.W+S.

Saturday 14th January 2012...Aunty Whitney brings Uncle Steve into our rapidly growing family and we couldn't be happier with her catch!

The wedding was just beautiful.  Thankfully the threatening rain held off and we were blessed with sunny skies by the afternoon.

Whitney's dress was entirely handmade by my mother-in-law.  She did an absolutely amazing job and spent hours and hours getting everything just right.  My claim to fame is helping out with lots of late-night sewing sessions when we arrived in New Zealand and cursing Whitney numerous times as we tediously hand-sewed lace to the entire dress.  Totally worth it in the end though!

We love you Whitney and Steve - thanks for letting us be a part of your perfect day x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Go here to see a few professional shots of the happy couple!)

.Our NZ holiday - PART 5.

One thing we really fell in love with in New Zealand was Auckland city - it is just beautiful!  We spent a few days walking the streets and lapping up the peaceful atmosphere.  It felt so calm and serene and situated right on the beautiful ocean..  We had a quiet New Years Eve at home, but as midnight neared we decided to drive into the city and watch the fireworks with hundreds of others.  Unfortunately it was a really misty, overcast night and the fireworks were hardly visible, but it was still lots of fun!

From the beach near Grandie and Nana's house we could see a big island in the ocean so decided to head out on a ferry one day and hike it!  The island is called Rangitoto Island and was formed by a series of volcanic eruptions.  The hike was just what we needed after slackening off from our usual exercise routines!  The kids did pretty well (actually, Lil was piggy-backed most of the way!) and the pram only made it half-way up and Grandie stayed with sleeping Tommy while we made it to the peak.

 

 

Another one of the "must do" things from Jaron's childhood was a trip to Parakai Springs.  This place was awesome!  The day was yucky and raining, but the pools were so warm that it didn't matter.  And the waterslides were soooo much fun - even Oscar and Lil became waterslide experts and loved every minute...except when it was time to go home - going home is never fun for poor little Lilsy!

 

On another rainy day (yep, there were HEAPS!) we drove into the city and spent a few hours at the Auckland Museum.  So beautifully set out and in a gorgeous grand old building on the hill.  Lots of interactive things for the kids to do and we got to learn lots about Maori culture and especially loved reading and looking at things from world wars.

Our very favourite place to visit in New Zealand had to be Rotorua.  Rotorua is known for it's geothermal activity and has lots of natural hot springs and mud pools around.  Because of all of the sulphur emissions, the city stank like rotten eggs.  We soon got used to it, but Oscar and Lil were gagging for the first half hour!!

We all loved spending the day at The Skyline Luge - riding on the gondolas and racing our luges around the tracks.  Oscar managed to drive a luge buggy all by himself and loved every minute!  Poor Lil had to drive with me and I couldn't go fast enough to satisfy her inner thrill-seeker!

But our VERY favourite part of our whole trip to Rotorua was visiting the Polynesian Spa.  I so wish we had something like this where we live, I'd definitley be getting a yearly pass!  We treated ourselves and went into the most luxurious spas they had on offer, there were four big thermal rock pools ranging from 36-42 degrees.  We had the most amazing time and stayed for over 5 hours, lounging around in the hot water in the rain! 

And that, my friends, wraps up my very brief summary of our trip to New Zealand!  For the last two days of our holiday, Jaron and I spent a night in the Penthouse suite of a hotel in Auckland to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.  It was such a treat and was the perfect way to end our holiday!  On the way home from NZ we stopped into Melbourne for a few days for a very special wedding...more on that in the next post!

.Sisters.

All sisters do this...right?

Happy birthday dear Carli!  

You're a crazy and flighty and funny and caring and we love you just the way you are.

xxx

.Our NZ holiday - PART 4.

Lots of time on our holiday was spent at the beach.  My in-laws live about a 30 second walk to the beach so we often took the kids down there for a run around and play.  Jaron and Lil swam, but it was a bit too chilly for the boys and I!

Although we live right by the beach at home, it was different being able to totally relax and not worry about jobs and things to be done at home.  

The beach is my favourite place for taking photos...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.Our NZ holiday - PART 3.

The next week of our holiday was spent travelling around and visiting relatives - many of whom the kids and I had never met and Jaron hadn't seen for 15+ years!  

First stop was Hamilton, where we stayed in the old Church College dorms (where my mother-in-law went to school when she was a teenager!) - was lots of fun to relive her memories and tour around the now closed down school.  We even had a swim in the old pool - felt like we were living in an old 1960's movie!

Church College is situated right next door to the Hamilton, New Zealand temple.  Such a lovely temple - and lots of special memories held there as the place that my parents and grandparents and many aunties and uncles traveled to to be married.

 

 Hamilton is also home to Jaron's grandmother, whom Lil had an absolute fascination with and wouldn't leave her side.  Great-Grandma isn't in the best of health as she suffers from dementia so it was sad to see her and not have her remember as much as she would have liked to.  She still kept us in stitches though, with her blunt comments and witty humour!  We were also lucky to meet up with Aunties, Uncles and cousins in Hamilton (and naughty me didn't take many photos!)

 In the evening we visited the temple again - this time to see the beautiful temple lights.  We were totally enthralled!

Our next stop was New Plymouth, the old family stomping grounds.  Here we visited with Great Uncle Harvey and Great Aunty Jill and enjoyed torrential rain for the two days we were there!

 We also spent some time with Jaron's grandfather and Uncle Grant and Aunty Leigh at their home.

 On our way home, we stopped into the cemetery and visited graves of Grandad Dorman and other family members no longer with us.

On the way home from our roadtrip we had to stop at the famous Pokeno for an ice cream.  This place has been around forever, the town has pretty much nothing in it except for a petrol station and two famous ice cream shops!  Jaron had been dreaming talking about our visit way before our holiday and planned to get the biggest ice cream he could there - 12 scoops later...here he is!  It was disgusting!  But a total bargain - 12 scoops for $12!!! 

.Our NZ holiday - PART 2.

Feels a bit silly to be blogging about Christmas in the beginning of February...I think I've lost my blogging legs :)

This was the first Christmas that the kids had spent away from home, but after reassuring them that, yes Santa WOULD know where they were, they were as excited as ever!  

Christmas Eve was spent doing last minute shopping, some swimming at the beach and lots and lots of cooking.  We had a delicious gourmet BBQ for dinner, followed by the traditional Christmas pav - laden with fruit and ferrero rocher chocolates...YUM! 

Nana and Lil shared a special Christmas message for us, complete with one beautiful little angel.

And as always, the reindeer food was a hit with the kids.  First Tommy and Lil scattered it around, then Oscar came by later on and divided it into 9 little piles - one for each of the reindeer.

Christmas morning came (and not quickly enough for these excited kiddos!)  We opened presents from Santa before church, then went to church for an hour and listened to some very uplifting and inspiring messages.

The rest of the day was spent opening presents, eating way too much delicious food and hanging out together.

We enjoyed a family walk along the beach in the evening, a perfect way to finish a lovely day.