In January, Emily performed the leading role in a school play and sang a song at her grade's international evening. In early February, John and Marian attended the IAEA Ball in the Hofburg Imperial Palace. Later in February, we travelled to Merano, Italy, for skiing, but there was no snow so we just relaxed and did a bit of shopping and eating out.

Emily in "Blood Brothers"

International Evening

2007 IAEA Ball

Our "Ski Trip" to Italy

In June, Becky's volleyball team came 3rd in an international tournament and also received the "Fair Play" award. Marian's cousin's son, Zach, came to visit for a few days as part of a tour of Europe before returning to Washington state after having studied for some months in Spain. In addition to seeing some of the famous sites in Vienna, they went to a few castles in Lower Austria and Bratislava, as well as the Roman ruins in Carnuntum. At the end of June, the Hash celebrated 25 years of Hashing in Vienna by spending the weekend in Burgundland, Austria.

Becky and the Volleyball Team

Zach and Emily at Durnstein

John at the Hash Weekend

In June, John's sister Ann graduated from Surrey University with an Upper 2nd Honours Degree. In July, we vacationed in Florida, where Emily and Becky toured Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in Orlando with their sister Margaret and her husband Chris, while John and Marian looked after their granddaughter, Tiffany. We spent a few days in St. Augustine and got to see the new Harry Potter film on opening day. When we returned to Orlando, two of Marian's sisters, Jennifer and Lisa, came over from California for a few days and Margaret and Tiffany returned. We really enjoyed the holiday!

Ann in her gown with Mum and Dad

Tiffany

Marian, 3 daughters and 2 sisters

Tiffany and Auntie Em

Tiffany and Auntie B

Tiffany and her Mom

Tiffany teaching Granddad to read

In September, we had the usual round of birthdays (even the cat was born in September!) - Emily turned 16, Becky turned 14, and Marian went into mass production of birthday cakes mode.

Alexander

Becky and friends at her birthday party

Dad's Cake

In October, Becky's grade went to Florence to learn about renaissance art. In November, Emily's volleyball team won 3rd place in the ISST tournament and also received the "Fair Play" award. In December, Becky's grade had an international evening and she and her friends did a little skit about their trip to Florence.

Ilona and Becky in Florence

Emily and the Volleyball Team

Muchacho y amigos

At the beginning of October, John fell down the stairs at home and broke his right upper arm into five pieces (we don't have a photo of this!). He is still undergoing physiotherapy to gain the full use of his right hand, arm, and shoulder. The progress is slow, but the doctors are positive that everything should return to normal in time. In December, Marian received a long-awaited promotion; this means that John can now retire, which he is planning to do at the end of March next year. We hope that you have had a really good year and that the coming year will be a peaceful, healthy, and prosperous one for you and your loved ones.

Back to Family and Friends Index

© Copyright 2007 John Russell, last updated 26 December 2007, Number of hits =