The Greens

Christmas greetings to regular readers of our website or those who just pop by once a year to catch up on all our news! Humble apologies for the fact that this newsletter is somewhat delayed. Usually we try to get it done in good time for Christmas but, for various reasons, that hasn’t happened. We hope we’ve caught you in time anyway with this newsletter and some photos.

2007 has seen the Green family growing and developing. Most notably with Bethya and Nathanael seemingly growing and changing by the day. Bethya will shortly celebrate her third birthday and is counting down the bedtimes as we write. While she still has her moments, the terrible two’s seem to have been corralled and she’s a happy, thriving and very funny little girl. This year she has really developed an interest in princesses, ballerinas and dancing. Every Saturday night, she gets to stay up a little bit late and is transfixed by Strictly Come Dancing. She loves to put on her princess dressing up outfits and waltzes her way around the living room like she’s Alesha Dixon. When she does turn three, she will be starting ballet lessons locally here in Cambridge and is very very excited about it.

Being born in September last year, Nathanael has really developed from a baby into a toddler this year. At the moment, he is tottering around quite happily and now that he’s mobile enjoys chasing and being chased by his sister. We’re really thankful that (thus far) they seem to get on quite well together, although like all brothers and sisters they have their moments of disagreement! Nathanael was born with a small hole in his heart and during the course of the year, the doctors have kept an eye on him. We were really glad to hear recently, one year on from first diagnosis, that the hole has closed and his heart is normal. Those that have seen him recently and know how robust, thriving and active he is would probably never have had any doubt.

2007 has been something of an “interesting” year in the Green household. For Dave, a good analogy might be to say it’s been a game of two halves! In the first half of the year, things went very smoothly indeed. Dave’s training to be a vicar at Ridley Hall went well throughout his first year of training and he finished the academic term in the summer by gaining his Certificate ‘with distinction’. Clever clogs. However, just as he was about to start his second year and begin a one year Masters course, he fell ill with Glandular Fever in August. It has taken a full four months to recover from the illness and we only heard just the other day officially from the blood test results that Dave is now fully recovered. The illness has wiped out so much time that it really has put a dampener on 2007. Dave has just about managed to keep up with his course work but for what felt like an age, he was confined to his bed and unable to do much at all. We seem to have survived it although he hasn’t yet had his results back from the course-work he did do this term so there may yet be trouble ahead (fingers crossed that he kept up as well as he thinks he did). He will also have a very busy year in 2008 since some things were put back in order to give him time to recover.

For Kerry the year has had its ups and downs too. At the beginning of the year she finally adapted to life in Cambridge and made some good friends. Kerry and the kids now have a busy social life going to various singing and music and movement groups! However Kerry continues to miss family and friends in Kent and particularly treasures the times she is able to catch up with some of them, although there is never enough time to catch up with everyone she wants to - no matter how much she tries to fit in! She has got involved in the Spouses group that takes place at Ridley Hall and enjoys the discussions and speakers who try to shed some light on being a Curate/Vicar’s spouse. To date, she’s still not completely sure of the answers to such a conundrum but is beginning to feel it is a very personal thing and that it will be a case of taking one step of the journey at a time.

Dave’s glandular fever inevitably caused struggles for Kerry too. We found out in September that she is expecting baby number three, a few days after Dave was diagnosed with glandular fever. So as Kerry juggled looking after the children with looking after Dave, she was also trying to cope with the tiredness that pregnancy bought. Thankfully a few friends in Cambridge who knew she was pregnant offered support and help at some key times and to them we are very grateful. We are all very excited about the pregnancy. The baby is due 20 May 2008 and debate is taking place over names and whether we all find out whether it is a boy or a girl at the scan. As most of you know, Dave found out for Bethya and Nathanael while Kerry didn’t. This time Dave is going to find out once more and is determined to convince Kerry to find out too, although he hasn’t managed it yet. Bethya is keen on a sister so if she becomes too obsessed with it being a girl that may be a swaying point, but time will tell.

Of course, 2008 will also see us move once again with the conclusion of Dave’s college training and the start of his curacy. It has now been announced that we’ll be moving back to Kent to take up a post with a church in Walderslade near Chatham. We’ll be sad to leave Cambridge after having really enjoyed our time here but, at the same time, we’re excited to be moving back to Kent and getting started with the job that Dave has been training to do.

If you find yourself near Cambridge or (after the summer) near Chatham, do come and say hi. We’d love to see friends and family, from near and far.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 30th, 2007 at 2:43 pm and is filed under Newsletters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.