THE WARWICK FAMILY

Trip to the USA

2011-10-26T16:51:00.000+13:00

On September 28th Elle and I finally left on our trip to The U.S.A! We flew out at 10:30 at night and were so happy to find that no-one was sitting next to us on the plane which meant I got a great nights sleep stretched out on the seats while Elle stayed up watching movies. Once we got to LAX we had a 5 hour layover and then we were winging our way to Salt Lake City, Utah to meet Mum and Dad. It was great to be with them again and we talked for a few hours before hitting the sack for the night.

Thanks Mum and Dad for the matching pj's

The next day we walked up to Smiths supermarket with Mum and then spent the rest of the day at the Gateway Mall while mum and dad went to meetings. That night we went out for dinner, had a little look around the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and went shopping at our favourite U.S Store: Walmart

Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Elle got tired so Grandpa pushed her in the trolley

On Friday we did more shopping at The Brickyard which had some more of our favourite stores - Ross, Khols and TJ Maxx. We shopped all day until Mum & Dad came back to pick us up, and then we shopped some more!

Ross, oh how I've missed you!

Saturday was General Conference so we were up early to get to the Conference Centre. It was awesome to finally attend a live session of General Conference - and even more awesome to be there and see Dad sitting on the stand. We had a quick picnic lunch afterwards and then met the family who had come to listen to Dad speak.

Waiting for Conference to start

Elle & Dad

Lunch between sessions - I'm surprised Dad could even eat knowing he was speaking soon!

Family photo after conference

That night Dad & Wade went to the Priesthood Session while we hung out with Jess and the kids. We had dinner, went to the Deseret Book 'Ladies Night' and visited the Church History Museum.

We're pioneers

Sunday was a busy day. After breakfast we headed to the conference centre for Music and the Spoken Word and then conference. In between sessions we got to go through the underground tunnel on the church golf carts to the Church Office Building for lunch. It was awesome!

Salt Lake Temple

After the Sunday Afternoon Session we headed down to Provo to visit cousin Kim! It was so good to see her and to hear of the awesome time she was having at the MTC. She will be a great missionary.

All pointing to where we live

Next we headed to Orem to have dinner with our good friend Gil Elegante. She put on a beautiful meal for us and we had a great time reminising for a few hours with her.

The next few days weren't so busy for Mum & Dad so we got to hang out with them a bit more. The highlight was definitely Tuesday when we went to the Temple to do baptisms. Elle was able to baptised for a family name she found herself. It was a really special experience followed but lunch at the General Authorities lunch room where Elle got to meet the Prophet! She even got a hug. We also went for some lovely (albeit adventurous) morning walks, went shopping, ate too much and then it was sadly time for Mum and Dad to go back to the Philippines. The week went by too fast but we had the best time together.

Park City

Before Temple Baptisms

Cheesecake at Olive Garden

We had 5 more days after Mum & Dad left. We spent the first night at Tracy's and then went to Wade's for a couple of days. We had a great time hanging out, eating too much (again - who can resist a 59cent donut), shopping and carving pumpkins!

On Saturday it was in the high 20's, on Thursday it snowed!

Pumpkin Patch in Logan

Elle's jack-o-lantern

Then it was back to Tracys for a family dinner, last minute shopping and lunch at Aunty Judiths. We stayed our last night at Aunty Judiths house and she dropped us to the airport. 30 hours later we were finally home. We had a great trip but it was good to be home with the boys.

Farewell Sister Farthing

2011-09-16T20:50:00.000+12:00

Cousin Kim left for her mission on Monday. We went up to the airport to farewell her as she headed off to the Missionary Training Centre in Provo, Utah. She will be there for the next three weeks and then will start her mission in Arizona.

We are so proud of Kim and her decision to serve the Lord as a missionary for the next 18 months. We know she will be a great missionary and will touch the lives of many.

Temple Baptisms

2011-09-08T11:29:00.000+12:00

Particuarly ugly picture of me but the camera went flat so its the only one we got - outside the door to the Temple

On Tuesday Elle was able to go to the Temple to do Temple Baptisms. She's been waiting since she turned 12 in May! It was a lovely experience especially since Jonathan was the baptiser.

The next time she does Temple Baptisms will be at the Salt Lake Temple. 19 days to go!

Stake Glee Fest

2011-09-06T09:52:00.000+12:00

Elle and Ryan both participated in our Stake Glee Fest on the weekend. They spent lots of time practicing with their groups to learn their song and dance moves.

Muffy, Terina, Tiana, Shavaria, Elle, Maddy & Ilai - waiting to go on stage

Elle sang "Say a Little Prayer" with 8 of the Young Women. They looked lovely and sounded great! Ryan sang with 6 primary boys "Blame it on the Boogie" - They looked great in their 70's costumes (sewn by yours truly - a stressful day on Saturday sewing 6 pairs of flares) and were pretty smooth up on the stage!

Ryan looking pretty happy in his afro

It was a great show all round but in my opinion I think our ward had two of the best acts of the night.

School Performance

2011-08-28T07:14:00.000+12:00

The Fijian Group

The kids school performance was held this week, with 2 shows on Wednesday and one on Thursday. This year was a Polynesian Culture theme and Elle and Ryan chose to be in the Fijian group. Unfortunately their tutor never showed up so Elle was assigned to teach the girls group and the boys group learnt their dance off You-tube! They both did a great job - it was a very entertaining performance. Kelly and I sewed their costumes which we think turned out quite well considering we were only given a roll of material and just made up the pattern.

They also performed with their school Kapa Haka group which was fantastic. They practice hard and give up their Friday lunch times to be a part of the group.

Kapa Haka - couldn't get any pictures of Ryan - the boys were at the back

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

2011-08-16T09:18:00.000+12:00

Yesterday it snowed in Temple View. SNOWED! The whole country has been hit by a severe wintery blast and since Sunday it has been snowing in strange places like Taupo, Wellington and as far north as Auckland! Mount Pirongia had a nice dusting of snow in the morning - something I've only seen three times in my entire life!

Snow on Mount Pirongia - the most I've ever seen it covered

The day was very cold but it had a different feeling to it. Somehow I knew that if it was ever going to snow in Temple View, yesterday would be the day! I kept looking out the window to see if it had started yet. About 12:30 we got a pelting of hail. Then about 1:00 I thought - I'm just going to have one last look out the window and luckily I did because lo and behold fine white flakes of snow were falling down from heaven! I quickly called Crystal then ran outside and jumped around like a crazy person. It was amazing! Soon there was enough to build a snowman and we had a huge snowball fight! Well I wish that happened, the truth is it melted as fast as it fell and stopped after about 2-3 minutes! But I don't care. I am 32 years old and for the first time in my life (maybe ever?) IT SNOWED IN TEMPLE VIEW!

Beehives President

2011-08-15T10:20:00.000+12:00

Elle was called and set apart as the Beehives Class President yesterday. It was lovely to attend her setting apart and to hear the encouraging words of her blessing. As I listened to to the Bishop I was reminded of when I was called as the Beehives president - 21 years ago! Even as a 12 year old that calling taught me leadership and responsibility and helped to prepare me for the many church callings I have had and the many more which are still to come. We know Elle will do a great job in her first church calling.

Jonathan's Trip to Utah

2011-08-05T10:04:00.001+12:00

Sadly we found out last week that Jonathan's Aunty Polly passed away. She has lived in America most of her life after marrying Uncle Charles who served as a missionary here. They had returned to New Zealand twice to serve as missionaries in the New Zealand Temple - the last time being just before we got married. When we were in the states in 2009 we had some lovely visits with Aunty Polly, Uncle Charles and their family.

Jonathan with Aunty Polly and Uncle Charles - Christmas 2009

Jonathan decided on Monday night that he would attend the funeral. We spent Tuesday in Auckland getting an emergency passport - which thankfully only took 4 hours (it helps when you know someone behind the desk). Then we booked tickets and he was off at 3am on Thursday morning. The ticket was cheap but the downside was it took 30 hours to get to Utah - he had a layover in Sydney and San Francisco.

It was a whirlwind trip - just five days actually in Utah, but he seemed to pack in a bit of everything: spending time with family, visiting old mission companions and shopping.

Jonathan with some of his cousins at the funeral

Jonathan with Charlotte, Jack and Kate

If Elle and I weren't going next month I would have been insanely jealous! haha But I'm glad he got to go and represent his family and have a bit of a break while he was at it.

While he was gone Mum and Dad left for the Philippines which was sad but exciting too, the kids started back at school and I started back teaching Seminary - last term for the year!

Its good to be back together as a family.

These are a few of my favourite things...

2011-07-25T09:10:00.002+12:00

Mum and Dad leave for the Phillipines on Thursday! We are all feeling a bit sad but its exciting to know that Elle and I will see them in 8 weeks time when we meet them for General Conference. And then they will be home for Christmas.

Last night I decided to cook Dad a few of his favourite things for dinner - no, it wasn't "Crisp Apple Struedal and Schnitzel with Noodles" (Love that movie! - infact we watched it last Sunday - we consider it a church movie for Sundays in this house. Hey, it has Nuns doesn't it? I also heard once that when the Von Trapps got to Switzerland they became Mormons? - Mormon Folklore I am sure)

Anyway, I didn't even have to ask Dad what he would want. Spaghetti and Meatballs and Creme Brulee for dessert! Ryan and Jonathans favourite too. The girls passed on the meatballs but the Creme Brulee was perfection even if I say so myself. It is so easy to make I don't know why I don't make it more often ... oh thats right, because its pretty much PURE CREAM!

Happy Boys

First bite and the perfect crack of the carmelised sugar - thanks for the blow torch Crystal!

Because Elle, Mum and me aren't fans of meatballs we went out for a lovely girls only lunch today. It was yum and we all felt excited about the realisation that the next time we would all go out to lunch together would be in America.

Wedding Anniversary

2011-07-19T19:18:00.000+12:00

We celebrated our 13th Wedding Anniversary yesterday! THIRTEEN YEARS! Crazy how fast time has gone by.

Thirteen things that we've done since we got married in 1998!

1. We've had 2 kids. Elle was born 9 months after we got married and Ryan 2 years after that.

2. Jonathan enrolled in and 4 years later graduated from Waikato University with a BSc and a BTchng

3. We've gotten older...and hopefully wiser. One thing's for sure - I wouldn't want to go back to being 19 again!

4. Jonathan became and high school maths teacher and started earning real money!

5. We bought a house and became fully fledged mortgage paying adults!

6. We've taken a trip to the Gold Coast, 2 trips to Fiji and a trip to the U.S of A.

7. We bought our third child off trademe. Our maxy boy. Life wouldn't be the same without him.

8. We've lived in 4 houses - all within about 200 metres of eachother! Crazy!

9. This one's kind of embarrasing but...I learnt to drive! That's right, when we got married I couldn't drive. (Crystal and Jonathan would argue that I still can't drive)

10. We've served in many callings at church - Young Mens President, Primary Counsellor, Family History Library Director and Relief Society President to name a few. And the latest being Counsellor in the Bishopric and Early Morning Seminary Teacher.

11. We've owned 5 cars - beginning with the 2 door Toyota Celica which was a pain to put the car seat in.

12. When we got married we had a film camera, no internet, no computer, no cell phones a 14inch television and a video machine! - things have surely changed in 13 years! We now have broad band wireless internet, laptops, digital cameras, cell phones, i-pods, dvd players and an xbox. Technology definitely makes life easier!

13. Our families have grown. Since we got married the new additions to the Ardern's are Jessica, Charlotte, Jack, Kate, Sam, Preston & Nakita. And to the Warwick's: Uki, Sarsha, Connor, Mason, Chris, Maddison & Logan!

Fruit Trees

2011-07-10T13:59:00.002+12:00

A couple of years ago we planted two mandarin trees and a lemon tree. This year we had a bumper crop of fruit which inspired us to plant some more fruit trees. Apparently July is the best time to plant trees so yesterday we purchased a Tahitian Lime tree, a Louisa Plum tree (my favourite), an Apricot tree and a Granny Smith Apple tree (the best for Apple Crumble). Right now they just look like big twigs in the ground but the man at the garden centre assured us we'd have our first crop of fruit in the summer time - albeit a small one.

A typical winters day in Hamilton - rain, hail, thunder and lightening but Jonathan still got out and planted the trees!

Kapa Haka

2011-07-06T09:29:00.000+12:00

Elle and Ryan both joined the school Kapa Haka group this year. They have been practicing hard for a performance at Aberdeen School which was on Friday.

My camera is crappy so I only got one good photo - well, one sort-of good photo. Ryan needs a haircut.

Good news though, we had a big clean up in the weekend and I found my good camera behind the couch. I lost it in February!

Brace Face, Metal Mouth, Tin Grin

2011-06-23T20:10:00.000+12:00

Elle got her braces on two weeks ago. She now has a mouth full of metal and we have a bank account not so full of money :) They are pretty expensive - like, $8,000 expensive, but we know it is worth it to have a smile you can be proud of. I had my braces put on when I was 12 too - my teeth were overcrowded like Elle's but they were also terribly buck; the result of sucking my thumb til the age of seven. Even though I didn't want braces I'm so glad mum and dad made the sacrifice to get them for me. I can't imagine what I'd like look now if I still had those bugs bunny teeth!
She had a fair amount of pain 4 weeks ago when she had four teeth removed in order to open up some room for the crowded teeth to move into. And the first two days of having braces was pretty painful too - a feeling I remember well. But she is doing great now so that is good. Two weeks down, 2 years to go.

Cooking up a Storm

2011-06-20T10:01:00.003+12:00

Our Stake Ball was on Friday night and I was asked to be the caterer. It was a big undertaking - finger food for 500 people but I was keen to give it a go! Without my usual cooking buddies Mum (in America) and Crystal (new baby) I asked my sister in law Kelly to be co-chef with me. I knew it would all work out when we had our first meeting and both of us had come up with the same list of foods to make!

So, food for 500 hungry mormons. Needless to say it was a huge job! To save money we made almost everything from scratch. Our menu included mini wildberry cheesecakes, fudge brownies, chocolate truffles, lemon meringue tarts, caramel slice, cream puffs, mini carrot cakes, german chocolate cupcakes, savouries, sausage rolls & quiches, spring rolls & samosas, asparagus rolls, salmon and cream cheese crostini, beef crostini, fruit platters and 2 types of cheeseball and crackers. Yes, we were literally cooking for days!

We had lots of happy eaters and recieved lots of compliments and thanks. The best compliment we recieved was from the ball organisers who wrote us a card and said "we loved how you all worked together and looked like you were having fun doing it" - Jonathan, Laugharne and the kids were a HUGE help on the night and worked like little soldiers for hours and hours.

The theme of the Ball was 'A Night of Magic' and the colours Red, White & Black.
We made aprons to match and Kelly made the amazing cupcake tower
(built by Warwick Builders/my cousin Carl)

The food

The Warwicks working hard in the cafe kitchen

80's Party

2011-06-05T18:32:00.003+12:00

Crystal as an 80's bridesmaid - I even did her hair in a french roll.
I found my outfit many years ago at an op shop - got the top for 50 cents!

Julie turned the big 3-0 on Saturday and her sister threw a suprise 80's party to celebrate. Luckily for me, Crystal AND Julie, I just so happen to own three fantastically tragic 80's outfits! All that was needed was half a can of hair spray, too much blue eyeshadow, some bright red lipstick, a pair of pointy stelittos and we were good to go! One thing's for sure, I would not have liked to have been a teenager in the 80's - it took forever to tease up my hair like that! Worth it though, I won the prize for best dressed! (or should it be worst dressed?)

Player of the Day

2011-05-27T19:44:00.000+12:00

Ryan joined the school Basketball team this year. His Aunty Jodhi and Uncle Uki are the coaches and four of his cousins are in the team. They all practice together every day and are improving each week. Unlike Softball we think its great that the games are on Friday afternoon and they only last for 30 minutes - haha.

Today Ryan got player of the day! Woohoo go Ryan.

The Cross Country Race

2011-05-20T11:09:00.000+12:00

The kids had their Cross Country Race on Tuesday. They all got bused out to Church College to run around the #1 field. How that is considered cross country and why they couldn't have run around their own fields I will never know. But I'm sure they had fun on the bus ride! It was raining off and on but the clouds managed to hold back while the kids had their runs.

Elle and her long legs - she came 2nd for her year group

The head students also ran with the junior kids

Ryan has gotten a lot fitter since he started basketball and managed to run the whole thing with only a few stops

Ryan turns 10

2011-05-17T16:16:00.000+12:00

Ryan was born 8 days after Elle's 2nd birthday. Back then it seemed pretty cool to have their birthdays close together. Now its stressful! Two kids to shop for (which, I might add is waaaay harder now that they've grown out of Barbies and Batman and Bob the Builder), two cakes to cook, two breakfasts in bed, two parties to plan - and carry out - all within 8 days of eachother! So yes, it is a little stressful, but I love their excitement and anticipation and the happiness all my hard work brings.

Ryan's birthday was May 11th. He has just joined a Basket Ball team so requested a basketball cake for his birthday. We had it after school with his cousins and again at night with Paul & Nakita, Crystal, Sam & Preston and Ma.

The Basket Ball cake.

Ryan, Connor, Mason, Sarsha, Logan, Nevaeh, Maddy, Elle

On the weekend he had some friends sleep the night. They had KFC, ice cream sundaes, lots of munchies, watch movies and played xbox until 5am! After a pancake breakfast they headed out for fish and chips at the lake and mini golf with Jonathan. That night he had another sleepover with his cousins. Whoa, what a weekend!

Ryan and his mates

At Mini Golf

Book Character Dress-up Day

2011-05-12T19:19:00.000+12:00

Book Character Dress-up day was back in March but a friend took the photos for me and I only just got them. I'm usually a lot more organised with these type of things - but Crystal had just had Preston and I was helping out at the hospital with them. Plus the kids couldn't decide what to dress up as! I managed to pull these costumes together in the morning - thankfully The Warehouse opens at 8am. Elle is Silky from The Folk of the Faraway Tree and Ryan is Grandpa Joe from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I thought Ryan especially looked great! He borrowed his Papa's walking stick and I put cornflour in his hair to make it look grey.

Elle's Birthday Party

2011-05-10T16:19:00.001+12:00

Since Elle's Birthday was on a weekday she waited til the weekend to have her friends over for a slumber party. 8 girls to entertain seemed a bit daunting - especially after I asked Elle if she wanted to play pass-the-parcel and she looked at me like I was the latest freak show at the circus. Apparently you don't play games like that at 12 year old birthdays. Luckily for me they were happy to entertain themselves with movies, pedicures and xbox kinnect Dance Central. I also did a little craft class and had them all make heart shaped bath bombs to give to their Mums for Mothers Day.

Elle requested Coconut Lemon Cake

Clockwise Elle, Letitia, Maddy, Julia, Tyra, TeMaire, Raine, Kalyna

9 toppings for the ice-cream sundaes!

Ready for movie watching

Happy Birthday Elle

2011-05-09T11:42:00.001+12:00

Photo taken by the very talented Kimberley Farthing

Elle turned 12 on Tuesday. 12 I say! How did that happen? When did that happen? How am I suddenly the mother of a 12 year old? Wasn't it just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital on a cold and stormy night? Wasn't it just the other day that she had her first day at kindergarten? People always said to me when she was a baby to "enjoy the moment because they grow up too fast" - it surely didn't seem that way when there were endless nappies to change and clothes to wash and sleepless nights. But now it feels like I blinked and I missed it all and now here she is, no longer my little girl but a beautiful, mature young lady.

She'll be taller than me soon - but lucky for her she inherited skinny genes from somewhere so she'll never be fatter than me :) We won't ever share clothes but maybe shoes. I love that she talks to me about everything. If she's got a question - she asks it, no matter what the topic! I hope that never changes. I think about when I was 12 and how different I was from her. She is so confident and out going. I'm glad she didn't inherit my shyness. She is my number one shopping buddy. No matter what we're shopping for she'll come along happily - so long as we can spend 10 minutes or so in BLING or DIVA. I love her gentle nature and her soft spirit. I love that she cries if she sees me crying. I love the fact that even though Ryan can be her worst enemy, she will protect him no matter what. I love that she is honest and pure and always tries to do what is right. I love that when she thinks she has done something wrong she comes and talks to me about it - and it usually turns out she hasn't done anything wrong at all!

On Saturday I booked tickets to America for me and her to go to conference with Mum and Dad in October. How fun will that be?

One day old at Waikato Hopital. We called her frog legs.

Easter and ANZAC all rolled into one

2011-05-09T11:15:00.000+12:00

Easter was super late this year - infact it was so late in the month that we all got ripped off on holiday pay from work because ANZAC day, April 25th, fell on Easter Monday.
The weekend mainly involved eating.way.too.much. We started off with our traditional hot cross bun making competition. Dad was the judge and I have to say that I think he was biased in his judging. He chose Mum's buns even though they had no raisins! haha. Oh well, the proof was in the eating - I also made CUSTARD BUNS which were all gobbled up in no time.

The buns. Please disregard messy kitchen in the background.

On Sunday we had a lovely Easter lunch of chicken salad croissants and delectable desserts. The idea was for everyone to make a dessert they had never made before. It was quite fun but I was rather disappointed in mine. It was a recipe I had wanted to try for a long time and was quite tricky as it involved making your own pasty, caramel and ganache all from scratch! So while I think I executed the recipe perfectly, it just wasn't that nice. It looked great though - so here's a picture.

First and last time I will be making Dorie Greenspans chocolate peanut caramel tart

On Monday we headed off to Memorial Park to watch Elle lay a wreath on behalf of her school for ANZAC day. It was pouring with rain but it somehow seemed quite fitting to make a little sacrifice to stand in the rain for an hour to honor those who sacrificed so much for our country and our freedom.

Elle and the head boy Malachi Leslie. These two were born a few weeks apart and we
have photos of them together as babies. I made the wreath.

Royal Wedding

2011-04-30T21:00:00.001+12:00

For as long as I can remember, Crystal has said that she will have a Royal Wedding Party when Prince William gets married. (this is after she moved on from thinking she would be his bride) haha
Since she's just had a baby I volunteered to host the festivities at my house. Nakita made awesomely posh invites, Kelly and I made a 3 tier wedding cake, we drank from tea cups, ate cucumber sandwiches and scones with jam & cream, wore tiaras, facinators and gloves, giggled and cheered, waved British flags and stayed up til 12:30 to watch THE kiss which turned into 2 kisses!

Dad

2011-04-25T21:41:00.000+12:00

We were at The Night Glow when Crystal phoned me to say an e-mail had come from Dad asking us to watch conference in the morning. We knew it meant something was going to happen cos we recieved the same e-mail last year when Dad was called to the 8th Quorom of the Seventy as an Area Authority.
We woke up early and watched it live with Paul and Nakita. We were suprised to hear Dad released as an area authority and then even more suprised to hear him called to the First Quorom of the 70 as a General Authority. It was so cool to see him walk up to the stand and take his seat with the other members of the quorom. It is a stand I have looked at every General Conference since I was a little girl - and now OUR Dad sits there!

He has been called for the next 13 years until he turns 70. Their first assignment is to the Phillipines. They leave August 1st and while we are sad that they are leaving we are so excited for this new calling. They have already had some amazing experiences and I know that they will have many more.

Thankfully they get to come home every Christmas for a month to see us all. And they will get to visit Wade's family every 6 months when they go to conference. We are saving all our money so we can visit them as often as possible - which will probably not be very often but we will try!

Baby Mann

2011-04-25T21:40:00.000+12:00

Baby Preston Samuel Mann arrived on March 26th at 5:25 in the afternoon. Its a hard thing to watch your sister endure pain and exhaustion but Crystal was awesome and I was proud to be a part of the arrival of my new nephew.

We weren't really asleep - we were just being silly while Crystal was having a nap
(AFTER the epidural kicked in of course!)

Ryan hanging out with his new cousin

Elle loves looking after Preston - only 2 more years til she can legally look after him by herself!

Koromatua School Triathlon

2011-04-25T21:13:00.000+12:00

Elle and Ryan had their school triathlon a couple of weeks ago and it was a great day. Training began a few weeks before both at school and at home.

Elle competed individually, completing a course which involved 6kms of cycling, 2 kms of running and 1 km of swimming. She was awesome - it was a tough course but she kept on going and kept a really good pace. She came 5th for her age group.

Ryan was the swimmer for his team and they came 1st for their age group! He swam 1km in no time - using his favourite stroke - breast stroke. The week before he had represented Koromatua School at the Waipa Inter-school swimming sports in Te Awamutu. He placed third in his heat and 5th in the final! Yay Ryan.

The cousins: Sarsha, Logan, Maddy, Elle & Ryan

So Proud of This Girl:

2011-03-06T13:01:00.003+13:00

Elle was chosen to be Head Girl of her school a couple of weeks ago. It feels like just yesterday I was dropping her off for her first day of school. If you'd told me back then that she would one day be the Head Girl I would have laughed. She was so quiet and shy and HATED school. After her first week she came home, rolled up into the foetal position on the couch and cried herself to sleep. She stopped eating too. It was quite horrific really. She cried every day for months and it broke my heart.

But I guess somewhere along the way she learned to like school and grew out of her shyness.

After filling out an application and having a staff and student vote, Elle was chosen to be a House Leader. Then a week later she called me from school to tell me they had announced she was head girl.
She has lots of responsibilities to fulfill and we know she will do a great job of being a leader and an example to the other students. In fact, I've already seen her in action. I was at school during lunch time the other day to drop something off and a little 5 year old came up to Elle and told her she had no friends. So Elle went and found some friends for her. cute.

Great Lake Relay 2011

2011-02-27T12:15:00.002+13:00

Last Saturday was the Great Lake Relay at Lake Taupo. It was an amazing experience to say the least. When training began 6 weeks earlier I couldn't even run around the track at Church College. Infact I only made it half way. 200 metres. And then I died. Literally. But I had a goal and the fact that we trained as a team made it easier to stick to it and push myself. Don't get me wrong, I hated it every single training run. But then when I finished I'd think "hey that wasn't so bad" and the next night I'd be out there again.
So race day came and I felt really ready. My leg of the race was only 6.1 kms and was classed as easy. It was a great feeling starting off and even passing a few people. The first half of the run was cruisey as it was mainly downhill - I even managed a conversation with a man running beside me. (yeah, I didn't know he was there and was singing really loud to my i-pod). Then the hills started. One of them was 900 metres long. Yeah, that wasn't fun. But I kept going and then finally I saw the van again and Jonathan gave me a drink and told me I only had 1.5kms to go. I was like "yes - I'm nearly done" But I kept running and running and no finish line came into sight. I started to think I must be running really, really slowly for it to be taking so long. At last I saw the changeover station which gave me a boost of energy and I was able to pass a few people. I tagged Jonathan for the next leg and pretty much collapsed in the ditch on the side of the road. haha. I was wasted.

Yep, that's me in the ditch :)

Then the team told me that the leg had been mis-measured and I had infact run 7.3 kms. Holy Moly. That probably doesn't seem like much, especially to people like Paul who ran 14 kms at 2am but for me that was a big deal. The most I had ever run was 5.5 kms. So yeah, I was pretty happy with that. And I even managed to do it in less time than I was alotted for my 6.1 kms.
All in all it was a great day. It was awesome to be part of such a great team of people. Running over the finish line together was pretty cool. We'd made a hair brained goal at a family feed a few months before and actually accomplished it! It took us 15 hours and 26 seconds to run 156 kms. We came 109th. Bring on next year!

THE RUNS
Back Row L-R: Wally, Nigel, Jonathan, Paul, Rene, Sach
Front Row L-R: Nakita, Kelly, Me, Sam, Kara, Asher

Valentines Day

2011-02-18T13:56:00.000+13:00

Valentines Day was on Monday and I celebrated by getting up at 5:30 to cook breakfast for 12 teenagers...how romantic :) But seriously, I had promised my Seminary class breakfast if they all passed off their scripture mastery and they all did!

Don't you love my cake stand? Jonathan got it for me for Christmas.

We had planned to go on a family picnic but were helping in the kitchen at Brother Cammocks funeral so postponed until Tuesday night. Usually I would cook up scrumptuous picnic treats but now that I am an early morning seminary teacher and suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome :) I let the Colonel do the cooking. No one seemed to mind.

Elle for some reason decided she officially hated KFC so had fish n chips instead

Back to Reality

2011-02-09T07:44:00.000+13:00

How did the summer holidays go by so fast? It seems like just yesterday I was picking up the kids from their last day of school. I swear when I was a kid that the Summer Holidays lasted FOREVER. Didn't they?
So after 6 weeks of lazy sleep ins and late night movie watching its back to reality.
And unfortunatly for me - reality this year means waking up at 6am. Yes, apart from the chronic fatigue Seminary seems to be going well. I would have to say its the busiest calling I've ever had. Being Relief Society President was a constant mind busy calling - but this is a constant TIME busy calling. I seriously think that by the time I've planned and taught my lesson I'm spending about 3 hours a day! But I'm totally enjoying it.
Jonathan has started at Sacred Heart Girls College and all is going well. We went to the school Powhiri last week and there was a nice spirit there. I'm so happy that Elle will be able to go there next year.
And the kids are into week 2 of school already.
10 days until the Lake Taupo Run. I must say I'm suprised I'm still in it. Its been a real test of endurance for me. Like I said, I'm not a natural runner but I've kept going and things have gradually gotten easier. Not easy by a long stretch, just easier.

Summer Holiday

2011-01-24T13:51:00.004+13:00

Last week we hired a house at Mount Maunganui and headed to the beach for a few days of rest and relaxation. I left the planning and booking up to Jonathan this time and he managed to find a great beach house just a few minutes up the road from beautiful Omanu Beach. We were lucky enough to have three days of sunshine - even though the weather forecast told us it was going to rain the whole time we were there.

Well, a picture paints a thousand words so heres a few photos to show what we got up to:

Hiked to the Top of Mount Maunganui - it felt like Mount Everest!

Enjoyed the spectacular views from the top - what a pretty country we live in!

Ate way too many oh-so-delicious Copenhagen Cones

Soaked at the Hot Pools and laughed at their sign afterwards

Had a lovely visit from Mum and Dad - just in time for the kids to convince them to buy them another copenhagen cone

Had dinner looking out over the beach

Spent hours in the water and emerged covered in seaweed!

Went swimming at McClaren Falls

Relaxed with a good book

Ate too much food

Discovered some weird sea creatures

Spent quality time together.

Little {Business} Women

2011-01-19T23:07:00.002+13:00

Elle and her cousin Maddison have been busy little sewers for the last couple of days. They decided to sew aprons and sell them to their aunties, grandmas, neighbours and friends. With a little help from me they churned out a whole bunch of cute aprons in different colours and sizes and sold them for $5 each! They even made some matching Mum & Daughter ones which were very cute indeed. Today they made $70 and they have plans to sell more tomorrow. Give them a call if you want one!

Busy at work

Off to sell their wares

Freaking Out

2011-01-07T15:59:00.006+13:00

About a month ago Paul came up with the wild idea of entering a family team to run the Great Lakes Relay in February. We all got excited/deluded and commited ourselves to running sections of the entire length of Lake Taupo. What was I thinking??? I'm not a runner. In fact I hate running. The last time I took up running I gave up after three months because my toenails fell off, I got shin splints, approximately 1,078 blisters and perpetual foot cramps.

Anyway, I guess I just got caught up in the hype of it all. So far our team consists of Paul, Nakita, Tania, Kim, Nigel, Sam, Jonthan, Me and a few others I'm not sure of. Come February 19th at 2am Paul will begin the first leg of the 155km course around Lake Taupo.

On a good note - I do happen to own the best running shoes in the world which have changed my LIFE! I love them. Asics Gel 1250. Training has begun and so far no shin splints, no foot cramps, no blisters - and I still own all my toenails.

Wish me luck people. I will need it.

New Years Resolution #1 - Re-start our blog

2011-01-02T15:31:00.003+13:00

Aaaand here I am. There's so many useless excuses as to why I haven't blogged since May 2009 so I will not bore you with those. Truth is, I've felt a bit sad lately that I have missed recording so many great things - so I've made it a New Years goal to do better. Hmmm, I wonder how long it will be before anyone notices I've posted.

Anyway - Christmas has come and gone and here we are in January 2011! We had a fantastic New Years eve party at our place with 25 other people who had no where better to go. Thanks for coming guys - none of our neighbours have been giving me strange looks so I guess our singing wasn't that bad. Unfortunately I have no photo's of the epic fun-ness so you will have to read Crystals blog to see those. (New years Resolution #2 - take more photo's)

New Years day was spent at Jonathan's brothers house who just so happens to have a pool which was perfect for the hot sunny day. We had a spectacular BBQ lunch followed by sunbathing, swimming, spa pooling and silly antics. See silly antic photo below.

So we have an exciting year ahead - here's some of the things we've got going on:
1. Jonathan will start his new job at Sacred Heart Girls College
2. Elle has just 16 more Sundays in Primary before she starts Young Womens
3. I have just 4 weeks left of sleeping in before I begin teaching early morning Seminary!
4. Elle will start her last year of Intermediate School before she starts High School next year (This one scares me the most)
5. Ryan is in his last year of Primary School

Ryan's Baptism

2009-05-21T21:02:00.007+12:00

I can't believe my little boy is 8 already! It seems like just yesterday he was making his hurried entrance into the world. (He was a very speedy 45 minute labour, born on the bedroom floor, delivered by Jonathan and Mum).

Ryan was so excited for his big day to arrive. When it finally he did got really nervous - mainly because Elle teased him that the Bishop was going to ask him hard questions in his interview!

The service was short and sweet. Grandpa conducted and talks were given by Ma, Mum, Uncle Laugharne and Uncle Paul. Elle was bribed with $5 to sing a song and did a lovely job. While Ryan and Jonathan were getting changed we played a little slide show of his life so far which was really cute.

It was a lovely night shared by family and friends and hopefully one which Ryan will remember for the rest of his life.

Rock Stars

2009-04-16T08:55:00.006+12:00

I am not sure if it is a good idea to post this picture as I know I look quite ridiculous! But it was fun to dress up so I will anyway.

I went to a Rock Star themed Birthday Party at my sister-in-law Kelly's house which was quite fun and hilarious to see everyone dressed up...although i think I went a little overboard! Thanks to Crystal for the great make-up and to Carly for the loan of her studded belt which I think really made the outfit.

The next night the kids had a Rock Star Party and had fun dressing up too.

Elle and Ryan with their cousins Logan and Maddy

One a penny, Two a penny, Hot Cross Buns

2009-04-16T08:38:00.003+12:00

On Good Friday we decided to have a Hot Cross Bun making competition - this was mostly a round-a-bout way of getting lots of hot cross buns to eat! Crystal and Sam aren't fans of hot cross buns so she made cinnamon rolls, Elle's buns were raisin-less as she hates them, Mum and I made normal hot cross buns and I made custard buns aswell. All were delicious but I think everyone agreed that Mums were definately superior.

The Yellow Eyed Bunnies I made for the kids classes at school.

Elle called them "Boggly Eyed Bunnied"

2 Disappoinments in One Day!

2009-04-09T09:12:00.005+12:00

So, I finally watched Twilight. I've been hearing about this movie/book for months - admittedly the comments haven't all been good but on a whole I would say most people I have talked to loved the movie and have watched it at least 15 times (well, Isabella Tunstall has anyway).

It hasn't been released in NZ yet but a friend of ours lent us a copy she got from the states. I was so excited to see what all the hype was about! So I'm watching and after about 10 minutes I start thinking - surely this is going to get better! But it doesn't! I wouldn't watch it again if you paid me and I am super happy I didn't actually spend money going to see it at the movies. It was lame. Utterly Disappointed!

The second disappoinment of the day came when I made Easter Bunny cookies for the kids to take to school. Did you know that for some bizaare reason M&M's are now sold as single colours? Thats right people - no more lovely rainbow of colours - just one boring colour per bag! I'm thinking maybe the recession has hit the m&m company and they can no longer afford to pay someone to mix up all the colours.

I got the m&m's to be the eyes on the bunnies and my lucky colour was yellow - so all the bunnies had to have yellow eyes. I think they would have looked much better with all different coloured eyes but I guess now there won't be kids fighting over who gets the red eyes and who gets the blue eyes. Yellow's not so bad but I'll be really annoyed if I ever buy a bag of m&m's and they're all brown ... And Mum will hate to get a bag of blue ones cos she reakons she can taste the difference!?!

We are the Champions

2009-03-28T14:28:00.004+13:00

The Waikato Junior Softball League finals were today and Ryan's team - The Uptempo Tigers took first place!

It was a nail biting game and for a while it looked like the other team was going to win ... but we had a great last innings and ended up winning 22 - 19.

Go the Tigers!

Ryan holding the Team Trophy

Ryan with a few of his team mates and his coach and manager: Brother and Sister Strother

Koromatua School Triathlon

2009-03-25T16:35:00.010+13:00

The kids have been training hard for weeks and today was the big day - the Koromatua School Triathlon.

Ryan chose to compete as an individual which meant he had to bike, swim and run. It was a pretty long course but he did awesome!

Elle entered as a team with two of her classmates. She did the swimming and they all did really well.

Growing up too Fast!!!

2009-03-19T12:01:00.004+13:00

I looked out the window last Saturday and saw Ryan mowing the lawns!

Our kids are growing up way too fast :-(

Honey Harvest

2009-03-19T11:45:00.006+13:00

A little over a year ago Jonathan decided to become a bee-keeper. A swarm of bees landed near his classroom so he gathered them up in a carboard box and brought them home. They now live in a hive down in our back yard. Since then he has accumulated 2 more hives which are kept up the road at a native bush reserve.

I was initially a little nervous about having thousands of bees sharing our garden, but it turns out that if you don't bother them, they don't bother you. I have only been stung once, and that was when I stood on a bee as I ran across the grass. Max has probably been stung the most...but he has now learnt to stay away from the hive and to run for his life if a bee comes buzzing around.

So, February means honey harvest time. It is quite a process to get the honey extracted but after a very hot night of work we managed to extract about 50kgs of golden, runny honey! Its just amazing to me how much honey they can produce. We only take the excess and leave the majority for the bees to eat over the winter.

The sad fact is that it takes a single bee an entire 2 weeks to produce just 1/2 tsp of honey.

"Darling its better, down where its wetter, take it from me..." Sebastian, The Little Mermaid.

2009-02-10T16:57:00.003+13:00

Crystal and Sam have this cool camera that takes photos underwater. We went to the Mount last weekend and had a great time taking lots of photos in the pool. It reminded me of that song from The Little Mermaid :-) Here's my favourite family photo. It cracks me up that somehow I managed to smile and pose under water ... Ryan on the other hand needs a little work!

Holiday to Wellington

2009-01-05T13:22:00.008+13:00

On New Year's Day we left on a trip to Wellington with Grandma and Papa. Jonathan's Mum had a reunion on and so we went along so that Jonathan could do the driving.

We had a great time seeing all the sights - going to Te Papa - the National Museum, Visiting the Beehive and Parliament buildings, going up Mount Victoria as the sun was setting, going to the movies to see Bedtime Stories, going swimming and going to the beach.

If it didn't take 8 hours to get there it would have been the perfect holiday :-)

Honey Village - Taupo

Huka Falls - Taupo

At TePapa Museum

Outside Te Papa

At the Beach

Ryan and Mum

Best Friends

Up a Pohutukawa Tree

We came across "Ryan Building"

At the swimming pools

Outside The Beehive

At the top of Mount Victoria

Army Museum

Christmas Day

2008-12-28T17:34:00.009+13:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

After a late night of bottling honey which Jonathan had just extracted from his hive we were woken at 7am by two very excited children!

It always seems a bit disappointing that it takes weeks of hours trapsing the town looking for gifts and they're all opened within 15 minutes! Even so, the kids were very happy with their presents.

Christmas dinner was at 12:30 at our house. We managed to turn our dining room into a banquet hall and made a huge table to sit 20! We had all of our family, the Farthings, Grandmother and K, Sam's parents and the missionaries. It was great having Mum and Dad and Paul home for Christmas.

We had the Warwick Christmas Dinner at Laugharne and Kelly's house at night and as much as I wanted to eat the delicious meal I was so full from lunch I could only manage a few spoonfuls! We had an awesome time playing 'rock band' on the playstation for a few hours after dinner - its great fun! Jonathan was lead singer, I was on bass guitar, Kelly on lead guitar and Laugharne on the drums. I could have played all night but the kids had fallen asleep on the couch so it was time to go!

So that was Christmas for another year. I say this every year but next year I really am going to be more organised!

Relief Society Christmas Activity

2008-12-28T17:28:00.010+13:00

We held our annual Relief Society Christmas Activity on Wednesday 3rd December. It was a great night with a huge turn out of sisters which seemed to make all our hard work and effort worth it!

A few months earlier someone had come up with the grand idea of making each sister and apron which the other sisters could sign. They were awesome - Crystals friend Jeremy even designed a cool motif which we ironed on to make them even more special! They took FOREVER to cut, sew, iron and fold but they looked fantastic!

It hardly seems possible that I have been serving as Relief Society President for a whole year now! Time flies when you're super busy I guess :-)

Me and my counsellors Sandy and Carly wearing our aprons.

Putting up the Christmas Tree

2008-12-28T17:25:00.005+13:00

We usually put up our tree on the first Monday in December but the Ward Relief Society Activity kept me very busy so we didn't end up getting it until Thursday.

We made our usual trek out to the Christmas Tree Farm to choose a tree and after about 1/2 an hour of searching found a fine speciman to chop down and lug back to the car.

Here's some pictures of the kids decorating it.

Koromatua School Prize-giving

2008-12-28T17:20:00.007+13:00

The school year flew by so fast - especially this last term. Elle and Ryan were so excited for the last day of school to finally arrive!

Ryan had his junior prize-giving assembly on Tuesday afternoon and he recieved the top effort award for his class! We were so proud of him because he was struggling with his reading at the beginning of the year but with lots of hard work and perserverance he is now reading well above his age level! When his teacher gave out the award she said "this little boy gives 110% effort in everything he does and gets the results to show it".

The next day was Elle's senior school prizegiving. Not only did she recieve the Leadership award for her class but also Top Numeracy, Top Literacy and Overall Top Academic! Way to go Elle. She is a hard worker and a good student and her teacher said she really deserved everything she got.

It's Been A While!!!

2008-11-19T12:48:00.009+13:00

I'm sorry to say it's been 3 months since I last posted on here! Useless I know but my excuse is that Crystal left on her big trip with all the photos on her camera that I wanted to use. So now Christmas has come and gone and I am terribly behind in updating the happenings in the Warwick household. Rather than just forget about the last few months I thought I would gradually get this up-to-date...so here goes!

#1 on the news agenda is that I turned the big 3 - 0. I will admit that leading up to the day I was feeling a bit depress-o about the whole getting old thing but once the day arrived it wasn't so bad. Jonathan and the kids made breakfast in bed and then I spent the afternoon shopping and getting manicures with Elle and Summer - who had just returned from BYU. Lots of people (mainly Crystal) tried to convince me to have a big party but I'm not really in to being the centre of attention so we just had dinner at home - Mexican food - and played a bit of singstar. It was nice to have Mum and Dad and Paul there after 3 years of being away ... especially because it meant I didn't have to bake my own birthday cake! Mum made the most awesome baked cheesecake ever!!! Mmmm wish I had a slice right now!

Yes, I admit, I have a slight obsession with Michael Schoffield off Prison Break ... Paul and Crystal thought they would be funny and designed me a pillow case with his photo on it.

Mud Pies

2008-09-22T15:46:00.003+12:00

We have been having some glorious spring weather the last few days. Lots of sunshine and clear blue skies - a welcome change after our wet and soggy winter!

I went grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon and returned home to find Ryan and his friend Ashley had turned the back-yard into a mud pit! They were having a great time rolling round like little piggies!

He's Home

2008-09-21T16:02:00.004+12:00

Friday was the big day - Paul arrived home after serving 2 years as a missionary: 18 months in Serbia and 6 months in New Zealand.
We all woke up early and tied 200 yellow balloons down the street leading to Mum and Dad's house, put up a huge Welcome Home sign, got dressed and headed out to the airport - only to find on arrival that his plane had been delayed 1 hour.
When it finally did arrive we all cheered and got lots of strange looks from people around us wondering what the heck was going on.
We had brunch together and then got ready for his Welcome Home party which was at our house. Lots of people came over to welcome him home and then we stayed up talking til 2am.
The Singstar Party has been had (I remain triumphant as the top scorer for 'The Reason' haha), an episode of Sponge Bob has been watched, mission stories have been shared and too much food has been eaten....its great to have Paul home.

Elle & Ryan happy to be with Uncle Paul again

Welcome Home sign on Foster Road

One more sleep!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-18T09:54:00.009+12:00

Elder Ardern returns home tomorrow at 9.40am. Elle and Ryan are beside themselves with excitement and can't wait to watch Sponge Bob Square Pants with their Uncle Paul - a daily ritual they had before he left on his mission (What's up with Sponge Bob anyway? Seriously, who makes a cartoon about a sponge that lives in a Pineapple under the sea????)

I'm looking forward to playing Singstar - its always a fun night when the Farthings & Manns come over to play Singstar and I beat them all at singing 'The Reason'...hahaha.

Also making the list of Top 5 Things to do when Paul comes Home is to watch Prison Break Seasons 2 & 3.

I can't believe 2 years are up already.

Snow in Serbia - December 07

Sunshine in Queenstown - March 08

Father's Day

2008-09-08T11:20:00.000+12:00

Yesterday was Father's Day and it was the first time in three years that we have been able to share it with my Dad.

Elle and I made breakfast in bed for Jonathan - croissants, fruit and chocolate milk - which was enjoyed by all including Max the dog.

Dinner was at our place with Mum and Dad, Crystal and Sam and Grandmother and Pop Pop. Roast Lamb was on the menu - of course, followed by a delicious slice of baked cheesecake from the cheesecake shop.

And even though it was Father's Day Dad couldn't help himself and did the dishes...just goes to show what a good Dad he is.

Here's a few pictures of Jonathan with the kids taken last summer. They're lucky to have him as their Dad.

Camping at Ruapuke

Picnic and swim at Kaniwhaniwha

Yes, I love Technology...but not as much as you, you see ... but I still love technology ... always and forever

2008-09-05T09:37:00.000+12:00

Well if you are thinking I have gone slightly nutty with that title then you are obviously not a Napoleon Dynamite Fan.

That song came to mind as I was thinking about how much technology has changed over the last 10 years. I was once again looking through 'that' box of old photos and came across all the negatives of our professional wedding photographs. It made me laugh to think that when we got married in 1998 digital cameras were hardly even heard of in New Zealand and all of our wedding pictures were on these ancient things we call negatives!

So I took them into K.Mart and a few hours and $12.95 later we had all 120 of our wedding photos on a CD.

Heres a few of my favourites.

There! I posted another blog...happy now Crystal?

So here I am

2008-09-01T09:44:00.000+12:00

Well it has been months and months since Crystal started harping on at me to create a blog...and now in a moment of weakness it appears I have finally given in and started one.
The truth is, I have been thinking about doing it for a long time. My initial excuse was that my life was too boring and I would never have anything interesting enough to write about...but then I read Crystals blog and realised that you can write about boring things whenever you want. haha just kidding Crystal.
Truthfully, the real thing that made me decide to start a blog was coming across an old box of photos the other day... there were all sorts of pictures in there - baby photos, mission photos, wedding photos, first day of school photos of the kids etc etc...and it made me sad to think all those memories were just lying in an old box in the back of my wardrobe.
So from now on I'll be posting stuff on the internet for the whole world to see ... thats if anyone is interested :-)
Heres a few of the old photos I was talking about...how cute were we?