Stefanie Gruber (Germany)

Dear Mr and Mrs Gruber,

I wanted to write to you because as parents Andrew and I know we would love to hear from
someone else about how our children are doing in the adventures they choose to go on in the
future.

Stefanie is so wonderful!!

It is obvious that the two of you have worked hard to bring up such an amazing daughter. I knew she
was wonderful the first time she emptied our dishwasher and she washed her hands before she
started - it is the little things like this that have made having Stefanie with us better than either of us
could have imagined.

We feel so lucky to have such a kind, intelligent, fun and mature Au-Pair join our family. She has
fitted in with us so perfectly since the day she arrived. The children love her and I have been so
impressed with the way she has taken on every challenge and been comfortable to ask Andrew or
myself as many questions as she has needed to.

I'm sure she has given you many updates on her time with the children, with our family and in our
beautiful country on her own or with new friends. I knew that our family needed the help of an au
pair but I didn't realise how much I would enjoy having a new member of the family. I'm enjoying
helping her work out her trips around Auckland and elsewhere around my beautiful country and I'm
enjoying her company with and without the children around.

With three children under 4 ½ and our own business, Andrew and I have been so busy this year that
we haven't had much spare time at all. The difference in our lives from having Stefanie's help is that
she has brought order back into our home. This has meant that Andrew and I now get time to talk
like adults during the evening when cooking the family meal or after the children are in bed. The
house is not full of washing baskets and unorganised chaos in every room, and the children just love
the special times they are having with Stefanie at home, playgroups or visiting playgrounds. She has
even walked our dog, who really doesn't get enough attention now that we have so many children.
We are looking forward to sharing our special holiday house with her in Dunedin at Christmas and
want to invite you to spend time with us when you arrive in Dunedin on your New Zealand tour also.
We have plenty of room where you can park your campervan and plug into our power, I'm sure you
would also like to enjoy a hot shower that is not on wheels!

Sending our kindest regards,

Robyn and Andrew Swensen.

PS: I hope that this is not too much English for you both to understand and also if Stefanie is
interpreting this, she hasn't tweaked the words to make herself sound wonderful - she truly is this
wonderful and we are so grateful to have her with us for 10 months!!