Margaret & Terry Alve reflect on 2023 with Christmas and New Year greetings to family & friends

Youngest grandchild Jude in yellow shorts making his debut stage performance in a bee dance.

Margaret with her siblings at one of the launches of the Don Milne book - at Thirsty Acres, Kirwee.

We both had COVID at the end of March for a first time

Margaret took some of the family to Wairarapa where they reconnected with our rural roots at Pahiatua.

Caleb and Chrissy married last December and have celebrated recently by taking a trip to the Queenstown area where they had a mountain top experience.

A Brief Resume of the year 2023

Margaret continues working as a counsellor with Te Omanga Hospice in Lower Hutt two days weekly. She does individual clinical supervision and counselling from our home office and via zoom, etc. She takes her professional development seriously and is always open to new learnings especially in the fields of grief, loss, bereavement and change.

Terry continues as Priest of Porirua Anglicans. This year has seen us leave the earthquake prone St Anne's and begin meeting at te Whare Karakia in Mungavin Avenue, Ranui where we had been operating a foodbank. We began doing church services there from 1 May. We have enjoyed newcomers joining us this year and feel very positive about church life as the year ends and 2024 arrives.

We joined the Thy Kingdom Come prayer programme in June and celebrated with some kai.

In April we travelled to Rolleston, Canterbury to be with Jonathan, Jen and girls to see their new restaurant and bar at Kirwee. While there and in St Martin's Spreydon we launched the biography of Don Milne, Margaret's father. Upon returning to Wellington we had another two launch events  at te Whare Karakia and at Summerset Aotea. As 2023 ends another book is about to be published in preparation for an Alve descendant reunion at Pahiatua in February. This will be entitled Valentine's Day 1874: a Ruhr Valley Romance. It tells the story of Terry's great grandparents Theresia & Carl Alve who married that Day in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Billy & Russell Alve @ Peter Alve's Funeral

In October dear family relative and friend Peter Alve died in Palmerston North after a long battle with cancer. We joined a large group of relatives and friends for Peter's funeral in Palmerston North and burial at Kelvin Grove cemetery.

Wearily heading home from an afternoon at the Canterbury A&P show.

Terry did a few interesting tramps this year with friends and alone. One of them was an overnighter to the Akiwhakatu Hut near Mt Holdsworth in Wairarapa. We had a good photographer with us and he was alerted by friend David Pearson who is eagle- (perhaps we should say owl-) eyed, and we got this photo of the year of a Ruru.

Ever vigilant ...

We attended the Canterbury A&P Show in Christchurch and witnessed the announcement of the supreme champion cattle beast - a pretty impressive character, don't you think?

Margaret spent quite a lot of time this year doing battle with Wasgijs - with occasional help from grandchildren!

A 'Merry Christmas' card from Germany 1912.
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