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October 2006 Gosh, here we are in October already and a busy few months have been had. Dave had the opportunity to help celebrate Diane's 40th in June at an intimate family dinner. Toby has accepted a Sydney based role and they are currently selling their house in Brisbane after what turned out to be a very brief sojourn. We are very excited at the thought of having them living nearby!
A couple of weeks later we put the house through its paces with our Post-Renovation Celebration, attended by about 80 people. Yes it was crowded but we all fitted in somehow. The frozen daiquiri machine was a big hit, as were our friend Sam's smooth grooves on the turntables. Charlotte (pictured with Flick) was a great help with the food. A few people joined us for a delicious chill out barbecue breakfast on the deck the next day.
Then Flick was off to a swimwear convention in Miami, staying in South Beach. There are countless photos of swimsuit models but we won't bore you with them now...
Dave's grandmother Ruth passed away in late July after a period of illness and a difficult time for the family back in Wellington. We returned briefly for the funeral.
Shortly after, we had our first family visitor staying in our renovated home: cousin Guy on his way to work for a year in England. We spent a great day in the Blue Mountains during his stay.
In August we participated for the first time in the City to Surf, a 14km fun run to Bondi Beach with a massive 60,000 entrants. We were part of a team from Dave's work, with a couple of serious contenders and the rest of us prepared to walk/jog to the finish and a welcome beer afterwards.
We hooked up with our sailing friends Flicka & Matt and Hunter Valley vignerons Tina and Matt in September to attend the Broke Village Fair. In addition to a great display of classic and vintage cars we also enjoyed a wine and food tasting event, sampling premium local wines (including a couple of Matt & Tina's) each teamed up with a tapas-sized plate of food. Delicious! Flick fed "Lamb Chops" too.
We've just returned from Wellington where we attended Dave's mother's 60th birthday party, themed as a Greek / Roman Symposium and featuring a lamb on a spit, lions (to throw the Christians to - played by Rachael & Laura), Esko playing slave to the Lady Alison, Senator Andrew and his consort Mary, Dave as Centurion Naughtius Maximus and Flick as his comely hand maiden (nudge nudge).
The day before we had a great night out on the town, hooking up with many of the thinning group of friends who are still in Wellington, including Deidre Tarrant and sons Justin, Bret and Johnny McKenzie, Selwyn & Helena, Fiona, Greg, JB and Amy.
On other fronts Dave's MBA studies are going well and we're both keeping up with exercise, sailing and enjoying our lovely home. Speaking of which, we're always keen to entertain and accommodate friends from abroad and from mid November can offer an opportunity to sail on Sydney Harbour in a relaxing Twilight race if you're in town on a Friday night. And as this will probably be the last update for the year, Merry Christmas! All the best, P.S. A new piccie now on Friends. Also, I'm assuming that most of you have broadband now so the images are getting a little bigger. If you're still on dial up, it's really time to upgrade!
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