It has become popular these days for people to send an 'end of year' letter with their Christmas cards to friends and family.  It's an easy way of keeping people up to date, especially those who you don't keep in regular contact with.  As many of you know, we don't do Christmas cards!  Seeing as it is the end of the 2000s decade, I figure why not do an 'end of decade' update of what we have done over the last 10 years?

First to set the scene - on 1 January 2000, we were living in a rental property in Launceston with Matt and Geoff, Emma was studying Bio-medical Science at the University of Tasmania and working part time.  Charles was working two part time IT related jobs.  Emma had a 1976 Ford Escort and Charles a 1992 Toyota Camry.

In the middle of the year, we moved into our own flat in Summerhill.  We stayed here for 2 years, which was a record - the 3 years previous Emma had lived in about 8 different rentals!

September 2000 was (as well as the Sydney Olympics) our engagement party!   It was held at the community hall just opposite our unit.

In December, Emma graduated from Uni with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science!  In April 2001 she was successful in gaining a fulltime scientists position in Hobart.  This meant that almost every weekend over the next year, one of us travelled the return trip from Launceston to Hobart.  Combined with Charles' work at regional schools (Perth, Bracknell, Deloraine, Mole Creek, Meander, etc) this resulted in a lot of km's being clocked in that year!

Due to Emma's new job we had decided to move to Hobart.  In the second half of 2001 we bought a house and land package in a new Glenorchy subdivision just around the corner from Emma's parents - construction started in October!

2002 was a year of big changes for us.  In April we moved into our new house - although with plenty of work to do!  October 12 was the big day - we got married, at Moorilla Estate, including the reception in the Museum of Antiquities.  Many thanks to Matt Springer, Matt Grey, Alister, James, Laura, Hayley, Rachel, Erin and Jess for being a part of this fantastic day with us!

In the same month Charles started a new job (in a contractors role) in Hobart.  A welcome relief after being unemployed since moving from Launceston!

In 2003 we adopted our border collie cross puppies Jenna and Bridie from a farm in Judbury.

In February 2004 we did a ferry/drive holiday to Melbourne and Adelaide in our (then new) Subaru Impreza.  It included a visit to Emma's brother and sister-in-law Mark and Rachel in Melbourne, including seeing our new niece (born in 2003)!  During the drive to Adelaide (via Ararat/Horsham) the temperature reading in the car maxxed out at 48 degrees.. I was glad we had air-conditioning!

Summer 2004/05 was the season of weddings for us.  It included Laura (Emma's sister) and Ben's wedding in January, and we were honoured to both be in the wedding party for our good friends Iain and Tracey in February!

During 2005 Emma was promoted to a senior role at her work, and Charles moved from a contractor to full-time employee.  The latter half of the year we were finally able to get the majority of the external work at our house completed!  What started as a retaining wall required for structural reasons, became a retaining wall, front deck and concreted driveway.

In 2006 we did another large interstate trip.  First a few days in Melbourne with Mark and family (now including a new nephew), which included a trip to the MCG with 95,000 others to farewell the Socceroos before they left for Germany!  That was followed by a few days on the Gold Coast, and a week in Gladstone, staying with Emma's aunt Pam and cousin Chelle.  The final part of the trip was our long awaited honeymoon - a weekend on Heron Island, and it was fantastic!

2007 was again, a big year of changes for us!  The biggest of course was the birth of our little girl 'G' in October.  As if we weren't busy enough, we had the privilege of both being in the wedding party for Matt and Mel in September - fortunately G didn't arrive early!  Charles started a new job in the electricity industry in November - co-incidentally the same place he had been contracted to through his previous employer for the last 4 years!

G must have had a bigger effect on our lives than we thought because in writing this summary I couldn't think of anything notable that we did in 2008.  Perhaps both of us turning 30 made us a bit forgetful in our old age?

2009 was another big one.  In Easter 2009 the three of us, along with Mel and Lachie, travelled to Sydney for the National Band Championships, where Emma and Mel's band placed first overall in both open A grade concert and open B grade brass.  In June, Emma also started a second "career" - as the Hobart consultant/reseller for modern cloth nappy brand Baby Beehinds.  September heralded the arrival of #1 son, H - he couldn't have stressed us out too much, as Charles found time in the weeks following to fly up to Bribie Island, to visit his aunt Heather and family and to celebrate his Grandma's 100th birthday!

As if that wasn't enough, we have just bought a block of land in Lenah Valley.  That should give some hint as to what the next decade will bring :)