| Letter from Vickie on her travels
in India - 4/9/01 |
| Hello - we're
in Jaisalmer at the moment, just off on our camel safari tomorrow.
It's hot here, not much desert visible after the monsoon, but
hopefully should see some sand dunes tomorrow when we sleep
in the dunes. |
|
Dan's sister Vickie: on her travels through India and southeast
Asia for the next eighteen months... |
| We went to Jodhpur, it was pretty with all
the blue houses and the fort perched above the town on a rocky
outcrop, but the people in Jodhpur are horrible, so we didn't
stay long. Still both of us are well, although getting
a bit fed up with Indian food, so hunting out western food,
which is surprisingly good. |
| We've visited cave temples and desert forts,
it's been really good so far, although I'm looking forward to
the Himalaya region - we should be up there by next week. Then
we head over to Nepal for an elephant ride through a national
park. Hope you are all well, love
Vickie |
| Rafferty visits his Great Nan in Birmingham. |
| On the 25th August, we drove up to Harborne
in Birmingham to visit Dan's grandmother - so that Raffy could
meet his Great Nan. She hadn't seen us since our wedding, and
was thrilled to meet the little chap. |
|
Rafferty with his great grandmother, Joan Horton. |
| On Saturday evening we had a family get-together
with Rachel & Alan Foster in Solihull, where we got to meet
their new daughter Georgina. Nan loved the evening as she had
three of her great grandchildren in one place. (Callum hadn't
been born at this point!) It was good to see Dave &
Jenny Horton (Dan's uncle and aunt) there as well. |
|
Joan Horton with her great grandchildren: Adam & Georgina
Foster, and Rafferty Horton-Szar. |
| On the Sunday we visited Stratford-upon-Avon
on our way back home. The boy wasn't quite up to the Shakespeare,
so we just had a picnic by the canal. Raffy wore his new 'Elvis'
top that Grandad Greene had bought him and was a very cool boy
indeed. |
|
Vanessa and the boy in Stratford-upon-Avon, by the canals
on Sunday. |
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|
A remembrance day for Kathleen Greene (Vanessa's mum) who
died ten years ago on 22nd July. Back row, from the left:
Joan & Bruce Letheran, Andi Fasino, Eddy Greene and Kathy
Simmons. Front row: Tara, Gail & Vanessa with Rafferty. |
| Life with Rafferty - an update... |
| Quite a lot has happened since the last
Journal entry - which is why it's been over two months! Our
son Rafferty was born nine weeks ago, on the 30th June, and
changed our lives completely - for the better, of course! The
first few days were both wonderful and terrifying at the same
time, but we soon settled into parenthood and began to have
fun. |
| Rafferty slept a lot in his first 3-4 weeks,
and has always been a very contented baby, only crying when
he is hungry. At four weeks he began to smile, and when he could
focus his eyes at six weeks, he started to smile a lot more!
It has been amazing recently as he can recognize us now
and grins when he sees us. |
|
Vanessa with the boy on a day out in Whitstable. This was
taken in the harbour, and Raffy has just discovered the smell
of fish - not too convinced at first, it would seem! |
| The boy is growing quickly now - he weighs
11.5 pounds and has already outgrown his newborn clothes. In
a month he will be starting the Day Nursery at K&C hospital
when Vanessa goes back to work. It has a very good reputation,
and even babies have activities during the day to keep them
occupied - most children who go there are very much ahead by
the time they go to school. The best thing is that we'll only
be five minutes away, although that's probably more important
to us than it will be to him - he'll be quite content as usual,
I expect. |
| A visit from Tim & Ellie Hucker! |
| On the 27th August - a bank holiday Monday
- we were delighted to receive a visit from Tim & Ellie,
who don't often make it as far as darkest Canterbury. We were
joined by the Holt family, and for a change, decided that a
bit of a barbie was in order. |
|
A few drinks in the sun... From the left: Vanessa &
Raffy, Nathan Holt with Charlotte, Tim Hucker, Ellie Chambers,
Ruth & Melissa Holt. |
| For once it didn't rain, and since we all
had to go to work the next day, nobody drank too much wine.
In spite of these drawbacks it proved to be a lovely afternoon,
even if it has put Tim & Ellie off having children permanently...
well, we'll see. Before your 27th birthday, Ellie, if you don't
mind! |
| Kent & Canterbury Hospital Rounders
Match - 24th August 2001. |
|
The Nunnery Fields Nomads rounders team - Capt. Gwenno
Batty is third from the left in the front row. We came third
in the end and won a crate of beer! Dan was particularly surprised
when he actually scored a rounder... |
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| The Christening of Melissa Ruth Holt. |
| We'd like to send our best wishes to the
Holts on the Christening of their daughter Melissa Ruth, on
the 2nd September 2001. The event coincided with Melissa's birthday,
and also her mum, Ruth's birthday. How many more celebrations
can you cram into one day? |
|
Melissa Ruth Holt (right) at her Christening service. |
| The service took place in Coulsdon at 11:15,
and Vanessa & I were very proud to be among the six godparents.
I even got to read a prayer at the service! Afterwards, we all
returned to the Holt mansion in Warlingham, where high
tea was served by the numerous butlers and other servants. |
|
Ruth, Nathan & Melissa with their special candle, during
the service. |
| Announcing the birth of Annabelle
Groombridge. |
| This month's Journal is turning into a baby
special... Congratulations to Jo & James Groombridge on
the birth of their daughter Annabelle Sarah, on the 14th
August at 7.33pm, in Lisbon. She weighed 6.15lbs and was 49cms
long. Both Mother and baby are well and came home on the 16th
August. Their son Oliver is very excited about his little sister!
|
|
Oliver Groombridge holding his new little sister, Annabelle. |
| Vanessa, Rafferty & I are going to visit
them in Portugal next week, on the 13th September. Two glorious
weeks in the sun - fantastic. And we'll be going down to the
Algarve for Filipa & Max's wedding, in Faro on the 21st
September! |
| Nick Sherwin finally settles down. |
| Nick 'Puppies' Sherwin has amazed us all
by deciding to stay in one place for more than a couple of months!
He has just bought a house in Cirencester, where he is doing
his GP training rotation. I've seen pictures, and it is a very
nice house indeed - we all look forward to the warming party
so we can come and trash the place! (Just joking, Nick!) |
| And another baby! Callum Golby is
born on 5/9/01... |
| STOP PRESS: While getting this page ready
for upload to the web site I received a call with news of another
addition to the Horton clan. My cousin Jacqueline and her husband
Andy Golby are proud to announce the birth of their son, Callum,
at 1 am (ish) on the 5th of September 2001. He weighed
7lb 8oz and both mother and baby are fine, by all accounts. |
| Callum is Nan's fourth great grandchild,
and unless my sister has something she hasn't told us, the last
for a few months at least! We'd like to wish Jacks and
Andy the very best for the future. Nice one guys! |
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