Oakburn, College Rise, Maidenhead, SL6 6BP

01628 789987 – swifts@JesusBlades.Com – SKYPE – “Oakburn”

Well it’s the end of October! so its time to write the Christmas newsletter. No I am not kidding, for the past four years we have got prepared for Christmas well in advance, still not as early as some shops though! And besides God is for Life not for Christmas! So Christmas is all year round! So moving on…

I know time seems to pass by quicker as you grow older, and as if to prove it, I must be very old as this year has gone faster than a speeding bullet.

So what’s happened this year to the old codgers and their kids? Well we didn’t move, as you can see from the address at the top! The plan was that we moved to a bigger house in Maidenhead, and after selling our house, it falling through and then getting 3 offers from people who hadn’t sold their house… time ticked by and Vicki got fed up of cleaning the floor for viewings. So we have started to decorate and have decided to hold off selling for a while! Maybe look for a retirement home now….yes still keeping with the old thing!

As a family we haven’t had a beach holiday this year, in fact Vicki and the girls really haven’t seen the sun this year. Although in May we went away with some friends to the Isle of White where we rented a caravan that was decked to look like a log cabin. This was a very precious time as we hadn’t seen our missionary friends for over a year and they flew all the way from Cambodia to the UK to be with us.

We also went to Revive camp for the first time as a family. As people who are used to Dales Bible weeks with 8000 people camping it was quite a uniquely fabulous experience to be at a small bible camp. We will definitely take time to go next year as the girls really enjoyed themselves.

However Vicki and I are off to Paris without girls in November. Yes my opportunity to wine and dine my beautiful wife and say thank you for raising our children so well.

So onto the obligatory individual stories from the year:

Andi has now clocked up 36,000 air miles with BA! (he doesn’t use BA much!) with a few trips to Jordan, Dubai and Egypt, and a bit of a funny trip where he went to Bermuda, US, Canada and Mexico all within a week – getting 4 entry and exit stamps from the US as he kept crossing the borders. By the end of the year he will also return to Bermuda and Dubai. He is still enjoying working for BBG growing their UK and Middle East business and finding new opportunities in other places. Andi’s procurement business – Oracle Supply Chain is also growing stronger and he now has two part time employees working solely for the water procurement side of the business. Andi moved into a nice new office in August with Rachel (sister) and Vicki supplying the pictures for the walls – come and see. Andi continues to play keyboard and sometimes clarinet at church meetings and together with Vicki they lead a small group…….oh almost forgot Andi has also put together a book called “My Reason for Hope” that is being published by Authentic Media next year. It’s a long story, not for this letter, however ask Andi about fleeces & prophecies if you want to know how it came about. The book is a collection of 35+ testimonies of hope from well know church leaders, entertainment people, missionaries, as well as everyday folk. We have Sir Cliff in there as well as Gerald Coates, Bobby Ball and Baroness Cox. So it’s quite a miss mash of backgrounds but it seems to work very well. Watch next years letter for a follow up!

Vicki has been on maternity leave for most of the year and has enjoyed it - keeping herself busy with running a toddler group and taking Anna to and from the child minders and play school. She has now joined the rat run of taking kids to school 9am – however we don’t have a 4x4. Vicki has also been busy trying setting up a fair trade company with her friend in Cambodia which will cumulate in importing fair traded goods in to the UK for sale to either other fair trade companies or direct to customers via websites or coffee mornings! Vicki returns to work at Slough Borough Council in December, which is great for Vicki’s sanity – she will work 2 and half days, with the half day working from home – praise the lord!

Bessie was born on 23^rd November last year weighing 8.3lbs. She is a real buddle of joy and quite different to Anna. She is very placid and studies everyone she meets before letting her true smiley self through. She is growing really well and is so laid back she only rolled 5 times in the first 11 months, however she now can rotate 360 degrees sat on her bum and clap. She loves Anna to pieces…typical little sister syndrome laughing at everything Anna does, even if she is being strangled.

Anna continues to grow fast. By the time you read this newsletter she will be three! – yes three! She started Birdwood Nursery in September – not a minute to soon! she jumped straight in and has made quite a few friends already. She enjoys painting and gluing as well as anything that makes a mess or noise! Her vocabulary is expanding well including ‘why’ and ‘how’. Anna had her eye squint operation in June – a true star. She recovered really well, and the squint reduced from a 45 degree angle to 14 degrees. Hence more operations are needed next year. However after 2 years of wearing patches, her eye muscle has finally started to work allowing her to see better whilst wearing her glasses. She is a real little trooper that never sits still and enjoys helping everyone and kissing her friends.

Anyway, we hope that you have a lovely festive season. God Bless,

Andi, Vicki, Anna and Bessie xxxxxx (feel free to come and visit – would love to see u)