Merry Christmas!

We've had a wonderful December, enjoying all of the fun that the holidays bring! We took a group of friends from our church to the Carnation Tree Farm where we had a great time finding our tree and enjoying time together. We've been busy with holiday parites and hosting the 5th annual fondue & wine tasting party at our house. We are so incredibly blessed with such wonderful friends! We wish you well during this wonderful time of year and hope you have a blessed 2007!

New Zealand Trip November 2006

Our trip started in San Francisco, we had a lay-over for 9 hours before our flight to Auckland, so we enjoyed the sites of the pier & Ghiradelli Square!

We Arrived in Auckland at 5:00am and then took a transfer van to Aunt Betty's house in Mount Maunganui where we stayed for our 10 day vacation. She lent us her car for the time- a total blessing! We were able to travel all over the country, Rob did a great job conquering the round-abouts and staying to the left!

This is the view from the north part of the island, near Coromandel. Never a dull sight!

The famous New Zealand silver fern.

We hiked into Taranaki Falls- a foggy rainy day but turned out to be a great time in the Tongariro National Forest.

We enjoyed wine tasting in the Hawkes Bay area. During one of our visits, we had the wonderful opportunity to meet two of New Zealand's members of Parlimant, Lockwood Smith & Chris Tremain. They were both very friendly and one of them talked of his friendship with Bill Clinton!

One of our vacation highlights was enjoying black water cave rafting trip through the Waitomo Caves. We got to push ourselves absailing, rafting, rock climbing and got to see millions of little glow worms at the same time! We took a tour with a couple from Belgium. It was fun to get to know them!

Rob was able to golf at Cape Kidnapper's Golf Course, a beautiful location! The course is rated as one of the top 50 courses in the world! I tried to be helpful and was in charge of the flag and driving the cart!

Huka Falls near Taupo, New Zealand.

We went fishing for prawns at the Huka Prawn Park, we only caught 2, but had a great time doing it! We got to eat our catch... but had to buy a few more to supplement our snack!

There is a lot of geothermal water pools in New Zealand. We had a nice time vising this natural hot pool, the hottest in the country. We visited a kiwi fruit farm in Te Puke, the fruit is still in the early stages of growth due to the early summer timing, but we had a good time learning about the industry!

October Fun for us has included some wonderful times with friends. We hosted a Young Married's costume party for our church most recently and had a great time. Couples who came dressed up as a famous couple. Rob & I were Mickey & Minnie Mouse. We had a great time with some old friends and meeting some new ones too! Baby Sophia was born to some of our dearest friends, Rob & Jackie. We got to visit her in the hospital, she's a tiny 5lbs 15oz, a beautiful, healthy little girl. Welcome to the world little one! Daniel & Amy Carwile performed here at the Kirkland Performance Center with the Keith Highlander Pipe Band. They gave an excellent performance, they're both so talented! Amy & I grew up together, so it was wonderful to catch up with them and to see them doing what they love to do! www.carwilestringstudio.com Uncle Rob got some play time with our nephew, Grant. It was good to see our family even though they were visiting for a sad reason, a family funeral. The Rolling Stones were in Seattle, and we were able to enjoy a concert in Qwest stadium. It's pretty impressive how those old guys can still rock! BIG NEWS!!! My little brother Mark is getting married!!! After years of dating, he and Brittany are finally tying the knot! Congratulations to them!

Happy Fall! We enjoyed hiking up Mount Si in North Bend last weekend. What a beautiful hike! The Seattle weather has been beautiful this fall, in addition to the many changing colors.