Hi Miss Em,
Just writing to wish you a very happy Moon festival. I hope you have a lovely day today. I have been outside just before looking at the moon and thinking of you - hope you felt the good thoughts .
Hope everything is going well for you. Sorry that I haven't written for so long. To be honest I have been feeling a bit sad about things lately but that isn't good, is it.
Lulu is fine (she is sitting beside me now) and Grandma and Grandpa in New Zealand are well too. I have been busy with work and study lately. I'm still doing the library course but also a short course through the Australian Computer Society. Hope your studies are going well too!
I haven't bought you any presents for Moon festival sorry. I'll do that soon. Actually I have to admit that I still haven't posted your birthday presents yet - isn't that terrible. I'll go and photograph them now and post them after church tomorrow.
Thinking of you Em and wishing you all the very best.
Lots of love,
Aaron
xxxooo

Dear Emma,
Happy 14th birthday!!!!! I can't believe you are really 14 now. You are grownup! I hope you are having a really great day. I have got some birthday presents for you but I still need to get some more and then post them to you. Sorry about that!
I had a birthday myself a couple of weeks ago but it wasn't nearly as exciting as turning 14. I'm 42 now so really quite old!
Things are going OK here. Lulu is fine and work and study are keeping me busy. I'm enjoying my library study. I have a one day placement tomorrow at Deakin University library as part of my course. It should be good but it is a bit daunting!
Alex from church is fine and will be turning 100 later this year. That will be really special too!
Well I have been thinking of you today Miss Em and been wishing you all the best. It is a very special day for you so I hope you are enjoying it. Take care and hope to be touch some time soon.
Lots of love,
Aaron xxx ooo

P.S. These are the present photos - sorry I was so late posting them!

Hi Em,
Hope you are fine. I sent you some things for Easter last Saturday - they will be late arriving but hope you like them!

The book by Neil Gaiman (The Graveyard Book) is really good. Even though it looks a bit spooky it is actually really nice. A boy is orphaned as a baby and is saved by a graveyard of ghosts. It is hard to explain without it sounding creepy but it is actually quite touching and lovely when you read it. Hope you give it a go!
I had a good Easter last weekend. It was the first Easter services taken by our new minister, Rev Keith Ellisdon. He has a different style to Graeme but I think I'm getting used to him. It was a good service on the Easter Friday especially. Everyone lit a candle for special people in their lives. It was quite touching. It is the quiet, reflective moments like this that I find particularly special.
I am off to do some library study now. The course I'm doing (Imformation management) is really good but quite tough! Hope your studies are going well and that everything is fine.
Take care. I'll try to update this blog a bit more regularly too!
Love, Aaron
xxx ooo

Hi Emma,
Hope you are fine! I did the prayers of the people at church for the first time last Sunday. I really don't like public speaking and I was pretty nervous but I was glad that I managed to do it. Below is the prayer that I wrote. Not sure what you'll think of it - I found that it is actually quite hard to do. It makes me appreciate what the ministers have to do each Sunday more.

St Andrew's Prayers of the People (22/2/09)

Let us pray.
God, hear our prayers for those affected by the Victorian bushfires. We grieve for the loss of life , for the trauma of the survivors and for the damage to the environment. Let us act with compassion and understanding as the slow process of healing begins.
We pray for all in the world afflicted by war, poverty or environmenal disaster
- for those who face uncertainty in the current economic times
- for those suffering from physical or mental illness
- for the unemployed and the dispossessed.
Lord, do not let us be blind to the needs of others and ourselves. Let us find wisdom by listening to your still small voice in our hearts. Let us be guided the words and deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we seek to live a life of love in action.
This we pray in your name.
Amen.

Hope all is going well for you Miss Em and all the very best .
Lots of love,
Aaron xxxooo

Hi Em,
Hope you are fine. I finally got you some presents for Chinese New Year - sorry for the delay! I'll insert a photo below and post them off to you. I hope you like them!

We had some terrible fires in Victoria last Saturday. A lot of people died in country areas like Marysville and Kinglake. It was really sad. The weather conditions last Saturday were really awful - 46 deg C and with hot gusty winds. The fires are not out yet but hopefully they are coming under some sort of control. There is a lot of smoke over the whole of Melbourne and the sun looks very red - it is quite scary really! I hope things are fine where you are .
I'm at the Melbourne Athenaeum library again - one of my favourite spots though I think you will have guessed that!I'm upgrading my computer using the wireless Internet here. After this I think I need to go to work for a bit - hopefully not too long - and then home. Lulu is fine now and it is nice to relax at home with her. Wishing you all the very best.
Lot of love,
Aaron xxxooo