Smaug in New Zealand

It's opening weekend for the new Peter Jackson movie, "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug." We went to see it in Wellington.  The entire experience was incredibly fun & exciting!

First stop, Weta Cave...

Peter Jackson's Embassy Theater in Wellington

Tim, Mimi, Ellie & Ben

We went to the 2:30 showing upstairs...

...and enjoyed some pretty cool seats!

"Why are we not in this movie, Precious?"

The Whanganui River and the Bridge to Nowhere

We are blessed to have our good friend Kristy here for a visit!

We've been having an amazing time catching up.  We all enjoyed the girls' ballet recital yesterday, but today Kristy, Ben and I decided to go off on our own adventure - Jet boating and canoeing the Whanganui River!

We drove up to Pipiriki this morning and travelled by jet boat up the Whanganui River to the Mangapurua Landing and then hiked up to the Bridge to Nowhere.  After lunch on the bridge, we rode the jet boat to the Lodge, then canoed the rest of the way back.  We felt very empowered as we braved the rapids in our canoe!  The jet boat ride even included some 360 turns!!

Ballerinas & Cupcakes

It is Ballet Recital weekend here in Wanganui!  The girls have been enrolled in the Wanganui Ballet & Dance Academy since our arrival.  They have been working hard preparing for this weekend's performance of Peter Pan. We honored the special occasion by going out for cupcakes at Cherry Cottage Cupcakes!  Which looks sweeter? You be the judge...

Two "Mermaids" and a tiny "Star"

At long last...visitors!

Today we were blessed with our first visitors.  My parents arrived safely from Minnesota to spend the month of December in New Zealand.

They'll be here through the weekend and we'll keep them busy watching the girl's ballet recital rehearsals, then they're off to the South Island on Sunday for a 10 day tour.  We're looking forward to hearing all about their adventures down there!  Then they'll return to Wanganui for three weeks to finish out the year.  We are thankful for family!!

Happy Thanksgiving! (from a country that does not celebrate Thanksgiving)

Though it's fall at home in America, it's spring here in New Zealand.  We are enjoying the warmer weather and end-of-the-school-year activities and busy-ness.  We have been totally caught up in the day to day life of a family of six.

But today we pause to be thankful for all that we have here in New Zealand: work, school, a roof over our heads (with an amazing sea view), new friends, and the opportunity to experience this year abroad together as a family.  And we also give thanks for our family and friends at home who have been so helpful and supportive of us as we take this year of family time and adventure away from home.

So though we didn't have a turkey on our table tonight, we are thankful for what we did have: turkey subs, roasted kumara, pomegranates, and even green bean casserole.  And the first completely homemade pumpkin pie of my cooking career.

Blessings to you all on this Thanksgiving 2013!

Some Big Birthdays

Ellie turned 16 earlier this month,

And Mimi will turn 13 tomorrow.

These are some significant birthdays!  We decided to celebrate the girls by going to Wellington for the weekend.

The highlight was a show Ellie, Mimi and I went to at Meow with Avalanche City, Luke Thompson, and VanDerWel.  They are all from New Zealand, and their music is not available on iTunes America yet, so here are a couple of youtube links if you're interested in their music: Avalanche City - Love, love, love, Sunset, You and I, Luke Thompson - Walls.  It was an amazing show and a really fun night out with my girls!

Some other highlights of the weekend:

We finally went to Te Papa Museum.  It was HUGE!

Julia found a friend in the discovery area 

Life size model of a whale's heart

The Beehive - Parliament building

US Embassy

Embassy Theatre

Downtown fun

Beanbag park

Mmmmmm.... Movenpick

Our current favourite eatery: Burger Fuel

View of Wellington from Mt. Victoria

Another fun weekend in Wellington!