The 2005 Newsletter
Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping by to read our newsletter. Another year has gone by and it’s been a really wondrous year, mainly thanks to our little daughter Bethya.
It’s a cliché we know but looking at the world afresh through a child’s eyes really is something special and we’ve had a great time this year watching Bethya grow and discover her world, step by fascinating step.
Bethya arrived right at the start of this year (the 5th) to be exact and started as I suspect she means to go on by interrupting Spurs v Man United as Kerry went into labour. It was THAT game with the ball that crossed the line but the goal wasn’t given. Dave and Kerry will always remember that night but probably not for the same reasons!
Bethya settled well in her early months and quickly established a routine (thank God for Babywise) that had her sleeping through the night from about 6 weeks old. Since then, we’ve seen the progression and the day by day growth that continues to keep us transfixed as she discovers her world more and more each day. As of right now, not far short of her first birthday, she is crawling all over the house, probably within a month of standing and walking we guess, eating all kinds of sludge and finally starting to pick up the signs that Kerry is teaching her to aid her communication.
Since September, Kerry has been working a day a week in the same school that she worked at before Bethya and enjoying life as a mum with the rest of her time. Dave is now approaching the seventh anniversary of life at Church House Publishing, where he continues to run the new media operations. There was some excitement halfway through this year when his boss left and, on a temporary basis, Dave was asked to act up as the Head of Publishing as well as doing his own job. It was a great experience but tiring and he was very glad when the new boss was appointed to go back to his normal work!
We’re continuing to worship at St Matthew’s church in High Brooms and do our level best to get involved. Dave has continued to have plenty of opportunities for speaking during the year while Kerry is now co-leading the children’s work and is in the process of establishing a Mother & Toddler group. We went away to New Wine with the church during the summer once again to help run the Boulder Gang venue (1,100 10 to 11 year olds over two weeks!!!) and Dave again did some of the speaking there. Kerry was part of the core team at New Wine and ran the much-needed special needs work for the venue.
The big holiday this year was a new adventure in that we went away with Dave’s parents, his sister and her little boy Jack (just over a year old) for a big family holiday to Norfolk. It was the first time in over 15 years that Dave had gone on holiday with his parents but we all survived and, in truth, had a great time together.
If you are reading this over Christmas, the chances are we enjoying ourselves in New York. Dave has to go there for work and Kerry and Bethya are going with him to add a little time on the end and enjoy Christmas in the Big Apple! It’s a hard life sometimes.
If you need to write to us with Christmas cards etc, the address is 81 Clifton Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 3AT.
So that is us in 2005. We hope you are having fun! Have a fantastic 2006 and please don’t be strangers!