visitors and torn ligaments

Alisa mentioned in a recent post that we just had family visitors. This was actually our second visit from family members since we moved to New Zealand. The first visit was a quick overnight stay by my aunt and uncle, Vicki and Jerry, who had planned a trip to Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand even before we had moved here. So our visit from Vicki and Jerry was sweet but short as they had accommodation planned in places other than Auckland.

Last month's visit was from Lucky, one of my brothers, who had been planning for some time to come visit us and see New Zealand. At the last minute, he was joined by Tiffany (one of my many cousins), who is a flight attendant and flew here stand by.

When Lucky made his plans to come, we planned a trip to see some sights around the North Island. We went to the Coromandel Peninsula, which is a beautiful coastal area about 2-3 hours from Auckland. The Coromandel has beautiful beaches and a forested coastal mountain range. We enjoyed a couple nights in Whitianga, where we went to Hot Water Beach, which has a hot spring that flows out of the beach right in the surf. We also did a glass bottom boat tour, which took us to Cathedral Cove (filming location in one of the Chronicles of Narnia movies). We also got in a quick snorkel and looked at the marine life through the bottom of the boat.

After the Coromandel, we moved on for a night near Rotorua. In Rotorua, we enjoyed doing "The Luge", which involves taking a gondola ride up a mountain and carting down a concrete track. We enjoyed some hot mineral pools, and we also kayaked on Lake Tarawera.

The next destination was Lake Taupo. We had just arrived at our holiday home (bach) when trouble happened. We had been working on potty training for a few weeks before the trip, and the kids had actually been doing very well on the trip. But we arrived at this house, and Alisa went to find Max, who was on a spiral staircase and had peed his pants. Alisa can't remember exactly how it occurred, but she picked up Max and slipped in his pee, which was trailing down the stairs. Fortunately, she did not land on her stomach, and baby Tyrone (at least that's what I call him, for now) was just fine. But her ankle and shin got worked over. Just to add insult to injury, Max and Maya both pooped their pants within a half hour of Alisa injuring her ankle. It was a crazy hour. Alisa spent that evening on a bed and couldn't put any weight on her foot without unbearable pain.

The next morning, we ended our trip (just one day early) and headed back to Auckland. A trip to the doctor with accompanying x-ray revealed she hadn't broken anything, and later a physical therapist indicated she had a partial ligament tear. After a few days of resting the ankle, Alisa was able to get around on crutches. Our ward and friends really took care of us while Alisa recovered, and she gradually got more mobile over the next week. We were actually fortunate to have some other visitors (Devin and Ivan; Alisa got to know Devin while at BYU). Devin and Ivan were on a long trip through NZ and stayed two nights with us. While I was at work during the day and out of town for work one night, they provided great help to Alisa during the first few days after her ankle injury. A month later, the ankle is still weak, but she's getting around okay.

So it was a wild end to the trip, but we enjoyed a great week with Lucky and Tiffany. On our return to Auckland, Tiffany flew back to the US. Lucky went on a quick trip to Queenstown by himself and had a great time touring Milford Sound and doing a few of the extreme adventures available in Queenstown. We loved having our visitors and enjoyed a great trip with Lucky and Tiffany, even if it ended with some craziness. At least, we can promise some great memories for visitors that make the long trek to see us in NZ.

Walking along Piha Beach

Cooks Beach (near Whitianga)

Alisa loves to get ice cream for the kids so she can help them finish it (not that the kids don't enjoy it too)

View from the highway between Coromandel Town and Whitianga

Max and watermelon

                          

Glass bottom boat tour in Whitianga

Maya with Tiffany

We got in a quick swim while on the boat tour

Skyline Gondola at Rotorua

"The Luge"- Alisa had to skip the luge but Max and Maya really enjoyed it.  

Taking the lift back up for another luge run

Lucky with Maya on the lift

Blakc swan on Lake Tarawera (near Rotorua)

Huka Falls, near Lake Taupo

The infamous staircase where Alisa slipped from about half way down the metal stairs.  

We had a rest stop at the Hamilton Temple on the way back to Auckland

names

So, I have yet to find a name that I really like.  Unfortunately Lonnie has found several names that he likes.  So he has posted a poll over on the right hand side of this page.  In the meantime....we are open for suggestions.  :)

been busy

I have been absent from the blogging world for a while....why?  Well, several big things have been taking up my time lately....

1.  Moving.  We recently moved to a new house.  (Photos to come soon) We are no longer in our 2 bedroom unit.  We now live in a proper house with three bedrooms and two family living areas.  Moving from a furnished unit to an unfurnished home also meant that we spent about a week without a single chair in the house, which seriously cut down on my computer times. We did finally purchased and collect all the needed home furnishings and for the first time in a year I can put nails in the walls and decorate to my heart's content....to bad we don't have much in the way of decor.  :)

2.  Potty training.  I have been talking about potty-training Max and Maya for months.  My friend Kate convinced me that the chaos of the move was a good idea.  New house = new rules....we all use the toilet.  Toilet training twins is not for the faint hearted and I am certainly glad that we are doing it before the new baby arrives.  This may require a post all to itself.

3.  Pregnancy.  I feel so much better during this pregnancy than I did with the twins.  My vomiting has slowed to about once every two weeks, rather than two of three times a day with my first pregnancy.   Unfortunately similarly to my first pregnancy I seem to be prone to chest infections.  I have gone through two bouts of bronchitis and I now have yet another head cold.  But, this time I  haven't been sent into the hospital to stop preterm labor brought on by coughing.

4.  Visitors. We have had our first family visitor!  Hooray for Lucky (Lonnie's brother) for coming to visit.  We had hoped that photos of beautiful landscapes and red-headed children would have brought us family visitors sooner, but New Zealand really is quite far away for most of you.  Lonnie took last week off work (in NZ he automatically receives 4 weeks vacations vs. 2 weeks in the US) and we took Lucky on some travels around the North Island (photos to come).  Lonnie's cousin, Tiffany, who is a flight attendant, flew down on stand-by and also joined us for a few days. We will also shortly be picking up an old BYU friend who is here with us for two days.

5. Accident.  Combine #2, #3 and #4....Last Thursday ten mins after arriving at the holiday home we were renting near Lake Taupo I found Max on the steep spiral staircase trying to outrun his trail of pee.  I picked him up to carry him outside, not thinking about how pee, steep wooden stairs, flip-flops (jandles) and my awkward pregnant body would add up to disaster.  I slid down the stairs holding onto Max and seriously twisting my ankle and bruising my legs.  Thankfully Max and my pregnant belly were saved from any harm.  I immediately yelled for Lonnie as I felt the pain in my leg.  I was put into bed and we abruptly ended our vacation the next morning when we realized I wouldn't be walking anytime soon.  The dr confirmed that I didn't break a bone but didn't have much more advice other than to take pain meds (whatever I can take while pregnant) and stay off my foot and keep it elevated. Anytime I put any pressure on my foot I feel serious pain. At least now I have crutches so that I can get to the bathroom without having to crawl.  

courthouse on blyth

 One last post about our trip down south....
This is the place we stayed in Central Otago.  We stayed in Clyde for almost a week.  Clyde is an old gold mining town and it had lots of old historic buildings.  The house where we stayed was the former the courthouse.

The building was beautiful and had lots of character. 

The kids loved playing in the large fenced in area and quickly discovered ripe white nectarines growing on the vines.  

The building has been beautifully restored.  The kitchen counter is right where the old judge's table sat.

The old jail cel has been turned into the bathroom, you can see it in the far corner.

cromwell and lake dunsten

This is just a small sampling of the amazing wildflowers we saw all over Central Otago.

The water was pretty cold but Max and Maya insisted on stripping down and getting in the water like the big kids. 

After testing out the water the kids returned to the playground before we could catch them and put clothes on them.

Old Cromwell was relocated to accommodate the Lake Dunsten Reservoir.  The result is a cute old town area that the kids loved exploring.  

bendigo ghost town

On one of the rainy days when we didn't want to wander too far from our temporary home we explored Bendigo Ghost town and ate a picnic in an old abandoned house.  (More info)

road to haast

The road to Haast had hundreds of waterfalls.  I've never seen more waterfalls in my life.  Every time I looked into a little crevice there was another waterfall.  Max and Maya learned to find them by listening for the running water.   The road passed over the narrow passage between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea and also had a view of  Mt Aspiring (another great name).

Go here for a link to short walks along the road.  http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/otago/wanaka-makarora/haast-pass-short-walks/

This photo also shows my growing baby belly.

One of our only family photos from the trip.  

Stopping for a little picnic with an amazing view.

Maya wanted to wear earrings made from cherries.

Max was a great hiker.  He ran on most of the hikes.  When I would slow down he would say "Bound with me, bound with me!"....quoting his all time favorite movie Milo and Otis (Click here and go to 5:40) 

wanaka

Can you handle a few more posts about beautiful lakes?

  

Maya decided that she preferred being carried to walking I can't say I blame her.

mavora lakes

While in Mossburn, we took an afternoon to follow an unpaved road to the Mavora Lakes, which are separated from Lake Te Anau by a mountain range. As with all our travels on the South Island, it was a beautiful drive mixed with sheep farms, rugged mountains, and beautiful lakes.

travel and friends

Cecliy, Jordan and Pam New Years morning in Mossburn

Cecily, with her boyfriend Max on the boat on Milford Sound

Some of the best memories of our South Island trip were experiences with friends who happened to be traveling in the same areas and at the same time as us. As mentioned in the Milford Sound post, we met up with Cecily (Alisa's friend of many years), Jordan (Cecily's sister who now lives in Auckland), and Pam (Jordan and Cecily's mom). Cecily and Pam had come to visit Jordan and travel around New Zealand. They planned to visit Milford Sound while we were down there, so we were able to meet up for the cruise. They also joined us in Mossburn on New Year's Eve and spent a night with us at "the house on the farm". Maya and Max really enjoyed being with them, and Max very quickly attached himself to Cecily. Even weeks later, Max asks about when we are going on a boat with Cecily.

Our other encounter with friends on the South Island was more of a reunion. In December as we were preparing for Christmas and our trip, Alisa got an email from a mission companion (Kelly), who had just booked tickets for a trip to New Zealand. After some correspondence, we learned that we would be in the South Island at the same time. So we arranged to meet up with Kelly and her husband (Yves) in Mossburn. Kelly and Yves are from Tahiti and traveled through New Zealand with some of their family. They ended up spending a couple nights with us in Mossburn where Alisa and Kelly talked about their time together in the Dominican Republic. We also quickly learned that Yves is a really good cook, and Maya especially took a liking to his cooking, which made Yves proud of the good eater that Maya is.

Max wanted a picture with "just the boys"

Maya quickly warmed up to Yves

Somehow the world of Alisa works this way....go on a mission to the Dominican Republic...have a wonderful companion who is from Tahiti (a world away from the DR)...over 10 years pass...move with your young family to New Zealand...go on a trip to the South Island...meet up with your Tahitian friend in Mossburn (of all places).

We also were fortunate to have Kelly and Yves spend a few days with us in Auckland at the end of their trip. They've convinced us that we need to come to Tahiti to visit them...not that we need much convincing for that trip.

Kelly and Yves with the kids in Devonprot

-Lonnie