December has been a whirlwind of Christmas, snow, School concert and packing. We have had approximately 20cm so far this month which is unusual but awesome for us. Garden nurseries have the most amazing Christmas displays. The snow is so pretty, it will be hard to leave it behind. The School Christmas concert was really good. Newton got so far out of his comfort zone it was awe-inspiring. He sang Waltzing Matilda with the help of his students then the students sang Aussie Jungle Bells. We had two pictures taken with Santa, loving the ugly vests. Apologies for all the snow pictures.
The Christmas Tree that we can see from our kitchen window.
Christmas Markets and Prime Minister Trudeau
Toronto Christmas Markets
Unionville Santa Parade
Unionville decorations. Newton and Chris. Santa was hiding.
Unionville decorations
Parade and decorations
Decorations on a house
Bradford Nursery Christmas display
Geese using the crosswalk
Snow at St Patrick School
A heart on the fence. Don't eat the yellow snow.
The Christmas Concert
The animals were drawn by Newton and painted by Wendy. The students loved them and have taken them home.
Sheridan Nursery
Beautiful Christmas decorations and house
Santa photos
Beautiful snow
Whiteout and gorgeous tree
Snow plow
Friday 23rd December was the last day of School and teaching for Newton. The students organised a surprise party with a farewell cake for him. It was an emotional day for the students who had enjoyed their Aussie exchange teacher and did not want him to leave. The cards, messages and gifts received were overwhelming.
Newton being mobbed by the students.
Graduation hoodie and some of the gifts.
Gifts for the students from Newton.
Thanks to Anne-Marie, Ryan, Chris and Mark for a wonderful Christmas Day. After a great Christmas dinner we went to the movies to watch Rogue One. Wednesday 28th December, we have packed, cleaned, repacked and repacked again. 6 boxes posted home and 6 suitcases coming home with us. We didn't think we purchased that much extra gear. We are currently in our hotel room awaiting our 8am flight to Anaheim.
The flights inside the USA are expensive. Tip - post home as much of your luggage as possible, it will be cheaper and make sure you have a meal before boarding your flight. We arrived in Anaheim safely albeit a little poorer to spend 4 days with our friends Diane and Ron who had driven 1400kms from Oregon to join us. We had an incredibly marvelous
time at Disneyland and Disneyland Adventure Park. We watched the Christmas Parade, sailed though It's a Small World, checked out the Star Wars props, oooed and aahhed over the World of Colour water show, saw Frozen live on stage, watched in awe at the Paint the Night parade and had our photos taken with the Disney characters. After a magical few days it was time to pack our bags and commence the long 30 hour journey home.
Candy Apples
Our time away had come to an end, we arrived home on 6th January 2017 after an amazing 379 days living in North America. Over the year we traveled 50,000kms seeing some amazing sights and animals drinking litres of coffee and eating some unusual foods. Taking 8200 photos.
Would we do it again? - yes definitely but would like to go to a smaller town. Somewhere with more snow. ☃
We hope you have enjoyed reading our blog as much as we have enjoyed traveling and sharing our adventures with you.
Wednesday 28th December, we have packed, cleaned, repacked and repacked again. 6 boxes posted home and 6 suitcases coming home with us. We didn't think we purchased that much extra gear. We are currently in our hotel room awaiting our 8am flight to Anaheim.
