A weekend in Te Anau with Mom and Dad

Mom and Dad left Friday afternoon to go ahead of us to Te Anau. They went to warm up the holiday home. We followed them up after work. Friday night we got there and had a wonderful time. The holiday home belongs to a family that plays hockey with Dan. Te Anau is beautiful even on a weekend that the clouds hang low in the sky and there is a damp chill in the air. The adults played a lot of Pepper while the kids lego-ed and played together. We ate well, of course and we walked a lot too. Mom and Dad stayed at the holiday home while Dano, the kids and I came back Sunday night. Mom and Dad are going to Milford Sound Monday then to Riverton, Monkey Island and Gem Stone Beach on Tuesday. They will be back with us Tuesday evening.



I spoke to the lady that is renting us our house on Grand Ave back home. It is nice to have housing sorted and organized. There will be a few peices of furniture left in the house, and seeing that we sold everything to come to NZ we are glad! Mom and Dad have been telling us about friends that have offered stuff to furnish our home...we are so appreciative! Mom and Dad will get the keys to the house August 1st but things can be put in the garage in July.

I have also spoken to the Principal of McNaughton school. Abby will be going into Grade 4 and Sammer Grade 7. Mrs. Ellacott was telling me about all of the things that goes on at McNaughton school. I think it will be a good fit for the kids.

Until next time,
Samantha

Sam's Comedy Act

Sam signed up for Eistedfod....that does not even sound like a real word to me. We had no idea what it was. Sam come home a few weeks ago and told us he was going to do a comedy act on stage about Canada. Eistedfod is a cultural celebration that his school puts on each year. Kids choose to do skits, sing, dance and entertain. Our Sam thought he could create a funny few minutes about Canada. Dan and I had a moment when he shared his plans because this is not the boy that we left Canada with 18 months ago. The whole idea of standing up in front of an auditorium full of people is not something that Sam would have done. He wrote a script about how Canadian kids have different pets that Kiwi kids. The story was about how he and his dad were out in the Canadian bush and they came across a moose and a beaver. Watch and see for yourself...




We are so proud of him...he was fantastic. Mom and Dad got to be there to see him, it was truly a special thing!

Mom and Dad arrive!

Mom and Dad flew into Dunedin today. They arrived at 9:10am this morning and we then we took them to Kaka Point and Nugget Point. The day was overcast and somewhat dreary but that did not matter. We had a fabulous time showing them a few of our favourite places here in NZ. The kids were so excited to see them, it has been almost a year and a half since we have seen them. We came home and celebrated Father's Day.
I have missed them and I am glad they are here.


Until next time,
Samantha

All Blacks

This weekend was a good one. Friday night began with us going over to Martin and Sarah Murrell's house for dinner. I work with Martin at Gore High, he is the Wood Tech teacher and Sarah works with some of our special kids at the school part time. They moved to NZ from Wales last year and they are here for good. They just bought a house in Gore, a beautiful home on a hill with a glass room over looking the Mataura River. Stunning! Martin and Sarah have two gorgeous girls that our kids connect really well with. Tegan and Meri are great girls. From the moment we walk in their door the kids play, giggle, run around, imagine, squeal and have a great time together. We will miss them! After a wonderful meal of homemade pizza and chocolate cake we shared what our lives were like before NZ. They talked about coming to Canada to stay with us. I really hope they do. We will miss the Murrells.
Saturday began with a much needed sleep in. However, my friend Katie lent us PlayStation Singstar and I was awoken by Chad Kruger belting out "ARE WE HAVING FUN YET, YET, YET.... (It was Dano singing and I was not impressed). We had a fantastic time with Katie's Singstar! The Red Wings game took precedence from noon until 3pm. We listened to the game on the computer through speakers. I de-moulded windows while we listened, Dano and the kids laid around the living room and listened to every moment. Too bad the Penguins beat the Wings.
We left for Dunedin at 4pm to get to Carisbrook Stadium to see the All Blacks(New Zealand's national rugby team) play France. Shelly and Phil Taylor bought tickets for us and we met outside the stadium. The crowd was interesting and the game was too. There are many things I do not understand about rugby, but I do know that I would watch those men do almost anything as long as they wore their shorty shorts and tight t-shirts! The All Blacks lost 27 - 22, but it was exciting!



Reena and Sambo arrive next weekend and our preparation begins! It is getting hard to remained focused on school and work lately. Even Sammer has started saying things like, I wish I could not got to school today and do something else. I know how he feels because I have made a mental list of things we have not done yet, the Rail Trail, Stewart Island, Doubtful Sound... I would much rather be out biking over viaducts or tramping through the most southern island instead of going to school each day. We do have a few things planned when Mom and Dad are here. We will have lots to post about when they get here! Stay tuned!

Until next time,
Samantha

June already...

Man, our time here is flying by! We spent last weekend at a holiday home near Dunedin in a place called Taieri Mouth. It is along the Southern Scenic Route and right on the ocean. Dan spoke at a church a while back and a couple in the congregation approached him and offered their holiday home. We took them up on their offer and spent a winter weekend at the ocean. It was spectacular! We taught the kids to play Bonanza and they picked it up really quickly. We had a fantastic weekend!




This past weekend we went to a party for a girl that works at Camp Columba. The kids brought our Wii and the kids played games while the adults chatted. We left the party to drive to Queenstown because the kids had two hockey games Saturday. The weather was supposed to wintery so we thought we would head up the night before. The drive to Queenstown is breathtaking during the day, but at night with the moon light kissing the snow capped mountains...amazing! We stayed at Lakeland Holiday park in a bunkhouse. In the morning we opened the drapes to see a giant snow covered mountain out the sliding glass door. I will certainly miss the New Zealand scenery! The kids lost both games but they played well. Abby even had a shot on net. The drive home was just as beautiful with clouds and snow against the mountains. I hope you enjoy the pictures.



Until next time,
Samantha