Christmas Day and Cherie's Birthday (Boxing Day)

Christmas Day in Canberra

By Christmas Day Stuart had recovered enough to spend the day with us, along with Cherie and the girls and with Cameron. Thankfully he seems to be almost fully recovered now ( 28/12).
The weather was mild over Christmas, so we enjoyed a relaxed time at home together.

Boxing Day is also Cherie's birthday, so we had another day of celebrations.

Lois singing "Happy Birthday" to her mum with her new pink ukulele she received for Christmas from her Uncle Cameron.

Happy Birthday Cherie! We hope you enjoy your new sewing machine!

Christmas 2013 - celebrations before Christmas Day

We enjoyed several celebrations around Christmas time. Some with friends and some with family.... both here in Canberra and in Sydney.

Canberra.....

 Lunch with the lovely friends in the Thursday group ( Dec 19)

Sydney....

 Ma with 4 month old Braxton ( Lunch in Sydney, Dec 21)

Miriam, Ma and Braxton

Brother and sister together , John and Miriam : Sat 21st December

 Pa.......having a reasonable day and  feeling not too bad (aged 85 yrs 10 months!)

Noah and Sophie ....seated with Cameron, Jeni, Pa and Ma, Nicole and Richard... (also here : Paul, John, Matt, Braxton and me not pictured).

Delicious lunch


Unfortunately Stuart got very sick  in the week leading up to Christmas Day. He and his family could not join us in Sydney on the weekend before Christmas. Stuart contracted some powerful and somewhat baffling infection that left him very weak and not able to lift anything, walk or even stand without pain.

On Sunday 22nd December, Cameron, Rick and I had our "traditional" cafe breakfast with Andrew. It was good to catch up with him.

Lamont Update 2013

We began with celebrating the birth of our second granddaughter, Phoebe Ruth Lamont on January 15. Phoebe is Stuart and Cherie's second daughter. A lovely little sister for Lois (about 20 months between them).

Dad turned 85 year old in February. We also had some medical check-ups and I needed to have a cataract operation. It was a surprise, fast-growing type. All went well.

In July, we celebrated with Cameron  for his 30th Birthday Brunch. Many friends and family came. We managed to have a holiday mid-year. We spent a  week or so touring some spectacular parts of Central Australia and another week relaxing at the Gold Coast. Both very enjoyable.

A new car for me, in August, to replace our Jazz that we had for ten years. It's a very nice Skoda Yeti. So now we have two Skodas! I really enjoy driving it.

In September the whole seven of us had a family weekend at Merimbula and it was fun to watch Lois experience all that the beautiful beach had to offer. Lots of sand castles were built.

In October it was Rick's turn to have a party. He turned 60 and we held an afternoon tea at home, with family and friends.

November marked 4 years since my breast cancer operation. Have just had the regular check up and all is still well. We celebrated 36 years of marriage too.

Rick has worked hard at Dept Health and Ageing all this year and has just found out today that he has been given a further six months from early January. This is good news for him as there has been some unsettled times for workers with the changes that the new government is bringing. He likes his work. He also continues to coordinate two choirs!

I have been working as a casual teacher all this year. There's been busy times but mostly it suits me as I can take some time off when I need to and I have been able to visit Mum and Dad in Sydney several times this year. Dad's health is up and down and Mum does a wonderful job caring for him. She is thankfully quite healthy, but it is a busy and constant job looking after Dad.

Cameron is busy at work and seems to enjoy it. He has been doing higher duties this past few months which has been a busy but satisfying for him. He has gained experience in areas that are new to him.
Stuart has also been acting in a different job. It has also been a great experience for him.

Cherie has had a busy year looking after two gorgeous little girls. She is a wonderful mum and we are very privileged to have her in our family. In April she and the girls visited her family back in Seoul and they all had a wonderful time.
Lois is now 2yrs 8months' old and Phoebe turns 1 on January 15. It is such s delight to be grandparents and watch these two precious little girls grow and change.
Well , 2013 is almost over and Christmas is here!

We hope you've had a good year and we wish you a peaceful and happy time over Christmas and a great 2014.
Love to you, from Richard and Janelle. xxxxxxx

November 2014

It was significant for me to note that I have reached four years post breast cancer diagnosis ( Oct 6 2009) and operation ( Nov 6 2009)! Drug treatment is ongoing, but the time is ticking away.

We celebrated our 36th Wedding Anniversary ( Nov 26). Where has the time gone?

Also many fun times were had with Lois and Phoebe. Such a joy to watch them grow and change.

I visited Mum and Dad in Sydney for a week, which is always enjoyable.

Both Cameron and Stuart have been busy at work doing higher duties. They have appreciated the opportunities and experience this has given them.

Rick is working hard, not far away from Cameron. Rick's contract finishes in late December and with the uncertainty of employment that the new Government has brought, he is appreciating having a job at all and is hoping it continues into the new year ( against the odds).

I've been teaching regularly and have been enjoying the fun and flexibility of  day-to-day casual work.

We caught up with our friend John H . He came for a meal and Roz joined us too. Life gets busy and it's easy to forget to spend time with friends at home. My energy levels are improving, for which I am grateful, but I still find that I need to rest a fair bit.

October Birthday Celebrations

Rick's 60th Birthday
Rick turned 60 on the 16th October! We had a party for him on Saturday 12th October. Lots of friends came to celebrate with us. We were very grateful that Ma and Pa made the big effort to come from Sydney, along with Paul and Deirdre, and Paul and Jeni.
Bruce and Sylvia, Lyndal and Amy also came. Sadly Rick's four brothers are scattered over the country and weren't able to come. Richard and Jenny came from Nowra and there were lots of local friends too. I am sure Rick enjoyed it.

Moruya Jazz Festival
Rick and I had a weekend at the coast so that Rick could perform with his choir at the Moruya Jazz Festival. He enjoyed the gigs.

Stuart's Birthday
Stuart had his 28th Birthday on the 21st October. We had a lovely family dinner to celebrate and we were all surprised and impressed when Lois sang "Happy Birthday" to her father, both in Korean and English!

Merimbula weekend with the family

Canberra had a long weekend at the end of September. We took the opportunity to stay down the south coast at Merimbula. From Canberra it's about a 3.5 hour drive via Cooma and Brown Mountain.
All the family came. We booked two apartments.