Mom's Diary Notes

Mountain lupines are lush along the roadside up to Aurthur's Pass - they are considered non-native and invasive by the ecologists here in NZ. Can you imagine not loving these flowers? (The park rangers also put out poison for the deer and possums which are also non-native and disturb the native flora and fauna. One ranger told us if we saw a stoat, a small weasel-like animal, to shoot it! I don't know about these New Zealanders.)



I made Blaine pose like he was preparing to leap the falls. He is such a good son-in-law!


This was a cave adventure that Kate and I thought would be a nightmare. There is a torrent of water through this cave that you can traverse - wading through waist-deep, snow-melt water. It takes about an hour to make it through and you need 2 "torches" (flashlights) with extra batteries. There are slippery ladders to climb and chains to cling to along the way. Sound like fun? Come to see Kate and Blaine, and Blaine will go with you!

Mom finally made it!!! We have kept her very busy since the moment she stepped off the plane. The first day she didn't have time to be jet-lagged...we toured the Botanical Gardens, kayaked the Avon River and cooked a fresh salmon dinner. Today we biked/walked downtown, had a coffee on New Regents Street and drove around the Port Hills. We ended the day with thai food at our local restaurant with Petra and Tim, delicious. Tomorrow if the weather permits, we are hiking in Arthur's Pass! We'll keep you updated!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

We wanted to wish everyone at home a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We will both be missing our first Christmas in 25 years to not be at home with family and friends. But God has blessed us with many wonderful friends to be with, and we are very grateful. We have reservations to eat with a few of our couple friends from South Africa, Germany, and New Zealand for Christmas Eve, followed by carols on the Avon River and midnight mass at the Cathedral. Christmas afternoon we will be grilling out with our neighbors from England and Australia. Boxing Day, which is the day after Christmas, is a public holiday...Blaine will have the day off and I will work from 7-5. Then Mom will arrive on the 28th!!
We will be thinking of each family member and friend over the holidays and missing you but the good new is...WE WILL BE HOME NEXT YEAR FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

Matthew 1:21 "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

Love, Blaine and Kate

Christmas Festivities

BT's professional golf swing

CCU Christmas Brunch in Riccarton

Cardiology Christmas Dinner at Alchemy Art Museum

Christmas activities in the Southern Hemisphere are a little different...we have been attending BBQs (if you call them a cookout no one knows what you are talking about), playing golf, getting out our summer clothes, etc. However, we have put up a Christmas tree, stockings, and lights in the apartment to get in the spirit. This past weekend we had Blaine's company Christmas party on Friday night at the Carlton restaurant. It was a lot of fun...it was the end of Blaine's third week at work so we were definitely the new kids on the block. Blaine is by far the youngest person that works in an office of around 60 people but not the only American! There is one other bloke ("guy" in NZ english) from Michigan. The food was good and they had a band. Saturday night we had my cardiology dinner...it was good for Blaine to meet more of the nurses and doctors and techs that I work with on a daily basis. Graeme is the only guy nurse I work with and he and Blaine have met before and get along well. I had the best salmon I have ever eaten and we played a quiz bowl. One of the questions was "what is the official language of the USA?". The answer was "there is no official language". I don't believe that but I haven't researched it yet. Hope everyone is having fun shopping, decorating and partying to prepare for the holidays. Don't forget the "reason for the season" in everything you do!

Shrek

I know you've all been wondering what happens to a sheep when you forget to shear him for 6 years...

I indroduce you to Shrek, the New Zealand sheep who avoided the general roundup in the hills by hiding in a cave....for 6 years. He was a merino sheep and the wool was enough to make 6 men's suits. If you want to read a little more, here is the link - news.bbc.co.uk/1/world/asia-pacific/3665735.stm