Dear All,

It's that time of year again and as usual I'm behind with my correspondence! This year I have a better excuse than most: On 14th November this year the size of our family increased by one. Our son and Richard's younger brother was born 9 weeks prematurely taking us all rather by surprise. Jonathan was expected to make his appearance on 12th January but obviously curiosity got the better of him and he decided that he could wait no longer! He was born by caesarean section weighing 3lb 15oz and was whisked off to be put on a ventilator in the intensive care unit. Thankfully all this happened on a Saturday evening when good friends of ours had come to visit for the weekend. They kindly looked after Richard whilst we dashed off to the hospital. I was discharged from the hospital after a week but Jonathan will be there somewhat longer. We have been told that it will probably be the end of the year before he can join us at home. It really depends on how he progresses. So far he seems to be doing well and is off the ventilator and the drips. His breathing is constantly monitored as babies of his age apparently forget to breathe every so often. The other thing which will dictate when he can come home is his ability to feed since premature babies have to learn to suck- it is not an instinct they are born with if they are premature. Richard is delighted with his brother and is feeling very important now that he is a Big Brother.

Now to the rest of our news. In March we went on our ski holiday This year took us back to our old haunt in Austria. It's nice to return to the same place especially as Richard and his cousins are familiar with the terrain and with the ski school. Richard was very keen this year and did really well at ski school. By the end of the holiday he was skiing down any slope and could stop beautifully when and if required. On our last day we all took part in a race organised by the hotel. Richard got bored after his turn and decided not to wait for us but to ski on to the bottom of the mountain. Not knowing this we skied frantically looking for him all the way to the bottom station only to find him standing at the lift station waiting for us to arrive! Since we got back my father has been taking Richard skiing after school at the artificial ski slope behind our house (noted to be the longest in Europe) so this year he will be even more confident.!! Later in the spring we spent a long weekend in the Lake District with good friends of ours. They have a caravan which we all stayed in and we did some lovely hill walks together. We bought real little hill walking boots for Richard and they did likewise for their children and a good time was had by all.

Richard finished at his day nursery in August shortly before our summer holiday. This was a big step for him and he was sad to leave. He had spent two happy years there. We went camping in France again this year and had a lovely time in Brittany. This year the weather was kind to us and we spent many days relaxing on the beach. We also did a bit of exploring and found some very pretty little places. Richard's favourite place was a prehistoric park with model dinosaurs...He's in to dinosaurs in a big way. It really was very well laid out. David also decided he would like to explore France by air as he obtained his private pilot's license at the beginning of the year. He hired a small plane and went away for an hour with a neighbour's husband, a French family, with whom we had made friends. I did not go because Richard was not keen, he wanted to go berry picking!

On our return from holiday Richard started school He was quite apprehensive about it but has settled in very well. The school has a good reputation and is very friendly. He likes his teacher and she speaks highly of him and we are delighted with his progress. He is enjoying learning to read and is looking forward to reading stories to his young brother. He really does seem to have grown up this year.

In September my company went through some very rough times and the financial situation deteriorated. It became clear that drastic measures would have to be taken in order for it to survive. These measures included making 33% of the employees redundant. I was one of the casualties! Although it came as a shock it was not a total surprise. I had been considering giving up work after the birth of the baby but had not come to a final decision: it was made for me! as things turned out it gave me a bit of time before Jonathan arrived to get things sorted out at home.

In October we had the luxury of a week in Portugal. We went during Richard's mid term break and had a wonderful time. The weather was good and we spent most days relaxing on the beach. Richard made lots of friends and had a great time. Eating out was very cheap so we took advantage of it. Richard enjoyed the treat of being allowed to stay up a bit later at night and we enjoyed being able to take him out with us. No sooner had we got back than events overtook us and now we number four as a family. Life at the moment revolves round the hospital but we hope that it will not be too long before we can all be together at home. Richard's 5th birthday is fast approaching. It seems no time since he was Jonathan's age!

It is now almost a year since David withdrew from the health service. His Practice is doing fairly well and he is certainly much happier having taken that decision. Hopefully things will continue to improve.

We hope this finds you well and ready to enjoy the Festive season.