Alena Hartmann (Germany)

We really don't know where to start, Alena came into our lives 7 months ago and we were all very nervous about how things were going to work out. Lulu was a happy 1 year old, who gave Alena a big smile the moment she saw her at the Holiday Inn. It was Lulu's first birthday the day we picked Alena up inn and we had a big first birthday party weekend planned…poor Alena was about to meet every single important person in Lulu's life whilst being jet lagged! The first few weeks took time and dedication from both us and Alena, we all worked hard getting to know each other. On top of this, we had to learn to work and live together. Within 8 weeks, we all felt we had seen the hard part through and Alena had acclimatised to kiwi culture, we laughed over meal times often and shared something very special already - I huge passion for our pride and joy, Lulu. I knew from about 2 months into the placement with Alena that this was not only a life changing time for her, but also for us. We had truly gained a new member of our little family.

Over Christmas Alena had her boyfriend come out to see NZ and spend Christmas with us, this was again another special time as we shared cultural traditions over Christmas with my family and it was so lovely to meet someone so special to Alena. Before we knew it February had arrived and we had our wedding! Alena had seen all the effort that went into preparing for our big day and was such a huge help in the lead up and in particular the few days before our wedding. She bought Lulu out to meet me at the car on our big day and I began to cry as soon as I saw Lulu, Alena had got her all dressed and ready and kept her in her routine all day to ensure she was ready for a busy afternoon. Alena had tears streaming down her face too, it was such a special moment. We are glad Alena was here to share our wedding day with us. When we arrived home from wedding celebrations Alena had decorated our whole house to welcome us home, made a cake and left us presents from herself and her family back home, It was such a lovely surprise! Alena is leaving us at the end of this month and it is hard to imagine how life will be without her living with us, we know we will remain in contact and feel excited for her as we know so many great adventures await her. Thank goodness for Skype, Whats App, Facebook and all the other tools we have to make sure we can continue to share special moments together!

Thank-you Alena, for being the best Au Pair/new family member we could ever ask for! x

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