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Cheers to All.

Cheers to all the wonderful NZed's who made our Christmas?New Year trip wonderful.

We had a great time in NZ as can be seen from the various pictures below, which is just a selection of the 700+ photos that were taken.

I'm not quite sure where to start, so I may as well start at the beginning.....

Once apon a time there were 4 mad males (Carl, Isaac, Jesse and Tim) and a beautiful princess (Tanja) who decided that it was far too hot in their land for them to spend Christmas in comfort

. So they got into thier magnificent flying machine (2 of the boys had never been in it before), and traveled for many days and nights, and inand out of weeks (borrowed from a great book) to the Land of the Long White Cloud (and wind, and rain). They landed in the middle of the night, it was cold, so cold that they ran screaming to their

awaiting transport and pounded on the doors, this in fact was an utter waste of time , as they had to wait for the locals who picked them up to arrive anyway (they didn't run as they were used to the freezing conditions).

When they did arrive at where they were going, which was a little town in the realm of the great Wirarapa called Greytown, they slept and slept, until they could not sleep anymore, then they woke up, ate and slept some more. This seemed to go on for days, so I'll skip the rest of the sleeping and the eating and the sleeping again, but you get the point, there was an awful lot of sleeping going on (and eating).

The weather was beautiful, exactly what they were looking for, fine and sunny but not too hot. They spent many an hour in the yard, reading, lying in hammocks, drinking the finest brown ales that the realm produced, and generally lazing about. Sounds relaxing aye?

Then a mammoth storm hit the village, his name was Tom, and he was ferocious (but so soooo cute at the same time as being ferocious), he kidnapped one of the boys Tim and followed him around for days, saying things like Tim Tim Tim Tim look at this, Tim Tim Tim Tim come here

and play this, generally they had a great time together and bonded like chewing gum on Jandels. In the end Tim didn't mind being kidnapped.

Then came the time of great presents. No one had ever seen a tree with so many presents under it in there lives. (But first they had to battle the tree keepers and bring one of the prized 'fur' trees to the great hut). There where presents big and small, and the Princess Tanja managed to get some pretty good bling, as she was the farest in the land all would try and woo her with thier gift giving abilities, but......

there can be only one winner.

One of the Gods trying to battle the storm (Tom), lets call him Steve, had a bit of a misshap

while taking a break challenging the tiny males in a game they called Soccer, me thinks he is getting a bit old for all this sky larking about, but the tiny males did so love watching him run around and falling down.

The tiny males also enjoyed playing a game they called crocket (or something like that) in the land behind the great hut, it pays to be small and quick in this game, else one gets tripped up while running.

Stay tuned for the next riverting episode of "Cheers to All" when the clan discovers another realm called Taranaki...

Who's a clever Kiwi?

Isaac's Grade 7 Graduation

Last night was the official end of Isaac's primary education, my how the years have flown by.

We took a few snaps on the night, but the light was not great, so only limited to these four. But i think i might use this space for some words to Isaac.

So here is my little ode to Isaac.

You make me so proud to be your Dad mate, not just on nights like tonight, but every day i feel so blessed to have you as my son. The way that you conduct yourself everyday, to me, you are what a real man should be, caring, thoughtful, kind, generous, selfless and proud of who you are.

The things you have achieved at primary school are too many to name here, you know what they are. What you may not know is how respected you were by the teaching staff at Junction Park, they have always commented to me and others on what a wonderful student you are and how caring you are to others in the school. When Jesse and Tim started this year I heard many stories of you looking after them, and just helping them become part of the school, Tanja and I thank you for that. Mrs Woods (Principle) said to me just last week, "Isaac is one of those kids you just enjoy having around, he is always willing to help and does it with a smile, he will be missed at Junction Park", What more can we ask for.

I know that you are going to have a great time at high school, i know how scary it seems right now, but believe me, in a few short months you will be having the time of your life, make the most of it. Remember to be yourself in everything you do, don't change for anyone, and always look after your mates.

In this world we are not about what jobs we have, what cloths we wear, what cars we drive, or what house we live in. We are about who we love, and who loves us. Friends and family are

what keep us living.

Congratulations Isaac for graduating grade 7, you rock !!!!

xxx your Dad

Pre Christmas Camping

About 6 weeks ago i finished building my new Vegetable garden and planted some veges. The sun is so hot during the day that i had to buy some shade cloth just to give the veges a chance to get started. The boys enjoy helping me plant, and water every afternoon after school, and needless to say Maddie tries to tell me she needs watering everyday too.

It is starting to get established, left front section are herbs, tomatoes on the right, lettuce, rocket, carrot, and capsicum down the back. I also have some sun flowers and beans about to grow up the trellis at the back.

Is a nice way to keep busy during the day, and saves us heaps of money on veges too.

Maddie is enjoying her new bed, and has learnt to stay on it when she is inside, so as a result is spending more time inside at night.

She tends to loose a little bit of class when she is deep in sleep, but we try not to judge.

We all spent some time putting up the Christmas tree the other night.

Here is a picture of the head elf (that's the beautiful one on the left) and the boss (that's the beautiful one on the right).

Tim got the honour of putting the angel on top, mostly cause he's the smallest.

Is it me or does that tree look like it's on a lean ? (doesn't in real life)...

As you can see Isaac and Jesse tend to spend most of their time in their undies, it is hot after all, and it's a lot easier than trying to colour coordinate.

We just spent a few days camping down at Kingscliff and all had a very nice time, unfortunately the camera ran out of power half way through, but Tanja did catch this shot of the Boys on the beach with the storm about to dump in the background, 5 mins later we were running for the shelter of the tent, half an hour after that it was all over. This is about 30 mins before sunset, but is almost pitch black due to the storm coming from the west. Made for a beautiful sunset though.

Maddies first birthday

Well today was Maddie's frist brithday, and it was celebrated in style as is usual around here.

Here she is with her new chew toys, on her new inside bed. The chew toys did not last very long, less than 20 mins and was already ripped apart (may have to avoid the cheap one next time).

Here she is in her birthday hat enjoying the new bed.

Ahhhh cake....ummm can i go first please, it is my birthday after all.

The last wee while

Hey all

I thought i had better add some photos and stories about the goings on of late.

As you all know we have now moved to Annerley and are living happily ever after, Uni has now finished for the year and school will be finishing in about 3 weeks (11th Dec) then we are off to NZ for two weeks which we are all looking forward to alot.

some photos below of school camp, just to prove that i did survive, and was voted "Mr Calm" for not losing my temper once, which apparently was quite an achievement. Park near our new home where Maddie can run and have fun in the water, about 5 mins walk away from our home which is great. There are also some pics of the puppet show that the boys school put on a few weekends ago, and a couple of us having fun in our new home, will have to take some photos of my newly created vege garden.

xx for now Carl.