Random post

Well I've been having a bit of fun photoshopping some of my pics on Picasa recently.
I'm not exactly a pro, but check out the difference!





Original photo





Photoshopped version...oops I think I made the tan too dark! :P



Day After New Year's Day Part 1

Just so you know, my title is derived from the calendar...!

So anyway, this particular day counted as busy for us. First off was all the normal housework that needs to be done after the weekend (fun stuff!), then after various necessary preparations, we all piled into the Burtons' van (yes, Mum had refrained from returning it so we could use it for this visit!), and headed for the Campbells' place. Jarrod is friends with the Campbell boys, so our family and the Shellings' were invited to go over for lunch and a few games, in celebration of Seth's 13th birthday. We weren't the only ones running on homeschool time, so somehow, we managed to arrive before the Shellings(!). Well, ok, they do have 10 children, and the eldest is only 11, so I suppose I'll let them off...lol! Actually, Mrs. Campbell and Nathan hadn't yet arrived back from dropping off the Porsche they'd had overnight...so the timing worked out fine in the end!

Once everyone had arrived, we all had lunch, following which Mrs. Campbell got the games started. The adults, very young children, and I just sat talking for a while. We needed to leave by a certain time, so finally we rounded everyone up for birthday cake, and lastly, a group photo:

Sorry, can't give you the names as I don't know them all....! But Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are in the top lefthand corner, my parents on the left, and Mr. and Mrs. Shellings on the right.

Laura

Hey Readers! =)

More journal-type posts coming, but for now, here are some more pics of my new little sis, Laura.

My friend Ruth =)

Uncle Paul

Anne Roos and Mrs de Boer

Bryce (4)



Essie (another friend)



My friend Suzanne

Finally more exciting news...!

So I have more exciting news than was included in my last post...

Laura Yvonne made an appearance yesterday afternoon at 4:22pm, on big sister Maria's second birthday.
Weighing in at 8lb 12oz, and measuring 54cm, she is the largest of our tribe!

Mother and baby doing well.

Uncle Pete chopping rosemary for our roast dinner!! yummy =)

Waiting...(midwives)




Proud parents





Big sister Monique



Uncle Pete



Danielle, Diana, and Laura



Laura



Still No Baby!

For those of you who don't yet know, my mum's due date was March 11th...3 days ago.
Everything is ready for it (er, him, for any English freaks reading this!) to arrive; the clothes are washed, Mum's picked up the capsule, and we have a few meals in the freezer. However, there is still no baby!

Below is a photo taken of Mum on her due date. Stay tuned for more exciting news! =D

Sorry it's not very good...it's the only one I have atm..hopefully I can get some more before she has the baby though!! 

Stratford - Day 8 - Friday 30th December

Hello again =)

Friday, December 30th started a lot earlier than most days for me! I got up just before 4am (serious), and Uncle Mike picked me up just before 5. And yes, it was still dark as pitch. And it was raining. Not so fun, but anyway! So why was I being picked up so early? To go help Uncle Mike in his business - Eltham 4 Square.

We made a massive batch of scones (45 large ones) - I knew it was big when 4 litres of milk went into it(!), cooked the various breads and pastries, and made some filled rolls. I think we had pretty much finished cooking everything by 6am! Then, of course, we had to package the breads, and put them on the display.

By then a few staff members had arrived, and everything was buzzing out front.

Out the back, we unloaded and checked off orders (stocking the freezers with ice is a very cold job - especially in the rain!), and packed fruit and vegies into styrofoam trays.

About 9 or so we went back to Uncle Mike and Aunty Sonia's to have a breakfast of crumpets with Aunty Sonia, Nana, and Lucus - before he went to daycare.

Back at the shop, were more orders arriving, vegies to package, fridges and shelves to stock.

Mum and Dad had planned to leave for home at about 10, but they didn't arrive until about 12! I grabbed my stuff, Aunty Sonia gave us 'travel packs' - food for me, and stationary et cetera for each of the others (Thanks so much!). Just before we left they also gave us a whole pile of Roses chocolates (yum!).

First we went to say bye to Nana, then to New World (we needed food and I was ready for lunch!). As we began the 6-hour drive, I made rolls for everyone. I think people it faster than I can make them though! =)

And - would you believe it -  for the first time in YEARS, I slept in the car on the way home! wow! lol

So yeah, between eating and sleeping, the time went pretty fast for me, and we were soon home! =)
Everyone else unpacked the car, I fell asleep again (!), and then we got pizza for dinner.

I can't remember exactly what else I did that night, but I don't think I went straight to bed! Oh yeah, I did unpack my suitcase. not sure what else though =)

Bianca.

Stratford - Day 7 - Thursday 29th December

{Not sure when I wrote this...}

Bonjour, mes amis (my friends)

On Thursday Mum was adament we had to do SOMETHING! We went first to Uncle Mike and Aunty Sonia's to check whether Nana wanted to come - she didn't, then to Mt. Taranaki (or Egmont). It was quite a long drive (an hour or so I think) but it didn't bother me, especially because I had my nose buried in Janette Oak's The Winds of Fall. We went as far as we could go - to this sign:

Which actually wasn't very far anyway! With the weather the way it was (you can see in the above photo) we couldn't see the snow-capped peak of the mountain, which Nana showed us later on her camera. So we drove to this area, Mum (?) went into the visitor centre - green building above - to find out that was as far as we could go, and...then we drove back! How fun..! lol Well driving back I took a heap of photos - just of the trees and stuff that lined either side of the road.

We then went to Fun Ho, in Inglewood.
Fun Ho is a toy museum, and very small - as in it had like three rooms!




These go karts would race around the track if you pressed the button!

 

This train was going right around the edge of the room!





The above picture was taken through one of the windows
in this car!



These cars were moving..

To soldiers and stuff..

There were several windows like this, with the inside
piece spinning around so you could see different scenes

Diana..

On the way out we got photos like the following of everyone (except myself!):

Danielle (8yrs)

For dinner we had Chinese at the campground, with Uncle Mike, Aunty Sonia, Nana, and Lucus. After dinner the adults and I talked (or listened...lol) while the rest all sat down (mostly) to watch Little House on the Prairie.

Dad had forgotten to get the ice creams Mum had asked him to get, so after everyone had left, Dad, Jarrod, and I went to a servo and bought a whole pile. We put four in a bag, Dad parked accross the road from Uncle Mike and Aunty Sonia's, Jarrod ran over, dropped the bag in front of their door, and ran to hide behind one of their cars! Unfortunately he couldn't stay hidded, though, and did end up saying hello. Ah well.

Back at the campground, everyone was excited about their Magnums. (see photo)

I attempted to have an early night..but that didn't exactly happen..I was writing a post for this blog! =)

Ciao.
(Why three languages in one post...don't ask me! haha =))

Stratford - Day 6 - Wednesday December 28th

Written January 4th.

On Wednesday, December 28th, our second day at the campground in Stratford, I slept in (surprised? lol! =)) and Mum did some washing.

And it may come to me later, but right now I don't have the slightest clue about what we did all day!

Yay I remembered: Dad took Nana to the hospital (which was like an hour or something away so they were gone for ages), and Mum took the rest of us to check out the shops in Stratford. Most of them are little Asian shops and stuff, no major chains or anything. Diana and Bryce bought backpacks, I got a new lip gloss, and a wooden make-it-yourself Eiffel Tower...which is usually for little kids...so yeah anyway not sure where I'll put it yet! I think everyone else got a couple of little things.

However at one stage we must have done some shopping, and in the evening Uncle Mike, Aunty Sonia, Nana and Lucus came for a bbq. The campground gave us the key for the big, nice, new, silver bbq! well ok I guess the food doesn't taste any different just because the bbq looks nice, but anyway! lol =D

After dinner we pulled out our new chocolate fondue fountain (Thanks Uncle Bill and Aunty Melissa!) to try with the strawberries we'd been given. The fountain worked fine, but melting the chocolate buttons was interesting! We don't actually have a microwave, and consequently most of us aren't that great at using one. So I put the choc buttons in for 2 minutes, but didn't even think of pulling them out to mix them! Yeah...you get the idea! Uncle Mike, the baker, came to the rescue though... =)

And that was about it for that day! Wow this post is a bit shorter than most of my previous ones...lol!

Au revoir =)

Guess what?

Guess what everybody?

I'm now the proud owner of Courageous!!!!

Now I just need to find time to watch it.....lol =)

Bee

Stratford - Day 5 - Tuesday December 27th

Written 29th December




Breakfast...mmm!! lol

Tuesday, December 27th saw the end of our family get-together. Everyone was up early, and busy cleaning, packing up, and cooking the last of the leftover food for breakfast. Yum, I love a cooked breakfast! We had to clean the entire campground, so that kept us all busy.

We had planned to stay at the campground until Friday, but another large group was scheduled to arrive at 2pm, and Uncle Mike had booked us in at Stratford Top Town Holiday Park until Friday. So we, along with everyone else, packed  our belongings and prepared to transfer. This time we hadn't packed so well, and the result was that we couldn't fit everything into the van. Oops! But Uncle Mike came to the rescue, and transported everything we couldn't fit, in his work van, to the new campsite.

 No one was in any hurry to leave, thereby putting an end to our great weekend. We all just hung around, talking and whatever, until about midday, when we were required to vacate the campground. Slowly we said our goodbyes, and one by one everyone left. Last of all, we piled into the Burton's van, and drove to Stratford, or specifically, the campground in Stratford. Torn between two accommodation options, Mum finally chose the larger backpacker room with 12 beds, and attached lounge, dining, and kitchen, (which we had stayed in the previous year), over the 4-person self-contained unit that we could have squeezed a few more beds into, thereby losing most of the lounge space.

One that difficult decision was made, we unpacked the vast majority of our belongings, and scavenged the bags/boxes of food for something for lunch.


Later that afternoon, Dad decided to drop in to Uncle Mike and Aunty Sonia's to see what they were up to that night, whether or not they wanted  to catch up that night. I tagged along with my laptop in the hope of an internet connection, and Jarrod and Monique for no particular reason.
Aunty Sonia kindly looked for the information I needed to connect to their wireless, but it wasn't to be. instead she found me a cable. Yay, finally I was online! I replied to a few emails and checked a blog (jesmithfamily.blogspot.com) before Dad announced, all to soon, that it was time to leave.

After a dinner of fish and chips, Uncle Mike and Nana came for a coffee, and we talked for a while. My siblings were watching Little House on the Prairie on my laptop, when it cut out after someone knocked a connection. Unable to get it to turn back on, I told them they'd have to do something else.

Once Uncle Mike and Nana had left, I was ready to do some blogging, so grabbed my laptop, plugged everything in, pressed the power button... and... nothing happened! We tried a few things with it but I ended up putting it away.

After everyone went to bed, I watched Soul Surfer on our new portable DVD player, and went to bed rather late!

Eltham - Day 4 - Monday 26th December

Written December 26th


Today everyone was up earlier. Dad and Jarrod, along with some of my uncles and cousins, went to my uncle’s shop (Eltham 4 Square) to help unload the stock of some pallets and put it in the racking, before I was even awake. Danielle and Diana were in one of their ‘loud’ moods, which means no one else is allowed to sleep! So yeah anyway, I finally stopped trying to sleep and got up and ready to brave the ancient toaster here! {Sorry, I'm not sure I have a photo of it....}

After breakfast I just sat around and talked and whatever, then when the men arrived back we had drinks and cookies (mini Cookie Time Cookies). The men then ditched us again to play 12 holes of golf, and the rest of us raided the fridge for leftovers from the Christmas dinner that we could have for lunch. We have HEAPS of leftovers! =) In the afternoon, I helped prepare some stuff for dessert, sorted my washing and put it in the machine (seriously how on earth do you use a front loader?!?), then read Soul Surfer cover to cover! Good book! =D By the time I’d finished the book, the men were back and dinner was ready – more leftovers, and a few new things.

After dinner I went to the shop with Uncle Mike, he just had a couple of things to do, and I got a free coke...sweet!

When we got back we had dessert and talked..again...! When Uncle Mike found out that the shop alarm had gone off, Dad rounded up about five guys I think, and they all went to have a look, but found nothing (yay I didn’t miss any action... *grin*). When they returned, the played with the balls for ages, then returned to the shop to have another look..I’m not sure whether the alarm went of again or not.

Some of us sat around talking, and others watched Cars. The nana’s seemed captivated! Lol

Later on we went to the kitchen for a drink (and I wanted a snack...), and showed off my laptop a bit (the idea was to write this while I was having my drink but hey!), and my cousin Kurt managed to put one of the keys back on my laptop (I’m not entirely sure how it came off, but I may have knocked it with my nails or something).

When I was, finally, ready for bed, I folded the washing, and then I sat down to write this. And here I am! I’m listening to my Manna Worship CD (yes, again!), and I’m kind of thinking I would love to pick the guitar up again...anyone volunteer to give me lessons (Preferably a former student of Jules Riding...)? Lol!

G’night everyone =D

Bee

Eltham - Day 3 - Sunday December 25th

Written December 27th

Uncle Bill's present (from Uncle Mike).
Just as well he loves looking at
Uncle Mike every hour of the day...hehe!

On Sunday morning, I slept in (and yay I wasn’t the only one! lol), missed breakfast (oops..), then grabbed my gifts and camera as it had been decided to do give the Jago presents. I received $10 from Nana (yay I can go shopping now! Lol), a Pandora bracelet (I think that’s what it’s called?) from Uncle Mike and Aunty Sonia, and Uncle Marty and Aunty Denise, and Uncle Bill and Aunty Melissa did family presents. Uncle Marty and Aunty Denise gave us a portable dvd player, and Uncle Bill and Aunty Melissa gave us a chocolate fondue fountain (let’s have another Bible Study breakup shall we?! Lol!), a tub of chalk, and a ‘boyfriend.’ Explanation: ‘Boyfriend’ is the Tupperware© term for a small square piece of rubber, used to open jars and things. =)

Mum thought that would be a good time to listen to a sermon, so we went back to our room, sang, prayed, and played the CD containing the sermon. We didn’t get to finish it though, I think the CD must have been scratched as it stopped before it finished.

Pork, anyone?

Dad then came and announced that the spit was taking longer than had been expected, and the pig wouldn’t be ready for a while longer, so all were having filled rolls to tide them through until lunch was ready, and we should come down and have some too. Kaiser rolls are SO much nicer than the Tom Thumbs we always buy in Auckland! Thanks Uncle Mike and Aunty Sonia =)


I helped prepare some of the desserts before lunch was ready. We then consumed a LOT of food! =) Namely, ham, chicken, multiple salads (thanks Aunty Denise!), breads, and stuffing. Out of the 35 people in attendance, there were comparatively few hands which had not entered the stuffing during the long preparation!




The designated group-meals table



After a very filling lunch, some of the others went down to the creak, and, yes, they came back soaked! I prefer something not quite so wet, however, and I sat down to read a bit more in Ruth: Her story for today by Keith M Watkins, which was a gift to me from our minister, Mr Smith (Officially: Rev. Jett Smith).

Finally everyone was ready for dessert, so we consumed a lot more food, yet, in proportion to the total amount, it really wasn’t that much! After the dishes and stuff were done we just sat around talking.