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