It's that time of year again, which comes around so quickly, and once more we fail with our good intentions to write a more individual note to you all. We did think we would start whilst lazing around in the summer but…here we are on the 7 December in total panic again! So apologies to you all. We'll try harder next year!

Anyway, we do hope you all have had a great year. We have been as busy as ever. The year started with us in Australia. We had a great 3-week holiday over Christmas and New Year starting in Sydney (via Tokyo) where Kiran, on her year traveling around the world, had stopped for 3 months. We spent Christmas Day on Bondi Beach with our good friends Alan and Sue from Cambridge who coincidentally were visiting their daughter, Aimie. We ended up as a group of 10 barbecuing on the beach and thinking of you all in the northern hemisphere! We had toured around the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley before Christmas so afterwards, together with James, headed up north to the Cairns area where we spent a great week visiting the Great Barrier Reef, chilling on Dunk Island etc. etc. We flew back via Singapore and although Greg had to return to the office to work (N.B. He had actually been working in Japan, Sydney and Singapore during the trip!), Jill had to be left to her own devices for 2 days because of flight arrangements. Obviously being left there was no great disaster - not many shops or sites were left unvisited. We did have to do serious shopping because this was the year of the big 50 birthdays…

We had every excuse to extend the celebrations from January (Jill's month) through to June (Greg's month) and into July. We have 7 friends in Woldingham who were all born in that magic year, 1953, so we planned a joint party in June for us all. This was easier said than done, as it was difficult to limit the invitations to be accommodated in the village hall. We therefore had a 'Woldingham only' party but then there were a series of individual parties. May through to July passed in a haze of party arranging, attending and general celebrations!

Unfortunately, Kiran was unable to get back in time for the partying but arrived home at the end of June and tried to adjust to normal life again. After Australia, she had traveled alone around New Zealand for a month, doing all those things (like bungee jumping) which parents don't want to know about until after the event. Unfortunately, she advised us in advance..! She had then met up with her school friend Zelie again to tour South America for 3 months. Zelie's mum, Daphne, and Jill met up with the girls for 3 weeks in May to 'do' Peru. It was a great girly trip, arranged in style with us being privately chaperoned throughout (not that we knew that when we booked via a South American based company). We had planned to back pack with the girls but after hearing of their experiences and lucky escapes in Ecuador, we decided that perhaps not…..We visited all the 'must sees' in Peru - the rain forest, Cusco, Arequipa, saw the condors and, of course, a three day trek to Macchu Picchu. The latter was amazing - we had 9 porters, a cook and guide for just the 4 of us and we didn't see anyone on the trek until we approached the sun gate to Macchu Picchu on the final day. We have many precious memories of the whole experience and feel privileged that our husbands didn't ask too many questions on what we were planning to do (and footed the bill so willingly - thank you to Greg and Nick!).

So what other news of our offspring? I should have said that Kiran had to rather reluctantly break her time in Sydney to return to London for PhD interviews. However, this was well worth it as she had several offers including her first choice. She has been awarded four year's funding via a Wellcome Trust scholarship. She is now spending her first year at Imperial College in London and hopefully will be awarded a M. Res. (Master of Research) at the end of it. She has to do three separate projects in the immunology, genetics and virology fields. She will then select a topic to continue for 3 more years for her PhD. So she will be effectively a post-grad student until she is well past 26! She has settled in well and is living with three Cambridge friends in Clapham Junction. Being the only girl, she is finding that quite an interesting experience.

James has had a busy year at Oxford but did find time to come skiing to Colorado with his mum & dad in March when we found ourselves with a ticket that would have otherwise been wasted. He was quite content to use the bed-sofa in the lounge of our 1 bed condo in Frisco. The highlight of the trip for him was the flight back where he accepted an upgraded first class ticket to avoid his parents being split up. Of course, he had to take photographs to show his friends and was only disappointed in that after consuming quite a few glasses of champagne and working his way down the wine list he slept through most of the journey. This year he has been the Entertainments Officer for Keble so has been responsible for organizing all the gigs. Somehow, work has to fit around all the social events (which we understand) is very difficult! He spent the summer working in a bar in Croydon and now lists juggling as one of his key skills - we're not sure how this will translate to any potential employer! He is now in his final year wishing he had enrolled on a four-year course. But all good things have to come to an end so he has started to fill in job applications for next year. His interest is in management consultancy particularly in the telecomms field - unfortunately it is still a difficult job market in London, so we are keeping fingers crossed for the next few months.

Greg is still working hard at Reuters. He is the CIO but has just had global operations included under his remit. He is hoping to retire in the not too distant future…
Jill is busy as always - far too busy to be officially employed. The main challenge of the year has been in sorting the villa in Spain. She has spent about 9 weeks there this year - this involves a lot of time waiting in for Spanish workman (who never arrive), firing the Spanish gardener, sorting the pool leaks etc. etc. We still haven't got a habitation licence so can't apply for our own water and electricity or finish the final building work. We are optimistic that 2004 will see the end of the problems and we can share some good times with any friends who care to join us! We look forward to seeing you!

Apologies for the lack of photos etc. but this is what you get from the non-techy one of the house! We will load some onto our web site (www.meekings.co.uk) - so enjoy!

So to all of you, we wish you a very, very Merry Christmas and every happiness for a peaceful and prosperous New Year. We hope to see many of you in 2004 either here or in Spain.

Love from all of us to all of you

Jill Greg Kiran James