Christmas Week

Christmas reds:
The pohutukawa trees are in bloom. Some of them have clumps of red flowers and some are more spread out. See photo above.

Sunburned skin - We have been quite sun burnt from brief exposure. People had told us that one could burn in 15 minutes and they are absolutely right. We've got the bottle of aloe vera gel ready and will be much more vigilant with the sunscreen. I ordered myself a rash shirt so my shoulders and back will be covered during days at the beach and pool with Dennis.

Our friends Kurt and Monica arrived on Friday the 19th. They are fellow Chicago transplants who now live in Sydney, Australia (aka Oz, Aussie). We spent Saturday with them and then on Sunday morning they took the ferry to the south island. Then they returned to us on Christmas eve.

Sunday morning our church had a special Christmas service. The kids participated. Dennis read a Bible verse from the Psalms (see photo on right). He did a great job! It was followed by an indoor picnic due to rainy weather.

Wednesday, Christmas eve, we went to Te Papa museum and saw the giant squid. They have a real one set up in a case all preserved. We walked around and had to take a photo in Cuba Mall by the Chicago for Men clothing store. For brunch we ate at Flordita's cafe--yummy salads, eggs benedict and chips with garlic mayonnaise. We decorated our potted "Charlie Brown" tree. Tom made the star on top; Chris and Monica did the rest. While Dennis and Kurt slept, Monica, Tom and I walked down the street to the Anglican church for their late night service.

We had a lovely time on Christmas day visiting with friends. We went to a barbecue in the afternoon and enjoyed tasty pork, ham, smoked eel and desserts filled with cream. This was our second time at Jeni and Brett's. We met and got acquainted with Sian and Neville. Dennis kept busy playing with 4 year old Jared and the dogs.

Friday, Boxing Day, we went to Wanganui for the annual motorcycle race. Monica knew someone in it. We got to see her friend's vintage cycle and sidecar. After the race we wandered downtown and met a coworker of Tom's at Indigo cafe.

Saturday morning we felt a little earthquake--5.1 and the epicenter was about 34 kms north of Wellington. After breakfast Tom and Dennis stayed home and played Ticket to Ride. Chris, Kurt and Monica viewed the Da Vinci exhibit in town. The exhibit showcased models of Da Vinci's drawings. Some were for looks only and some could be touched. We followed that up with some shopping. The wine, cheese and bread supply was running low!

Sunday, we did some Lord of the Rings sites touring. If we didn't get to the exact site we at least got darn close. We visited the Weta Cave, home of the company that did special effects for Peter Jackson movies; their video was a bit commercial yet interesting. During our exploring we discovered a beach and a park worth longer visits. Dennis spent the evening with a sitter while the grown ups went out for Indian food and did some more walking and exploring along Oriental Parade and on Tinakori hill.

Today is Monday and Tom is home on a much deserved break. Kurt and Monica are off to do some more touring on their own. Dennis is playing with some neighbor friends. It is a fine sunny day. The laundry is out on the line, the dishwasher is running. Sounds like a perfect time for a leisurely glass of wine.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! We have been full-on this holiday season between all Dennis' extra curricular activities, Chris' extra curricular activities, and mine as well. Christmas is summer and a time of festive parties here in New Zealand. We have also been busy getting ready for our house guests (Kurt and Monica from Chicago via Sydney) and for Christmas day as well. That is not an excuse for ignoring the Blog. We promise to put a bunch of updates (with pictures) in soon.

Today Chris and I are actually spending some time getting our lives in order for Christmas. Chris has been asking about Christmas music for quite some time now. You may remember that on this very same computer which I am using to write the blog. I recorded all our music. So today I went to show her how to get to the Music she is missing. Well I found all the music I recorded, and yes you guessed it, except for the Christmas music! Turns out I just forgot to copy our Christmas music. Handle's Messiah, Cambridge Singers, Selene Dion, Kathleen Battle, and the others. They were all packed up at the time of recording and are now somewhere in the Georgia In-Laws basement!

The good news is that we found some excellent albums on the computer which are similar in tone. Right now we are listening to the Canadian Brass, their album The Sacred Brass reminds us of the Holy. As that is what Christmas is all about it seems in order. God became man ... that is Holy. I have no idea why he would do it. They say it is because he loves us, that is better than any reason I could think of so I will go with it.

This time of year is special we have often shared it with friends and family. As we were going around to our new Friend's here in Wellington it was bitter sweet. Bitter for we are reminded of the friends we miss, sweet for we are starting to build a life here in this lovely country.

We miss you! And wish you a Very Merry Christmas!

Love,

Tom, Chris and Dennis.

Eight Mice

We bought two mice--two females. It turns out one was pregnant when we bought them. So we now have six baby mice. I phoned the pet store, so I have a home for the babies when they are 3-4 weeks old. Whew!

It will be fun to watch them grow. Now if I can just get Dennis to leave mom and babies alone for a few days.