hannahsinthekingdom.blogspot.com: CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM THE HANNAHS

Hi Everyone

Judy and I are back on the Sunshine Coast for Christmas, and we are about to "babysit" a beautiful home and B&B up on Buderim. Our wonderful and gracious friends heading away, and have asked us to look after it - which we are really looking forward to.

This past 12 months has seen a major change in our lives and lifestyle, as I retired in April and we headed off to the Atherton Tablelands through central Queensland.

First, we had two months in Maryborough, staying with Judy's brother Chris, and helping with their church - Grace Community Church - in the old Maryborough Powerhouse.

We headed up through Biggenden, Gayndah, Mundubberra, Monto and Cania Gorge for a month, Biloela, Springsure, Emerald, Rubyvale, Clermont, Theresa Ck Dam, up to Moranbah, back to Clermont, Charters Towers, and Townsville. These are the places we stayed, but we saw and experienced so much more. Mission Beach is another beautiful place - just like Hawaii - only 'simple', with the added bonus of sighting a wild cassowary. We saw another on the Atherton Tableland, this time with three chicks.

We then headed up to Innisfail, and onto the Atherton Tablelands where we met with our close friends Geoff and Mary Parry. Geoff and Mary and Trevor and Jan Stock also came out to Cania Gorge for a few days with us while we were there - and we had some wonderful times.

In Atherton (aka Athvegas) we spent a lot of time finding all the places where my Mum and Dad spent a huge chunk of their lives, and then my grand parents graves. We had taken my Mum's ashes with us, and while that scared the heck out of Mary Parry, Mum enjoyed every bit of the fun and frivolity we had taking her "back home". Malanda, Millaa Millaa, Lakes Tinaroo, Eacham and Barrine, Herberton and everywhere around the district, all came back to life for me, as I was only 5 years old when we headed to Malanda for my Grandfather's funeral.

We found my Mum's father's grave at Millaa Millaa, and I pressure cleaned it and the graves around it, and then we placed half of her ashes in his grave. Her Dad was a World War 1 Military Medal hero, and he passed away at age 33 after being gassed and made an invalid.

Her Mum was buried at Atherton, as she had remarried and moved to Tolga. I also cleaned her grave, which was situated very close to my father's parents graves. We placed the rest of her ashes with her Mum. I found a "long lost cousin" in Tolga, and we had lots of fun times with her family.

We then travelled down to Mossman Gorge, the Daintree, and into Cairns. The day we went to Kuranda, Judy came down with shingles, which really put the brakes on our happy days. Luckily we were able to find a doctor who knew what he was doing, and gave her the anti-virals to quieten it down. While Judy stayed in bed, I was able to go back up to Malanda for the centenary of the State School, where my dad and many of his siblings attended in 1923. We also caught up with my aunt Dot, who we hadn't seen for about six years.

We then headed back down the coast, staying in free camps at times, and caravan parks when we needed some R&R. Down through Cardwell, which was flattened by Cyclone Yasi, Back into Townsville - I found another cousin I didn't know I had - Doug in Townsville, and we had some great times with him - even though he was in hospital after a heart attack!!

Down to Airlie Beach (where we flew out over the Barrier Reef in an old floatplane - then we took a trip out to Reef World and while I went scuba diving for the first time, Judy snorkelled her way around the 'buoys'. Rollingstone, Yeppoon, and into Bundaberg where we stayed with Judys' cousin for 10 days.

Down to Hervey Bay, and back to the Sunshine Coast.

We have had an amazing trip, spent some wonderful Sunday mornings at some amazing churches, and met some truly beautiful people.

We almost need to start a Facebook page for Misty-Rose, our ragdoll cat, as she has found some awesome fans, who want to have photos with her and give her lots of cuddles. She has developed into a great little travelling companion, and while she used to panic when we hooked up the caravan, she now sits back and relaxes in her bed in the back seat.

We missed our beautiful grandchildren, sons and daughters in-law - but over the coming months, we will definitely be catching up with them all. Tim has divorced and now lives in Sydney, but he gets to have his kids, Tayla and Jordie (now 12 and 14) every second weekend. While he spends a lot of time at Channel 9, he also is doing all the adverts for Channel 10 and their Winter Olympics - and they are now going to air. He will spend a month in Melbourne with 10 - making up replays and highlights which you will also see in February.

Brad, Kirsty and little Emilee, are doing really well - with a new brother or sister for Em due in May. Emi is a constant delight in our lives.

We have had an amazing 8 months, and while we intended going to Tasmania for next Christmas, I have now signed up for Bible College to do a Diploma in Ministry and Theology for the next two years. While a lot of the course can be done online, 30% is face-to-face, but it is in Gympie, so we will be hanging around a bit instead of heading off for long periods. But there will definitely be short trips away when we feel like it.

I pray that you all have a beautiful, safe and "family friendly" Christmas and New Year, and we can only thank our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ for our safety, our health and our provision - that has taken us across and around our beautiful state this past year. (Well not quite, we've yet to see the Outback)!