Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you have a wonderful day filled with good food, and great company. :) Edan and I stayed home this year for Easter, although we would have loved to go away. Although, we are quite glad we did stay home - we got a lot of yard work done around the place, and it's looking fantastic! We are just building up our winter veggie garden, and I'm itching to plant some broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage. leeks, lettuce, onions, and beans. And, Edan is busy getting his workshop ready for his project car to come 'home' soon.

We had a bit of an impromptu Easter dinner on Sunday eve at our place. It was great! Most of our friends were home for the holidays - and we had 14 adults and 5 kiddos in our place! It was chaos, but very fun. It's so cool to get together with loved ones for the holidays and it was really fun to have our friends over to share the joys of Easter with. Jen & Sam also came down to share in the fun day - and it was fantastic to see them! Miss G was so spoiled with all of the attention!

Our place when we bought it. 

SOLD! (Note, I am 8 months preg here.)

Today is ANZAC day in Australia/New Zealand - a day to remember the soldiers that have fallen in battle. Since we are so close to the Air Force base here, we heard the helicopter going around the area doing fly overs during the special services. It was quite neat. 

Otherwise, today is a bit of a rainy day - but since we enjoyed sunshine for the weekend, a bit of rain is a-okay. :) 

My next project is doing something with our feijoas. What is a feijoa you may ask - FEIJOA. We have a hedge of feijoa trees on our back boundry fence, as well as our neighbors tree that hangs over into our yard... I have "gifted" several bags to friends and family, but figure I better start doing something with the remaining... Watch this space... ;-) 

Hope everyone is well - and until next time. 

xoxo

3 Months of Bliss!

Miss G celebrated her 3-month birthday on Weds! We had quite a busy day - we went to a seminar on Baby Talk - and are planning to teach Miss G baby sign. Apparently we can start doing the signs with her now (just a couple) and she will be picking them up and using them around the 9-month mark! Very cool! So we are starting with milk - and then add in some words as we go on. I've had some friends use baby sign and have good results with it, so I'm hoping Miss G is able to use it as well.

3-months old!

We also had Gretchen's Plunket check-up - she's weighing in at 5.06kg (25%) and 60.5cm (75%).  She's such a happy wee dot - and LOVES her voice! When she squeals with delight and it sounds like cats fighting! I kid you not - it is absolutely HILAROUS! Mom, Dad and Dan were on SKYPE with us Weds afternoon - and as usual, she put on a good show.

 I can't believe how quickly the past 3 months have gone - may the good times continue to roll on! :)

Have a great Friday everyone!

First Post!

Hello! Just thought I'd give 'blogging' a whirl to keep everyone posted on what is happening in New Zealand! I'm trying to figure out how to change the background, etc - so please bear with me while I have some growing pains. ;-)

Well, 2011 has been such a rapid whirlwind for us - Gretchen Klara Maria was born on the 13th of January - Edan's birthday! She is such a fun addition to our family - such a sweet happy girl! Mom arrived the evening of the 12th, so she arrived just in time - which was absolutely fantastic! Even Jen made it down from Taupo in time for Gretchen's birth.

In February we celebrated Jen's and Sam's wedding - it was a beautiful day and everyone had such a wonderful time. Welcome to the family Sam! Couldn't ask for anyone better for Jen! :) Both Dad and Daniel were in New Zealand for the wonderful event as well.

Beautiful bride!

Being cute is so exhausting! 

The "Thorstad" family

In March, mom and dad flew back to cold Minnesota to start their calving season. Daniel went down to the south island and spent some time hunting with his college buddy Ryan, and their NZ mates down there. He brought back some venison and crayfish for us to enjoy, which was yummy! :)

Two months old - by Belle's 2nd birthday cake!

April has come before I could even blink! Gretchen is 12 weeks now - oh where has the time gone? She's such a wonderful baby - she's fully discovered her hands and loves to put them in her mouth! She also enjoys reaching out and grabbing, as well as playing with her musical gym and her stuffed animals on her bouncy chair. (Tigger is her favorite!) She has a very similar smile to her brother and we are constantly reminded of him when we look at her - which is really nice. We wish he was here with us to enjoy her as well, but we know he is here in spirit everyday. :)

Dan's crayfish

Cheeky monkey! 

It's coming into autumn here now, leaves are starting to drop and the air has a bit of a chill in it. Netball season has also started and I am playing for the Te Kawau social team. We had our first game (grading game) on Saturday, and we had a blast together as a team. Despite that we lost 25-39, but nevermind - it was very fun to get out and play. (PS To all my American friends, here's what netball is: NZ Netball) It's a very fun game!

Well, until next time... :)