Christmas 2002 News Letter

Dear All

It's that time of year again and yet another year has flown past. We had a very exciting start to the year this year as January saw us celebrate Richard's Bar Mitzvah (the coming of age of a Jewish boy). Richard had spent the previous 9 months learning a long and difficult passage of Hebrew which he would have to sing unaided from the bible scrolls in the Synagogue. We had spent the same previous 9 months making all the arrangements for the party! In the end the day went splendidly. All the family were present including David's sister who came from Israel to be with us. It was a very happy weekend. Richard's performance in Synagogue was faultless and we were extremely proud of him. He sang clearly, tunefully and with a confidence which blew us away. We were truly proud. Everyone commented on how well he did. In the evening we had a party for 150 people. We had a meal (Chinese buffet at Richard's request) and a disco afterwards which was unforgettable and enjoyed by all. Richard delivered his speech confidently and even Jonathan gave a short speech with confidence which surprised us all. The pictures above are from that Saturday.

February was a bit of a let down after the razzmatazz of January but we settled back into what is our normal hectic lifestyle these days! We had our ski holiday with my parents and my sister's family as has become customary in previous years. We consider ourselves very lucky to have this holiday and time when we can all be together. My father is still skiing at 78 years old and this was the first year that my mother, also 78yrs did not ski. Last year a snowboarder skied into her resulting in a compound fracture which required surgery. It rather knocked the confidence from her and she decided that she would rather not ski this year. David had rather a bad start to the holiday - on the first morning he had a rather spectacular tumble/somersault whilst skiing. He landed unceremoniously on his shoulder. Very quickly it became evident that all was far from well. His shoulder blade was broken and as usual with David, it wasn't even the most common type of fracture. He was out of action for the duration of the holiday. He was bored and very disappointed and on the last day insisted on skiing one armed much to my dismay!

At the start of the year David was approached by a friend with a state- of -the -art dental practice and asked if David was interested in moving into one of the surgeries. The previous dentist had moved and Robin asked if David would like to join the practice. We thought it over and decided to take the opportunity. David's own practice was moving along at a constant rate but not growing and this seemed a good opportunity. He made the move in April (broken shoulder and all!) and has not looked back. He has working companions- something he has never had, a very nice working environment and is busier to boot! I think he still has it easy as he finishes early Thursdays & Fridays but he keeps reminding me that he works late on Tuesdays! Still, he's enjoying it and that is the main thing!

The boys have had an exciting year too. Richard, of course, started the year in style at his party and came down with a bit of a bump. He had enjoyed the anticipation of his big day and in the blink of an eye (or a weekend) it was all over. Still, we have lots of photographs and memories. He did well in his end of year exams and the went off on a French exchange for two weeks. He spent his time with a family in the suburbs of Bordeaux and had the most wonderful time. the house was strangely quiet without him! He really had a great time. The boy he stayed with returned to stay with us for two weeks in June. A very nice young boy and very laid back. Richard took a kayak course for a week when my parents took the boys away for a week in the summer and he loved it. He is still a keen rock climber and goes regularly to the indoor climbing centre. Sometimes I am brave enough to watch! New activities for him this year are Kupso ( a martial art) and Air cadets which he really enjoys. He has also enrolled for the Duke of Edinburgh Award (Bronze level) a scheme in which the participants have to take up new hobbies, partake in public service activities and go on 3 orienteering weekends in the hills complete with heavy rucksacks, tents, food and a compass and fend for themselves whilst finding their way from point A to point B. Altogether he has a busy time.

Jonathan has been on two residential trips with school. One to York in the North of England for three days and one in Scotland. The latter was a sort of team building activity at an outdoor centre for a week- lots of physical outdoor activities. He came back dirty and very happy! Jonathan also enjoys going to the climbing centre but at a less scary level! He has taken up Tae Kwon Do and really enjoys it. David & I had better behave with all this Martial Art expertise in the house!

We spent our summer holiday in France on the West coast. We were camping as usual and had a very relaxing time. Richard made lots of friends on the campsite and Jonathan also made friends with a little boy called Richard! We all had a good time. We spent a few days in Paris with visits to my cousins and to Disneyland. It's nice to make this stop on the way back. We find it's a more gentle end to the holiday.

On 26 December we are all off to Norway to visit our friends in Oslo. We will spend a few days at their new cabin in the mountains. We have seen photographs of it and it looks really fabulous. We will be cross country skiing - reminiscent our the time we spent in St Anthony, Newfoundland. I just hope we can still manage it. No doubt there will be some falls but not too spectacular I hope. We are really looking forward to the break. I have been very busy in my new job and have had several trips away especially in the last few weeks. I am looking forward to the time off and trying to shut off from work for the holidays.

I hope that you are all well and have a wonderful time together over the holidays.