Have you ever watched Full House? Or, Fuller House for those a little younger. The premise is much the same: a house filled with love, laughter, and the slip-slap of several pairs of little feet. If the Jelliman house on Sneezewood Crescent could speak, we are quite certain it would agree it fits this description! Say hello to the bubbly Jelliman family.
Jenna Jelliman is cheerful and wearing a smile, as always, when she says a welcoming hello. Her husband, Redge, pulls up a few moments later with Reggie (6) and Harvey (4), who is affectionately called the “hurricane”. One-year-old Jocelyn is enjoying an afternoon snooze.
As Harvey begins to recount the day, sharing his playground antics with Jenna while Redge pops in for a quick peck, Molly, the family dog, saunters casually by. It is then Jenna notices her sons have arrived with a few buddies. “Our house is in a cul-de-sac,” Jenna explains, as she directs the buddies to their respective homes and the Jelliman children to get dressed. “So, the neighbourhood crew, as we call them, is always in and out of each other’s houses.”
Redge sits down next to Jenna and slings an arm around her. “We have enough children,” he jokes. “And, yet there are always more in our house, running in and out.” Both he and Jenna are from large families, so they are used to the hubbub. When their families congregate, the crowd swells to nearly 60 people which is then affectionately named ‘the Jelliman Festival’.
Jenna and Redge were part of the whizzing Jo’burg lifestyle until a decade ago, when they semigrated to the coast. “We chose the good life, because we wanted to live ten years longer,” Jenna, who was born in Durban, winks. “We met in Jo’burg and studied there, but when we began thinking of buying a house, we knew it would be here in Durban. Redge would be happiest living somewhere not wearing shoes,” she wrinkles her nose up at her husband. “So, it could never have been in Sandton!”
Redge’s parents had lived in Simbithi, calling Emoyeni home from the earlier years of development. This was the Jelliman’s first whisper of life in Simbithi, of course. Almost nine years later, they could not envision themselves living anywhere else. “Of course, we are grateful for how secure Simbithi is,” Redge says. “And the environment is great for our children. We can have our neighbours over with their children, who are friends with ours, and live a full, free life without moving around too much.”
“We try not to ever leave Simbithi, if we’re honest,” Jenna laughs. “If we are not braaing, then we are playing tennis, or swimming. We have swum in Kingfisher, Guineafowl, Heron, and the Club’s swimming pools in a single day; it’s paradise!”
With the Jelliman children in their socialite era, the family is also in the season of weekend parties, most recently a first birthday for Jocelyn at the Heron Community Centre, complete with flamingos and gorgeous weather.
Considering their home is just a road away from the golf course, it is hardly a surprise the Jellimans all enjoy the good game. Though, Jenna admits that it was not a natural pathway for her: “my poor husband had patience teaching me, but we’re both avid golfers, now. Any gap we get, we’re on the greens!”
When they are not at a party or on the course, the Jelliman crew enjoys an afternoon at the Heron Pizzeria. Their favourite slice to munch on is the Hawaiian. “Easiest choice,” Jenna says. “Then nobody fights over what we’re getting! And, yes, pineapple does belong on pizza.”