Summer Holidays are coming to an end...

It seems weird to have summer holidays from January to March, but I can say that I have not had that dull dreary feeling that I usually feel each year back in Ontario. Dan's parents flew home this week after a month long stay with us. I feel for them as they have to readjust their bodies to the dark and cold of Dresden! It is Saturday here and we can expect clear skies "a fine day" with a temperature of 25 degrees. It is only 11am and I am already sweating! The nice thing about NZ is that there is usually a breeze. Today we are going into Gore to get groceries, get Sam's uniform shoes for school, then we are off to our favourite Porpoise Bay.

Here are some pics of our trips to Te Anau and Queenstown. We spent last weekend in a holiday home in Te Anau. It was beautiful. The weather in Te Anau changes very quickly and you will see the skies behind the mountains that are sunny and bright then cloudy and rainy. The kids did get into the lake and played a bit.

Dan's folks flew out of Queenstown so we rented a flat there and spend the last couple of days with them in Queenstown.

Next week I am back in the school, preparing for the Year 9s. The kids will come with me for a few of the days, we have hair appointments booked and school supplies to get. Next week the boys start guitar again and Abby will begin Ballet. I have decided to NOT teach tap this year. I will be busy enough with my new responsibilities at school and my left knee is becoming bothersome. Not sure if I will need to have it done at this point or not.

Now that the summer holidays are over our routine in life will get back to normal. As well, our blog will get back to a weekly post. Thanks to everyone who follows our blog, your comments are greatly appreciated.

Summer Holidays

Our summer holidays have been very nice. We have seen and done many things. Abby got the Little House on the Prairie DVDs for Christmas so we have been watching episodes of that. Holly and I used to set the table each night and watch LHOTP. I do remember many of the shows and the stories. However, Pa/Charles Inglalls is a yummy man, I do not remember thinking that when I was a kid. Abby and Sam love Carrie, the youngest of the girls. And they are bugging for a dog which they will call Jack. I am so glad that Abby is into LHOTP as I was not enjoying the Hannah Montanna shows she was watching.

Janet and Phil, Dan's parents drove to the North Island for about 10 days. Dan went back to work and the kids and I enjoyed some time at home. I borrowed a sewing machine from the high school and Abby has made herself a skirt and a sundress. She patiently awaited Grandma's return as they are working on a pioneer dress, just like on Little House. Sam is avidly reading the Harry Potter Series. He had now finished the second book. Tomorrow we will go to the Library and he will get the third out. Abby has gotten into the Little House in the Big Woods. Again, this is doing wonders for our "anti -sass" campaign!

Last weekend we headed out with our picnic basket to Roxburgh. We went to pick our own cherries and apricots. Roxburgh is an orchard area north of us. We found Pinders Pond. It is a beautiful place where we had lunch and swam after we ate our lunch. The pictures that are below are of that day.

Jo and John Gardyne live about 20 minutes north of us and they are sheep farmers. Jo is on the board for Camp Columba. They had us over last night to see some of their sheep sheared. Jo and John 7000 sheep. They hire a "gang" to come in and shear their sheep. 4 guys were on the stage, sheep were waiting in stalls behind them. These guys were amazing! One of the men sheared 350 sheep that day!!! Sammy and Dan tried their hand at shearing as well. Sam had John at his side coaching and instructing. Sam tipped the sheep and dragged her onto the stage. He did a great job. Dano got his sheep set up and away he went. The poor sheep, she got cut several times. Their skin cuts very easily...and we were sure that Dano's sheep was made fun of by her friends after her bad hair cut!!!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

On Christmas Eve we attended an evening service at Calvin Church in Gore. It was a retelling of the Christmas story aimed at young families. The kids really enjoyed it. We allowed Sam and Abby to exchange presents on Christmas Eve, a Horton family tradition. Sam gave Abby a Hannah Montana gift set that included a journal, pen and CD as well as a Kooky Pen. Abby gave Sammy the game Sketchy. Christmas morning was full of excitement and fun. Grandma and Grandpa Horton gave the kids a Nintendo Wii - they were thrilled. Grandma and Grandpa Richards gave the kids Mario Kart for the Wii, their new favourite game. Lots of gifts from all the aunts and uncles. The kids were thrilled to be remembered even though they are on the other side of the world. It was a little strange to have Christmas in the summer but we managed.

Christmas Eve and Morning


Christmas Day

Mom and Dad/Janet and Phil's First Two Days

I have a confession to make, we were late to meet my mom and dad on their arrival at the Dunedin Airport. We had a really smooth morning, everyone was ready to go in lots of time but somehow I had miscalculated the time we needed to leave our house by and we ended up at the airport 15 minutes after their flight had landed. This worked out great because it gave them time to use the rest rooms, find their luggage and head out to the pick up area - this is what I tell myself to ease my guilt. They arrived at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, December 21st. We had lots of day left so we headed out to the coast for a bit before returning home. The next day we headed to Dunedin to take care of some immigration issues and then to go to Penguin Place in the evening. A full first two days in NZ for Mom and Dad. On their third day we rested.

Arrival Day



Dunedin and Penguin Place

Happy New Year

There has been a lot that has happened since our last blog post. Abby had her dance recital, the kids had their end of year school production, school ended for the summer, we went and cut down a Christmas tree at a gold mine, my parents arrived-they are here for a month and we celebrated our first Christmas and New Years in New Zealand. There are slide shows for most of these occasions and then some of other things that we have done since my parent's arrival. I will post two slide shows here and then there will be some other new posts with more slide shows in each. Enjoy and have a happy new year.

Dance Recital and School Production





Christmas Tree Hunt