Dear All

Its nearing Christmas and I should be thinking about writing cards etc. The posting dates seem to arrive all of a sudden and I am never ready! Maybe this year….

Another year has flown passed. Our Christmas break last year was not our best. All of us apart from David were ill with flu. It seemed to pass from one of us to the other and was particularly nasty. I felt well for only about three days of the entire break. We're going to make up for lost time this year!

Last January saw Richard taking the exams to change schools. He sat for three different schools and was so pleased to hear that he had been accepted for all of them. We had a difficult time in making the decision but we did and he started at his new school after the summer.

We had our customary ski holiday again in February. This was Jonathan's first year on skis. He was a little apprehensive but did very well. One of us stayed with him in the class the whole time. Otherwise the teacher just can't cope as there are often ten or more children and it just doesn't work. If a child cannot cope they spend their time sitting in the snow or generally being miserable and to us, that is just not what it is all about. Richard is, of course, now very proficient and it is all I can do to keep up with him. Another year or so and even keeping up will be a problem. Next year for the first time in years we are abandoning the Austrian slopes for Switzerland. It will be strange not to go St Johan but we are going at Easter next year and the snow in St Johan at that time of year could be very poor or even non-existent.

At Easter this year we took the caravan to the Lake District. This year we stayed for longer than usual and had a lovely break with our friends. The weather was kind to us and we managed some real walks in the hills. It is such a nice time of year to get away.

In May we had a visit from David's sister and her husband who live in Israel. They had won a prize of an all-expenses paid trip to the UK as our brother in law had been the 'employee of the year'- nice prize! It was good to see them.

In June our good friends from Norway returned home to Oslo. These people, who I (Gillian) work with, were here on a two year contract and we had become good friends. They have a son of 13, Andreas and a baby son, Morten born this year. Richard & Jonathan get on so well with their boys. We decided that we would go over to visit them at Xmas. Call us crazy but we are driving over, taking the ferry from Harwich to Gothenburg in Sweden and on to Oslo from there. The children are really excited about it, particularly about the long (24hour) ferry crossing and about going to a snowy country. Let's hope for them that there is snow! So far it's about -4oC.

We had a flying visit to London in the Summer for my cousins wedding which was lovely and gave the boys a chance to visit their cousins. Jonathan adores my nephew Alastair and it's mutual. It's so cute to see them together. They are inseparable.

Richard had a week at Sports camp (not residential) and then we went away for our holiday. We had almost three weeks this year and it was a lovely rest. Unfortunately the weather during the first week was atrocious. Very wet to the extent that our awning was flooded one day. The weather in Edinburgh, to make matters worse, was hot and sunny! We spent a day at Legoland in torrential rain which lasted for an unbelievable 5 hours. The children still had fun. Richard actually said that he enjoyed it because quote 'you never let us get wet'. We were completely soaked and Richards trainers took three days to dry! On the way back from our holiday we met up with all of my family in Manchester for a family Barmitzvah. It was a lovely weekend meeting up with all of our cousins and the boys enjoyed meeting all their cousins some of whom they had not seen for two or more years.

Back home again and Richard started his new school, Jonathan started at Nursery, we had a new nanny and I was away on a team building exercise with work for four days….poor timing but it all worked out ok in the end. Richard has settled in very well at school, is generally doing better as well as being happier so we are really pleased. He can now stay at this school for the rest of his schooling. The classes are smaller than where he was and Richard certainly has a better attitude to his work than before. He seems to know that it is expected of them but is not under pressure. Jonathan just loves Nursery. He goes to the same Nursery that Richard went to and it is still the same happy place. He has lots of little friends. The only 'problem' is that he is permanently exhausted. The team building exercise I was on was 80% work (very dull) and 20% outdoor activities: archery, quad biking, rifle shooting and clay pigeon shooting. The quad biking was terrific. Mum & Dad came to help hold the fort whilst I was away.

Our new nanny Valerie is great. She is a little older and the children get on really well with her. Her children all went to Richard's school and so she knows the ropes and encourages Richard to do his homework as soon as they come home from school. She collects both the children and they get home before 4pm and I usually arrive home around six.

We have had a couple of short trips away in the caravan since the summer. In the October school holiday we headed a bit north and had a wonderful few days. The weather was dry and we did some great walks and cycles. We now have a trailer bike for Jonathan which attaches to the back of David's bike. Jonathan sits very proudly on his little saddle clutching his handle bars and loves all the attention and comments he gets from passers by.

Jonathan celebrated his fourth birthday in November. He had a party with some of his nursery friends and loved it. He is a real chatterbox and just never stops. Richard has to retreat to the sanctuary of his room for peace but Jonathan will quite happily carry on talking even if it is only to his toys.

Richard continues to go to judo and hopes to get his yellow belt in the next few weeks. He goes to cubs now too and is sitting for a couple of badges in the coming weeks.

Work is very busy for me just now and doesn't look like things will change. This year I haven't been out of the country that much- just to Norway and Finland. Apart from that I have just been away in the UK. Next week I am in London for three days but rather annoyingly the meeting is at a hotel at Heathrow airport and we will have no time to go into the city. Rather disappointing at this time of year.

That's about it for now. Have a wonderful Xmas & a Happy New Year.