We're All Together Again

Kia Ora!

So I got to check out Brad's new car. It's a 2012 Lexus GS350, for those who care. And it's definitely the nicest car we've ever bought. It makes a great date night car and I will admit I also enjoy driving it to run errands. We tried to hurry home, hoping to get there close to the time the kids would, but Brad ended up taking a wrong turn and by the time we got home the kids were already there, the cargo shuttle all unloaded and the driver on his way to his next pick up. I was a little bummed that I didn't get to go through the house with the kids, but I was also okay that I didn't have to help unload anything! And how fantastic it was to just simply be all together again. Yippee!

I love this picture so much!

We were all fairly hungry so we decided it was the perfect opportunity to introduce the children to New Zealand bakeries. I wish I had taken pictures of the cabinet food so I could show you, I'll try to remember to go get some pictures and teach you all about these bakeries. Here's a picture to begin your introduction, for now.

These are flowers for sale at a gas station. They were so pretty I just wanted to take a picture to share with you.

If you look closely, underneath and to the left of the "Dry Gutts" billboard you will see a Filipino Takeaway shop, I took this picture for Sadie (my sister who served her mission in the Philippines).

And I took this picture for my dad, again if you zoom in you'll see there's a golf store.

And this is to give you an idea of what an oven looks like here. That is a 9x13 cake pan and it just about fills up the oven. Appliances here are much smaller than back in the US. We are pretty lucky that this house has a rather large oven, many of them wouldn't be this tall and some wouldn't even fit this cake pan.

Before Brad left I gave him an early birthday present of a night at an Airbnb about 40 minutes from Hamilton, just for the two of us. We were supposed to land in Auckland on Thursday and go to the Airbnb on Friday, but since our flight was delayed we landed on the day we were to go to the Airbnb. So, we were together for a little bit and then Brad and I left for our night away. The Airbnb had amazing views - ocean and bush. It was quite a drive, the last 15 minutes was on a dirt road through a bit of rough country. It was supposed to rain late that night and I was a bit nervous about what the road would be like and if we'd be able to get back out. Also, while we were happy to have some time together, we really wanted the family to be together. So, after a nice, relaxing few hours we actually headed back to Hamilton for the rest of the evening so we could all be together. We stopped for dinner on the way home as well as at the grocery store to grab some ice cream for a family treat. The funny thing is, when we got home everyone but James and Ryan was asleep! So much for some family time! Though I was still glad we decided to come home for the night because Daniel woke up during the night not feeling well and I'm glad I was there to help him. We'll try to have another night away, just the two of us, before long!

Beautiful views from the deck of the Airbnb.

With Love from New Zealand,

Lyndsay