Happy New Year

For those of you anticipating what 2009 will be like, I can tell you. So far, it's great. Perfect summer weather.

The folks who are staying in the hop kiln invited us to join them to ring in 2009. We had a great time. They're from Zimbabwe, so we started out the evening with a braai (barbecue) ...


the men cooked the meat while the women prepared the salad, pap, veggies and rice.


It was quite the feast...


What a treat to have traditional african food here in Upper Moutere...


Quinne has become good friends with Atu, the little six year-old girl...


They enjoy picking each other up. That's an important part of being five or six.


Later on, we danced to some great Zim music. Amy wasn't afraid to get down and show her moves...


I even had a chance to work on my white-man's overbite...



Hope you enjoy your new year celebration also.
All the best from the top of the south.

Christmas from the top of the south

Beck was the first to wake up and see the toys under the tree...


When Quinne came in, she noticed evidence of Father Christmas. A piece of his coat had caught on the flu, and there were ash footprints leading from the fireplace...


Not only were the stockings filled, but there was a pile of gifts under the tree.


He knew where to find us even down here on top of the south.

Merry Christmas and happy new year from the Webers

A Christmas Poem

Here's a poem dictated directly from Quinne. She actually dictated it in mid October when Amy wrote it down. Quinne's been ready for Christmas for some time now. Here's how it goes...

Star shines bright
At the ringing of Santa's bells.
As Santa comes down through the chimney.
And soon he flies away,
He flies away,
And soon he flies away.
And they all wake up,
As the light of the stars fades away.
Soon the sun comes up,
And the sun rises a beautiful sunrise.
And in the surprise of the children
There can sometimes be a present from Santa Claus.
In the surprise the children see-
They look under the Christmas tree.
And sometimes find a little gift from Santa Claus
That he has brang.
Yes, dear Santa, you have came.

Merry Christmas from the Webers down under and to the side - on the top of the south.

Santa Lucia

Here are some pictures from Santa Lucia day that I've been meaning to post. Santa Lucia was an Italian saint who brought light into the heart of winter with her good deeds. For some reason the Scandinavians have taken this holiday and run with it. I'm right there with them. The children bring coffee and baked goods to their parents in bed on the morning of Santa Lucia day. Not a bad deal. They thought they would surprise me, but I was waiting in ambush with my camera...


Breakfast in bed was good...


star boy was there to help also...


They brought warm light in the middle of, well, summer here...


Santa Lucia according to Quinne...

Golden Bay

We took the caravan down to Golden Bay the weekend before last. I've been meaning to post some pictures, but haven't caught up yet. All in all, it was an awesome weekend away.

This was the view just over the Takaka hill descending into Golden Bay...



We went on a great bush walk after a relaxing meal at the Naked Possum.



Here are a few things that caught my eye on our bush walk...




We camped at a quiet holiday park on the beach. Here's a scene from our beach...


This is looking the other direction toward the farewell spit...


The weather was beautiful on Friday and Saturday and cloudy on Sunday. It made for good pictures.

The kids had a ball on the beach. We camped next to another family with two kids almost the same age as Beck and Quinne. They were visiting from Denmark. They stayed at our place for a few days on their way back. I used them in a photo shoot where I needed a couple in a hot tub. Here's their family in the hot tub...


I'll leave you with a view from the most northern point of the south island...



E haere rā from the top of the south

wet weather

We took a walk on the Mt. Arthur track in the rain yesterday.

stop and smell the roses

We're easing into Spring slowly down here on the top of the south. After some beautiful days, this weekend is chilly and overcast. Great for working in the veggie garden. Amy's been making rose jam with the plentiful rose petals from the many rose bushes around the property. Quinne seems to appreciate the flowers the most.


In her already well developed kiwi accent, Quinne names the flowers and birds she sees around the property. She usually knows the Maori name over the pakeha name, so when some potential customers came by the other day, I was happy to pronounce the Maori name for the wood pigeon that the bride-to-be pointed out flying overhead. I only knew it from Quinne pointing it out to me.

Amy's up to her ears organizing a Christmas market at the kindergarten, and I've been busy drumming up business. The work is coming in, and it's very exciting. There seems to be more commercial opportunities in Nelson than I expected. Networking is key. It's also a good way to meet people. We're all learning tons and having fun.

Beck is making himself very well understood these days, although Quinne has to translate at times. They have their ups and downs, but generally get along well and love each other dearly.


Hope you all enjoy the weekend.

new camera

We voted this weekend. It's mandatory for all residents to vote here in New Zealand. Isn't that great? It was so simple and easy. That means we voted in two elections in one week.

Just as importantly, I have a new camera. That means you can expect more frequent postings. Let me know what you think of this effect...

Halloween

Happy Guy Fawks Day!

Given that the house we're living in now is the third time lucky (the other two houses burned down), we're not doing much to celebrate Guy Fawks Day. Instead, we celebrated Halloween the other night. No, we didn't make the kids hike to the next closest neighbor, where they would've received some very confused looks. Instead, the kids dressed up and knocked on each of the doors of our house. Amy dressed up differently before opening the door to offer a treat for their bags. It was a hoot.



We even had an apple bob.


Beck found it easier to use his hands...

Go forth

I'm not sure what goes with this image. Maybe some inspirational quote about "going forth into this scary world", or "what does the future hold", or something cunning like that.


Give us your thoughts.

Amy

There aren't enough pictures of Amy on the blog, so here's a new one...



What a lady!

Emilie

Here are some pictures of a little girl named Emilie. Her parents won the silent auction for a portrait session at the Steiner School Spring Fair. The first picture is painted in Photoshop similar to a portrait for Quinne when she was about two.


Emilie didn't want her little kitten to miss out on the spotlight, but I used photoshop to edit the kitten out of the picture in the next shot...


Here she's having a moment with her kitten again...


Emilie's parents were very happy with the pictures and ordered several prints.

Studio

We borrowed the neighbors au pair so that Amy and I could have a night out in Nelson. Soraya is from Germany, and she's really sweet. When she arrived, I took her into the studio for a quick headshot. Here's how it turned out...



We really enjoyed our night out in Nelson. I think we need an au pair.

Rainbow

It's school holidays here in New Zealand for two week, so we took the opportunity to see what the local skiing was like. We set out at 8:00 in the morning to make the 1.5 - 2 hour drive to the local ski area. Something didn't seem quite right though. We'd skied enough in Colorado to know what to bring, but there was definitely something missing. After a little while, we realized what it was; there was no traffic. We saw one logging truck on the same road as us, and four cars going the other way. We're used to the front range of Colorado where the highway leading up to the mountains routinely turns into a parking lot by 8:00. We started wondering if we were going the wrong way when we saw the Rainbow Ski Area sign that led us along the river through exotic beech forests skirted by majestic mountains. The road then turned up a steep valley and meandered well above tree line to the small parking lot of the ski area.

The traffic wasn't the only thing that was different to skiing in the US. This must have been what it was like at Loveland Ski Area thirty years ago. Families were there to have fun. The bunny hill was open to anyone on anything. The feeling was very laid back and enjoyable.

Here's a picture looking down from the top...



This was the first time putting Beck on skis...


He liked riding up the pull rope as much as coming down.

Quinne really enjoyed herself and did amazingly well...


She was very proud of herself (as were we)

Beck turns 2

Happy Birthday Beckett!

It wasn't all fun and games on Beck's birthday though. There was yard work to do...

What a Mom!

Here's to one of the best mothers in the world who was giving birth two years ago to an amazing little boy.