You are lucky with the weather It looks beautiful there! We are not so lucky with the weather here - we have had intermittent rainy showers so lucky you decided to go when you did? How many steps Alex? I did 15,456 yesterday!
managed to get on the site to make a comment Hello both of you! Already talked about your days in Helensville but I love the photo of the gannet community and also of Alex the dare-devil!!
Karen please let me know your email address, don't have it! Glad you all stayed healthy, and enjoyed blackpool.\happy new year to you too, and glad you like hair style!
Hi Happy New Year!!! We had a really good time in blackpool, No illness really good time. Glad to be home, they have treated snow tomorrow. I saw Mandy and derk they said how well your mum and dad are. Alex dotor who was fab did you get to see it!! The daffs have started to pop up!! So glad your having a good time are u you still coming home or have we lost you?? I hope Not!!! Alex the hair is coming on a treat!!
Lots of love Karen!
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Merry Xmas Hi Carrie and Alex,
I am enjoying catching up on the 'blog' We hope you all had a wonderful xmas. We had a lovely unexpected visitor with Monica returning to Australia!!
Enjoy your holiday.
love sue x
What a day! Well I think you captured the day perfectly although a mention of Ashlee's cross stitch and baking skills would be good! Also the noise of the children all cooped up inside with rain definitely stopping play!! It was fun and very relaxed for the hostesses!
Does Santa Claus leave snowy footprints in Whangerei? Well, here we are excitedly waiting for Father Christmas, knowing that he has already visited you all (hopefully!) Sophie and Chris have just made Christmas Cake (without marzipan and icing, because members of this house are a little fussy!); Mike has made stockings in preparation for midnight deliveries and we are leaving soon for Midnight Mass at St Pauls Cathedral. Looking through the photos reminds Mike and Chris of their visit and longing for the sunshine, rather than the slight damp cold that we are currently having.
Mike here....have very fond memories of our NZ trip, although we explored the south island more than the north. Mind you, George did let us camp on his front drive with the posh 'campervan' we hired (much posher than our current VW camper). How does NZ compare to Wales? Glad to see you are getting a good tan and enjoying yourselves.
Liked your comment about Christmas being simplere and less fussy in NZ. I really hate the commercialism of it here in the UK, with Christmas shopping followed immediately by Boxing day sales. I think NZ have got it more right. There are some good things though - just had our local church service, and we ended up with the church only lit by candles, very beautiful and quiet, a bit of peace too.
Tomorrow we have a few people round (Frank and Margaret, Sophie (obviously) our friends Laura and Andy. Boxing day is a bigger group with some of 'my' (Freed) side of the family. This will include my slightly unpredictable Turkish step-mother who will almost certainly say something strange/embarassing. Better hit the whisky early to help me get through it.
Anyway, hope you all have a great Christmas, and keep up the impressive blogs.
Love Mike (and I guess Chris and Sophie although they seem to have wandered off.....)
What are you doing??? Dear Carrie and Alex,
We are so glad you broke our drought, but the hail storms were a bit much....and now there are earthquakes in New Zealand! We had best warn Wales before you return!!! Seriously though, I am so pleased to be able to read all your news and see the photos. I am so glad you are having such a lovely time! Keep on blogging....
hairdressers Hi Carrie and Alex. I have enjoyed looking at all the entries and have read some of the comments, not all, haven't time! You both look as if you are having a wonderful time. I'm doing this at work and won't have time until after Christmas to look again, unless I actually do get myself a lap top, I keep threatening to.. Have a lovely Christmas and enjoy the highland games. Be careful Alex when you toss the caber, awkward things they are. Lots of love Lynda. PS last concert tonight at Kinnerley.
Happy Birthday Hi Jen,
Happy Birthday from your rellies in Australia. I was eagerly reading the blog and scrolling down wanting to see the picture of you diving through the clouds - but alas, there wasn't one. However, I shall keep watch!! Perhaps you will get another opportunity very soon and a beautiful sunny day to go with it.
cold eh!!! well, it's been a bit wet, but cold it is not. Glad Doris saw some of the blog, thanks for showing her. When are you off to Blackpool?have a good time there, not to much time on the roller coasters! Love Carrie and Alex
Hi Carrie and Alex Hi Carrie and Alex - from Sue and Jeremy -
We're at Rowland and Beryl's today - pre-Christmas. Have read all your blog entries and looked at all the pics. GREAT! What a time you're having - you won't want to leave! We hope to visit Australia and maybe New Zealand next year - we've just had 2 weeks in South Africa, at Simon's Town on False Bay - about an hour's drive from Cape Town - had a fantastic time and it's given us the travelling bug! Jeremy still works in the US so of course does loads of travelling already, but that's for work and not for pleasure - the plus is that his travelling and frequent flights give him thousands of air miles, which will give us our flights! We shall have to fit our 2008 trips in around Zoe's wedding - date and venue unknown at present - she and Nick - fiance! - have just spent two weeks in Australia, stopping off first in Hong Kong where Nick proposed and produced a beautiful ring! They had a wonderful time, visited Sydney, which they loved, Melbourne for the racing, Ulhuru (spelling?) and up to Cairns to then dive off the Great Barrier Reef , which they loved. Will try and spend more time another year and meet up with some of the family. It's been good to see photos of everyone - hello to you all. Other family news - Dan was married this year, to Beccy, and their son Archie will be one on 27th December - he'll enjoy the wrapping paper!
Hello to all family members reading Carrie's blog and Merry Christmas!
Sue and Jerry (Hill)
More rubbery things! Calamari Carrie? More of those rubbery rings we had at the sailing club? You may need to get the recipe so you can cook them at home! You must have sea-food coming out of your ears by now. How lovely to catch up with Rebecca....and a thunderstorm over the harbour....what a treat!
Food You never seem to stop eating! I think Alex's hair is lovely...do you put it in curlers at night?! Glad it's all going so well. We miss you but we're fine! Lots of love to all, Grandma and Grandad x
emperor yes, for a small fee, you can be dressed up as a princess or an emperor. It makes taking photos more fun, and we have a large number of them to prove it!!
The Emperor Hi Carrie and Alex,
Alex you look very smart in the Emperor outfit. Do you hire them at the Chinese Gardens???
It was good that you could both meet Jenni and Jeff. It sounds as though you had a fab. day. Did you hear on the news about the poor French tourist who was struck by lightening on Terrigal Beach! We certainly have had some nasty storms lately.
wordy
robyndodd
what no photos!
Well sounds good but not the same without the photos - take a look at mine! Robyn