A Day in Wellington

We woke to a beautiful sunny morning hard to believe yesterday was so miserable. We headed out for breakfast at McD's and we planned the day.  First stop Te Papa overall opinion BIG from the outside and some of the exhibitions were awesome however, I think Dunedins Museum is just as impressive.

Our walk to Te Papa 

Whilst at the museum we caught up with Alison and she spent the day with us which was awesome.  After lunch we headed to the Beehive.  Kate was very tired and fell asleep whilst Dave carried her.  Unfortunately my camera has something wrong with it so the photos are dumb and some didn't even save.

Next destination was the cable cars and that was a view not to miss.  Seven hours later we say goodbye to Alison and head back to the hotel for a well deserved rest. 

These bodies were painted

Awesome View

We flew home on the Saturday and as I reflect on our holiday apart from some minor hiccups the overall experience was awesome.  I'm already planning the next trip.

A Blast from the Past

Jackie & Me

My dearest friend Jackie turned 40 and she celebrated the only way she knew "Party Party Party"  Dave and I attended and it was like a blast from the past.  All our old friends that we use to party hard with were there. Many of them we hadn't seen for years due to family commitments or just of the circumstances everyone is in now a days.  It was so cool seeing them all again.

The Leans

The party was held at the Leviathan Hotel this has very fond memories for Dave and I as we were married there and I also worked there for 2 years.  There has been changes in the hotel which are amazing. Peter (the owner) was there he's still the same friendly awesome gentleman, although he has lost the mow which makes him look younger.

The Leans were there and we reminisced about the past and the great time we all had at the Mill.  We all came to the same conclusion that we all missed the mill days. The Leans all asked me if I missed drinking alcohol as its been 7 years since my last drink.  I must admit I honestly could say no. I can have a great time without getting drunk.

Dancing Queens

We danced and sang and had a great time. Talking about time it seemed to go so fast. Time sure does fly when you are having fun. Dave and I arrived home at 2.30am.  It felt like the past especially the time we got home the only exception was we were both sober :)

Yummy Cake

Singing together I think?

The Walls Are Up

On Friday the wall frames arrived, EXCITING!! times. Dave organised his helpers which included Haki, Bradley, Leon and himself.  Friday night Dave did not sleep very well due to nervousness and perhaps a little bit excited too. 

5am Dave arose and went for his 3 hour morning bike ride out to Portobello today, just a casual ride to clear his head for his big day. On his return he loaded up his car with tools which included his brand new nail gun (the best tool ever) and off to the section he went.

Nicholas, Kate and myself headed to town for Nicholas's last game of T-Ball for the season and unfortunately we lost by one run.  We stopped at Carters on our way home to pick up the metal brackets and we headed to the section to see what progress had been made.

Progress was in full swing with a few frames up.  The men were in deep concentration soughting out the big puzzle.  ( I think they needed Nicholas our puzzle king to help them).  I quickly zoomed away to get some bundies and a meat lovers buns for morning tea.  After taking a few more snaps I went home to make lunch for the hard workers.  I made 8 filled rolls and 12 large banana chocolate chip muffins and threw some hot savouries in just in case they were extra hungry. 

This is Leon trying to convince me he's working?

On my return they had put up all the external walls they had definitely earned lunch.  I stayed on and watched the house take shape it was awesome to watch and explain to the children which room was theirs. Kate for the rest of the day walked into her room saying my bedroom. Nicholas thought his room was too small.  The children enjoyed playing in the gravel filling their gumboots with it and emptying them. Somehow Kate forgot to empty her gumboots, because when we went back home the gravel ended up inside.

The patio, Nicholas is standing in the lounge.

The hallway from our bedroom

The Lounge/Dinning Room

The house takes shape

What a wonderful day and now all the frames are up and we have rooms to walk in and now I can visualise how big each room will be and already I'm thinking where to put each piece of furniture plus where to add extra furniture (unfortunately it does not include a hot tub).  Thanks to Haki, Bradley and Leon for all there help (not to mention their spouses who lent them to us for the day).  Over the next week Dave will be preparing the tops of the frames so the trusses can sit on top.  They arrive Easter weekend (oh my gosh its nearly Easter!!!!)

The Hot Tub

So over the summer period Philly has been hard out building a deck and a concrete pad to place his trophy on.  That's right they have a hot tub and it is awesome. 

The kids have lots of fun in it and the adults have some relaxing time.  All your hard work paid off Philly awesome job. If your're ever looking for Amiee just look in the tub.

Amiee's Beetroot

My dearest friend has an awesome garden which tends to grow rather rapidly and for a few weeks Amiee has been talking about bottling some of the veges before they go to seed.  So I went over to help her out as she hadn't bottled beetroot before and I have had some experience in this field.

First I went and picked the beetroot and WOW!!! they were the biggest beetroot I have ever seen they were like bowling balls.  Whilst ripping them out of the ground it started to rain and so I did get rather damp but it wasn't going to stop me. I had a mission and I was focused on getting that beetroot in a jar.

Bowling Ball Beetroot

Now I am use to preserving normal/baby beets so my initial thoughts were these babies are going to take alot longer cooking than the norm.  I generally use just a basic recipe ie vinegar, sugar, and water.  However Amiee mother has a special recipe which involved pickling spices and cider vingegar and sugar.  As we didn't have the recipe we just made it up and I must stay it had a diffinite punch.  So two days later we finally finished those beasts We managed to get 12 large jars.

Kate 08 turns 2

Kate 08 Pretty in Pink

Our beautiful baby girls turned 2 years old today, oh my where has the time gone?  Over the last two days she has been so excited about her birthday. She even went up to Mr Tucker at school and told him "it my birthday" so random and forward.  When we asked her who's  having a birthday she placed her hand on her chest and says "me"

The past two years have been such a blessing from the day she came home from the hospital she has always been little Miss Independant, never liked sleeping with us always likes her space and her own bed.  Took to daycare very easily and moving daycare centres not a bother at all.  Unless she asks for help you don't bother trying to help.  Very particular about who kisses her and she decides who can have cuddles.  For awhile when daddy went to give her a kiss or a cuddle she would tell him "get off me" or "stop that".

Kate is very caring and motherly she is a girly girl loves her babies and dressing up in her pretty dresses.  Kate loves to sing and she quite the dancer.  Her favourite singer is Stan Walker or as she calls him "Stan the Man"  At night she loves story time her favourite stories are Billys Bucket and I Know a Rhino.  Kate loves horses and most days we go and feed carrots to them.  I'm sure she'll like her very own pony one day or we'll just send her to her Uncle Petes and Aunty Cheri who own horses.

My goal for all my children was to have them toilet trained before 2yrs.  However, I have failed miserably with Kate and so the process continues.  I suppose being little Miss Independant she will do it in her own time.

I'm not such a big fan of birthday parties.  I don't mind going to them but I hate organising them. I just get stressed out and I always worry about the food and is everyone having fun.  So I wasn't going to have a party besides she wouldn't even notice. How wrong was I? I'm sure Nicholas planted the seed but she seemed very excited about the thought of having a party.  "My party" My Birthday"  So at the last minute I texted a few close friends to come have cake and juice.

"Happy Birthday to you"

Cake time

Not too close

I did it!!!!!!

Kates friends

Kate had a great time and it wasn't stressful for me.

I look forward to many more years of fun times with baby Kate and thank Heavenly Father everyday for such a beautiful sweet Missy Moo!!!!

Bec & Rod's Wedding

So at last the big day finally came for Bec and Rod.  I work with Bec on nightshift and for the past year I have watched her make all the invitations and organise the guest list and listen to the stories of what will happen on the day. I saw the dress and also watched her loose weight and turned into a fitness freak running duathalons and triathalons.  I also heard about the honeymoon they are spending 5 weeks in USA and she and Rod are snowboarding in Utah.

After all that I was lucky enough to get invited I tried to get onto the wedding party but unfortunately Becky was fit and well to do the job. Even though I tried to think of ways to poison her or wished she broke a bone.  I was much satified to go as a guest.

The Finnie's

The day in Wanaka was beautiful and very warm.  We arrived early enough to see an awesome view.  It was great to see a few familiar faces from work and others who use to work in Dunedin but have since gone over to Aussie.  

The crew

After three attempts of getting the music right Bec made her way out from the bush with her lovely bridesmaids.  She looked stunning its amazing how a dress can look totally different on someone else  when you seen it in a picture.  Her hair was gorgeous and I loved her flowers.

Waiting for the bride

Here she comes

The ceremony was very special.  Rod had grown two rose bushes in separate tubs and they gifted them to the parents so they would remember the day. The roses were called everlasting love.  They also had both sets of parents give a blessing on their wedding rings.  They had a candle burning throughout the ceremony to remember those who had passed on.  All very special moments in the ceremony. When they recited their vows they both had "one liners" that they promised each other they would or wouldn't do.

Kate & Bec

After the ceremony Kate had been playing with the horseshoe and when I asked her to give it to Bec she wasn't very happy about it (hence the face).

The Happy couple

The reception was amazing great venue lovely cold drinks, food that was unbelievable like fresh blue cod and marinated chicken meat and lots of salads and new potatoes and more...... I managed to have seconds and still have room for dessert which again was divine

Mark, Erin & Mel

The Cake

Rod's sister made the cake and OH MY!! it was divine the yummiest chocolate cake ever and I ate alot of it my waist line needed a good workout.  Luckily for me there was a dance after dinner and so I danced the night away well until 1.30am when the band was shut down. I had a great time.

Bex's Hen's Night

Next weekend my buddy and co-worker Bex is taking the plunge and getting married.

Elaine (our boss) organised a hens dinner. The last hens night I went to was my own which was rather great fun. (remember the pole Amiee?)

We started the night off with nibbles and drinkies before Leeanne whipped into the first game of the evening. We had to bring something blue and place it in a bag to which we all had to close our eyes and guess the object.

Later on we had a fantastic potluck tea with some yummy food not to mention my funeral potatoes. Elaines sister from Canada made an awesome 7 layered dip it contained sour and cream cheese, mince mixture, layers of salad. I can't wait to make it myself and serve it to my darling friends

Game 2 involved decorating undies for Bex. I'm not that creative unfortunately but Bex and I share a love for Twilight and she loves the Edward camp where I'm for Jacob. Of course I didn't win the wearable arts reward that went to Mary who created from the front a awesome ski slope with Bex skiing down it and the back end was a tropical beach resort. This symbolised there honeymoon as they are going to America and Fiji for 5 wonderful weeks. Bex and Rod are going skiing in Utah and she is going to take a picture of the temple for me.

Game 3 again was to be creative not my forte unfortunately. We were given a piece of play dough and were asked to create an object or something you would find or see at a wedding. Can you guess which one is mine???? Again I didn't win but the bride to be was voted best with the beautiful yellow rose. Have you guessed mine yet??? Did you say the plate of food with the serviette then you are correct. Bangers and mash with peas a perfect wedding breakfast.

The favourite part of the evening was this awesome chocolate fountain. This was our dessert along with fresh fruit and mashmellow we also had rice pudding, ambrosia, triffle and pavalova. I just stuck with the chocolate fountain and ended up with lots of chocolate on my clothes. This is a must thing I should buy to me from me.

Game 4 was another creative game that involved a heap of toilet paper and skills to create a wedding dress. I was lucky to have such a creative team and we manage to make Rambha (the middle bride) into a beautiful toilet paper bride. A very enjoyable evening was had by all.

All the best Bex for your future and I look forward to seeing you in Wanaka on the 20th xxx.

3D Muskateers

Meet the three 3D muskateers. Since moving to Mosgiel Nicholas has spent heaps of time playing with his two best buddies. Everyday he always asks if he can go and play with the boys or if they can come and play at our house. Today the Mendy family came for dinner and after dinner whilst the adults talked the boys watched a 3D movie. They looked so cute sitting quietly on the couch I had to get the camera out.

I love living in Mosgiel being close to my friends. I especially love that Nicholas and Kate have their friends to play with everyday if need be. I look forward to watching these boys grow up together as best buddies to see what they become when they are grown young men.

Stalling tactic classic

So I'm at Amiee's house its 8.40pm all children have gone to bed YEAH!! We congregate to the lounge and get ready to watch Emma Smith story. Movie has started and we are focused when suddenly the eldest child wonders on in: "muuummm can you please read me some scriptures" Well what could you say to that????? I said that is the best stalling tactic ever and we all burst into laughter.

Party Princess

Party Princess

Today we were invited to our friends daughter 3rd birthday party. Kate seemed very excited being her first party she could understand. As usual I was running behing schedule when Nicholas comes running in with the mail he was very excited. I couldn't imagine why someone would be excited about bills but alas it wasn't it was a parcel. It was addressed to Kate08 what could it be? It was sent from Grandma thats always a treat. A surprise it was!!! A very pretty pink dress for Kate08. Kates face lit up with a big smile and the next thing she was pulling off her tee shirt whilst saying take off take off. Perfect timing Grandma especially we were off to a party.

Who will blow up my balloon?

The party was great, especially the location which was a local kindergarten. Perfect for little people. There were lots of treats and a beautiful chocolate bumble bee cake (yummy too) not to mention great friends. Kate and Nicholas had great time.

Pin the tail on the Pony

Happy on the swing

Happy New Year

2010 is here and the Finnie Family have an exciting year ahead of them. Dave starts building on the 15th January, Nicholas will start his new school in February whilst Kate starts her new daycare on the 11th January. I'm hoping to get a new job in Mosgiel maybe as a practice nurse or resthome nurse this will save on travelling/petrol.

Today we left my brothers and headed back to Dunedin. Dave rode his bike from Ashburton to Timaru approx 80km and I followed later to meet him. It was a beautiful day and Timaru had a carnival on with cool rides and a great big paddling pool. We had lunch there and met up with the Facer family which was awesome. Nicholas and Dave had a ride on the sizzler and then it was time to head home.

We arrived back in Dunedin at 5ish and picked up Stacey as she was going to babysit for us. We had been invited to the Jenkins for a Murder Mystery Dinner Evening. What to expect was really exciting my character was Penny Sylan I was the murdered victims nurse (very appropriate) whilst Dave was the murdered victims chauffer. It was like cluedo but you actually get dressed up in character. We arrived at the Jenkins and found Esky parents were there too EXCELLENT should be a fun night. Yep it was funny and we had great fun unfortunately I didn't win but Dave inspector cluedo was the winner of the night guessing it was Chew Chow. What a great game hope to have more fun evenings this year with our friends.

The Lene's

These are the "Lene's" we all use to work in a team together, at the Mosgiel woollen mill factory(a factory that made balls of wool for knitting). We were the twisting/winding team, a process where you take strands of yarn and twist them together hence 2ply or 3ply balls of wool. We were all made redundant in 2000. Since then we have different careers and have kept in touch thanks to Jackie every few months.

However due to our busy lives it has been at least 6 months since our last outing. Thankfully tonight we were all free and we all went out for a Xmas dinner in Mosgiel. It was really nice catching up with the girls. The cool thing about moving to Mosgiel is being able to see these lovely ladies more not to mention my other awesome friends. Let me tell you a little bit about each person:

First and foremost Maurene (Mo or Edna) she was our team leader and an awesome boss. She is a legend and she still works at a rolled oats factory in the packing dept and how old is this lovely lady you ask? ............. she is 76yrs that's right 76 she is totally amazing. For her 70th birthday she got a green alien tattoo on her thigh.

Irene (Renne 70yrs) the golfer. Irene always smells really nice. I always remember walking by her machine and she would always have a beautiful scent about her. So everyday I would go over just to say hi just so I could smell her. She is retired and loves playing golf and looking after her grandchildren. She always wants me to join her church so I can sing with her in the choir.

Marlene (mid-late 50's) The seamstress always keen to be involved with everything and anything. Currently she works in a factory that makes wigs.

Debbie (Deblene) mid 40's. Mother of 1 child and heaps of animals. She looks after everyone pets while they go away on holiday. One particular dog lives with them 335 days of the year whilst the other 30 days the dog lives with the owner when they come over from Japan for a holiday (crazy). At one time she held down 4 jobs a workaholic.

Raylene (Rayls mid-late 50's) The green fingers/renovator and home bus owner. The adventurer who until recently lived in their bus and travels the country. The party goer and sing star queen (apart from me)

Last and certainly not least the loveliest of them all my Barbie girl:

Jackie (the baby of the group) The organiser she always kept us informed of special events coming up at work. Always reminded us of how many days til Xmas or payday or daylight savings not to mention her wedding. Kept a strict diary and totally hates mice/rats. The shy one who after a bit of persuasion convinced her to go in Stars in their Eyes with me and be Barbie whilst I played Ken to which we lip sync the Barbie Girl song. That started a tradition for following years. We've been Danny and Sandy from Grease and the rocky horror picture show act and the Village people YMCA. Jackie always thinks of others always remembers every Lene's birthday and always sends us a cards/gift. We've had some fun nights out on the town and she is a great friend to have. I love her heaps.

So there you have it, the story of the "Lene's" I am blessed to these fantastic women in my life and treasure their friendship immensely...

End of an Era

Nanna and I have been visiting teacher companions for 4 years and just recently the relief society have had a reshuffle thus my companionship with Nanna has ended. Today we visited our sisters for the final time and it was really emotional for me. I have had 4 years of being with the most spiritual, loving, kind, and humble person. Nanna is always giving she is selfless and I have been able to learn so much from her and the sisters we have visited. I'll always remember my first few visits to a less active sister..... Her husband would always grunt and then take himself off outside. Now he always says hi to me and smiles and he always acknowledges Kate even though he still thinks she a boy, and although he never took part in our discussions he would quietly sit in the lounge and ponder over the newspaper but I'm sure he was listening to us chat about the gospel and our Saviour. The rapport I built with this couple was amazing and so today as I thanked them for allowing me into their home I did shed a couple of public tears. So as one chapter ends another one begins and so I look forward to visiting new sisters with my new companion.

Movie Night

Horrified that Hoyts was not showing My Sisters Keeper we had to resort to Rialto. Lucky for me I had a couple of free beeies thus meant we could go for nothing (love freebies). Anticipating that the theatre would be busy I went down in the morning to get the tickets.

Ange picked me up and I was excited having a girls night out and that Ange had made homemade treats???? Taking our seats and Ange breaks out the treats they came packaged and she had named them Kit Kats and Maltessa and M&M Ange had been a busy girl. She also introduced me to Bundys Apple juice very very nice.

My main concern about this movie was visualising Cameron Diaz in a serious role due to I've only seen her in Charlies Angels (which I hated). Anyway movie begins and here are the highlights for me:

• It made me cry more than once
• Looking at Ange in horror at the intimacy part (how did that happen Ange?)
• Ange smiling at me with that your're funny Paula look
• The father taking a stand against mum and taking Kate to the beach
• Cameron Diaz can act in a serious role (a new respect for her)
• Wanting to slap the mum for her stubborness
• Watching a row of ladies beside me blow their noses all together and then laugh
• The treats
• I really loved this movie
• Great Awesome company

The only thing I didn't like was the dying girls name Kate and its purely because I have a Kate and the thought of my Kate dying was too sad too bare.

Farewell Alison

Today Alison left our home for good. She is off to sunny Nelson to study the weta (creepy things). A sad day for our family because we have enjoyed having Alison live with us. Here are some bullet points we love about her:

• She is very quiet (she frighten me a few times as I didn't even know she was in the room)
• She looked after our children (thus Dave and I could go out on regular dates)
• She has a strong awesome faith in the gospel (always kept us honest esp on fasting Sundays)
• she wasn't scared of creepy crawlies (I could rely on Alison to get rid of spiders etc)
• She never complained (NEVER!!!)
• she was always on my side (sometimes I think she didn't want to be!!!)
• She always read stories to Kate when I needed to get dinner ready
• She never complained about my cooking (again never)
• She always paid her rent on time (Dave very happy man)
• She was great company for me (I'll miss our chats)
• She introduced us to Flight of the Concords and House
• She was so helpful
• Very very talented (artist) she sketched a beautiful picture of the children (up and coming post picture is being framed at present)

I could rave on but I think to sum Alison up she is a very honest, humble, kind, loving person.

She came to us as a boarder, she leaves us as our daughter we love her and wish her all the best for the future.

Movie Night

Last night a bunch of awesome ladies and I went to the movies. Although I didn't see it til the end (due to work), I really liked this movie alot. It made me laugh. As a child I remember my mum watching Julia Childs cooking programmes. I always thought her voice was very annoying and that she pretended to talk like that. What a fascinating movie on her life.

The other part of the movie, Julie was hilarious. I hope Ange you don't throw hissy fits if you don't blog daily just to keep me happy!!!!! I do survive.

The other cool thing about the night was we, (8 of us) had the theatre to ourselves give or take the two ladies up the back. No-one in front of us yeah! The treats were amazing from Maltessa, pop-corn, skittles, ice cream a sugar loading night.

I highly recommend a girls night out its cool fun. Thanks ladies xxxx

Temptation Overcome

So the last 6 weeks I've been studying for my Level 6 NZ Resuscitation Certificate. This requires alot of reading I mean alot, more than New Moon. Friday came, the exam included written and pratical, it started at 8.30am and finish at 2.30pm. Well talk about stressful it reminded me of my nursing state finals. The morning started with a hiss and quiet a bit of head banging on the desk as I attempted to complete the written part of the exam. I must say the question were very misleading and written way to small and too close together. The questions were true/false and you had to scratch a box. I generally answer the question I know and leave the others to go back too (bad mistake) Because the question were small and close together I somehow manage to miss some questions BLAST!!! So after that I had a strong feeling the written part did not go to well. A 10min break and it was straight into the practical side. We were placed into groups and given a scenario each member had to be the team leader. When it was my turn I totally felt useless and I really didn't feel it went very well. I was so stressed out and when the instructor said "Paula you look like your're going to cry" and so thats exactly what I did (how embarrassing!) Timeout was needed so hot milo and a couple of biscuits later I mange to pull myself together and continue with the scenario. NOOOOOOOOOO!! the instructor pointed to me again and said "Paula you will be team leader again, just believe in yourself" Yeah right I was thinking. The next scenario was completed and it was ok but could have been better. Another 10min break and then it was skill testing station time. Again more stress and nerves and if I have learn't anything leave the best til last not the worst. I passed the skills stations and then we had to go to the office to find out our written results and as I predicted I failed BLAST!

Our group sat down to re-evaluate the day and we all agreed it was a CRAP day. This prompted one of the girls to suggest we go to the pub and get drunk. Oh, how I was tempted, I felt so bad and disappointed and really stressed out because I have to resit it again. The idea of loosing myself in alcohol sounded great for awhile until everyone was leaving to go.

Listen to a still small voice, listen listen. When you have to make a choice. He will guide you ALWAYS came into my thoughts. I knew right then that that tune was a prompting for me to choose the right. I told the team I didn't drink and that I'll just scoff a whole cake of chocolate instead. As we departed our ways a feeling of peace came over me and homeward bound I went.

How was I blessed by chosing the right? Well that night Dave and I got dressed up as vampires Edward and Bella (although Amiee thought we looked more like Jasper and Alice) and went to a famous couples house warming party. What a great time we had love it love it!!!!