Fruit Mince Tarts.....

Yum, after not getting sucked into the commercialism of Christmas too early, and managing to walk past all the Christmas decorations and fruit mince tarts that have been out since they took their Halloween stuff down at the beginning of November!!!!!!!, I did start craving some mince pies (I'm a Marketer's Dream! - put it in front of me and I want it, nay *need* it!) I made a beautiful brandied apricot mince from a Julie le Clerc recipe:

Hamilton.....

We visited Uncle Graeme and Aunty Sokchea today, James showed us how much of a water baby he really is, he even turns on the hose and fills up his 'pool' by himself:


When it started getting a bit cold after the sun left the back yard, we watered the garden with the swimming water, which didn't go down at all well with James:


Uncle Graeme on the bbq:

Friday, Beach Day.....

Yeehaa! It's Friday:




Here's H8 and L6 who have been buried next to eachother:



Cathy:


And Petra were amoung our peeps today:

What's Green and Sticky?.....

.....A stick insect! (a twist on one of our fav sspack jokes in this house - "What's brown and sticky? (you're supposed to answer 'A Poo!!!' here). A Stick!):

Hangin' Ten.....

The Lad bought some new surfboards, so we've decided Summer 2008 is the year we learn to surf! Wish us luck ;o)

A Little Elbow Grease.....

..... goes a long way when you're 6 and you decide the mouldy wooden picnic table needs a clean:

The Art of Data Filing.....

A12 has been sorting out ways to store or access information without a computer - he came up with this system of 'holes' for each data item, the card is punched on the relevant info 'tab' and held up by the skewers, the information card that comes out is the one that you eliminate the data from. I guess you have to see it in action to understand it properly ;o)

Horse Trekking at Maketu.....

The Lad had a great time at his work break-up this year, they went horse trekking (he didn't tell L10 where they were going till they got back, lol!). Here's some of the photos he took on the day:

Da Bike.....

L6's birthday bike he chose for himself this year:


Apparently it goes *really* fast ;o)

A Hunting We Will Go.....

Don't read if you're squeamish.

The Lad went with Grandad, Uncle Ivan and Tony:


To Makapoua Station this weekend:



For a spot of deer hunting:




The fawn for the upcoming wedding on the Station:

Budgie Eggs.....

Our first budgie eggs from Sparx and Cherrie, it's all very exciting and L10 is being very protective, you have to poke the camera in the nesting box for a few seconds only, and you can't adjust your lens or settings, it's point and shoot and the resulting photo bears witness to that:

Roadworks.....

We used to be able to say that we lived in "the house before the gravel", but that is all changing as they are slowly tarsealing to the end of the road:


A12 wandered along with the camera for a bit:

Stories in The Forest.....

Cathy and Petra came over today, so we packed our afternoon tea into picnic baskets, grabbed a teddy bear each (it was a picnic, after all) and headed down to the forest for some stories in the shade:

The Day After.....

Oaks and Karz hanging out:


One of the cuzzies took these great photos of Pania and Aunty Vick, and Mahana:



Aunty Dorothy doing a Lantern Festival game with the lanterns Jacque bought the girls:


Rubes:


Zane:


And his daddy, Tony:

I Do, I Do, I Do.....

Awwww, the long-awaited Wedding Day of Darren and Dorothy has arrived. How's that for a gorgeous Bride and some beautiful Flower Girls (H8 is tucked away on the left there)?:


Then came the Bridesmaids:


Up to meet the cheery looking Groom and his Groomsmen:


Da Kiss:


Spunky A12:


Stunning L10:


Dazzling H8:


Handsome L6:


Vivacious Venus:


Sublime Aunty Sheryl and Alluring April:


Elegant Eugene and L6:


Beautiful Brooke:


Aunty Pauline, Uncle Trev, Nana, Darren, Dorothy and Poppa (yeah, enough of the corny synonyms already!):


Uncle Ed, Darren, Aunty Vick (who was also the Celebrant) and Dorothy:


I'm not good at public speaking and get all nervous, but I decided I'd like to say a few words at the reception (even though I'd told Darren I wouldn't), so I took the opportunity poolside yesterday (while I was 'actively supervising' 6 littlies in the pool at the complex, lol, to pen a few words on the back of a Brownie notice I had in my handbag.

Kia ora te whanau, nga mihi kia koutou i tenei ra miharo, i tenei ra na te marena ko Darren raua ko Dorothy i hono. Nice to see you all here on this rather auspicious day, the day Darren and Dorothy were joined in marriage.

I'd just like to quickly stop and thank Lucy, Taramea and Mahaki at this point, for giving me some tips on meaningful and engaging whaikorero after their strident efforts at Amiria's 21st - I hope I don't let you guys down today.

You know, we love Dorothy to pieces, she's very cool and funky, and just such a really beautiful person. I was half expecting her to wake up one morning, wonder what the hell she was doing, and call the whole thing off! But, luckily, she obviously realised something most of us already knew, that he was well worth the trouble and stress.

For Darren's birthday this year I pondered for ages over what to get him for a present and I just couldn't come up with anything. I settled instead on a series of quotes from our childhood, such gems as "Don't muck around in here, you'll make the needle jump" - Darren on getting the first even 'modern' LP record - Jon Stevens from Aunty Vicky!, and "Ouch!" - Darren on a visit from Uncles' Trevor or David, and "Dax" - Darren on helping his father pronounce the weird and wonderful names of his mates.

I also included a bit of personal blurb from me to him, some of which I'll share again with him tonight. I remember reading somewhere that the longest relationship most people have in their lives is the one they have with their siblings and for me, I guess, that would be with you (although, thanks to Dad, Paul is running a closer-than-most-non-twin-siblings second, ha ha). I thought I'd take the opportunity to get all deep and meaningful and tell you that I feel honoured to have had you go before me in this life I've been blessed with. You are inspirational to me in your fierce, unwavering loyalty to, and love for, your entire family. Every whanau needs some staunch glue of your calibre, and although I never tell you so, know that I love you and everything about you, and I'm privileged to have had the best big brother ever.

Finally, to Dorothy, it's been a long 14 year wait between weddings for Mum and Dad, and, as the saying goes: 'All good things come to those who wait', and darling, you're certainly a good thing, and definitely well worth the wait. Welcome to the family, Aunty Dorothy, and we wish you a long and happy togetherness.