2013 did not start very well. We had plans to join the entire family in Portugal. My parents would come from Brasil and we would all meet in Portugal. As usual the Leal side of the family organise their Family Reunion around August and we planned to attend with my parents.
Well this plan went wrong even before it started. My mother tripped in the backyard of her house in Brasil and broke a leg. It was a very tough time for us being so far away and not been able to help. As usual the worse thoughts come to our mind thinking that my grand mother passed away after spending a long time in hospital never able to recover from a broken leg. However thanks to the care and attention given to my mother from my sister in law all end up well.
Fortunately medicine came a long way since then and three days after my mother was subjected to a hip replacement operation she was walking again. Travelling alone to Portugal after this became a daunting task and their trip to Portugal was cancelled.
The next step in our plan was to spend some holidays with our friends Helena and Enrique in Emmerich, Germany. It started very well with us spending some quality time with them. Long bike rides along the Rhine and visiting the touristic sites around the area.
However destiny decided to play another curve ball on to us. Filomena's mother that had been ill for a long time in Portugal was admitted to hospital in serious condition. Just before we were able to fly out of Germany, Filomena's mother passed away and we only managed to arrive the next day just in time for the funeral.
Our careful plans for the holidays in Portugal were all shattered but we still managed to attend the Leal family reunion and see some old friends. You can visit the blog of our holidays by clicking on this link: Europe 2013 Holidays
We returned to Australia at the end of August and the rest of the year was pretty normal. By selecting a quarter from the links on the right you will be able to follow our activities for the year it was.
