Ben and Meri are coming!!!

(sorry this is such a little photo...I am doing this at work)

We are so excited to have my brother and his wife on their way to New Zealand!

Great news--Meri passed her daunting CRNA board exams!!!!

Now they will be able to relax and have fun with us!

We are going to do the South Island in a counter-clockwise direction...and it should be fun to do some hikes, biking, camping and who knows what else with them.

We can't wait.

And this is the perfect time of year to come because Spring is springing...and the weather is warming up and the tourists are not swarming in yet.

Watch this space for pictures to come of our adventures...

Here is a list of all the people that have visited us while we've lived here over the past 2 years:

Mom (our 1st visitor!)

Mr. Blaine, Mrs. Janie and Grandmother T (she was our oldest visitor!)

Melissa S. Galbraith and Michelle Bloch (our blondest visitors)

Matt Broome (our only cousin visitor)

Laurel Blissett and Kellye B. Summerhill (our brunettest visitors)

Bryan and Wendy Frady (our most humorous vistors)

and now

Ben and Meri!

Pretty good for 2 years and 10,000 miles away!

SNOW DAY!!

We had a fun Saturday snow skiing with friends at Mt. Hutt. It is about 1 1/2 hours drive from our house (better than the 24 hours to Colorado from MS). They had received 40 cm of fresh powder over the last few days, so it was great skiing but hard work! Blaine and I will admit that we took a few tumbles. I only had one beginner skiier knock me down as he got off the lift for his 1st time! The feeling of dread begins when you are on the lift and the person next to you tells his friend "o.k. now let me explain to you how to get off this lift...you hold your poles in one hand..."! I knew I was doomed and even with a headstart he still managed to put his skiis on top of mine. Oh well.

It was one of those days that made us feel like we never want to leave New Zealand.