The highlight of our year has been the birth of our first great grandchild, Scarlett Emily, who
was born on 21 September to proud parents, David and Fallon. They are delighted with their baby daughter as are proud grandparents,
Jonathan and Mandie and several new aunts and uncles! Christmas will be a special time this year.
As usual we have enjoyed touring with our caravan this year. After the Royal Cornwall
Show we spent a relaxing week on Boleigh Farm, Lamorna near Penzance. We also returned to St Mabyn, near Bodmin Moor, where
we enjoyed many holidays when our grandchildren were younger. In August we took the caravan to Hampshire to watch Ben competing
successfully in the Gosport National BMX event and visited the impressive Spinnaker at Portsmouth with its stunning views.
In September Ron, my sister Brenda and I set sail from Southampton on the Queen Mary
2 for a luxurious cruise round the British Isles. On our return had an amazing reunion in Sussex with our Sendles cousins
some of whom we had not met for more than 50 years.
Jonathan, Mandie and Serena have been supporting Ben nationwide during
the BMX season and he has recently qualified for the Olympic Development Programme and moved up to join the group of Elite
Men. Now at 17 he’s also learning to drive. Mandie has moved onwards and upwards and is happy in her new job with Beach
Retreats at Watergate Bay while Serena started the school year at her newly-built Brannel School and is developing
a keen interest in photography. Kerry had just completed training with Swinton Insurance when out of the blue she contracted
meningitis and is now recovering at home with Iain in Tiverton.
Liz and Gary keep fit walking our
beautiful coastal footpaths but in complete contrast in October they spent an exhilarating few days in London with Ashleigh
to celebrate her 16th birthday. Liz and Ashleigh have ventured into baking Cup Cakes and selling them at the local Saturday
market where they are achieving good sales. Jamie had an amazing week with Sky Television in London for his work experience,
followed by an exhausting summer job to pay for a short, but memorable break in Sweden. He now plays lacrosse for Bournemouth
University.
We are still members of our local U3A where Ron plays indoor bowls each
week, but has recently retired from line-dancing. Our other U3A interests include Camera Club, Computing, Family History and
Creative Writing and we try and swim about twice a week.
With love and best wishes from Sheila and Ron xx
