A classic NZ family holiday...

...where all 21 of us stayed together in a bach (holiday house) by the lake!

The cousins running around, swimming and playing together for a week, you can imagine how much they LOVED it!!

Back and forward to the lake (and pontoon)...

Trips into Taupo. Huka falls, The Honey hive...

& a hot spot at the side of the river...

Zooming across the lake in Pa's boat to see a Maori Carving...

& good ole 'AC Baths' hot pools, gosh I used to swim there when I was a kid!!

A drive over to Mangakino to see even more Cuzzies...

Stunning NZ and a beautiful family. What more could you ask for?!

(Thanks Mum and Dad for organising it all :)

Gone fishing ~ ~ ~

While the rest of us are just waking up at 9am (Lovin the black-out curtains at Mum & Dads) J and his Pa have already been out fishing for hours!! They love it.

When we're on the boat Pa is the Captain:

& J the 'First Mate'

He has caught lots of Snapper, but set off today really hoping to reel in a John Dory...and we just received word he did. Go J!

This was the day we waved Pa and the 3 boys off for night at sea. They had such a great time fishing, swimming, rowing the dingy, cooking dinner on the boat and rocking off to sleep in a bay.

The next night was mine and Miss E's turn. Ha now I'm renowned for being not much of a fisher-girl....goes back to my childhood days in the tin dingy and wanting to go back in after half an hour. This was fun though...

But eww is that poo or guts coming out of that fish?!

Not to worry, he was dinner not long after...oh so g o o d ! In fact Dad, me and Miss E ate a whole fish each :) Caught, cooked and ate on the boat!

And this sunset... Spectacular!!! Wow I couldn't help think this beats sitting in the 4 walls of a house watching TV

We then pulled the cover over for the night, Miss E and I sleeping up the front of the boat, and Pa in the main bit. It was like we were in a cradle as the ocean gently rocked us off to sleep with plip, plopping sounds underneath.

What a great experience, thanks so much Pa for sharing it with us x

Touch down in NZ!!!!!

What a great welcome! Hugs and kisses all around xox

It was then from the airport to Mum and Dads with all the fam...

...where the cousins had a dance party to celebrate Choppy's birthday.

So.much.fun!!!!!!

Gettn us a big dose of family and NZ for the next 3 weeks. yeah!!!

Monster SK8 party

Choppy's 8th birthday party at Monster Skate park was so gr8!!!!

Skateboarding is definitely his thing at the moment. He wanted a skateboard for Christmas, skate shoes for his birthday, and it was obvious at his party that he's a complete natural.

The boys had a lesson with a pro skater, and later went it on their own. First lesson: how to fall:

Hot and sweaty boys.
A BBQ, slurpies and the skateboard cake Choppy's dad made

And when the session was over it was great having the fountain at Olympic park outside the doors for the kids to run wild under:

The boys then found a shady shot in the playground with their lolly bags and tech decks while us adults jabbered away.

An awesome time for an AWESOME BOY! Happy birthday Choppy, we love you xox

Skateboard birthday cake

This is the skateboard Choppy got for Christmas...

& the skateboard cake his Dad made for his Monster SK8 party today:

Well done BP! He shaped the trucks for the skateboard out of wagon wheel/biscuits & red licorice dipped in white and brown chocolate.

The happy {sweaty} birthday boy had such a GR8 day with his friends...we were all still hanging out in the park hours after the party was meant to end.

More Sk8 Party pics to follow.....and wahooo we're off to NZ tomorrow on his actual birthday!!

A New Year!!!!!

"Dawn and dusk take turns calling, "Come and worship." (Psalm 65:8 MSG)

Watching the sun go down on 2011. He told me loves me.

Good morning 2012....

Breakfast and a new journal. {Even though I actually started my 365 journal 2 days before New Years day cause I couldn't wait!!}

Happy New Year everyone!!!

I'll be back again soon for this cute boys birthday post!! x

Christmas 2011

You know it's Christmas at Hillsong Church when there's camels waiting in the carpark!! During the Christmas Eve service we were surprised too to be called out and given this slider below; "This is for Rebecca with the 4 kids" Oh my goodness I think that's me!

The berry, mango and mascarpone trifle Miss E and I made ready for Christmas lunch...

Christmas morning!!!!!!! All up at 6 :)) Can you guess the present behind the tree?

Yep J & his surfboard:

There were a couple of skateboards for these awesome boys too...

Hahaha the kids dad. Separated at birth?!

We then had a champagne brekkie with the most wonderful neighbours....

...& street rides and laughs for all on the slider:

As I mentioned before we then then met up with the children's fathers girlfriend, her kids & mother for Christmas lunch, more pressies and lots of fun at Balmoral beach...

Go Lij!!

It was funny to bang into our pastors Brian and Bobbie (Who's taking the photo) at Balmoral too with the slider we'd been given at church :))

It was such a great day!

When we'd been home for a bit later it was interesting that the kids started bringing up how nice I was to BPs girlfriend and her mum, commenting how other divorced people wouldn't be able to do that. I wasn't aware they were watching?!
Gosh if you stop and think about it, the whole set up is unusual but it was actually a lovely time in a funny kind of way!!! It worked for the kids who had such a happy and carefree day, and I appreciate that BP even invited me to join them on what was officially 'his time' (I have the kids to 2pm one year on Christmas Day, BP the next) I could tell BP and his girlfriend were deliberately trying not to be overly affectionate in front of me so I wouldn't feel uncomfortable. Honestly though so much water has gone under the bridge to the point that BP and I just feel like old school friends...and parents too of course!

So that was us!

Hope you and your families had a great day too. Jesus' birthday is the BEST!!