The Beauty That Is New Zealand

Tony arrived home from China on a Friday - the following day we headed back to the airport and on to New Zealand!!! What a beautiful country to be from - wow! Upon arrival, we breathed deep breaths - enjoying the freshness we don't get in Taipei. And after what was hailed as the coldest winter in over 50 years, we were pleased to arrive during a warm, dry spell that gave us blue skies, white clouds and single clothing layer temperatures for the whole two weeks we were there.

First stop: Auckland

We had a lovely time on the North Shore at the Anstiss Manor - wonderful family, familiar environment - it was like coming home! Tony's 32nd birthday landed during this time so we had a nice day out and a full-on spread of Tony's favorites for his birthday dinner that night.

Catching a CLCA service and some time with old friends was a great way to fight jet-lag!
Thanks gang for pulling it all together so spontaneously!!!

What better way to celebrate a birthday than fish and chips at Mission Bay?

Tony took Zachary out for a game of putt-putt... way to stay young at heart!

Dave Coss won the "How Well Do You Know Tony" quiz I gave to the gang after dinner.
Did you know that Tony's favorite car is a Ferrari???

Family Portrait - our non-blood Auckland residing relatives
From right to left: Tony's Dad (gray sweater), Dave (seated) & Bev - the hosts with the most, Karlabelle and Aaron, Brian & Anita, Kim and Dave

North Shore living

The view over the Harbour Bridge back into Auckland

Second Stop: Paparoa/Northland

Tony's sister's partner is managing a dairy farm up north, so Dad drove the three of us up for an extended weekend on the farm. Sasha really spoiled us with lots of food and opportunities to rest a bit... plus she planned a day trip and a luncheon with the rest of the family! Thanks for "making it happen"!

Tony got right into it... he did two milkings with Errol!

Don't let those cute calves fool you... they're tough work! Sasha works a full-time job, plus helps with the milking! And we thought studying Chinese was non-stop!

Errol and his daily workplace - what a beautiful view from his office, eh?

City Clarks meet Country Clark up on the farm.

Warren and Auntie Jewel - always a pleasure!

Uncle Terry's split pea soup was a treat, as was the extended visit.


Third Stop: Christchurch

This was a special 2.5 day stop in the South Island to visit Tony's 95 year old grandmother. The special bonuses were dinner with the rest of the Clarks and 2 nights with another branch of the Anstiss family.

Kinloch showed us one of Christchurch's cool cafes and shared plans for the future.

We finally got to meet Liberty A... what a cutie. Justine & Lucas also gave us lots of hot parenting tips... we're almost ready!

Granny is now in the dementia unit. We had a breakthrough and spent just over two hours in very positive interaction with her. Tony was even able to walk and pray with her. We did tell her that if our baby was a boy we'd be naming him "Hunter" - she smiled brightly - that was her husband's name!

Uncle Alistair did a great job of gathering the rest of the Christchurch Clarks for a lovely dinner together. It was a lot of fun to catch up with this side too.

Beautiful winter's end along coastal Christchurch

Final leg: Wellington

One of the highlights here was our reunion with Mike & Anne who'd been in the UK for the past couple of years... it was great to finally see them again. We also got some great quality time with the Cameron's; another birthday celebration for Tony; 2 services at City Church and a whole lot of touching base with a whole lot of other fabulous folks! Unfortunately we didn't get as many photos of this leg... xia yi ci! Next time!

Caleb Daniel is adorable... Tony got in only a bit of practice with his godson.

Tony was the best man at Mike & Anne's wedding in 2004 - which was also about the last time we'd seen each other. Their move to Wellington assures us that we'll be seeing them a bit more since Tony's work is headquartered here!

Tony & Mike hit the slopes for a day of fun together with a few other guys from church.

A special thanks to all of you who rearranged your schedules and your resources to fit in time with us! We really enjoyed any and all of the time spent together!!! Looking forward to next time... with a baby!!!

Goin' Back to Cali...

So... we got back to Taipei from NZ on a Monday afternoon... put some washing on - went to sleep. Tuesday morning we had another ultrasound - HE'S A BOY!!! (you've already read that part)... repacked our suitcases... then boarded Singapore Airlines for another 13 hour flight! Yep... one crazy summer! My sister's wedding was the motivating factor to get us home in September. That event was amazing... but we managed to squeeze in plenty of other family/friend time over the course of 2-3 weeks. Here's a look at some of what we did while we were there! Wedding and Las Vegas pictures to come!

The first night in town I went to a baby shower for a good friend... girlfriends & pizookie - what a way to start a holiday!

Danny & Pearl are friends we love to catch up with each time we're back!

They took us out for a good feed and fellowship early on in our trip!

Mother-Daughter Bonding! The weekend before the wedding, the three of us took off for an evening of relaxation together. It was a really special evening of sharing and laughing til we cried.

Southern California is a great place to be from! On Tony's last day in town we spent a couple of hours at the beach just relaxing... it was the first time he felt Hunter move around...

Just a typical car dealership in Newport Beach, CA

Of course, while we were home we ate Mexican food every chance we got! Here's Tony with his "Happy Burrito" from Happy Burrito! I think I know who the happy one is here!

Scott & Joanne are friends of mine from Arizona State University!! They came all the way to California for a "vacation" to squeeze in a chance to see me and introduce me to Jack! Thanks guys for making the effort!!!

My little sister, Steph, is growing up! Or is this Selma Hayak?

Extended Family

Most of our friends in California are related to us... so we like to make sure we spend some time with as many of our aunts, uncles and cousins as are around.

It's become a tradition to go out to lunch with our pastors - Uncle John and "Uncle" Larry. These men were a big part of my high-school and early college days... now when we meet together, we talk a lot about church dynamics, etc... Tony and I walk away feeling so grown up! Thanks guys for letting us in your world!

Most of the rellies live in the same coastal community - which makes it very convenient to catch glimpses of each other. Taking a trip inland to see the Provosts may take a good chunk of the day - but it's always worth it!

In the past the Nehrig table has been consistently set for over 10, at least 7 people - so it was a bit strange to walk in and find only 4 place settings. But the strangeness wore off pretty quickly when we realized it was an evening of undivided attention. Thanks, Uncle Steve & Aunt Francine for being so real with us! Oh... and thanks for lending us the truck! What a blessing!!!

The wedding brought out heaps of other relatives... Uncle Mark, Marty and Beth (from my dad's side) came all the way from Florida to spend the weekend celebrating with us. We got to catch up with them even more over breakfast the day after the wedding! Thanks guys for coming over - it was great to see you again! Maybe one of these days we'll get Tony & Hunter over to Florida to see you.

Grandpa & Grandma Boyer

After our visit with Tony's Granny in Christchurch, we realised how quickly things can change for grandparents between visits. We decided early on that we wanted to spend a as much time as we could with our Grandma & Grandpa B... and that we did!

Grandma decided to upgrade from her old, slow Mac to a new, faster PC. So Tony spent a lot of time choosing the best computer for her and helping her set it up. This also meant switching over their phone/internet service... so I became the expert in So Cal plans. The final outcome - a 19" flat screen she can see with a fast digital connection so she can view our blog and Grandpa can use the phone at the same time!!! A good result!

Grandpa does a lot sitting these days - usually with a Starbucks in his hand!
At 84 - he's still very healthy and independent!

Grandma's sight and hearing are changing a bit, but her zest has not diminished at all.


Grandma had wanted to have us over for dinner ever since we arrived, but evenings were a bit full-on at first, so upon return from Las Vegas we finally came home to a Grandma cooked dinner.

A while back Grandpa added a porch area to the front of their house. At some point during the day you'll find at least one of them kicking back ready to visit with any stoppers-by.

I spent a few hours combined on the porch too... it was a great time spent with two amazing people.

A Little Sun in Kending

Three down, four more to go...

With Tony's third semester behind him we decided to take a little trip down to the south of Taiwan. It took a 4 hour train ride, followed by a 2.5 hour bus ride, but we finally made it to the tropical paradise of Kending! The town really does have an "island" feel not found in Taipei city. Despite the rain, we spent a somewhat relaxing 4 days, 3 nights together watching movies on TV, playing Yahtzee, and eating the most Mexicanish food we've eaten since our last trip to California. No matter what, it's always nice to get away for a few days and we're hoping the next time we get to Kending the sun will be a bit more friendly.

Our accommodation had it's own beach... which, unfortunately, was closed for swimming. Places in Taiwan have got a lot of rules... here Tony's pointing out that you're not allowed to take away living things "such as oral"... we're pretty sure they mean "coral" but it's always funny!

Since our beach was closed, we walked along the coast to the next resort which happened to have these fantastic hammocks. Twenty minutes in a hammock makes for a real holiday, regardless of the weather.

On Day 2 we borrowed the bikes from our accommodation and took a little trip down to the next beach. We were trucking along quite nicely till Tony got stopped by a campaign sign. What about the rules for this kind of thing?

We made it safely to the beach where we went for a little swim - it's always refreshing to be in salt water! Living in NZ has taken the desire for sunbathing out of both of us, but I did somewhat envy this guy who obviously doesn't worry about skin cancer, skin discoloration or lines around his eyes... oh what a holiday!

On Day 3 we decided to rent a motorscooter to go exploring. Just as we paid the guy and put on our helmets it started bucketing down with rain!!! I think Tony's face here captures the moment quite well!

No worries... as soon as there was a break in the rain, we rushed over to the nearest convenience store to pick up rain jackets which kept us dry from the rain... however these "humidity suits" make you feel like it's raining from the inside out sometimes.

Thankfully there was a long break in the rain so we went on a beautiful walk through the Kending National Park's Nature Center. During the walk we were thankful for the cloud cover. Once we made it to the top of the hill we were thankful for the wooden cover as the clouds decided they'd held on long enough.

As part of our rainy day entertainment we played a game of Yahtzee under the pavillion. It was my day... for those of you who play... I rolled a Yahtzee of 6's on my last roll which clinched my victory!!!

All in all we had a great time together... don't think this scooter has had this much weight in a while... but hey, it did alright! Although it was fun for a holiday... I'm glad we decided not to buy a scooter for life in Taipei... much more complicated in the city!