Fiona and shane's wedding day.Cromwell,central otago.NZ

 

The kids with their Dad and Grandpa.

 

Billy.After his aunt + uncles wedding.

 

It was all too much...billy,after his 02

 

Ruby and her little south african cousin Katie(18 months old)

 

Katherine,Ruby and jas playing in the central otago sunshine.

 

Billy with his aunty heather,uncle craig and cousin katie.

 

He finally got the trampoline to himself!

 

Having fun with daddy on the trampoline,at our motel in Cromwell.

 

Storytime with gran.

 

Jas,ruby,billy with their NZ cousins.Hastings,hawkes bay.Oct 2009.

 

Billy(14 months)

 

The babies...Billy +willo.

 

More storytime.

 

Ruby and Jasper adored gran's dollshouse.

 

My mother's home in waipawa,hawkes bay.

 

Jasper.Gran's backgarden.

 

Ruby with her cousin isabella...these two got on so well.

 

Just doing what kids do!This was at a cafe in central hawkes bay.

 

Gran lee with five of her grandchildren(she has 11 now!)

 

With uncle gerard

 

Davie + the tribe.Baxter(6),Bella(4),billy,jas and Roo.

 

Lovely logan(9 months old)

 

With aunty shanz + logan.Our last day in NZ.

 

It was William's first trip to Newzealand recently.His second international flight in a year!what are we doing to the boy?Anyway,he travelled like the little dreamboat that he is!He only began to lose it on our descent into christchurch(after non stop delays all the way from perth).And so instead of getting on another flight to torture him some more we chose to drive down to cromwell instead.That was good as billy and his big brother and sister slept for alot of the trip.We stopped in a veeeerry cold where the kids had a run around in the playground there.Our little australian-born boy didn't seem to care about the cold and he had fun exploring some rock-garden feature.Then it was back on the road furthur south to central otago!It was so wonderful to show Billy off to the family,His grandparents and aunties could not get over how much bigger he was since they last saw him last christmas.On saturday 26th sept was His aunty Fiona's wedding to uncle shane.Billy was very active and ran around alot outside the church.I sat at the back of the church with him and distracted him with my shiny bracelet!But he was very good!.We stayed at a kid-friendly motel and billy absolutely loved the big trampoline there.He also was fascinated by his cousin katherine(who is 5-months older),and kept trying to cuddle her(awwww)but katie cryed!Heeheehee.
On the monday,and after farewelling the family(boohoo)the previous night,it was on to an early flight out of Queenstown.Later that day we flew into Napier and billy's gran,uncle gerry and 3 cousins were there to greet us!It was first introductions to billy for them so it was very exciting.We had a fantastic stay in beautiful Hawkes Bay(the highlight for us was the drive up to the top of Te Mata Peak,with views ofthe entire region.Fantastic!).Billy loved his uncle and aunt's paddling pool!!And playing with his cousin Willoughby(only 2 weeks older than billy).He also loved walking/running everywhere!He just had a ball.Gran had to put all her pretty things up higher though as billy broke a couple bits.Sorry mum!.It was another sad farewell to gran and uncle and then we hit the road again,stopping in taupo(beautiful weather there)Then onto Auckland to stay with his aunty shanz.We all enjoyed just relaxing next to the fire,listening to the rain outside.We never did get to go out on the farm as it was just too wet.Billy was intrigued by his cousin logan(who is 9-months old)as it was someone smaller than himself.Not for long though,once logan starts wwalking!.We took loads of photos and then said our goodbyes.
Then it was the long flight back to perth which luckily was a night flight so billy,Jas and Roo slept the entire way.Wahoo!!Since being back in perth billy has settled easily back into his routine.He is such an easy and chilled out little fella though.

spring equinox...

And while the days are becoming longer and we are having LOADS of spring rain,I however am OVER the cold and wind and damp...brrrr.But inbetween the showers we have been basking in any sunshine we get!,and ruby get's busy picking every little flower that pops up in our lawn.Billy has found a way to get up into the garden beds and dig in the damp soil...and splash in the birdbath...and well,get into everything!.

We are off home to NEW ZEALAND in a couple of days time.Another long flight for our children but,they are such little troopers.Their aunty Fiona is marrying uncle shane and so we are all excited to be there for that ,and be back in Central Otago for a few days.I won't want to leave!.Maybe our little"aussie"kids will see some snow still on the mountains.

memories...

A sad day as mine and dave's thoughts turn to the funreal of a beloved grandmother,occuring in south africa as i write this now...I am grateful that I had the chance to know Gran D for a little while and I treasure the memory of her aswell as our other grandparents.

Our new house

On ethan's 5th birtday recently jas and ruby each had a spin with uncle on ethans dirtbike.They loved it!.It's the perfect size though for maddy and she burns around on it like an expert.

presents!

Thanks aunty shanz!

Today i opened a present from my cool aunty shanz in NZ...bath toys!I especially liked the toy fishing rod for the bath!xx.Now I just have to keep my brother + sister's hands off them!.

(Will post a pic or two later as dumb computer won't cooperate right now:)

More Birthday photos

Billy's 1st birthday!

I will post some more photos when i am not so tired!But,our baby has a had a fantastic day.Cake.A vist to Whiteman park where he had his first trainride!Lots of playing and giggling.And to mark this milestone we planted two native trees(small ones!)A banksia and a wattle.Now all three children have a tree planted for them.

Oh and did i mention he is now walking?!.He took his first TEN steps infront of his dad on the eve of his 1st birthday.
Happy birthday small fry!