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Christmas '95 Newsletter

As we ought to expect yet another busy year, not quite so many major headline events as last year, but still plenty happening. The year's low point has to be Tony cooking an Omelette with a broken egg. Over a week in bed with Salmonella poisoning for Margaret, Julian and Harry was not a happy price to pay for a rest from cooking. Still, Margaret did lose a lot of weight, much to the envy of some ladies at church who asked Tony to cook for them! The boys got too thin but have put the weight back on.

We camped on our friend's farm in Cornwall again for our summer holiday. This started at the beginning of the heat wave, so we heard the Land's End fog horn very much less this year. For this holiday we saw many more of the beaches of Western Cornwall. The story to go down in history is of the boys scraping up fresh cow pats with beach buckets and spades from where we were to pitch the tent. Of course my job of putting the pegs in was much messier!

My work has been going reasonably well, I have been getting into more interesting areas of the Computer world. Helping a church friend set up his computer system for work has also been quite a challenge. At church I am still looking after the Reading chapel, broken windows from burglaries being an irritation. I am also kept busy helping at cubs, I organised this year's summer camp for 24 boys, with a good set of leaders to help. Strangely, both these jobs are assignments and not callings!?

Margaret has been childminding again, Baby Jonathan had a spell with us before the summer holidays. The first day he arrived his mother had to leave quickly, Eleanor did not see his mother come or go and walked in to see me holding him. She missed Jonathan's mother again when he was picked up, and when he was dropped off the following morning. He then became fixed in her mind as "Daddy's baby", being heard to tell him one afternoon "don't cry Daddy's baby, Daddy's coming home from work soon". This is the way that unfounded rumours can start! Margaret has since taken on 3 month old baby Bunty for 3 full days a week, finding this a lot easier to manage. At church, being Beehive advisor and teaching a Sunday Young Women's class has been replaced with teaching the home study seminary programme to teenagers. This course is run in term time and spends a year each on the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon and Church History. At the end of 4 years you graduate as quite an expert.

Kelly got a good result from the first year of her speech therapy course, after worrying she was not doing well enough. She and her husband have moved flat in London to South of the Thames, in Tooting. We helped them move there at the start of the Autumn term

Damion graduated with a 2:1 degree in classics. He enjoyed a month travelling round the USA in the summer and is now back living in London reducing his debts. He works with church friends at an estate agents, on the property letting side. Next Autumn he plans to start a 1 year Master's course at the London School of Economics.

Kirstine finished her mission for the church in July. Lots of hard work at a Wimpy restaurant in Reading to earned her enough money for a 3 month holiday in the USA. She returns in the new year and plans to set up home in London with Damion.

Sam has had a turbulent year's employment history, probably best summed up by saying that he does manage to do things the hard way - leaving the grisly details out.

Julian (11) is now in scouts, next year is his time to choose secondary schools which is proving to be quite a difficulty. He took a test for the Reading Grammar school last month - we find out the results in the new year. We do not live in a good catchment area for local schools which is a little concerning. Both he and Harry are enjoying taking part in the Cub football team's unbeaten run. He is ploughing through Lord of the Rings, saying that some of it is quite difficult to read, but the battles are very exciting. A family visit to 3 Cliffs bay in Wales on the way back from a weekend at friends filled him with lots of sentimental memories of past holidays there.

Harry (9) copes a lot better with homework than Julian, he manages to take things in his stride. He has the build and competitiveness to excel at sports, winning all his races on school sports day. Like Julian he is on the cub and school football teams.

Oliver (almost 7) is still a head taller than everyone in his class at school. He continues to get excellent reports on behaviour at school, which is a consolation for the hassle he sometimes gives us at home. He is steaming through the "Famous 5" books.

Eleanor (3½) is such a dizzy little girl that Bimbo is her unspoken name. Pink is determinedly her favourite colour, and a Butterfly Barbie doll is on its way for Christmas. She rules over her friend Toby with a skill derived from not letting her older brothers get their own way all the time.

Holidays in Cornwall proved to be very useful for acting as guides and chauffeur on the visit of Margaret's sister in America and her husband. We did a whirlwind 4 day tour of Devon and Cornwall, feeling most strange without children and marvelling at what you can achieve without them. Mind you, we were exhausted at the end!

We hope all is well with you and wish you a happy new year, with lots of love, the Jest Family.