49 I can safely say there will be no more "quick" letters about my weekend. So until next week..........LUV YA MADLY BYE!
Nats

October 24 1999

Greetings friends and family!
How are you all keeping? Me, I am well as are my two rugrats, Malcolm is still wondering around the world so I am sure he is content!
After telling everybody that I would send a weekly newsletter I sat back and thought WHAT HAVE I DONE????? Exciting as moving to another country is, it all settles down into the routine so many of you keep "complaining" about! Well now my day to day drivvle can begin and perhaps you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy reading yours!
On Monday my "baby" started school to her sheer delight. When I took her into the building she said "bye mom" and turned to go into her class, but I stopped her and managed to get a very quick kiss before she disappeared into her new adventure. Her session is only 2h30min so it was not a long lonely morning for me. She had so much to tell me when I fetched her, her only disappointment was that it was to cold to play outside on the jungle gym (I secretly think that this is her sole purpose for wanting to go to school).
On Tuesday Kirstin woke up and was not too impressed to find out that she was not going to school. On Wednesday back to school, Kirstin was thrilled, except it rained so no playground.
On Thursday I went to fetch Jessica from school and Alice was going to a studio with her dad and wanted Jessica to go with her. Dave said it was fine, it was just a friends studio and off they went. And now Jessica is going to be in a catalogue "modeling" t shirts and she made $100! When she got the money she said "I don't get it" she just could not understand why she got paid to have fun. They just photograph them in a white T-shirt and then somehow (I guess computers) they show the other shirts on them. So it was a very exciting afternoon for her. Today, Friday Kirstin was back at school again, still no tears, and very happy because they went out on the jungle gyms. And now here I sit. This weekend Sharon and Brett are sleeping over on Saturday night so we will be drinking daiquiris as per usual. On Sunday morning I would like to go to Upper Crust Bagel Co. for breakfast so that they can see the window paintings and the town, because they are looking for a place to live. On Sunday evening Darota and I are taking the kids to Applebee's, sort of like a Spur, for dinner because Robin is going to Florida on business and flying Sunday afternoon. Oh another thing I did! I shopped on line at JC Pennys yesterday! I bought Kirstin a fall coat, Jess 2 pairs of pants and 2 long shirts and myself a cable knit jersey all for $100! The order gets delivered next week. It is so easy, the store is so huge that you can never find anything so it worked out better for me. I also have the catalogue which helps.
Anyway I had better go and sort out dinner and bath the kidlets so hope you all had a great weekend and have a wonderful week ahead. I will speak to you all next week.
Lotsa love
Nats

30 August 1999

Howdy all you dudes!
Here is the letter you have all been waiting for breathlessly, no doubt. I am in Malcolm's office at the moment, it is 18:30 and he is about to go and test drive a Rav 4 four door. We have also gone to see the Grand Jeep Cherokee Loredo and the sales guys have phoned Malcolm 10 times today, begging him to come and sign on the dotted line! No jokes, they are desperately trying to get rid of their '99 models. We are going to stay in Rye on Friday, September 3 at the Courtyard Marriot until our house and furniture are available. Jessica starts school next Tuesday or Wednesday, I still have not received the forms so I am not 100% sure of the date.
We have still been doing some of the touristy things, but the kids are also getting tired of running around and we spent most of last week at "home". We have been to the American Museum of Natural History, which Jess thoroughly enjoyed, Kirstin got bored after a while, all she wanted to see was sharks and whales. We went to the N.Y. Aquarium and watched the sharks being fed, not all that thrilling, the sharks had to be coaxed into eating by having their food (fish on a skewer) shoved right under their nose.
We have also walked down to the East River, it is only 2 blocks from our hotel.
My favourite spot, and the kids' is still Central Park, there are lots of different playgrounds for the kids and lots of different paths and walks. There is "the Reservoir", where you can hire model sail boats for
$10 per hour and sail them around the lake. We have been to the Great Lawn and Shakespeare's garden both of which are really great. The Central Park Wildlife Centre (a Zoo) is another of the kids favourite places.

Yesterday we went on the Staten Island ferry! We caught a bus on Staten Island and went to a place called Richmodtown. It is a town from the mid to late 1800's which has been restored. They have people their living like they lived then, housewives, a basket weaver, a tinsmith, a carpenter (who really makes butter churns, buckets, baths etc.), weavers and the like. The general store was amazing, it still had some of the original items in it. Some of it was destroyed by a fire and they redid it. Apparently the husband and wife who ran it died of Scarlett fever and their daughters took over the running of the store. They also had the original court house and school house. It was a really interesting place.

Another place which got me really excited was the Lexington Candy Store. It is a diner which has been going since 1925. The establishment has been passed down from father to son, never sold. They have refurbished but have maintained the decor and furnishings, the diner was used to shoot a scene in Three Days in the Condor, or something like that, with Robert Redford and Farah Fawcett. Since then it has been used in numerous photo' shoots and "old" (new) movies. The kids and I had a great lunch there and I am determined to take Malcolm there for breakfast sometime.

A lot of people have asked me about making friends. Living in a hotel makes that impossible, considering everybody is coming and going. People are generally friendly, I get on really well with the doormen and bellhops and they are great with the kids. I am sure that once we have settled and life gets normal I will start meeting people.

I have met Robin and Darotta, who also hail from S.A. and now live in Rye. They invited us to their place for a ... braai!!! We all got on really well, and they have 2 boys aged 7 & 8 who got on rather well with the girls. Robin drove us around our new town, not bad. Brookville was prettier but I am sure that I will be very happy in Rye, the beach is 5 minutes away, the school about a mile and Connecticut about 20 minutes, where I can shop and pay no tax. We went past our new home and seeing it for the second time I found it to be more attractive. I cannot wait to move in and get settled, I can't wait to get new curains, which are about $20 a drop.
We are going to get a computer at home, and then I will have e-mail, and I can answer all your e-mail personally. Thank you to all of you for all the e-mails, I will let you know my address asap. Miss you all stax.
Oh! Melanie or Tracy, Please make sure our folks get copies of my letter, Tracy maybe you can fax it, or if Melanie e-mails her folks please send my mom a copy!!
Tons of love and lots of misses to you all,
Natalie

October 17th 1999

Hi all!
How are you all doing, well I hope. I have decided to compose one letter for everyone per week, I hope, and then respond to anything that may come during the week. Do not hold your breaths for too long, I must remind you that e-mail is new to me and as they say, new brooms sweep clean. Let's hope that I can keep up with a weekly letter!
I must admit that up until Friday I do not have much to report, some mad running around doing shopping for Malcolm's Friday departure to sunny S.A. I was really excited for him, I thought
it would be great fun catching up with whomever he could, and just being somewhere familiar. I longed to go with and felt rather homesick all of a sudden because I thought of you all more than usual.
Well Friday came and along with it the car to fetch Malcolm for his trip to JFK airport... and
suddenly I was not so brave and happy that he was going anymore! I pottered around at home doing the mandatory "chores" and then I took Kirstin to the park before going to fetch Jessica.
I was feeling so tearful walking Jess home, I felt like a real twit and I did not want the kids to see me bawl so I held back. I did realise that I was being rather dumb at some stage, probably while I was spending his hard earned money on groceries at A & P.
Anyway... on Saturday I did a few things around the house and then we went up to Jessica's school for the Osborn Fair. It was not as wonderful as I thought it would be, in fact I think that Bryandale's school fair was better than Osborn's. But the kids had fun, they had their hair spray painted, Jess had her nails done and Kirstin had her face painted. They had a silent auction and I bid on a couple of things, theatre tickets, tennis lessons and tickets to get into Mystic Sea Port. Did anyone see Mystic Pizza with Julia Roberts??? Well that is Mystic Sea Port and the pizza place she worked in as a waitress is really there. We were supposed to go there this weekend or next but we will have to wait for Malcolm's return. After the fair we just went home and made a pot of Jessica's favourite, stew. Today (Sunday) there was window painting in Rye. Robin and Darota's kids each had a window so they invited me to come along and join them for pizza. Town was amazing, all these people painting shop windows all different colours and designs. It was really festive and the kids were happy to paint newspaper while Adam and Michael painted their windows. Kirstin also discovered sand and had a great time digging holes and making mud pies in her white dungarees! Next year I will definitely book a window for the kids to paint. I also had my first cream cheese bagel and it was delicious! After the windows were done we went back to Robin and Darotas place. Kirstin decided that she wanted to go in Robin's car so I said fine. I watched her go because I wanted to make sure she would not change her mind and come running after me and Michael, he is 7, put his arm around Kirstin and she put her arm around him and all I could see was the back of them with her two little pony tails bobbing along. It was a wonderful sight, especially because they did not see me watching them. One of those Kodak moments! We had tea and cake at their place and the kids all played outside and when it was time to go it took a while to get them together because the last thing they wanted to do was leave.
Well things are not too bad, I have had two phone calls while I have been writing this letter so I do not feel so isolated because they were both friends we know here! I also got a message from my mom when I got home, do you know how awful it is to miss a call from someone from home! Anyway thank you for phoning Mommy! Well the kids are both in bed, but not falling asleep so I had better go and threaten them....
All in all we had a great weekend and I will speak to you all next week. Keep well and have fun in the sun. Oh by the way speaking of sun, today was 15 degrees (C) and that is a lovely warm day for this time of year...roll on winter!!!!!!!!
Lots of love
Nats