Margaret and I want to share with you our personal Christmas greetings and news for 2012.

The year has ended with Margaret sitting on two new job offers and Terry employed on a five month contract with Statistics NZ helping to conduct the 2013 Census which will be held on 5 March.

The two week break over Christmas - New Year will have us redecorating our downstairs back bedroom as we convert it into a counselling - mentoring space. Yes, both of us increasingly have clients coming to our home as we operate our respective businesses: counselling and professional supervision (Margaret) & spiritual direction and ministry supervision (Terry).

Early in the new year Margaret developed her counselling businesses by taking a contract for ten hours weekly with the Wellington Cancer Society and launching her "Because U Matter" counselling business in March. During the year Terry has further developing his spiritual mentoring business (iCare Resources) by engaging a number of new clients and continuing to work with others. He continues to offer retreats with Spiritual Growth Ministries teams and he now manages the SGM Wellington-Kapiti website and email database.

The year began with Terry turning 60. Margaret's gift was a couple of nights in central Auckland before travelling on the Overlander daylight train south to Tawa - an all day (12 hour) trip.

An early web project for Terry was a feasibility study and a subsequent website development for NALAG - the National Association for Loss & Grief. The other biggie this year has been a redevelopment of the Shadz Hair Art website for friends Steve & Sovann Dowall. Talking about websites, the site you are on www.alve.org.nz has also been developed recently. More about that in a moment.

On the family front there have also been significant developments. After a long gestation Jono & Jenn moved into their new Tawa home in March. Jono continues as southern North Island BDM with Dominion Breweries and Jen works with the Ministry for the Environment. David & Ingrid have settled into their Grenada Village home and David joined the permanent staff at Park Road Post in movie post production. He had the privilege of working on the "Hobbit" and so appears in the movie credits if you look closely. Ingrid has gained primary teacher registration. Caleb has a new friend - Emma - whom he lives with in Khandallah but they are soon to move to Johnsonville. He has joined the staff of Kiwibank after finishing with Countdown butchery management. Emma works with an employment recruiting company. Sarah and Simon now have three children with Olive being born on 30th June at Kenepuru Hospital. She joins Elijah (3) and Holly (just 2) in their new home in Lupin Terrace in Tawa's eastern hills. After some choosing between employment options, Simon has taken a permanent lectureship in Classics at Victoria University. Sarah is a busy mum who finds time to meaningfully contribute to the running the local Playcentre.

Two other significant developments this year have been:

1. Planning for and renovating our kitchen, dining and living area. This involved engaging an architectural draughtsman, gaining council consents and a host of tradesmen who removed two walls, installed beams and posts to support them, relined portions of the walls and roof, and plastered, painted, electrified, plumbed, polished floors, repaired carpet, etc. In additon to the study DYI mentioned above we continue to work on the laundry and deck.
   
2. Loosing Dad's older brother Uncle Phil who died mid July. While he died in a nursing home in Palmerston North, he had property in Kelburn, Wellington that Margaret and I had a major part in clearing for sale for six weeks during October/November. Uncle Phil was a bachelor who had lived in his Kelburn home since the early 1950's. He was a hoarder of papers, books and any manner of other things that meant the clearing was a major exercise - it required the employment of student labour to fill 11 skips and several trailers to the tip.
   

Finally, the development of this website has been prompted by Uncle Phil's passing. Among other things he was a B&W photographer and developer from the 1930's to the 1960's. In clearing his home we have gained access to many valuable family photographs that are beginning to appear here. He has also left significant correspondence that complements what we know of the family's history. Uncle Phil was a prime mover in the 1990's to record the Alve Family history. He underwrote the printing and publishing of the family history, parts of which appear on this website.

Well, that's more than enough for now. We notice that several Christmas messages have come in already from family and friends. We appreciate and value your correspondence with us and thank you for your Christmas and new year greetings. 

We want you to know that we prayerfully and lovingly extend to you our aroha trusting that 2013 will be a year full for you. Go well...

Terry Alve on behalf of Margaret and the Whanau who yearly increase in number!