Tom and Abi - The Reception

So the girls said that this was the best night of their lives - and it was definitely fun! I mean who doesn't love a wedding?! Tom and Abi, thank you! We are so happy for both of you. xx

Tom and Abi - The Wedding

As promised here are some pictures from the wedding - tomorrow I will post the reception photos. The girls LOVED being a part of all the festivities, thank you Tom and Abi for so graciously including them.

The Groom looking magnificent

Ant - the dashing father of the groom:

Elliot and Hugh

Lloyd and Julie

Katie and Josie

Meggie and Ellie, Meggie got to wear Abi's special crown for the ceremony.

Hilary and Holly, Holly dog got to be bridesmaid too. She was the only girl allowed at the bachelor party, presumably because she knows how to keep a secret. 

At last - the beautiful bride! I love this picture!! By the way this picture and many of the others I have are thanks to Claudia Smith who shared them with us, she took some amazing photos.

Hamish - brother of the groom - and his parents Kate and Ant. It was also Kate and Ant's 30th wedding anniversary, Kate's birthday and Ben's birthday, not to mention New Year's Eve. So much to celebrate!

Rob and Liz

Rob and Hettie

Hettie, Rob, Liz and Hugh. Sadly Alex missed the wedding.

Debs and Emily - all the way from Australia! Where are you Andrew and Sam? How did you avoid the cameras??

Some of the lovely cousins - Vita, Ottilie, Hettie, Charlotte Howard, Bella, Emily and Isabella Howard.

Izzy, Hamish and Charlotte.

The groom and his men

Ottilie, Vita, Julie, Lloyd, Bella and Elliott. Maddie missed the wedding too.

Tom and Abi's Wedding

After our rather uncomfortable ferry crossing we had a lovely drive down the South Island to Wanaka. The storm we'd sailed through had filled the rivers and caused some flooding that detoured us off of the main road south of Christchurch, but otherwise the journey was as beautiful as always. We spent one night in Christchurch and were glad to not suffer an earthquake or any aftershocks! I don't think I'll ever tire of the incredible landscape of New Zealand - whenever we drive anywhere I just gawk out the windows at the majesty of it all. 

Our first night in Wanaka Dugald and I attended the rehearsal dinner for Tom and Abi and got to meet more of her family and the members of the wedding party. We also got to catch up with Ben which was great, we hadn't seen him since his time with Mercy Ships on the African Mercy. It brought back great memories of our time on the Anastasis and my only disappointment was not having taken the opportunity that weekend to see his photos.

As always our girls were ecstatic to catch up with their cousins - and the big girls got lots of pep talks about what an awesome school Marsden is and how their cousins plan to look after them which was a huge blessing (especially to me) so thank you Ottilie, Vita and Hettie. xx

I planned include a video montage of photos in this post, but after I uploaded it to youtube they wouldn't let me use the music I had put on it because of copyright issues, so I'll probably just post the photos here over the next few days. I'm a tad annoyed. Oh well. Stay tuned and I'll post pictures, probably more than you ever wanted to see, in my next post.

Lots of love,
Dawn x

Ferry Crossing

We left Wellington for the South Island during one of the worst storms of the summer. I kept texting to see if they had cancelled our ferry crossing because the wind was insane - gusts of up to 140 Kilometers per hour. They didn't cancel so we were up and out of here bright and early - we had to be at the check-in by 7:05 am and we were stopped at a check-point so Dugald could get a breathalizer test on the way. We jokingly wished he hadn't passed so we wouldn't have to get on the ferry. Thankfully we were on the biggest ferry they have so I parked myself with my seasickness inhaler and motion sickness bag on the 8th deck while the rest of the family went down below to watch Toy Story 3 in the cinema. Here' just a short clip, most of the time I was concentrating very hard on not being ill rather than on taking video. Dx

Christmas at Tablelands

This year we had another wonderful Christmas at Rob and Liz's house in Martinborough. We woke up to presents early at our house and then drove over and were there by lunch. I have attempted a home movie here with some of the pictures and video of our time together, it's pretty long so I imagine only family will be interested in watching and I've learned some things in the process of making it - my skills with the video camera could use improvement and there are some volume issues with the video, but overall it does capture the essence of our time together. I hope your Christmas was sweet and happy and blessed as well. xx

The Wizard of Oz

Way back before Christmas, on the 19th of December to be exact, the girls danced in their ballet recital performance of The Wizard of Oz. Meggie was in the Lullaby League, Katie was a Cornstalk and Josie was a mouse. What little girl doesn't love performing on stage to an adoring audience? It was a great night.