Dear family & friends,
Trust you have all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

As you all know we’ve been in Australia since mid September for Penny to have treatment for cancer. We wanted to wait to write to you, as Penny was scheduled for tests yesterday and we wanted to wait for results to let everyone know. More of that in a moment!

Firstly, here is news of all our family…

Luke, Pe and Sufjan moved to Melbourne just recently. Luke has work there but also hopes to study “Fine Arts” full-time at RMIT, as well as continue his work part-time. Their move will give Pe more opportunities in the art scene, which is one of her loves also and we will have to travel to 2 cities now, when we want to visit our children! Sufjan turns one on January 23rd and it has been more than a delight to have been a part of her life the last 3 months since we’ve been in Adelaide. Grandparenting is fun!

Jaci continues her study, 12 months ago she switched track, instead of heading for medicine, she will now graduate from nursing at the end of next year. She loves the study but I reckon she will love to be finished and I know she’ll be a great nurse.

Zac & Michelle have settled well into Australia, been in Adelaide 2 years now. Michelle is still bakery manager at a supermarket and Zac is still studying. He had hoped to get into the paramedics course at Flinders university last year but was accepted for his second option instead. So now that he is in the uni system, he hopes it can be easier to transfer, so he has re-applied for paramedics and finds out soon if he’s in.

Caleb is continuing his Bachelor of Arts majoring in philosophy, heloves it and is doing very well. He and Jaci continue to rent a house together and keep busy looking out for each other.

Penny’s great news is that the scan she had yesterday showed no trace of lymphoma, so the chemo did it’s job! As much as she didn’t want to have the chemo again, it has worked and we are all grateful and “quite the happy family”, as we recieve this news. There is still a small mass in her abdomen but the doctors say this could be scar tissue and more tests will come. She does need to complete her chemotherapy course, which means one more chemo on January 28th and then stem cell therapy.

We are awaiting further instructions but after that we will take some time for Penny to regain her strength, then our plan is to return to Chiang Rai of course. However we are guessing that will take about 3 months.

Paul has been commuting back and forth to Chiang Rai since we’ve been in Oz, to take care of business there but also be here to be a support to Penny during her chemotherapy. He will go again on January 17th for 3 weeks. Apart from that he has been keeping himself occupied, helping people and being here for family.

If you didn’t get a Home of the Open Heart/Baan Nam Jai 2011 calendar, we would be glad to post you one. It has the beautiful faces of our precious ‘second’ family in Thailand on it and I am sure you’d want one for your wall, so you can remember us throughout 2011. Please hit reply and let us know if you’d like one, but send your mailing address too.

We are so very grateful to you all. We know so many of you have prayed for Penny and us all, as we’ve walked through this journey of cancer together; well, for years now but more specifically in recent months.
Also grateful to those of you so many who helped us out with financial support, especially through these few difficult months here in Oz. We are grateful for the Australian medical system and being able to have treatment here for minimal costs. We are so very thankful to God for helping us through each day, as He has done in ways too many to write
here….

Please be praying for us as it is difficult living in “no mans land”, trying to be “settled” here for this season yet yearning for Thailand. We know this has been Gods time for us to be with and close to our kids and He has done so much in us and through us but it doesn’t take away the missing of Thailand.

God bless
Love
Paul and Penny