Abel Tasmen

Weston's cute belly






The Abel Tasmen is a great hike at the very north of the south island. It is a very easy hike with beautiful views of the ocean and the water is quite warm.

Arthurs Pass

New Zealand Hikes are nothing to joke about. They are tough. If they say strenuous, you can bet they will be harder than any strenuous hike in the states. If you look close there is a marker at the top of this hill. The trail went straight up, no switch backs.

There were quite a few streams and swamp things to cross on the way out.
This was the way out on the second day and I was pretty tired.
This was at the hut.
Here is the hut we stayed in. There were two rooms with 8 padded bunks and a big room with fire place and picnic tables.
This is the hike we did. It was a loop. 6 hours in to the hut from Andrew's shelter, and 8 hours out back to the shelter. It took us 6.5 to get in, and about 10 to get out. I totally hit a wall on the way up through the saddle. Once we got a little food in me we were able to finish. The good news is cause we were hiking out in the dark we got to see a Kiwi bird. Kiwi's are nocturnal and they are very rare. Not many people have seen them in the wild, so we felt pretty special.
Here we are in the hut getting ready to go. This is right before Weston puked all over the floor as we were getting ready to walk out the door.

This is a board walk they build over the marshy part. It went on for about a quarter of a mile.
This is about half way on the hike. We were completely soaked to the bone from here on out until we reached the hut.
This is the first hour or so into the hike.
This is the start of our hike.
This is a via duct that shoots the water over the road into the river so it doesn't wash the water out.
This is Arthurs pass. It is one of three passes that connect the east side of the south island to the west side.

Sumner

Weston got his two bottom teeth right before we left and learned how to use them in Sumner as I was letting him chew on my apple. He bit right into my finger. Hurt pretty bad.

Sumner is a little town outside Christchurch. It was hit pretty hard by the earthquake as it is right next to a big cliff.

Akaroa

Beautiful sunset on the most windy road I have been on. Made me car sick.
In front of the Akaroa Bay.
This is an army truck, check out the kiwi bird on the left side.
Cool ol' car
This is a little harbor town south of Christchurch with amazing fish and chips, which we were too busy eating to get a picture of.

Christchurch adjusting days

We had a fun time walking around what is left of Christchurch after the earth quake.

Chris and Mikes family, the Cammocks, were super nice to let us stay with them as our base in Christchurch.

Mike's dad has this sweet Lotus sports car that he took us all on the windy corners on.

Flight over to New Zealand

The trip over turned out to be a lot easier than I was expecting. Weston got to hang out in this basinet and slept for the 10 of 13 hours. He had a great time.

Off to San Fran with Sister Tiet and family

Canoe ride and Fruit punch face

A little bit of Weston

Victoria

Sometimes, it just has to go!

After sleeping next to Weston in tight quarters in a trailer, I couldn't take having long hair for one more night. So we went home and Tucker chopped it off for me, then we made an appointment with my favorite hair girl and got it done right. It is soo nice not to have hair to get stuck and pulled all the time. Now when Weston pulls my hair, it doesn't even hurt!

~~~~Happy Birthday Momma Buns~~~~

Today is mom’s birthday. Which means it is a special day. Sometimes people forget that mom has a birthday. Maybe its because she is so good at making everyone else’s days special that we forget that we need to remember to make her day special too. I know I have been guilty of it. But I decided this year, I’m going to try and finally grow up and make an effort to honor my mom for all that she is and how blessed I am to have her as my mom.

I have always known my mom was extra amazing. I always have known that my mom is the best mom in the world. It hasn’t ever been a question. It has taking me growing up a bit to realize that she is not just the best mom in the world but she has managed to become much more than that to countless people, many of whom I am probably not even aware of.

Mom is a champion of many causes.

She is a devoted and fiercely loyal daughter and sister, always one of the first to volunteer to go help a parent or sibling, or their kids. Always anxious to welcome anyone to come and stay at her home and give their souls opportunities to be healed or to just get back on their feet. She paid attention in growing up to her parents and their willingness to open their home and serving others.

Mom is a loving and thankfully forgiving mom. We as kids have not made motherhood a walk in the park, but despite our stupid decisions that have at times cut her to the soul, she has and always will forgive. All she asks is that we allow her to let her serve us and to love us. I mean really? I wonder sometimes if she is part god as this is not something that most humans are capable of. She is most hurt when we don’t give her the opportunity to serve, even if she is already overwhelmed helping everyone else she knows.

Mom is the producer of the bi-annual musical, herding tons of elementary kids all over the stage and teaching them music at the same time. She helps run the women’s clubs in the community raising money to pay for kids scholarships. She has been instrumental in starting an inn and keeping it running in Vermont on the other side of the country. She is one of the leaders for the young single adults in our stake. And this is just some of the stuff I know about, and there are lots of things that I don’t know about.

Mom is the best wife I have ever met. She loves my dad completely. I love my Dad, but no one is capable of loving my Dad the way my mom does. She is always supportive of his interest and pursuits. She will travel across the world, just to be there for him when he needs her, cause she knows that despite his confidence and astounding success in life, there are always times that he can’t continue without her. She will give up anything to be there for him.

I am sad that my words are inadequate of being able to explain the superhero that my mom is.

I will be eternally grateful for what she has taught me and what she continues to teach me. For the times that she just lets me talk, even when I don’t know what I am talking about, but just need to vent. For the moments when she is able to help me see clearly what I have been unable to admit. For the emphasis that she puts on what is most important in life and always brings our family together, keeping us strong and united as siblings, reinforcing for us how important it is for us to look past each other’s weaknesses and focus on lifting and supporting each other.

I pray that I can pass on the same lessons to my kids and that my kids will be aware of the legacy that my mother is.

One day I ran into a woman at the elementary school. When she realized that I was Paula’s daughter she said. “I love your mom, she is the Queen of Scholls!” I was grateful that someone else recognized how powerful of a force for good my mother is.

Happy birthday to Momma Buns, The Queen!