The Prices' Christmas Letter, 2005

Well, it's been an exciting and changeful year for us, even more than most.

The Wedding of the Year was on June 18th, in Radyr Parish Church, when Tom and Annie were married. It was a perfect day, when everything (eventually) ran smoothly, thanks to mobile phones (however did people arrange these things without them? Well, I know, actually: weddings sometimes started without the groom's parents being there, or with various other mishaps... ) Some of the pictures, most of them taken by Owen, are up on the website.

After the service, the reception was in the spectacular surroundings of the banqueting hall of Cardiff Castle. Lasting memories of the day: the manifest happiness of the bride and groom, who spent the whole day smiling like crazy, and Tom's speech âÄì we never knew he was so good at public speaking. (But hey, he jolly well should be, with these two sets of genes.)

The following morning we woke up to receive the news that during the night our garage had burned down with Alison's car inside. It was probably started deliberately by someone in the village who was in the care of the community, though there wasn't enough evidence amidst the destruction, to be entirely sure; it was only when he set fire to a neighbour's garage two months later, that he was caught. The rebuilding is only happening now, and may (or may not) be finished in time for Christmas.

Tom and Annie have bought a flat in Bow, from which Annie can quickly get on the M11 to drive to her work in Cambridge, while Tom gets the Jubilee line to his office in the Strand.

Martha is now queuing up to be the next to get married, next summer. She and Paul went to Paris last February and Martha phoned us on St Valentine's Day to tell us they were engaged. She is still happily teaching RE, having successfully completed her NQT year, though it doesn't seem to leave her much time for wedding planning. We're slightly nervous about next St Valentine's; though since it may be Alison and Tony who are in Paris then, we may just get around to making an honest man and woman of each other.

Naomi has had a successful year as well. She completed her dissertation for her MSc. in the summer, gaining a Merit for it. Then she got a promotion to Grade 2 at work, which gave her some more money so that she decided it was time to move out into a place of her own. She and Alex are sharing a flat over one of the shops in Headington, somewhat reminiscent of the first flat we lived in, over the chemist's shop in East Barnet. Much better appointed, but not furnished. Her latest great news is that she's just passed her driving test, the first of our children to take it. The house seems very empty without her, with Esther still being away at university.

Esther is in her second year reading Sociology at Nottingham University, sharing a house in the Dunkirk area with two friends. She's had a couple of trips abroad, to Spain and Italy, with her boyfriend Dave (third year medic, and musician) and his family. She's enjoying her studies, perhaps not quite as much as last year when she was in hall, but is expected to do well in her finals.

Alison, after spending years just being a vicar's wife (just?) finally decided that she could just as well do the vicar's job, too. This was a bit of a surprise to all of us, because she first thought of it only in the autumn of 2004; but things moved very rapidly, she went to an ABM selection conference in July and was selected for ordination. She started the Oxford Ministry Course in September, and all being well should be deaconed in three years' time. We're hoping that she may eventually be able to serve in the same parish as Tony, but this will depend on our new bishop. (Losing Bishop Richard is a long-expected but nonetheless sad event.)

Along with all the happy, good news, the sad event of this year was the death of Tony's Dad on October 29th. He was 85, and had suffered with Alzheimer's for a couple of years, as well as having prostate cancer for some time. We were very glad that he was able to get to Tom and Annie's wedding, and we can look back on that happy event as the last time all the family were together. It was after that, during the summer, that the cancer flared up and he began to be very weak and frail; but Mum was able, with the help of carers, to look after Dad at home, until he had to go into hospital in Aberystwyth just 12 days before he died. Tony and Alison visited him on the Monday before he died, and said their goodbyes, and Jan arrived from America on the Friday, and was also able to see him just before he died. Then the whole family, including our children, were all able to get to his funeral at Aberystwyth Crematorium, which Tony conducted. After the stress of caring for Dad over the last couple of years, Mum is still enjoying having only herself to look after. She is managing on her own for the time being, but is physically frail, so we are thinking hard about her future at present.

And Tony? In the midst of all the constant change, he sometimes feels as if he is cast in the role of the Rock, the Benedictine model of stability and permanence. Or maybe he's just asleep? He is still enjoying the storytelling, and took part in this year's Storytelling fringe at the Wallingford Bunkfest folk festival, in September. There were supposed to be four tellers sharing a 3 hour slot, but one of them didn't show. So he had to fill an hour's worth with stories, instead of the 45 minutes he had planned for. And was dead chuffed that he managed it. There's also the Oxford Storytelling Circle each month, and of course the regular captive audience at family services and any other occasion he can get away with it.

The blog is his main writing outlet, and has led to a couple of real-life meetings with friends made in the blogosphere, including the first 'OxBloggers' meeting in October. He also took part in NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, in which participants set themselves the task of writing a 50,000 word novel in November. His novel, Dark Messiah, is a retelling of the story of King Saul. Downloadable from the website, natch!

And that's all about us. The parish is also changing hard, with lots of different people taking over from the old guard, and more still needed. It's time for a period of real renewal and growth, so please pray for that, and for the good group of new leaders who are emerging.

We wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year, and pray for you all God's blessings during the next twelve months.