Merry Christmas, Mates!

---

We spent Christmas in Brisbane at the home of the cofounder of a company J once worked for in Seattle. We felt very at home with the family (Mom, Dad, and 9 year old P) and had a wonderful visit!
Here are some of the highlights:
1) Mt. Coot-tha offers a great view of the city of Brisbane, with the river snaking through town and out to the ocean in the distance.
2) Brisbane Botanical Gardens were open on Christmas Day so we had a peek around.
3) The cliffs at Kangaroo Point sit above the Brisbane River, across from the skyline of downtown.
4) GoMA (Gallery of Modern Art) recently opened to the public and was a big hit with J and P.
5) The State Library of Queensland is right next door and offers an Australian Treasures exhibit including Ned Kelly's helmet and Donald Bradman's cricket bat. Who is Ned Kelly you ask? Well, he's the Jesse James of Australia! Yep, a famous bankrobber.
6) The best way to see Brisbane is via the City Cat - the water taxi system on the river.
7) Visiting the original GA office
8) Gelato and Tim Tams

---

Photos

Goofing Off
We were making faces into the Macbook's built in video camera.

Christmas Breakfast
J made his famous Finnish Oven Pannukakku and rice pudding.

Where GA Began
This is the building in Brisbane where J's previous company GA started out. It was located on top of a women's clothing store which had live models at lunchtime that would change in and out of outfits in the window - racy!

Little P
He's a great kid.

Fooser Gone Wild
Serious concentration on the foosball table. P beat me at every game. *shakes fist* :-)

Ham and Beer
P carving the Christmas Ham. We were so happy to be welcomed by friends at Christmas.

Hands On
Each desk was carved with a different pattern you could rub on paper with chalk.

Lego Towers
Kids could build their own lego towers. Each day a few of the best were kept and the rest returned to the lego pile from which they came.

Tropical Pool
At our hosts' house.