Ladies Day and Boyzone

Yesterday I had a late birthday treat from Jon, a day at Newbury Races in Berkshire, it was Ladies Day and Party in the paddock was Boyzone in concert.

Jon didnt want to be standing around all day, he is getting back to his old self but it would have been too much for him so rather than go alone I talked me mate Suzie into coming along too..

Never again! I spent £34 and came home with £42
Suzie spent £34 and came home with £84 (5 wins in a row!)

Nah joking aside we had a wonderful day and even though neither of us were great Boyzone fans... we did enjoy the concert and are now converted..

Jon and Chris were looking after the kids for the day and took them off to the cinema, when we all met up again at home Suzie and I were serenading them all with Boyzone classics (dont think we did them justice though).

All in all we had a fantastic day!

Pictures to be added soon.

Summer Holiday 2008

Well this year we went visiting relatives up north with me mum and dad, it was a lovely relaxing break away, shame the weather didnt match the fun of the holiday, the kids did get to spend time on the beach at scarborough one afternoon, they also found the delights of crabbing over the harbour side!

We would like to thank my cousins Sandra and Graham for putting us all up in their Bed and Breakfast, the kids are still trying to convince me to cook them full breakfasts everyday, alas they are back to toast n butter or cereal.. I am so mean !

I also want to thank Steph and Nigel,Pauline and Andy for letting us invade your houses and giving us lovely meals.

I will add some photos to this blog once they are on the pc

Best wishes to Uncle John on his recovery and love to Auntie Rita too.

Happy Anniversary & Happy Birthday

Well after spending last years anniversary and Lizz's birthday stuck in hospital it was lovely to spend a lazy weekend at home.

on Sun 10th August - Lizz and I celebrated our 17th Wedding Anniversary.

and on Mon 11th August - Lizz had her 39th birthday, oh so close to that big four 0!

so for now Lizz is the eldest of the house and in charge, but thats only for 2 weeks until I catch her up. Its great being a toy boy of a whole year younger!

Race for Life (6th July 2008)

Well it might have been pouring with rain but Mum, Anne and myself had a great time, we raised £600 between us doing the Race for Life 5k walk, people are still sponsoring us after the event too.

Thought I would share a few photos.. am still waiting for the ones from the newspaper but I got some from Marathon photos this week.

Firstly my race number and my back message...




Doing the warm up with our umbrellas



Me playing shy to the camera and doing the royal wave!



Us running across the finishing line , see I did Run a tiny bit!



We did an interview with our local paper and they caught a brilliant picture of us with our medals, it was printed in the paper.





We will be doing it all again next year... and if the weather is a bit kinder to us we will try the 10k route.

28th May 2008

Appointment today with consultant re : radiotherapy treatment

Today we met Dr De Silver and Emma from Adelaide Ward

They checked Jon over and have basically said "you are free to get on with rest of your life", they cant actually say Jon's cancer free but as no symptoms are showing, we count that as the cancer gone, with no headaches and the fact he was able to come off the steroids is also a positive.

So fingers crossed that this is the final time we mention Cancer on this blog.

So raise a glass or a cuppa tea to Jon on getting through this a second time... Well done Jon.. we knew you could do it!

28th May 2008 - New Hair

Mum treated me to a new hairdo today "Thanks Mum !!"

Thought it would be fun to show a before and after pic..... even though I'm embarrassed how bad it had got... hopefully you can see the improvement.


The back



The front



and now the transformation that Hannah did...

The back



The front (pic at shop didn't come out I blinked.. so Rob took this one at home for me)



Hopefully I can keep it looking this good, I love having my hair done at Roberta's I always feel so relaxed when I get home. Roll on next school holidays... maybe I will go reds and golds next time.

9th May 08 - Were Back!

Hi everyone.. were back... we took a the family for a quick break away to Harcombe House the Firefighters Charity recuperation Center. It was a bit last minute so didnt get to warn too many people..

Anyway we went last Sat (3rd May) and the weather was great for us.. we visited Exeter and Paignton , the kids got to swim (paddle actually as it was freezing) in the sea.

Ive gathered a few photos here hopefully they have come out ok.... I know the TAG guys have wonderful shots with their super technical cameras and special lenses.. alas these are just taken with a Kodak point and click lol but hopefully they are clear enough... my favourite is of the seagull close up.. shows the blue cloudless sky we had that day.



Exeter Cathedral... the detail of the stonework was amazing



Close up



Paignton Sea front.. the reddish copper colour of the sand was beautiful.



A point and click of seagulls in the distance.



My favourite nature pic.... looks very regal!



After one of the country walks at Harcombe... we take a much needed break!



This was quite a distance shot had to zoom lots to get it close enough.. its a tad blurry but was lovely to see the family swimming on the lake.



The sound from this waterfall was so peaceful yet loud.