Christmas 2002 was a super family time. Dom was more aware of what was going on than the previous Christmas and he seemed to enjoy it immensely!

We can't remember much about January and February (maybe we hibernated) but for Pete's birthday in March we had a short break in a cottage at Calke Abbey in Derbyshire. Karen has picked up Pete's fascination for the internet and can now research holidays for weeks on end! The cottage is one of many round the country restored and furrnished by the National Trust - this one (like many) was in a National Trust park.

Over the Easter period Pete had a go at a website for our street - www.astleyhalldrive.com - our family pages are part of this site. It was set up with the help of Marion's son Stephen. He is a student of computer sciences at Surrey University and an absolute wizzkid! He has already set up his own internet business - Vortex Webhosting and helped Pete with an educational project he got some funding for - www.insidethemusic.co.uk

At Easter Pete also dug a pit to put playbark round Dominic's slide and swing - a safety feature; it nearly finished Pete off as the ground was so full of rubble from the old hospital buildings that used to stand on this site.

In May Dom turned 3! Another excuse for a funday. He got a bike for his birthday and he is never off it! In fact we have now bought him some lights so that he can go out in the dark.

Mum was 21 again in July - and we headed off to Acorn Bank at Sowerby Bridge on the edge of the Lake District. Acorn Bank is another National Trust property set in fantastic woods and gardens. We stayed in an apartment in the old hall.

Our summer holiday was absolutely fantastic! We stayed in a cottage at Kilkhampton near Bude, North Cornwall. Apart from being near the world's best chippy there were enough excellent local beaches to go to a different one almost every day. Dom loved splashing in the sea, digging in the sand and clambering around the rock pools. We intend to go back to Cornwall next summer.
Then in September - nursery school for Dominic! Already! He goes to Tyldesley Primary each morning and loves it, though if you ask what he's done he says he doesn't know!

Each year in October we try to have a Whitfield family re-union with Marion and Ann. This year we met at a rented country house in Herefordshire (near Leominster). Marion couldn't join us unfortunately as her husband David's father sadly died that week. The house had a swimming pool - Dom loved it!