Christmas 2012

What an interesting year it’s been! Another busy one for the Arizona Gelfis.

January: We saw the New Year in with Paul’s mother Pat, his sister Sue and our niece Stephanie who were visiting from Perth. It was wonderful to spend Christmas and New Year with them. Nathan decided to add ballet to his dancing repertoire and is really enjoying it.

February: Nathan turned 8! His friend Aurick spent the weekend with us and the boys had a great time. In early February, to my surprise, I was promoted to Chief Mine Engineer and thus became the leader of my department. Straight in the deep end but I’m finding my feet now and love my new role. As always we thoroughly enjoyed the annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

March: We took Nathan to Florida during Spring Break and visited Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. The theme parks were a lot of fun and we had a fantastic time, until Nathan got very sick with an awful stomach bug which took him a full two weeks to recover from.

April: Paul finally hit the big 5-uh-oh!  He passed his aikido test and still enjoys that martial art. I had a wonderful long weekend in Phoenix at a scrapbooking convention (and can’t wait to go again next year!).

May: Nathan finished second grade at Sahuarita Primary with excellent grades.

June: Nathan did an amazing job at his end-of-year dance recital. His dance school travelled to Disneyland and did a workshop with a Disney dance instructor (and of course, had a fantastic time in the park). After the workshop we headed to New Zealand and visited Mum for a couple of weeks which was wonderful. The weather was very kind and it was so good to be home again.

July: Nathan started at his new school, Great Expectations Academy. He is doing very well there and has made lots of friends.  

August: I decided to start taking piano lessons. My teacher Mrs. Albertson is such a lovely lady. I look forward to my lessons every week because she’s such a nice, kind person. Nathan joined the Garden Club at school and learned how to grow marigolds, carrots and beans plus how to build planter boxes. After 5 years without pets, we decided to get some fish. We are still learning how to care for them (and have had to get several replacements) and enjoy having them with us.

September: Nathan started his orthodontic treatment which prompted Paul and I to get our teeth straightened too. We will all have beautiful smiles by next summer (hopefully!). I attended a 2-day meeting in Sedona and spent 5 days in Las Vegas at the MINExpo. Nathan joined Cub Scouts and is having fun with the other Bears in his den.

October: We spent a weekend in Phoenix and went to see the musical “Spamalot” with our friend Tim.  Paul and I celebrated our 9^th wedding anniversary handing out candy for Halloween. Nathan elected to dress up as a ghoul again (same as last year).

November: Annette had a birthday and is knocking on the door of 40. The Cub Scouts visited the veterans’ hospital on Veterans Day and thanked them for their service. We did a road trip over Thanksgiving to Monument Valley (Utah) and Sedona. The red rocks and autumn colors were spectacular.

December: Nathan’s Christmas dance recital was a big success.  He was very elegant in both his ballet numbers. It will be a quiet Christmas at home (for a change) with the “United Nations” visiting: guests from Japan, Ghana and Peru will be stopping by to celebrate with us. At the end of the month Nathan and I are going to attend Cub Scout camp near Tucson so hopefully it won’t snow on us!

Plans for the New Year

2013 is going to see some big changes for us. We’re on the move again and will have to adjust to a very different living and working environment. This new assignment will take us out of the US for a few years but we expect to be back here in Arizona again in the future. We wish for continued, health, happiness and employment in 2013. Safe travels and happy trails to you all.

Best wishes for the New Year!
The Arizona Gelfis (Paul, Annette and Nathan)