Monique

As of today, we have three teens in the family . . .

Happy 13th Birthday Monique!

This past year Monique has enjoyed

• continuing with violin lessons
• beginning piano lessons
• spending several hours each Friday helping our pastor's wife by entertaining the children or cleaning
• practising her culinary skills with one assigned night to cook each week

Leave Monique a birthday wish in the comment box! :)

Wellington Adventure! || Part 1

Last month I spent a few days in Wellington visiting Nana while Uncle Bill and Aunty Melissa were away for a few days. Nana lives with them now, so I got to stay in their {flash} house! (Thanks for having me!!) Check out my room:

Aren't those curtains amazing? :D

I flew down late-afternoon Friday (hooray for an amazingly smooth flight and landing!), and Uncle Marty and Aunty Denise picked me up (thank you!). They stayed to have McDonald's with us left some wonderful donuts (anyone know of a Donut King in Auckland? :) )

On Saturday Uncle Marty, Aunty Denise and her sister, and Kurt (my cousin) dropped in for a while, followed by a visit later in the afternoon from one of Nana's cousins. Basically we had an easy day, and wrapped up the day with Ever After. :)

I got a ride to church on Sunday, and the new experience of staying at the church between services! Thankfully the time didn't drag, and soon I was back at Uncle Bill and Aunty Melissa's. Uncle Marty picked us up for dinner at his and Aunty Denise's place (a curry - yum!) and thus my second full-day in Wellington passed quickly.

Sorry about the quality,
I took this on Mum's phone.

On Monday Nana and I got the house in order, and soon Uncle Bill and Aunty Melissa arrived home. Loads of washing resulted from their trip, and I was at the washing line when the rumbling started. Yep, my first time feeling an earthquake. Where we live here in Auckland, the ground shakes slightly when trucks or trains pass us, so initially I thought a truck must be going passed. Only it carried on for longer than normal, and, well, the shed doesn't tend to rock back and forth! No damage to speak of where we were, only a few small things got knocked (er, rocked?) over. Not quite sure how the photo frames in the above pictures didn't fall down though! The 6.2-magnitude quake centred 10km north of Castlepoint, Wairarapa. I'm told we felt it much more strongly than most that hit down there, so it's surprising that we didn't feel any after-shocks!

After picking up Jesse from the kennels and having dinner, Uncle Bill pulled out a couple of his guitars for a jam session. (Why can't I play from memory yet?!) Afterwards we all watched Mt. Zion (That's an NZ movie, has anyone else seen it?).

Day 5 ~ Friday ~ Driving Creak Railway

{Written by Monique; Used with her permission}

Today we did the washing and the dishes and got our stuff together, and we went to Driving Creak Railway, and had sandwiches there; and there were heaps of ants. And we dropped a piece of lettuce and so many ants came that we couldn't count them. And there was heaps of bird poo, but it was still heaps of fun.

After lunch, we pottered around a little bit while we waited for the train to come; looked around the shop a bit and bought our tickets. When the train arrived, we hopped on and found our seats and I was sitting with Maria and Bianca was facing me on the other side of the carriage. Jarrod was sitting next to Bianca.

Bianca took my camera and took photos of herself and anything else she could -- Maria, the grass, the bush, and everything else. When the train left everyone smiled because it was so exciting and at one stage we went over a bridge and it was kind of freaky because there was only track on wood and then there was also another train going underneath us. And there were walls [retaining walls] that were made of bottles and they were colour-coded (sorted into colours), they were bottle-retaining walls with dirt around them to the ends.

There were also tunnels and in some places there were tunnels with clay blocks making the walls on each side and pottery done into the walls, or put on shelves in the walls.

When we got to the Eyeful Tower, we went out onto a platform, in the train. It was kind of scary, and Mum said it was really freaky. The view was amazing and the tower was really cool. We stayed and looked around for five minutes and then went all the way back to the office/station. Then Mum bought an egg cup made by a potter, and then we went to the car, and had afternoon tea and left for home -- the tent.

: : New family photo! : :

When we got back it was quite late, so we got bacon and egg pie out of the freezer and put them in the microwaves that were at the campground. We also had coleslaw. Then we did the evening routine.

Communion - Friday

: : Bryce awaiting lunch : :

Written 13.6.12

After we arrived home from church on Friday morning, Mum received a call from Mrs. Smith inviting us to have lunch with them. Farewell to all plans of doing school work that afternoon!

: : Maria eating : :

Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Rayner made a roast (beef I think?) with carrots, broccoli, potatoes and gravy. I think Diana and Bryce were too keen to play with the Smith children to bother eating much; we older ones really enjoyed it though! =)

: : Main table : :

After we’d finished eating that, Mrs. Smith brought out a Banoffie Pie and cream, which we quickly consumed!

We talked for a while, until Mum decided we should leave. 

 : : Diana (6) and Amelia (5) : :

: : Keith (5 months) and Laura (2 months)  : :

: : Mrs. Smith and Mum : : 

Another visit to the Botanical Gardens!

Smelling the flowers

One Friday afternoon (3rd of May to be exact), the weather was nice so Mum decided we should go for a walk at the Botanic Gardens. The Smiths agreed to go with us, and soon we were piling into our vehicles (I went with them since we don't all fit in our van!). 

Diana and Amelia pose
(Don't you love Diana's 'peace' sign?!)

The little ones played for AGES in this hut;
it's incredible how entertaining running
around in circles can be!

Left to right: Aaron, Danielle, Diana, Amelia, and Bryce

The arrival of Laura Yvonne Jago

Written 30.3.12

My mum’s eighth pregnancy appeared to fly by; the birth to creep upon us. One minute there were three months to go, the next, this new addition could make an appearance any day!

We washed, dried, and folded seemingly mounds of baby clothing – could anyone possibly be small enough to fit it? A car seat was organised, meals arrived for the freezer, and midwife visits became more frequent. People began asking whether we had news yet. My parents leafed through baby names books. Finally, we were ready, and were left to wait.

Thursday night/Friday morning of the following week, Mum thought things may have begun. Everything stopped, however, and our day continued as normal.

Mid-morning on Saturday of the following week, things started again. Despite a promising start, they slowed down, but did not stop entirely. Danielle and Diana attended a birthday party from mid-afternoon ‘til early evening, hopeful that they would have a new sibling when they arrived home. Chores were done, and our day continued.

My uncle took my siblings and me to church on Sunday morning, and the midwife (Mrs. Vivian) arrived at our place soon after our departure.

After lunch, my siblings went to my cousins’ place, and Uncle Pete and I did the dishes and made a roast dinner.

At one point, my dad thought the baby might not be far away. After assuring my uncle that there wouldn’t be anything to hear during the birth, he refrained from using his earphones, but was still adamant that he would put them to use if even the slightest hint of noise reached us.

Then, at 4:22pm, Sunday March 18th, Laura Yvonne made an appearance. She measured 54cm long and weighed 8lb 12oz - the heaviest of us all. Almost unbelievably, her arrival occurred on big sister Maria’s second birthday! Laura’s middle name, Yvonne, is after our aunty- Yvonne de Bruin.

Laura had many brothers and sisters eager to hold her, or simply be with her, when they arrived home about an hour later.

Uncle Pete took most of us to the evening church service, leaving mother and baby to sleep, and Dad to have a somewhat needed rest.

Eltham - Day 1 - Friday 23rd December

Written 23rd December

On Friday, 23rd December I attempted to get an early start to the day, but apparently I was too tired from previous days of preparation! Anyway the rest of my family did get up early (for them lol! =)), and organised the rest of our belongings that we hadn’t been able to pack the day before. We managed to leave home about 9:15am, after a slight delay as Dad didn’t like the fact that the back window was entirely blocked!

I passed the time by reading Courageous, a very interesting book! Can't wait for the movie to come out.... Hmm I was wishing I understood Spanish though! =)

Not too far into the trip Diana (6) asked: “Are we nearly there yet?” Wow was I glad it was only a six-hour trip to Eltham, not far from New Plymouth, rather than the the nine-hour trip to Wellington which we have done nearly ever year for as long as I can remember!

Around 1pm we had a 1-hour lunch stop in Mokau. Then back on the road, and I let Diana have my camera to take photos and videos. Need I say that the batteries were dead when she’d finished? Lol!

Here are a couple of pics from the drive:



A tunnel we drove through...



Mount Taranaki (aka. Mount Egmont)

 

Uncle Mike's number plate!



We took a slightly round-about trip, through New Plymouth, to pick up some boxes of Favourites my uncle needed for his shop (Eltham Four Square). About 4pm we delivered the Favourites, and followed my uncle, with his awesome number plate, to the campground we and our extended family were staying at – Eltham Presbyterian Campground. After inspecting much of the complex, we finally chose a cabin, brought our many bags and suitcases in, and readied our beds for when we would come in late and tired.

Soon Nana and Aunty Sonia arrived, and we just sat and talked for a while, apart from an all-out search for Maria (21-months) when no one new where she was; and Dad was worried because there is a stream not far away. We continued talking until Uncle Mike had not only come back(he’d gone home for a little while), but also barbequed the sausages and prepared the rest of dinner. All of us then went down to the hall, complete with kitchen, tables and chairs.

After dinner Uncle Mike brought out all the Christmas decorations which we helped put up, then readied tressle tables and chairs for the expected 35 people.

When it got a bit later Uncle Mike, Aunty Sonia, Nana, and Lucus (my 3-year-old cousin) left for Uncle Mike and Aunty Sonia’s house, and we began our long routine in preparation for bed! It is now 11:19 and, obviously I guess (seeing as I’m writing this!), we havn’t finished the routine yet!

So I’m typing this on my new laptop (picked it up on Wednesday lol!), listening to the Manna Worship Album #3(?) I think. Jarrod has just climbed into his top-bunk bed (he was sitting next to me watching me type), Mum is trying to put Maria to sleep, and everyone else is in bed. I’m also about to head there, as yes I’m VERY tired!

Tomorrow we’re expecting Uncle Bill, Aunty Melissa, Olivia (12) and Harrison (8) to arrive sometime in the afternoon, and Uncle Marty, Aunty Denise, Mitch (18) and Kurt (16) around 9pm. Uncle Mike, Aunty Sonia, Lucus, Nana, and some of Aunty Sonia’s family are also coming to stay at this campground.

Well I’m going to bed now (11:29) so,

G’night everyone!

Love Bee =)

Friday...

My Birthday in 2 days!!!! Well, one by the time you guys read it!!!