How cute. I know I put more pics up of nieces and nephews but.....

This is Abby at a waterpark in London. You can't disguise that excitement!

Too funny

Another race result....

So, I ran another half marathon on the weekend. Did 2:13. Two minutes slower than in Wellington in June, but a different course (this one had hills!). Denise did really well and ran it in under 2 hours, which is my ultimate goal, but not achieved....yet! Will not give up until I can get there! May be next year though before I give it another go!

You have to check out this website and listen to Becky, an 8 year old Irish girl, who does prank calls to businesses. Very funny and a good laugh at the end of a long day of work.
http://www.johntedwards.com/2006/10/15/little-irish-girl-prank-calls/

Will have some shots (or maybe even videos) from the race up soon.

Max is 1!

I just love this picture. Your first birthday cake is always a good photo op, isn't it?

Bryce's MTBike trip to Colorado

Here is just one of the many photos Bryce took on his fabulous trip to Colorado and Utah for some great mountain biking. I was happy to see this picture when he was sitting in front of me, showing me the photos. Had he sent this picture to me while he was still in the U.S., I would not have been thrilled. Must be the worrier in me. Happy to say its not Bryce in the photo. He wasn't super keen on getting that close to the edge either!

Update...

These are the latest photos from a tramp we did before Bryce's trip to the US and Canada. Kirsten (Bryce's childhood friend), her boyfriend Ant, Bryce and I walked one of the "great walks" of New Zealand, the Tongariro Crossing. We didn't do the whole walk as you needed crampons because of all the snow and ice, but we did get to see some great sights. It was an awesome day and the weather held out pretty well for us. If you are on facebook, I have an album with more pics from this trip.
Bryce is now back safe and sound from his business/visit with my family/mountain bike holiday in Colorado and Utah trip. He was gone for over 3 weeks. HE just adored mountain biking everyday though and not having to worry about how to get to all the fabulous trails. The guides sorted out all the transport. He met some good friends on the trip too who are all kiwis and I'm sure future riding buddies here.
I go back to school on Monday for Term 3. These holidays have been pretty busy. I ran a Volleyball Workshop for some primary and early highschool aged children to try to get more skills being developed in this region. It was a success and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. I was pretty impressed with how much improvement the kids went through in just two days! Lets hope they come to our College now!
Yesterday I sent home a massive package with gifts for all the family birthday that have happened this summer. So Happy Birthday to Asher (Sept) Abby (July), Kristie (July), Maire (June), Raelen (June, I think...he was JUST born this year), Max (July) and Robbie (August).
And a big Happy Birthday to all my girls who are turning 30 this year. Wow. It doesn't sound as old as it used to, eh?

I did it!

This is a picture of me finishing my half marathon in 2003 when I walked the whole thing. The next year I did 2hr35min. In 2005, Bryce and I got our car towed after registering, and since my shoes were still in the car, we had to abandon the race. Then last year I finally got under 2& 1/2 hours with 2hr22min. Well, today I dropped 11 minutes and ran 21km in 2hr11 minutes. So I think the next challenge is to get under 2hours. I think I could do it. I felt good today and only had some knee pain in parts of the run. I passed the halfway mark under 1 hour, so it "could be done". Problem today was partially due to the 7o km/hr winds at my face the whole way back.

We had a great weekend. Carl and Denise came for a visit. We headed down to Wellington to pre-register for the race (Denise did the 10Km). Then had a nice walk through the Botanic Gardens and took the Cable car down into the city. Caught up with Donal and bought a new wool winter jacket.
It's so weird buying a winter jacket when Bryce is away in the "summer" of Denver on his mountain bike holiday, seriously sweating it up. Looks like he had a great time in Canada though. Including being the recipient of the International Distributor award for his company at his conference. He was very humble but its a huge achievement! I spoke to him over the webcam with the family in the background, including the babies. Hard to watch all my favourite people be together and not try to jump through the screen! Especially when they held up the "party pack size" of Clamato. Unfair....

My knees are very sore tonight as I sit and vedge in front of the fire and eat chocolate. I have some wicked blisters from the run, so I am hobbling around the house a bit. All good. The accomplishment feels well worth the pain. Question is: What to train for next?

Enough is enough....

Okay, this is New Zealand. An island in the Pacific. So what's the deal with frost on the grass this morning? This was not in the contract I signed when I decided to move to an "island nation". It was supposed to be flip flops and tank tops all year round!!

Truthfully, its nice to sit in front of the fire each night, but with Bryce away, it IS a bit chilly around the house. 20 nights left and he'll be back. And truly fit. He's away on business for a week, then a BBQ with Robyn and some of my ladies in Toronto, then with my parents and Rob and Kathy for a night, and then he flies to Denver to play MTBikes with a group who will be riding trails throughout Colorado and Utah for 14 days. How great for him!

I bought heaps of seafood which is something B does not enjoy so much so although the house is a bit stinky now, I'm eating like a star!

Half marathon is on Sunday, and although the week started off with some serious shin splints, I think I am on track for Sunday. Carl and Denise are coming for the weekend too. Then one more week of school.
Plans for the holidays are: Volleyball Coaching Course, Volleyball Workshop that I am running for 10-15 year olds, Computers course (not so excited about this one, but figured I should go), a visit with Pam and Sam, a night out at a play in the "cultural megacentre" of Levin with Mark and Rachel, and maybe a spa day in there somewhere. There were some plans for a trip to Fiji, but they didn't eventuate. All good. I am going home to Canada for Christmas, so thrilled about that! Only 6 months to go!!

check this out

http://bebo.com/watch/4179383135

It doesn't seem to link right away, so just cut and paste to see this. The Flight of the Conchordes are a musical comedy duo who are from New Zealand. Always good value. Would love to see them live.

Abby

Cute pic for her birthday invite. I can't believe she is almost a year old. I was with her in BC last year when she was born. How cool. Crazy thing is Bryce will be with the family next week as part of his business trip/mountain bike holiday. He is going to have a great time. Fun with the fam and then 12 days of mountain biking in Utah/Colorado.
I have the half-marathon in two weeks. A bit nervous; more about weather than anything else.
Yesterday, Bryce and I drove up to the mountains/volcanoes to see Kirsten and Ant. Kirsten is Bryce's best friend from childhood and we haven't seen her in about 4 years so it was great to catch up and meet Ant, her boyfriend. We went on a 7 hour tramp along the Tongariro Crossing, which is a NZ classic walk. I will get the pics on here soon for sure. It was an awesome day! A bit of a sore bum today though....

Im becoming nerdier each day....its great!

Finally discovered how to input videos onto my blog. Enjoy! I loved this one of the soccer ball!

Baby Max

Need to update this blog and get some new pics of Nisha up as well, but had to show this very cute new pic of Max (Tim and Kristie's son).

My niece Abby and nephew Asher

Bryce the photographer

So here is our house, on a night with a full moon, and Bryce using some of his fancy techniques to write on the picture. But he didn't do any of this on a computer. I think it was just a slow shutter speed and then he stood in front of the camera with a little LED light and wrote HOME (like you would with a sparkler). I like it.

Easter tramping

We had a fantastic time over Easter going hiking/tramping with Mark and Rachel. Two nights, three days, in 2 different back country huts, 17 hours walking. Mark and Rachel surprised us by being the serious gourmets and preparing a cheesecake (from scratch) to serve us "in the bush". What a treat! Along with wine and everything. The wine was great, but not something I would have wanted to carry in my pack for 7 hours!

gross

Check out this massive spider that was hanging on the wall just beside the bed. I freaked out and jumped on the bed and did a little yelp. Bryce called out and said, "is it a big one?" I said, "uh huh."
As Bryce walked casually into the room, carrying Eddie (the cat) he saw the thing and freaked out equally. Both of us were packing for our tramp/hike the next day, but couldn't deal with this thing being in our house, having been in the room!!
It was dealt to.

Blogg webcam attempt

Movie Night

This is our own outdoor movie set-up. I borrowed the screen and projector from work and Bryce hooked up the surround sound, and we had some friends over to eat yummy homemade popcorn and watch Tom Cruise under the stars. It was great!
The last month has been a whirlwind, with school dean-ing, assistant HOD PE stuff, and of course volleyball. We travelled 8 hours to Tauranga with 20 students and 4 adults, for a week of volleyball. It was fun but tiring!
Off tramping/hiking for the next few days and then 2 weeks off for school holidays. Doesn't feel like too long ago I was in Japan for the last holiday break!!

More Japan pics

Here's a start to the pics from Japan that I have been waiting to put on this site. The first one is of a temple we went to with a massive Buddha in it. This was in Nara, where they had deer roaming wild in the streets who harassed you and bit a few of us in the bum.

This is a picture of Harajuku, where lots of people have their own style (much like the girls in the Gwen Stefani videos). Note the name of the street: TAKEASHITA STREET

Here is a picture from a town outside of Tokyo where we rented some tobogans and hooned down the ski hill. Reckless westerners......

This is from the awesome sumo tournament we went to. Huge men, intimidating each other several times before the actual "wrestle" begins....

Here is Sayaka and me in front of the Kinkakuji temple. Covered in gold. Just stunning to see.

All the students in kimonos....

On the island of Miyajima, looking at a pagoda, while being reckless westerners on our bikes. Had a yummy japanese pizza pancake that day called OKONOMIYAKI.

Geishas and weddings, and duathlons

Hey guys, here are the latest pics from the past two weekends. Karapoti MTB race one weekend with an attempt for best costume, a duathlon the next day and Mark and Rachel's wedding the weekend before, where a dapper Bryce was best man. Good fun, but looking forward to a casual one this weekend. Bryce is off on another MTB weekend with some of the guys down in the south island. Denise is coming over for a girls weekend.

PS. I came 3rd in my age group in the duathlon! Whohoo!