Uncle Michael & Aunty Sonia Tie The Knot

Finally the long awaited day, Saturday, March 15th, arrived. Dad and I took Nana to the hair salon and then went to the reception venue to keep an eye out for anything interesting. {smile} We met the DJ and photographer, and helped decorate the car, but sadly no Duggar-style car trashing took place. {Lolz}

After lunch back at the campground and plenty of changing and hair-styling, we headed down to the church for the ceremony. 

: : Groom and groomsmen (Uncle Bill and Uncle Marty) : :
The timing worked out really well . . .  the bride arrived {late} soon after we got the forgotten and rushed-back-for boutonnières!

: : Ceremony : :

: : Bridesmaids: Katrina and Nichole : :
{Gotta love Pagani dresses!}

The reception was held at the Mana Cruising Club, and we enjoyed refreshments and talk while the bridal party had their photos done. No photos of it here, but for the guest book, Uncle Mike and Aunty Sonia had an instant photo booth where you could take all sorts of random photos, then choose a sheet to paste into an album and write a message. Bryce has something of a collection of shots! Such a cool idea for a guest book and too bad there were hardware issues resulting in it shutting down before everyone had a go.

: : Seating plan : :
(Don't you love how we have a table to ourselves? haha)

: :  Family photo : :
(And I was wearing sizeable heels! :P)

: : With cousins: Mitch and Kurt : :

: : Kids' meals : :
A great way to save money and easier for us since we didn't have to take all the little ones up to get food!

: : Their parents' wedding photos : :
His on the left, hers on the right

: : Fondant flowers - amazing! : :

: : Mr & Mrs Jago : :

: : Uncle Bill, Aunty Melissa, Olivia, and Harry : :

This also happened to be the weekend of cyclone Lusi. While I sure wouldn't call the weather cyclonic, we did get rather wet leaving the reception. Glad it held up for the photos earlier in the day!

To Wellington || The Drive

In March of this year my uncle got married in Wellington, so we made the trip down for the first time in a few years! We were a little unsure about how the drive down would go, since we hadn't done it for some time and we had several children for whom this would be the first time. It went surprisingly well though, with only four or so stops(?) and fairly content children. 

Over the years we've often stopped for lunch in Taupo, but this time we opted to continue travelling while I made lunch and handed it around to everyone. Too bad we didn't get any photos; they would have come out interesting! The day before I had made rolls in the breadmaker and (organised the others to) put all the fillings - cut, washed, etc. - into ziplock bags, so I just had to assemble everything.

: : Coffee stop! : :

: : Laura needed to get out of her carseat for a bit, and when she got out she was really excited. : :
She sat here for ages laughing, clapping, playing with Dad and then jumping.

: : Scenery out my window : :

: : Mangaweka : :
Anyone remember this off eDrive? lol 

: : Love this signpost in Bulls!! : :

So glad to arrive at Paekakariki Holiday Park fairly early so we didn't have to set the tent up in the dark! And hooray for pre-made bacon and egg pies that just have to be heated. ;)

Book Review || Growing Up Duggar

Growing Up Duggar: It’s All About Relationships is by Jana, Jill, Jessa, and Jinger Duggar, the four oldest girls in a family of nineteen children. These stars of TLC’s popular reality show, 19 Kids & Counting, share never-before told stories of growing up in the Duggar household and offer readers a closer look at who they are and what they really believe in their first book.

As the subtitle indicates, the theme of this book is relationships, and each chapter focuses on a different one: relationship with yourself, your parents, your siblings, friends, guys, culture, your country and the world. The girls chose not to have a separate chapter on your relationship with God because that is fundamental, not in addition, to every other relationship.

The first chapter covers your relationships with yourself. Jessa shares about a time when she continually compared herself to others and felt she didn’t measure up. “I had friends who were really beautiful, and whenever we were together I compared myself to them and always came up lacking something.”She goes on to tell how she learned there are ten unchangeable things that we each must accept about ourselves, and that when we reject ourselves we ultimately reject God’s creation.

Known for their conservative views, the Duggars harbor plenty of questions about their views on dating. Disagreeing with society’s norm of casual dating, the family follows a practice called courtship, or dating with a purpose. Several principles of courtship are shared, such as getting to know someone in real-life settings: “Getting to know the special young man we’re interested in within a family setting is one of the biggest differences in dating and courtship. . . . We want to see how he reacts to normal family events.” Then, after sharing some of the character qualities the girls look for in potential life partners, older brother Josh and his wife of five years, Anna, share their courtship story.

: : Jessa, Jinger, Jana, Jill : :

Jana, Jill, Jessa, and Jinger wrote this book to help answer some of the many questions they receive from curious fans in letters and emails, and to empower, hopefully, readers to use their own lives to benefit others. With a ministry schedule longer than even their tv show seems to evidence, these girls are sure to inspire readers to make a difference in the world themselves.

Both thought-provoking and entertaining with stories of the younger kids’ antics, I found this book an enjoyable read and would recommend it, along with the Duggar parents’ books The Duggars: 20 & Counting and A Love That Multiples, both to those who have just heard of this family and are curious, and to long-time fans.

Triple bunk set!

So I posted photos of our new room here and here. I meant to post more photos on completion, but the bunks took a long time in the painting stage, so only made it into the room a week or so ago. 

: : From my eyes'-view :P : :

: : The bottom one is on the floor, and the top is really close to the ceiling : :
Danielle is on top, Diana's on the middle, and Maria and Laura top-and-tail on the bottom.

: : And Mum painted our wardrobe doors too :) : :

Dad

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Church Picnic || Cornwall Park

March 1st saw a number of people from church gather at Cornwall Park for the day. Hooray for having too much gear to fit in one vehicle; a good drive by oneself is always good. ;)

We enjoyed a picnic lunch of filled rolls and bacon and egg pie (someone remind me to put curry or something in the pies next time, okay?) and set up volleyball and swingball.

Don't you just love our net? Initially they'd tried slinging blankets over the rope between the trees, but found it was difficult to play when the ball kept disappearing on the other side of the blanket. [smile] Occasionally the ball got caught in the tree but for the most part this was a great makeshift net!

Lunch. And the barbies are ready for dinner :)

Swingball: Amelia, Keith, Megan

During the arvo more sports were played and many of us walked up the hill (some more directly than others lol). While we were walking up we found a really steep patch (the path was next to it but hey . . .) so think: "Run up, slip, slide down." Haha.

People often use these rocks to write things. Here our group made F.P.C. (Free Presbyterian Church)

We finished the day with a barbecue dinner and group worship, by which time it certainly didn't feel like summer any more. :P