So, Christmas is here again and it would seem that this year has slipped by without, once again, us seeing a fair number of you. For that we are sorry but also humbled at the wide circle of family and friends. Also this year we are attempting to be a little bit greener and not print out 100′s of sheets of paper and this is the end result.
Of course, we try to add updates here as and when we can so some of what follows is duplication.
So let me start at the beginning … ish and say that this year appears to have been dominated by Owen!
In February, Owen became ill. He was constantly run down, had a recurring sore throat and was frequently either off or unable to finish his food. Those of you with teenage boys will know just how unusual this is. After a trip to the doctors and a course of anti-biotics he did rally although he became easily tired still.
By the time March came around he was off on yet another Four Counties Youth Orchestra trip and we asked various friends to keep an eye out for him, but all appeared to be well, as can be seen by this picture of him attending his cousin’s 18th birthday. Although if you look closely you can see the tiredness in his face and eyes.
Also in March, Coel finally managed to get on to two wheels only to end up cycling head long into mud on his first excursion… thank goodness for industrial strength wet wipes.
In April, Owen’s illness took a real dive for the worse and glandular fever was labelled as a possible suspect. This culminated in him not being able to attend the Uni open w/end for his chosen subjects. Whilst this was no great loss (so we discovered) it didn’t help anybodies state of mind. In late April Owen it is finally confirmed (some 2½ months after onset) that Owen has glandular fever! As most of you know he eventually ended up in hospital due to severe dehydration caused by not being able to swallow! Fortunately IV drips are wonderful things and by the end of day one he’d started to rally a bit – turns out he was a whisker away from being back in ICU.
Of course the major issue now is that he hasn’t really been able to study for almost 3 months and his A levels start in 4 weeks time …! Not the build up he wanted to get his desired straight A’s.
June saw him taking the exams, but we still had to keep a close eye on him and a number of times Kathryn or I were summoned to take him home. In July he finally managed to get down to Aberystwyth and personally meet up with some of his tutors to be along with a much more personalised tour – which was nice. We made a weekend of it and left the littlies behind with Nana and Grandad – not that I think they missed us!
June and July also saw Coel and Jenna turn 6 and 8 respectively along with a birthday for mum – no age giveaways here though.
July and August saw us heading off to Faith Camp 08 for the week. In short this is an annual conference held by Colin Urquhart’s Kingdom Faith Church. For me it was an opportunity to relax and spend time with some good friends. For the children it is time to get some excellent Bible based teaching from a different perspective. Kathryn enjoyed the meetings which I studiously ignored and chilled out as this was to be my prime summer break. It also saw us living it large in our very first caravan purchased only weeks earlier – after our last under canvas camping session we vowed never again. Our first trip went well except for losing one of the skylights and one of the tail lights hanging on by a thread!
A very brief trip home saw me back in work and Kathryn heading down to Bournemouth to visit her old friend Sue and family – again she took the caravan and the only reason I let her go on her own was that Owen would be there to help. I must have taken several dozen calls from Owen about how to do things or where things were! Still, they managed and a good time was had.
August brought both happy and very sad news.
Kathryn’s cousin Richard, whilst on holiday with his family, died from a massive heart attack. Despite being medically trained, his wife was unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead on arrival in the hospital. Needless to say the family are devastated to lose their husband and dad at a young age of 49.
August also brought Owen’s A level results which we were all a bit worried about. The best we were hoping for was the grades to get him in to his Uni of choice. We were delighted and astonished by his 4 B’s. Owen was very disappointed and looked really downhearted as he wa so determined to get straight A’s. It took one of his mates to point out that most of his year had started out doing 4 A’s like him, only to end up with a single A and in some cases half an A … though I’m not sure how that one works out.
It also took one of his Maths teachers to point out how close he’d come to getting an A in that subject as well as pointing out how well he did in Stats – a particular dislike of his. Once he got home and found the letter from the UNi saying he’d also been awarded an excellence bursary for his subject matter his maudlin attitude vanished. And yes, we were and remain so, so proud of him and all he’s done to overcome the huge disadvantages life has thrown at him from time to time.
September saw him start in Uni and despite having to leave him in one of his very tired states, he soon came round and has made the place his home away from home. Since finding like minded students he is absolutely thriving and loving the place. Though he did come home two weekends in a row because we believe he was home sick – however, since a very wet w/end in the caravan and a trip to the Centre for Alternative Technology we’ve hardly heard from him. Which is a good thing but he’s home on the 12th and doesn’t start back until a month later.
October saw the family away with Kathryn’s Mum and Dad in North Wales whilst Stuart remained behind to do some much needed work around the house and garden. One of the major jobs Stuart did was to strip and resurface the decking and Stuart’s advice here – don’t but Ronseal Perfect Decking as it’s more trouble than it’s worth! Then there was the kitchen tap – another first for Stuart – as well as some much needed downtime without constant pressures.
Jenna had a song of hers released along with a group of other children from the Church and the album is called “Songs from Heaven” and is a wonderful example of children hearing from God and then writing songs about it. The recording, tweaking, etc of album was done Harvey Jones a member of the Church and one of out good friends. He’s done an excellent job and there is also a book of music released to accompany the CD. Should any of you be interested in using it for your children’s services or just as good wholesome christian music that should inspire your children, then it is available through the business arm of our church – gates of praise (more on that later).
She also continues to work towards her grade 1 ballet exam which she is hoping to take next March. On top of all this, Jenna has now started piano lessons with Nana and according to Nana, she is already better than Owen at the same age / stage. Not surprising when you consider she isn’t deaf!
Coel is everything a 6 year old boy is meant to be and some. He has an answer to everything and usually said in such a way that you can’t remain cross with him for long. He is easily distracted, forgets any requests that go beyond one at a time and then that’s always a wonder when they’re done. He’s bright, stubborn, funny, temperamental, loving and a cheeky monkey all to boot. He’s loving school and his teacher thinks he’s a delight – except for the attention problem. Now where have we heard that one before? He and Jenna did a double act at the schools “Coychurch Has Got Talent” show and had everybody in stitches with their very own Morecombe and Wise double act – Coel as Eric and Jenna as the straight Ernie.
He continues to baffle us and his consultant with his bowel problems and constant bouts of thread worm – something like four times this year already. Coel has also started with the piano courtesy of his Nana but doesn’t yet have the patience to want to sit down and practice. He’d rather be playing a game on the Wii or watching ‘The Roaches’ … just don’t ask!
Stuart continues to do shift work which does and doesn’t work for us. There is no doubt that the extra money works but on occasions there are times when he’s needed elsewhere to assist but can’t because he’s sleeping or working. Still, the same problems would happen if he worked a regular 9 to 5 type role as well. Stuart was sent off on a week’s training course this year as well – and it took place over his birthday week. He was able to catch up with some old friends in London as well as getting some good technical info shoved in.
This year saw Stuart taking a return trip to Holthorpe Hall and the non annual, annual leaders conference that is hosted by Derek Brown’s Church. Derek continues to be a support to our pastor and help him with having a place to discuss pastoral issues as well as a point of contact if we feel Alex has stepped over the boundaries – which he hasn’t, but it is nice to have the knowledge that there is a third party we can turn too if necessary. Anyway, the conference was once again a time for Stuart to reflect but ultimately coming away with no answers.
Apart from his work, the major project that has taken up his spare time dealing with queries, pursuing the developer, testing, etc, etc is the all new Church website for the business that the Church runs. At the time of writing it is just about to be launched and should be considered a work in progress as far as stock is concerned. However, everything else is in place and works. You can now purchase Christian books (and eventually other items such as clothing, etc) from the GatesofPraise Bookshop. Do drop by even if you don’t purchase anything at this stage. We are currently offering £5 off your first order as an incentive to get you to keep checking back as we add the stock. The aim is to have the stock loaded by the end of January … not so far away now.
The other thing that has taken up Stuart’s time is also detailed on the web. We won’t bore you with the story but suffice to say he is trying to organise a reunion for the year he did his O Levels (remember them?). It’s not been an easy task and so far he’s found approx 60% of the year – not bad when you consider he hasn’t heard from or spoken to most of them in over 28 years. Details if you care are at the Syntax 80 Blog.
Kathryn continues to enjoy her work in the deaf unit for primary schools for Bridgend. This year saw her taking one step closer to being back full time with her now working 5 days from 9.15am to 1pm but it is looking increasingly likely that sometime in 2009 she will go back full time. Then it’ll be all hands to the pumps.
Kathryn continues to sing on a Sunday morning / evening and when Owen is home will even lead worship in our sister Church of a Sunday night. In fact she is de facto in charge of the singers now and organises their rota, what parts they sing, etc … seems like the wheel has come full circle now and we are back in our youth group Cornerstone in Willesden all over again.
Kathryn of course continues to be a dominant force within our children’s Church setup and also is co-leader of our “Kids Club” outreach programme on a Thursday night – this has become so popular that we have had to turn children away but have recently fixed that by persuading some of the Dads from the Church to stay and help – and yes, all of them have been police checked. The best part about this is that by far the majority of the children that attend on Thursday night are from non-Church going families.
Well that’s it, pretty much, for 2008. Highlights for 2009 that we already know about are two weeks in Tenerife with our very good friends Steve and Helen Martin at Easter – we only have to pay for travel and food as the accommodation belongs to Steve’s Dad. Then six weeks later we are heading off to North Wales with the Martin’s (again) and this time the accommodation is courtesy of Tesco vouchers as we are staying at Hafan y Mor for a few nights.
So let us finish by wishing you all a very peaceful and blessed Christmas and a prayer that your 2009 may be even more fruitful for you than 2008.
Happy Christmas
p.s. should your travels find you near Bridgend then we would love to see you and even have you over to stay for a few nights. Alternatively, if we can loan you our house as a base at some stage, then you know where to find us.
