Photo Evidence

so here goes, a photographic journey of the last 3 months - starting with Nat, Stix & Zoe's visit to NZ, The Noodle's 3rd Birthday, our trip to SA and then home again - ENJOY !

David spent alot of time with "my cousin" Zoe and his Aunty Natalie including a wonderful trip to the Bay Of Islands and Pahia http://www.paihia.co.nz/
lots of fun was had with Ashlee & Logan too !

David's 3rd Birthday Party was held at The Froggatt's - very generous of Kathryn to host it - as our house was a complete shambles as we moved the next day - Kathryn also made the wonderful racing car cake - which david DID NOT want to cut, he just wanted to ride the cars on the track !

It was an exhausting day for boys & their dad's :)

the next day (moving day) was his actual birthday and he opened more presents, sitting in a packed box, whilst talking to Granny Patsi, Grampa Moi, Sue & Aunty Sal on Skype - gotta love technology !!

Deon and Stix got on like a house on fire (first time they had met) - they went fishing and caught a great snapper and then came home and made a BBQ in our new house - which we absolutely love !!

David & I at the hotel in Auckland before leaving for SA

JOHANNESBURG

With Granny Patsi and with a little girl he befriended at a playground (can you tell we are now in SA)

David with his Great Granny Joyce and his 2nd cousin Liora (my cousin, Daniel's new born daughter)

with Grampa Moi & Sue - having a ball - as usual !!

CAPE TOWN

With Aunty Gene, With Granny Deanna and With Granny Jane

With Shanti and "My Friend Jacqui"

With Aunty Tammy & Cousin Maya on Halloween - David was dressed as the Tokilosh - we spent a lot of time in Kommetjie - we really enjoyed being there - it was just like home - no high walls, no burglar bars ;)


David was intrigued with the 2010 Soccer World Cup Mascot at Cape Town Int.

BACK HOME IN WHANGAREI

With Casey - who I look after 1 day a week while his mom Karyn, is at work - in the Mulberry Bush and having lunch (KD the dog in the background)


Super Cool Noodle and all dressed up as a pirate in a life jacket for Logan's 8th Pirate Birthday Party - we all went over to Limestone Island http://www.limestoneisland.org.nz/ for a picnic - it was a great day !

yes, that is me ironing and me behind dave's boat on a biscuit - no Photoshop, i know, hard to believe but I did do both !!

david with some scallops Deon got last weekend diving and showing off our annual christmas/channukah decor

merry merry and happy new year to you all
much love
robyn, deon & david

Body Snatchers

i know i have a huge blog to do of the past 2 months i.e. noodles 3rd birthday and our wonderful trip to SA but first I thought you would all like to know that aliens have landed and have taken over mine and deon's bodies'. Why do we say this ? Last week, Deon mowed and trimmed our lawns to perfection and then he and David made a bird feeder and I made a home-made chicken pie - what do you think ? ;)

October - oi veh !

the next couple weeks are going to be crazy, so i thought i would post a blog about the upcoming events as i know i will not have time to report back on them. so here's whats happening:

• wednesday - my sister natalie and her family arrive for a visit from Australia
• saturday - david's 3rd birthday party (his bday is on sunday)
• sunday - we move house
• friday - the noodle and I go to South Africa

so it's going to be hectic, between packing boxes (ok, nearly done), having visitors (ok, only family), baking cakes (ok, kathryn is actually doing that), packing suitcases (ok, only 1 and it's going empty - to be filled by grannies). As Deon said, no half measures with me, always full on - yup only i would arrange to move house in the same week as getting guests and travelling overseas, but really, we had no choice - long stories, not worth repeating, so here we are, a hectic couple weeks ahead but then a nice relaxing holiday in SA !

we are moving to a really nice house, in the same suburb as where we are now but closer to the shops, school, library. the house itself is not much bigger than what we have, but it has a gorgeous modern open-plan kitchen and a lovely deck and garden opening on from the lounge (our deck now is off our bedroom, not too good for entertaining !) but the best part is that the whole underneath of the house has been made into a store-room/rumpus room with a toilet - so deon has loads of space for all his stuff - his fishing stuff, his hunting stuff, his diving stuff, his tool stuff, his, you-know, boy stuff !! so he will have a whole month, while we are in SA to sort his stuff !

david's birthday is going to be a low key affair - just a kid's birthday party on saturday afternoon, just too much else to do with the move the next day - kathryn is making him a cake he chose himself, a race track, which he is super excited about ! quite unbelievable that its a whole year since his last birthday - the last weekend we spent in Cape Town before leaving for new zealand !
so very excited about Nat, Stix & Zoe arriving tomorrow - they have not met David yet and its so great that they are so close and able to just pop over from Melbourne - and that we can just pop over to them once we have residency !

our trip to SA is most exciting - david and i had return tickets valid for a year so after a stressful and expensive last minute application to New Zealand Immigration - they granted us multiple entry visas - which just means that we can now come BACK to NZ and still hold valid papers - it's all a bulls**t, money-making racket but one we had to go through - so a couple weeks in joberg with granny patsi, granny joyce (thank you), grampa moi, etc etc etc, then onto CT to see granny deanna, gen&bo, etc etc etc !!

here are some pictures of the noodle with his new haircut - as he says "I'm a real boy now" and of KD Dog !

see some of you real soon
lots of love

bits & bobs

August started with another Froggatt party - this time, a Hawaiian themed cocktail evening which was a great success and then my birthday on the Monday, which was a quite day but was remembered by lots of people. I got skype calls, email wishes, facebook messages and even some old fashioned flowers & chocolates and a beautiful gift from our new "local" friends - thanks all very much !!

then the froggatt kids moved in - yes, it was instant big family for us - Dave & Kathryn went to Melbourne for 10 days and left their kids with us - it was really great having them here - a LOT of work - but lovely nonetheless. David loved it, Deon slept thru most of it (kidding) and they even came to Playcentre with us one day !

then KD moved in - yes, we got a dog ! we saved him from the awful neighbours who were going to abandon him - so we had to - he is so cute, tough and very playful. Deon thinks he is a staffie cross bull mastif but who knows - his mom, Rusty, is a lovely gentle cross breed who spent lots of time with us but has now left with the neighbours who have moved out, but his dad could be any of the various dogs that were sniffiing around ! Some of you will be shocked to hear he sleeps in the kitchen and does NOT go everywhere with us :)

david had an exciting day with playcentre going on a trip to the local airport.

when we arrived there, he looked at me, horrified and said "but we did not bring our suitcases!" and then after a very much appreciated look in a 20 seater Air New Zealand plane, he told me, "but we did not go anywhere !" - just a couple gems of Noodlelese

that's the news for the month - nothing much else to report while we wait patiently for Immigration to process our Permanent Residence application
hope to update again soon with good news
much love to you all

Granny Patsi has come & gone

i know, i also can't believe it but it is true, my mom arrived mid June and left us yesterday, Friday 10 July. We had the most wonderful time with her here, she spoiled us all rotten and we can't thank her enough for everything she did for us ...

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, MUM !!

we went to auckland to fetch her and did some sight seeing and enjoying the city before she arrived and then we stayed in a motel for the night because we did not want to drive the 2.5 hours back to Whangarei at midnight...

so when we got back to motel, the first thing david said to his granny was, where are my presents ?

Sounds precotious now but was very very cute then. So he was rewarded with one or two things but we all scored big time once unpacking started when we got home on Sunday. So thanks so much to everybody who sent things, Granny Joyce, Aunty Penny, Sue, Granny Deanna, Gertie & Barbara - we really appreciate your generosity !

The three weeks passed slowly and quickly, if that makes any sense but we had the most wonderful time, just spending quality time together - honestyly, mostly shopping but David and his Granny also spent lots of time together and from these pictures, it seems to me, lots eating took place ;)

I think the only sore point was that it has been very very cold and even an old Joberger like Patsi could not quite get the cold out her bones but it did not stop The Noodle from wanting to go to the park

David learnt the art of wrapping his granny round his little finger and managed to score (amongst other things) a new lawnmower & a pedal bike - both to his absolute delight !!

Our time together ended with a wonderful meal at a fancy restaurant and huge bowl of prawns !
we miss you granny patsi

other exciting happenings have been frost on the grass, cuddles in bed, toilet training. bread making and david dressing up - all weird and wonderful things in their own rights !

next blog with immigration news to come soon - hopefully !!