Dear All,

I thought I would write a quick blog update before we head off for our wonderful Christmas family reunion in Niagara Falls. It is now only 5 more sleeps until we are all together.

We are all very excited and I dare say I will have trouble sleeping as the time draws closer! It is very much like the wonderful anticipation I used to experience as a child while waiting for the day, Santa would finally come! Only difference is of course, that once the anticipation was for the gifts, but now it is for having the family together once again. It is over 3 years since we have all been together, and it seems more like an eternity. Damien and Lauren will finally get to meet their new nephew who is now over a year old and Damien will get to meet Erin’s fiancée Chris. Lauren met him before she left the States.

As we are leaving on Saturday, 20th December (Lauren’s birthday), we will not be home to make our usual Christmas calls. I have not checked yet to see if the cost is feasible from our cell phones, but if it is, I will be calling my brothers and sisters in Australia at least.

Should an emergency or anything urgent arise, I will list our numbers for you.

Paul 815 355 0101
Kathy 815 355 0376
Erin 815 355 0790
Kelly 404 357 2225
Nate 404 324 7075

Below is the web address for where we are staying, if you can’t contact us, click on the web address and it will give you their phone numbers, fax, email etc.

http://www.niagarafallsgolf.com

All being well, we will be home late on New Year’s Day.

Paul is a little concerned at the packing I have done………………. Well I do have Christmas gifts for everyone, plus birthday gifts for Lauren, Kelly, Nate and Damien! Then of course, although we do have kitchen facilities, they do not have everything I need to cook and prepare the meals, so I have some pots, pans etc. I have herbs, spices, recipes and much, much more. I have also got turkey, ham, whole beef tender loin, whole pork tenderloin, not to mention the stacks of other stuff.

I have packed some clothes in vacuum sealed bags to allow more space as we will have much more room coming home. We still have to fit Erin and her luggage in the car as well. I have told Paul if it doesn’t fit, we will just have to throw his wheelchair out and teach him to walk!!!!!

We are anticipating that going through customs will be an ordeal not only for us, but for them as well…………. A lot of stuff has been packed in clear plastic containers so they can see it without unpacking it, but of course, they may choose to unpack it anyway! Christmas gifts are mostly in gift bags, just covered with tissue paper, so they too, are easily accessible and maybe it will only take them an hour or so to check us out!!!

We have been quite busy as usual since I last wrote. We have been enjoying our usual Saturday morning breakfasts with our dear friends, most of whom have now left for warmer climates.

Heidi and Tom are leaving this week, just leaving Carol and Henry here until they leave just after Christmas. We therefore had our last breakfast on Saturday (well, I guess Paul and I will still eat breakfast), until they all return in the Spring.

We had a great night out the other night for John's birthday... His birthday is 21st December and we won't be here, so we went to Sam's Joint, where I always enjoy the most succulent ribs and the best shrimp scampi ever!

On Sunday we went to brunch at the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute and what a feast it was. (Good training for Christmas fare, not that I need it). We went with our neighbours Larry and Jan who are members and it sure didn't take much enticement for us to apply for membership as well. It will be on one of our places to go in the future whenever we have Aussie or Chicago guests. They have their brunches monthly and they also have nature works, they feature the works of local artists and photographers and provide lots of classes and workshops throughout the year.

We had a wonderful time, the food was great and abundant and the company was also great. Thanks Larry and Jan!!!

Last blog, I mentioned that the Kalamazoo Gazette was possibly going to run an article on Lauren's Immigration issues. Well they did do it. Unfortunately tho, it was a bit inaccurate as they quoted me as saying that Lauren was possibly banned for at least a year! I wish! They ban is either 3 or 10 years and despite promises from Immigration, they still have not told us.

We did have a huge hurdle last week, as after reading the fine print on her email ticket, Lauren read that as her plane was landing in Chicago first on its way to Canada, she had to have a Visa to change planes. Well of course, being banned, this was impossible. A call to the airlines to have her put on a direct flight was useless as American Airlines do not do direct flights. After requesting a refund, she was advised as it was an E Ticket there was no refund!!!! I think it is possible she will get back around 150 pounds of the 600 plus she had spent. She of course was devastated!

There was no other option, but to lose the money and to rebook with another airline. There was no way she couldn't be there for Christmas. It was an expensive lesson for us all to learn. I knew she had to change planes, but as she was not leaving the airport and had a through ticket, I never thought about the Immigration issues and neither did she!

I wish Immigration was aware or cared about the impact that their mistake and lack of efficiency has caused this family.

The weather here is freezing cold and we have had a lot of snow already for the year. It is absolutely beautiful, but keep your fingers crossed that the roads are clear, the airports are clear and all cars and planes can travel safely and on time! It is hard not to worry about a foot of snow falling in Toronto or Buffalo when the various kids fly in, or for the snow to cause white-out conditions when we are trying to drive there.

Paul managed to get a deer for the freezer again this year - I am glad of that as he loves the meat and it is very lean meat. I am not keen on it, so he doesnt have to share it.

Our neighbour Larry was also generous enough to donate the second deer he got to a family we know who can really do with the meat to help them and their kids through a very rough time.

For those of you who find this sad, come up and visit us and see the many dead deer on the sides of the road. When you see them, you have to realise that if they were hit by a car, the chances are that people were injured, some very seriously and others killed, because of the over abundance of deer in this area. Some do not make it through the winter because of their large numbers and lack of food. For those who are hunted and killed by responsible hunters such as Paul, John and Larry (and many others), their death is swift and pain free.

Well folks, I will say good bye and wish you all a wonderful Christmas filled with the sounds of laughter from loved ones. I wish you all many blessings that this season can bring, I wish you all good health and love for 2009.

Below of course, are a few photos of our darling grandson and the article from the newspaper for anyone interested.

Paul and Kathy

Immigration red tape keeps Delton woman from seeing her family
Monday, December 08, 2008
Kalamazoo
BY JENNIFER WEZENSKY

Special to Hometown Gazette
DELTON -- Paul and Kathy Dydalowicz built a huge home in Delton, expecting Kathy's kids to immigrate from Australia to live in the U.S. Instead, it is just the two of them in the home while two of her kids are tied up in immigration red tape that has fractured the tight-knit family.
Kathy is a native of Australia who moved to the U.S. in July 2001 with her 16-year-old daughter Erin after meeting Paul on the Internet. They married that year.
At that time, her daughter Lauren McGoldrick was still in college and decided to remain in Australia to finish the first year of her undergraduate degree. Lauren then joined the family in the U.S. in May 2002. All the necessary paperwork was filed for Lauren, who was 19 at the time. Because of a backlog in the Chicago office, Lauren's paperwork was not processed until after she had turned 21. The U.S. Immigration office told the family that Lauren was protected by the Child Protection Act, but this proved not to be the case. Her application for permanent residence was denied as she had ``aged out'' by turning 21 and was no longer considered to be a dependent child. An appeal lodged by an immigration attorney on behalf of the family also was denied.
On top of that, as the family worked with an attorney and Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers' office to determine the next step, they learned that Lauren was unknowingly living here illegally while working on her master's degree at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill. As a result, she is banned from entering the U.S. for at least a year, Kathy said.
``They all agreed that it was unjust and it was wrong,'' she said. ``Now our family is split up. We don't know how to get an answer. We've spent thousands on attorney fees, and to no avail.''
To make matters worse, Kathy's son Damien McGoldrick, 32, unknowingly overstayed his visa by two days in 2004 while in the U.S. to visit his sister Kelly in Atlanta. Kelly, 33, immigrated in 2000 for her job and then married an American.
Now Damien is barred from entering the country without going through a lengthy interview process at the U.S. Embassy. Five years ago, he applied for permanent residence in the U.S. but that has not yet been granted.
The family is convening in Canada over Christmas, the first time they all will be together in more than three years. The gathering is even more significant because Paul is terminally ill. Kelly McGoldrick-Lee, Kathy's oldest daughter, is in remission from stage IV melanoma. Kathy's daughter Erin, now age 23 and who moved to the U.S. with her mother, is now engaged to an American.
Because their father is Irish, Damien and Lauren have United Kingdom citizenship, and that is where they now live. And it is closer and less expensive for Kathy to visit than Australia.
They are distraught about the situation, worried that their sister could fall ill again or that Paul's condition will worsen. Lauren's dream of being in her sister's wedding next spring is growing dim.
``We did everything right, having faith in the system,'' Kathy said. ``It has failed us. We're a family torn apart.''
Angela Kelley, director of the Immigration Policy Center for the American Immigration Law Foundation in Washington, D.C., said that Kathy's children are ``caught in the crosshairs'' of tough immigration laws passed in 1996. Then in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, immigrating became even more difficult, she said.
``You can see this fracturing a family,'' Kelley said. ``That makes it very complicated. There are long-standing provisions in the law that makes family reunification very difficult.''
Kelley said that the immigration law is driven by security policies as well as the desire to reduce illegal immigrants.
``Forty percent of the 12 million people here illegally came legally on temporary visas,'' she said.

Kyler playing with Doug and Cherie's (other grandparents) dog!!!

Kyler waking up!

I guess Santa can be a bit scary!

All rugged up for winter - warm, but can't move.

Going in for first hair cut.

Sitting like a grown-up!