Merry Christmas

The last 2 weeks here in Brisbane has flown by. Hard to believe that we only have another 3.5 here.

We have been blessed to find work through the company that Sirkka works for, the Finnish Rest Home Assoc. Sirkka is the homeowner we are housesitting for. So we have been employed as causal employees and have been going to aged individuals homes and doing domestic cleaning. It has been quite a pleasant job actually.

First off, because Andreas and I are actually working together and really enjoying it too. We are a good team together and work well. We will not likely be working together much in the near future, so it's a neat opportunity. It's also great to be using the same car and starting and finishing work at the same time.
Secondly we have loved some of the clients that we have cleaned for. They have been so sweet and generous, giving us chocolates or something cold to drink and just sharing about their life. We have met some very interesting people!

It's hard to believe Christmas is already here and gone!! Wow this year has just flown. We were very blessed to have Cessi, Andreas youngest sister stay with us for a few days! She's living in Sydney currently, so it was just a quick flight up here! We were quite happy to have at least some family with us during this weekend, and not just the 2 of us. We went for a swim at the beach on Christmas day, even though the beach was flooded and the weather was very overcast. It was still warm enough in the ocean! We made a lovely dinner on Christmas Eve of skewers with lamb, chicken, roo and veggies and pineapple. We made two Finnish dishes, one a yummy potato bake and also delish rice and carrot dish. We had waldorf salad and palvola for dessert with whipping cream and fruit. Then later on we had cheese and a divine Gewurtztraminer wine. We ate lots!!!
Christmas Day we had leftovers but it was still good! We made a gingerbread house in the afternoon and Andreas and I went for a nice walk. Thankfully the weather managed to be dry for most of the afternoon. We watched Anne of Green Gables that evening. Today we slept in (well Cessi did) and we had a late breakfast and lunch. We all read our books and just relaxed. In the afternoon we went to the city centre of Brisbane and walked around, but it was pouring rain all day. We got wet even with our umbrella's! Then we dropped Cessi off at the airport and came home.

At this time of year we do miss family but are so thankful for skype to stay connected and close. It is also very special for us to be able to spend our first christmas together and be thankful to God for the gift he gave us in each other!