2012

I know it has been ages since I added to this blog so it is time to add Charlie and Eleanor who haven't been seen on this blog yet. How fortunate we are to have a new grandson and a new granddaughter!
Charlie is now 1 year old and Eleanor is nearly 4 months old. We all enjoy them immensely.

The other big thing that has happened to us is that Megan has just moved to live in Gaborone, Botswana for 2 years. Here she is being farewelled at church in Sydney.  She has many difficult challenges in her new situation. We are praying that God will give her peace and that he will provide all the resources that she will need now and in the future. What a woman she is!

September 2010

We have just celebrated Sophie's fourth birthday and Edward's first. Sophie had a great birthday but Edward wasn't too interested in his (though he loved his presents) and he did not like people singing Happy Birthday to him. Here is Sophie, Claudia and Edward on his birthday bike. I made birthday duck cakes from Karen Tack's cupcake book and they were not quite as the book described, but still quite acceptable to everyone.

It is now 2010 and I have not added Edward Daniel Charleston to my blog and he is now 7 months old! As I write this he is heading to Japan with his parents for a short holiday there. Needless to say he is dearly loved by all of our family and he gives us a great deal of joy.

Our exciting news for 2009 is that in early August (God willing) we are having an addition to the family. Rachel and Andrew are expecting a baby boy then. We have all studied the ultrasound pictures and he looks beautiful. It is interesting that his mother says he already really likes roast chicken dinners and I suspect he also favours roast lamb dinners too! Sophie tells us that she and Claudia and other members of the family have babies in their tummies too - but we know that she is only joking.

31 March 2009

We now feel quite settled in this house and we still love it despite finding heaps of things that need attention. So far we have had to add - flyscreens, lights, insulation, a new stove and rangehood, front door lock, new electric circuits, TV and phone connections and shower screens. The pest control people have had to visit us 3 times and we have had to get garden people in to chop down and cart away lots of rubbish, including about 4 railway tracks. We are now beginning to paint - and that is going to take a long time! Never the less we are very thankful to God for a house that we love and a position that is central for us to be able to visit many local congregations quite easily.

I have made a quilt for this house and have added some photos of it. It is made from the pattern of Kaffe Fassett's "Wedding snowball quilt" from his book "Kaffe Fassett's Museum quilts". I have now used this pattern four times and this is the first one that I have made for myself.

Sorry to take so long to add to this blog everyone - I have been busy moving with all the attendant difficulties! I love living in this house, it is very relaxing compared to our last house. Sophie likes the slippery dip and the playhouse in the back yard, though she is a little apprehensive about all these new things. Last week we went to our nearest Church - a small church plant at the Beverly Hills Primary School. We were welcomed by some good friends who go to that church. I am in the process of making a new quilt for the house. It is a Kaffe Fassett design of course. I am looking forward to see some of the Wollongong girls and Barb on December 22nd. for a pre Christmas morning and lunch. Here are some recent photos.

More October news

Another photo of our new house

The house is special news of course. We were looking at a house that was interesting but needed so much work that we are very pleased to be able to move into a house that needs very little to be done - except painting and gardening and things like that.

Rachel and Andrew are in Italy and Greece over the next 2 weeks and then they meet Meg in Istanbul. What a wonderful place to be visiting. Then after a few days there they all go to Israel and Jordan with a Bible lands tour with Boak and Di Jobbins, followed by a trip down the Nile in Egypt. They have been away since early September.

Sophie and Claudia continue to grow up. We are not sure who taught Sophie to say 'MINE!' but she has begun to say it to Claudia when Claudia gets something that Sophie really likes. Claudia doesn't seem to mind unless you take away paper from her hands as she loves the sound of paper crunching.

October 2008 - Our new house!!!

We bought a new house (well new to us) last weekend. We are very pleased. The address is 7 Beatrice Street, Hurstville, 2220. We hope to move in to it in about 6 weeks time when the settlement is all fixed up. Here are a few photos of it - from the real estate web site.

September 2008

I seem to have forgotten my blog since March! Life has changed a great deal since then. Sophie and Claudia have grown so much. Claudia is now sitting up and started eating real food last week. She has bright eyes and loves her big sister. Sophie turned two at the end of August and she loves her litle sister a lot too! We had Sophie for 2 days while Anna, Matt and Claudia went to the conference 'Engage' at Katoomba. When Claudia and Sophie reunited after 2 days apart they were like a little pair of birds - cooing and patting each other. It was a very sweet thing to watch! We all gave Sophie a bike for her birthday and you can see Claudia trying it out! Sophie loved it and had to be bribed to get off it at one stage. I have posted a picture of Claudia's cot quilt too - Matt drew the pictures on it.

In 46 days, Ian and I will leave the congregation here to begin a new ministry for several years. Ian is to be Archdeacon of Liverpool (St. George area) from 1st December. We will miss the people here of course, though we hope to be living somewhere nearby. One of my friends here prayed in Bible study today that we would find a house nearby so that we can visit each other and I can keep on coming to Bible study. It was heartwarming to hear her pray. The women in my Bible study are wonderful friends. At the moment we are looking for a house to buy (that may be wishful thinking) or rent. I had forgotten how time consuming and depressing house hunting is! The descriptions in the real estate sound so good - but don't always match the actual house itself. Neverthless, we are very excited about the new opportunities that seem to be on the horizon. The idea of having options on weekends is absolutely mindblowing to me! I'm not sure what an Archdeacon's wife does, but I presume it will be to help and encourage the Bishop's wife and find other opportunities and I am very interested to see what comes of that.

Rachel and Andrew arrived in New York today and I can picture them enjoying that great city! Meg joins them in a few weeks when they will visit Istanbul, then do a Biblelands tour with Boak Jobbins and others - then visit Egypt together. It all sounds wonderful. As I wrote that, a message came in from Rachel in New York - they are safely there. Oh to be able to walk the streets with them! Ian and I would like to have a little break from things before we start in December, but at this stage are waiting to settle the house situation before we plan a break somewhere. I have a sinus infection and a bung knee at the moment. I had the knee X rayed this morning and am hoping it is just a temporary problem. It keeps locking and giving way when I kneel or walk for any distance. Just when I was getting back to walking again!

Meet the newest (and youngest) member of our family

Claudia Bronwen Cox was born on Tuesday 26th February at 10.50 am. She is the cutest little girl and we already love her to bits. She looks a bit like Sophie. You can see Sophie giving her sister a kiss. Also Rachel and Andrew celebrate their first wedding anniversary today - how nice!The year has flown. Meg and Steve are painting their house in Camperdown and it's looking great!

2008

I am about to start up for 2008. Happy New Year to everyone who reads this! 2008 will be a challenging year for us - more so than 2007. I will be overseeing the Playgroup at Rockdale as Liz Allon who was a wonderful volunteer there has moved on to new things. Also, we plan to begin a new congregation at the church - with the help of a new family in the ministry team. John and Caroline Lee and their two boys are moving in to the house today!



CMS Summer School was good but exhausting as usual. We have a few funny clips of Sophie that I will try to upload. Only about 6 weeks and Meg will be home from Tanzania and then a few weeks later, Anna is due to have a little sister (probably) for Sophie. What a start to the year!

Home again!

Hello everyone! we are now back in Australia after a wonderful Long Service Leave all over the place. We found it very difficult to access a computer in the last 4 weeks of our leave. Most people travelling in the USA have a laptop and everything is wired for that - trains, planes, cafes, hotels etc. We used our mobiles to text to the family and left it at that. Next time we will take a laptop! We especially loved New York - except for a burst of a flu type thing for me. I saw a doctor for 5 minutes and was presented with a huge bill! It makes you appreciate our health services in Australia. We enjoyed the Museum of Natural History immensely - it has a whole floor of dinosaur exhibits! I especially loved the Houston International Quilt fair. I attended 2 classes (one with Judith Baker Montano who is a silk ribbon embroidery teacher and another with a Japanese Sashiko teacher), and two lectures/ demonstrations. There were hundreds of booths selling everything you might need for all manner of handwork and other crafts. The booths I loved the best were - Plum Creek Collectibles and A Quilter's Dream. Plum Creek Collectibles sells great Advent Calender patterns. Check out their website at www.plumcreekcollectibles.com

The emphasis in the quilt show now is moving away from the traditional quilt exclusively - now art quilts with painting, embellishments etc. are in the Show. I think that there is always room for new types of quilting and sewing. The quilt that won was an art quilt and it was magnificent! There were many booths selling computer programmes and quilting machines too.

We went to a number of interesting churches and in Houston we even went to church with George Bush Snr. (as well as many security men!) at St. Mark's Episcopal Church. We loved being part of the congregation at Redeemer Church in New York hearing Tim Keller in the flesh, and the Baptist Church on Capitol Hill in Washington was great - Phillip Jensen was preaching there that Sunday! I thought of Megan Engel driving into Washington a few years ago (very brave).

Another great part of our time away was spent with Anna, Matt and Sophie in Hong Kong and then 9 days in Honolulu with Rachel and Andrew. While we were away, Meg and Steve bought a house in Camperdown.

Quilt ladies work

Missing everyone at Wollongong

Hello everyone who reads this! I hope there are a few of you in Wollongong. I am missing you all a lot lately. We seem so busy! I may be on jury duty next week. Ian and I are getting ready to go to Adelaide the week after next for his brother's 50th birthday and engagement. Then on the last Saturday in September, Ian and I (and Anna, Matt and Sophie)set out on our first port of call for 6 weeks of long service leave. We seem to have been planning this trip for years - and yet I can't believe that we are actually going to go on it! On the way home, we are meeting Rachel and Andrew in Honolulu. I'll put our itinerary in a bit later. I must get a date with Lydia and Co., for my normal Christmas lunch in Wollongong soon or the dates will all disappear. I have recently joined Facebook. Anyone can - go to http://www.facebook.com/ and you will end up seeing pictures of people you haven't seen for years!! As you can see, Sophie has gone form sitting to walking. She absolutely refused to crawl!

4th August brunch at O'Connors

Our brunch last Saturday was a great success. The food was memorable and the company wonderful. We must do it again!