Christmas Letter 2014

DOWLER CHRISTMAS LETTER 2014

Well it has been quite the year with the big wedding happening as the first wedding of this generation of my family.  Updates on everyone are below…...

Phil – Well he has had a crazy year following his mention last November of wanting to improve the Hanoi campus of RMIT.  He moved to Hanoi to start as Head of Campus on the 24^th of February and I was back and forwards until the end of March.  The job has been rewarding but also very busy.  Meeting with heads of government, embassies, high schools along with the general running of the everyday operations of the University. There is already an amazing turn around in the culture and atmosphere of the place.  RMIT has now committed around 1 million dollars for improvements of the campus.  It’s also official Phil prefers HCMC to Hanoi. But don’t tell the people in Hanoi. Probably here for another 5 years….  Hopefully Leanne didn’t read that sentence……PHIIIIIILLLLLLLL!!!!!!!(from Leanne)

Leanne – After the move to Hanoi I had some difficulty settling in, it was another big change and I had to find new friends, a hairdressers, nail and massage places, it was hard!  It did take the usual 6 mths to find my feet but now I have a few friends, am teaching English around 7 hrs per wk and volunteering as the volunteer coordinator 2 full days a week at KOTO (you can google them - www.koto.com.au). I now actually prefer Hanoi over HCMC.

Whitney – There was a lot of focus on the wedding which was amazing. Whitney & Cameron did all of the work and also paid for most of it, hence the limit on numbers, so a big thank you to them for putting on such a great party!  We enjoyed our visit home in August for the event. Whitney, now living in Brisbane, is working for JLL, a company that looks after shopping centres, in her role as assistant property manager.  She also completed her Real Estate licence this year for her role.  She is enjoying having family around her in Brisbane.

Hannah – Started her first year as a graduate with the ATO (Australian Tax Office).  She moved around 3 different departments during the year and was offered 3 full time positions for next year, some people were not offered any.  She has decided on Trusts.  She and her boyfriend Zac share a townhouse with Whitney and Cameron which seems to be working out really well. 

Jaimee – Currently in India on holiday with her boyfriend Will, she has just finished her first year at Swinburne Uni in Melbourne studying Marketing. She is working mornings as a receptionist at Future Eye a communications company where she was working before she started Uni.  Her and Will are going to move into their own place in the new year after Will starts work at PWC. 

So….that is the update.  We are so grateful for our family, our friends and our health.  Without any of these we would not be able to be doing what we are doing.  We hope you have a great Christmas and New Year and look forward to hearing everyone else’s news at some point.

 from the Dowlers 

Luang Prabang, Lao - relaxing....

We hadn't made it to Lao yet during our now 2 years of living in Vietnam.  We had the opportunity of a public holiday so tacked on 1 day and we had 4 days to enjoy our visit.  It only take an hour to fly to Luang Parabang in Lao which is obviously very close to Hanoi.  Visa is easy to do at the airport, although US dollars in hand are useful.  I had to actually go out of the airport to the ATM to come back in and pay for our visa.  They only took local money, Kep, or US dollars.  The welcome was very calm and quiet like a country town airport.

Straight from the official website 'Situated in northern Laos the township of Luange Prabang sits on a peninsular at the confluence of two rivers, the Nam Khan and the famous Mekong.  With its charming combination of timber Lao houses and European colonial architecture it is easy to see why UNESCO declared it a World Heritage site in 1995'.  The province has a total population of just over 452,900 which includes 12 distinct ethnic groups.  The Khmu are the largest ethnic group in the province and make up the majority (around 44% of the provincial population'

It is very Thai feeling and the food is more to the Thai style. We arrived in time for lunch and a wander in the main street.  Soooo much quieter than Hanoi, which was a nice change.

 

The view from the window of the hotel which was in a great spot and the manager was fabulous, it was run by a Canadian lady who gave us lots of tips of where to go and where to eat.

The next morning we headed off for a cycle ride around the city.

Coffee with a view of the Mekong.

Some pics of the beautiful 'Wats' or pagodas in the city.

The museum in the centre of the city.

A familiar site around the city, no helmet but they are keeping cool and out of the sun.

One of the lovely buildings that are part of the street scape in LP.

                 Tuk Tuk's are the way to travel and you can pick them up on the street anywhere.

Loved this in the local school yard, workplace health and safety?!?!?!

We headed out to look at the local waterfall, one of THE things to do, so of course we had to...

On the way to the waterfall there is a bear sanctuary, you can see them from the pathway.

You can just make out the bears.....

Walking literally through the waterfall.

Committed to having a picnic even though there had been lots

of rain and the waterfall had overflowed into the picnic area...

and below you can see just how close we were to the waterfall having a cup of tea.

So VERY early the next morning, 6am, we got up to have a look at the local people lining up on the streets to give alms to the Buddhist monks...an amazing thing to watch.  We were sitting on the front step of our hotel to take these pics.

                                        

        Hundreds of monks went past us and the ladies gave each of them a tiny bit of food each.

                                        

                                         Monks out and about...a familiar site during the day.

We took a local boat and rode along the Mekong to some caves....a long 2 hour ride up river and a quick 1 hour to get back with the river pushing us back.

Some local kids swimming on the side of the boat

The cave has been made into a pagoda

The view after climbing a couple of hundred stairs.

Buddha statues all through the cave

Keeping the umbrella use up...great on the boat as well.

We called into a small village where weaving is the local industry. Below the some of the yarns drying after being dyed. 

 I picked up a lovely runner from this lady that is now on my coffee table.

We headed out to the weaving place in Luang Prabang the next day.  There is a free tuk tuk out there and you can do weaving and dyeing classes, not our cup of tea but it would be lovely weaving looking at the Mekong.  It was really nice and relaxing, we had lunch out there as well.

The shop at Ock Pop Tok, and the lady wearing a traditional style of costume.

                                         Found some mango and sticky rice to eat before we left....yummo!

and that is Luang Prabang, next time we will have to go to Vientienne but we will definitely be back for another relaxing visit to Lao.

Behind the scenes of Whit and Cams wedding

The 9th of August was the date set and my flight (Leanne) was booked to arrive the Saturday before.  I thought I'd get there to help out and get 'stuff' done before Phil arrived to make things a bit smoother.  Cam said that it helped so I was happy with that.

It's a pretty important thing the wedding of your first daughter but I didn't feel too concerned having worked in the Wedding industry for so many years, I used to sell wedding dresses when we lived in Sydney before Whit was born and was involved with catering through Mum and Dad for so many years watching or working at so many weddings.  I just forgot that it was Whitney's first time.  She had been very organised and really mostly everything was done.  Wedding dress designed and made in Vietnam, bridesmaids dresses also made in Vietnam back in December so she was really on top of things.  Photographer and flowers booked and Cam's Mum, Linda and her sister Aunty Kerry, doing the hair, Jaimee's best friend, Lauren, doing makeup and a great friend from school of Hannah's, Anna Porter, doing the video.

I got to visit the venue the year before when I was home and we had a lovely mothers day lunch there, the food was amazing and service great so that was all good to go.  The wedding planner at the venue Whitney said had been great as well so the everything was ready.  Her thankyou gift to everyone was to be a small bottle with 2 homemade red melting moment biscuits with Grandma's famous recipe.  So we just needed to make around 320 bickies...piece of cake?

Phil arrived on the Wednesday morning and when we picked him up from the airport it was the first time we had all been together in 1 place for 2 years, it didn't seem real but it was.  Breakfast at the Gold Coast, the airport we came into was the first thing on the list.

We then went straight to my brother Andrews house, which has a big oven and lots of space to cook the bickies...bearing in mind Phil hadn't slept the night before :(  It only lasted all day until around 5 o'clock.  A big thank you to Dianne for getting everything ready for us and Pat, their neighbour and good friend of my Mum's for helping out on the day.  She had the place looking beautiful for us.

                                                                   the cooks below....

Below Whitney and Phil working out the seating tags to put that together as well.

The finished product...AND they were yummy too!

So the next couple of days were taken up with colour changing shoes, nails and tans and enjoying the company.  

Including catching up with my best friend after 2 years of not seeing each other!

Next we were packing up and heading out to Sirromet Winery for the rehearsal and our family night together before it all started the next morning.

On our way out to Sirromet

                                                                        This way......

                 Shenanigans waiting for their turn to walk down the aisle at the rehearsal, Far left is Georgia, Cameron's little sister who was also in the bridal party.

The view of the lagoon from the wedding pavilion.

Practice run

 Will (Jaimee's boyfriend Left) and Zac (Hannah's boyfriend right) working on their jobs for the day, Zac took care of the music and Will was the MC.  They took their jobs very seriously...and did a great job.

                                                               Wedding rehearsal pic

The Sirommet house that we got to stay in for a couple of nights including the night before and to get ready for the wedding.

 Family evening at the Sirommet house, wine and cheese on the balcony...Friday night drinks for anyone who remembers those:)  It was really nice to have the night before with just our family to chat and relax together, it had been a long time since we had done that.

                                                              Watching the sunset.....

                                                    The Dowler girls being silly......:)

                                           Yummy Lamb Shanks made by Dad for dinner.

so the 3 girls DID sleep in the same bed that night and this was their wake up pic!

             Everything was lined up, outfits to wear during the day while they were getting ready

                                             Bridesmaid shoes, wraps, bags and bracelets

                                                           And Dad sat and waited....

Below are Cameron's Aunty Kerry on the left and his Mum Linda on the right doing the hair.

Final touches to Phil's hair?!?!?!?! includes a roller and everything!

The lovely Lauren doing Whitney's make up, she did everyone's on the day....although not Phils? 
                       

And then we were ready and off to the car to head to the ceremony...

                                                     Dad and daughter on their way...

                                                              And the veil is over

Both Anna, the videographer (left front) and Dave the photographer (right back) are in this shot just before they walk down the aisle.

                                     Camerons face as he sees Whitney coming down the aisle...

                                                                   They are doing it!

Signing the register...love Cam's face in this shot :)

                                       Heading back down the aisle as Mr and Mrs Griffiths

        Saying Hi to Pop on Skype from Lithgow.  he wasn't able to come but got to watch it all.

  Hannah and her boyfriend Zac, who did so much running around for us at the wedding, he was amazing!

              Jaimee and her boyfriend Will who also did lots of jobs including the MC for the day.

                                    The wedding party including the page boy and flower girl

                                                              Just the girls :)

Cuties:)))))

The whole Mc Lay (Leanne's) family with the bridal party

The Griffiths family with the bridal party

Just my brothers and Mum and I, my sister Julie came to the wedding by Skype.

And the bridal party goes off into the bush to take some fabulous photos!

Photographer at work....

                Then Whit takes off her full net overskirt revealing her fishtail dress underneath.

The wraps keeping the girls warm between shots...

While we were hanging out in the garden area having drinks waiting for their return...

Spying the odd Kangaroo with Joey while we were there...

In the garden area....

The new look outfit with a fur wrap to keep Whitney warm as well.

the venue ready for our arrival 

Will the MC

Our table with Shirl and Ray opposite us for the night and Julie & Steve on the Ipad at the end of the table.

                                                               3 generations of rings...

                                                     Phil doing his best Dad speech ever!

                         Whit and Cam were laughing? Actually we all were, it was hilarious! Go

Official first dance

Father daughter dance :)

                                                        Time to throw the garter away...

Fighting over the garter...

and then the night was done...Oh yeah so was Uncle Murray....

This is how things ended up for our skyped in guests Julie and Steve!

Recovery breakfast at 11am the next morning 

The morning after with cousin Mia

Belated 50th Birthday celebration with Shirl on Monday night

Dinner together

                 BBQ dinner at Kangaroo Point looking over the city of Brisbane on Tuesday night

 Jaimee's pre emptive Birthday since we weren't going to be with her on the real birthday night.

And the last family pic

Wish everyone could have been with us but it was just not possible...I hope this goes some way to make you part of this very exciting time in the life of the Dowler Family.