hi every one thanks for all the blogs i love getting them. it is labour day here today and hayden and i both have the day off. i also have the day off tomorrow as well - i am going to have a massage at a trainning school. yesterday we had a bbq at the beach with carolyn tim and two other of their friends nice part from the wind just like an easterly at home strong and cold. boys played beach cricket and girls (including the guy that we are sure is gay) watched. then got sick of the wind so went to their friends house and played poker. i did quite well to start with and won alot of chips (werent playing for $ tho). today hayden wants to go out to chadstone to see how long it takes to get there and to see the other bike shop he may be going to. so maybe i will do some window shopping while i am there.

jobs are going well i like mine apart from shift work that makes me tired - but thats nursing. the staff are great and some very interesting patients. one italian ladys husband wanted to take me home and cook me 'curly spaghetti' -very funny. met a nz girl from plamerston north who was a patient as well she had just moved here to so was good to compare stories. haydens job is going good he likes it and on friday he was top salesman for the day out of all the stores.
mummy gail, haydens family are here on my birthday but the week after i have annual leave for the week so you could come then if you wanted to. but if you are to busy with your new house at that time any time this year would be ok.
Dallas is coming over at the end of april, she got in on the cheap flights so she is now gonna be the first visitor here.
mum no pictures of my hair until i get it coloured it looks yuky at the moment.

From Turiwhaia Road with two new kids

Sorry we missed you last night but at Nicole's 21st party. About 40 people there and we only new the girls, Carli, Katie, Noadie etc. Nicole was pleased to receive your card on Saturday with the money. We brought her white serving bowls and cooking book with a few little extra. We had a great meal and a few drinks and were home by 10.15. Today has been great weather, Dad and Andrew have nearly finished enclosing the pig shed ready for John Blackadder to store all his fencing material in. Bex and Lisa have left for Lincoln so won't see Bex until tomorrow.Hope you a feeling better and enjoying your days off.
P.S. Send us a picture of your hair cut. Talk soon
Love Rosie and Paul

Hello Gemma And Hayden

This is Hayley, I stayed the night at Chloe Stopforths coz it was her birthday, we went to the movies to see Norbit, it was really funny, then we came home and had tea and watched some other movies at her house. then I got dropped off and we went to watch Ellie sail. We also have been to the beach today and had a swim. Tonight we are going to make muffins for our school lunch tomorrow. Me and Ellie are sleeping in your room for the week.
From HAYLEY

Hey Gemma and Hayden

This is Ellie, Last night I went to a sleepover at the yaught club. There we had a sandcastle competion which I won (by a mile), While we were making our sandcastles there was a fishing comp. going on which no one won and some people made muffins and popcorn that we all ate with the movie we watched late, Eight Below. When it got dark we went for a late night stroll on the beach which was really cool cos everybody was jumping up and down in the sand junes. In the morning I went out on my boat and came 3rd overall and 1st in my class.
Love from Ellie xoxo

Hi Gemma and Hayden - it is Sat night and we HAVE NO FRIENDS - not quite true - tried to have BBQ here - but Gerald Casey is sick with some bot and Aunty Chris hasn't replied to msg left (expect they may be at the boat) - didn't ring your Mum and Dad - such a nice day who would be home - so EJ cooked on the BBQ, we had a couple of wines and now he is watching the end of the rugby.
How are the jobs going???
Although we have stopped making hay for a couple of wweeks EJ seems to be as busy as ever - and I have had quite a social week - Mondays have been going to Shirley Caseys for a craft day with Aunty Chris after work and Joan C when they are around - Wednesdays Melissa and Brianna have been going to swimming and then stopping in here afterwards - the last 2 weeks I have been to watch. Brianna is standing up - so I s'pose the next thing is walking - she doesn;t crawl properly - pulls herself along on the floor with her elbow. Last night I babysat in Oxford while Melissa and Graham went to a Casino evening at the club. They had the second highest $ at the end of the night so won a selection of vouchers which incl. $50 at Jo Seagars a night in a B&B in Oxford, a voucher for the other cafe in Oxford and a trip in the courtesy van in Oxford, and other things I can't remember
We thought we would have had the permit for the house yesterday - according to the man in Prime last week - but it hasn't happened!!! (yet)- we will be lucky if we get it started before we leave for Spain on 6th May. At this rate we will be shifting into the new house late Aug early Sept - when I wanted to be in Melbourne for your birthday - although Mum says that Hayden's parents will be there then - just as well you have plenty of mothers to rely on isn't it?????

Not long until you are home again??? - look forward o catching up with you - hope you have time to spare???

xxx Mummy Gail and Ernie

Hey guys

My e-mail isn't working well for some reason, so I'll post pics here. Finally have some of Liam - took them on Sunday in Ashburton when we went down. The funeral was sad (and hot! Wearing mostly black in 32 deg heat isn't such a great idea haha) and Dad did really well in the speech he did on behalf for the family. He was really great. I think everyone was relieved that it was finally over, cos it was a bit of a long period of 'limbo' in between Uncle Kevin's death and the funeral. Jo and the girls held up pretty well. All the second cousins played really well together, it was amazing really. Kady actually behaved very well (haha) on Sunday, she was ok Monday but mostly tired and hot I think. Those two days were very long days and the kids did really well. I think Greg, Brody and Lydia went back to the States today, not sure, as Gina said Monday that was the plan. Kids gotta go to school, Greg has to work. Anna and Aaron go back Tuesday I think. Anna looked really well, had the cutest little bump as she's still at that "in-between" stage (you don't know whether she's pregnant or just put on a little bit of weight!). Aaron needs to get a tan again haha, mustn't get much sun in London!

Anyway this week's been good but Kady's gone back to not sleeping well for the past couple weeks, so I'm pretty tired. Had the kids stay at mum and dad's last night so I could get some sleep, tis bliss to have my own bed back and no one kicking and prodding me. I'm not sure why she's not sleeping well again, but hey, it's Kady. Can never figure her out sometimes! Mum and Dad leave for Invercargill on Monday for a week so it'll be a nice holiday for them, hope the weather behaves!

Anyway, here are the photos. Hope they come up ok. They were taken at the playground in the Ashburton Domain... it's a neat playground, heaps of stuff crammed into one little space and so much to do. The kids had a ball there.

Catch ya around.

Dall & kids

Hi gemma and hayden. we spent the day down at Kevin and Jo's in Ashburton.As it was childrens day today Liam thought he got to dictate the rules so we had a picnic lunch at Ashburton Domain and then all the kids( Kevin Stevensons Rebecca and Jills Jessica, Gina and Greg from the States Brodie and Lydia, who are now 11 and 8 and Liam and Kady) had fish and chips on Jo's front lawn, picnic style for tea. Diane and John, Lorraine and ross, Graeme and Julie all went down today too and picniced with us as did Aunty Maree and Shari and Paulettes nkids who then went home to Chch with Shari as all the aunties and uncles were staying in caravans and motels down their tonight. We came home and will go back down in the morning for the funeral. It was alovely time to all be together and Liam really enjoyed playing with his cousins. Just really sad that the occasion for us to be all together wasnt a pleasant one. Its 7 years since all Kevin and Jo's family have been together.Aaron and Anna came back to. Anna is now 17 weeks pregnant and has this tiny wee bump; she due early in August and wants Jo to go to London to be with her before she has the baby. They shift back here in October to live after almost 6 years away. Aaron has been going lots of mountain biking aroung England. Gary has been busy making a power point presentation of Kevin for the funeral service and a speech about his siblings stories of Kevins life growing up. will talk to you tomorrow night to catch you up with all the other bits. We ran into Jeannie and Barry Godfrey on our travels last night. hayden is having surgery next week for a blocked artery in his groin and a stent put in. He has to go to wellington to have it. The wedding went well. Take care and enjoy your day off Hayden. your turn to get down on your knees and scrub the floors while Gemma works eh?Maybe fit in a training ride too.Love you both from Cridland St

HI

hi guys how are you all?

its gemma i cant remember my password so writting under haydens. if you dont know hayden had to work yesterday so couldnt come to geelong. i still went though with carolyn though. nice to got there to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. train ride down there was good to - we concluded that it was very relaxing we couls have stayed on it for longer then the hour we had. saw jo race and she came 6th her team mate won. caught up with her for a we bit after the race as she had to leave pretty soon after to go back to NZ. she racing wellington tour and track nationals when she goes back for going back to USA to her new husband. hayden and i went for an outing across the river last night... to the casino complex had tea at the food court then into the casino -i made some hayden lost some also had a look around shops there jag fcuk verserce etc no money left our wallets tho didnt have a few hundred to spare!. then we saw there was something on at the exibition centre so had to go have a look (couldnt be missing a sale there dad could we!) it was a motor show but cost $18 each dollars to get in! so we just looking at some of the cars on the outside until we talked to the weirdest security guard who let us in for free... wohoo. billions on dollars of the lastest cars in there some lamos bentlys ferrarsi volvos down to toyotas etc. i got as new pair of shoes there pumas that have something to do with BMW racing team. they are awesome i love them. today was shoping day didnt require the markets today just the supermarket. also went for a look at smith st shopping area. hadyen got another day off tomorrow and im on an afternoon shift. 5 day week for me then four day weekend yay i cant wait i feel like i need it already.

Cya from gemma

ps. photo are of me and carolyn in geelong, and one hayden took off our balcony with a rainbow.

Hey :)

Hey everyone.
Phil and I arrived back in the Gold Coast on Tuesday, and life has been a disaster since. Not only was our phone and internet screwed up and had to be fixed, but then Uncle Kevin died, we got told we have to shift house (stupid landlord breaking lease, thinking we are dumb - but we have shown a united front haha) and now, I am SO OVER lookin at houses. I found 1 I loved, and our application was 2nd in, but the 1st got accepted so unless they denied the house, we wouldn't be getting it. Looked at a complex y-day, it's where all the uni students live and its beautiful, wicked pools, saunas, spas, gyms etc..but it's like a hotel. I don't like the fact that I have to park underground, and would have to then carry shopping or whatever up 5 floors to our "wee" room. I dunno how you guys do it! But after living where we are now - I'm not keen on doing it lol. Phil's friend is shifting from his house in a townhouse complex, its a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom place with pool gym etc for $305 and since they are breaking their lease, the have to find someone - which they are finding us. So we find about that today hopefully. So it's been a stressful time since we got back, 1 good thing to come out of it is I got a job nannying..and its such a small world, the family is from Kaiapoi and is the daughter of whats his name Bolt..the car racing driver at Woodford Glen. Crazy!
Gemma, I rang your friend..Marion's sister..over here. And although she dosn't do rental properties, she gave me some good information about what to do with the landlord breaking the lease and has also said she'll be a referee for me..which is great. I emailed the landlord last night and said that her breaking the lease at this point is an inconvience to us, and a financial strain to our budget, and told her that we would like more time, and some financial help with removal costs etc, considering our lease isn't up until 21/07/07. I won't be doing a personal lease ever again, cos this puts us in a bad spot considering the landlord is Phil's work friends sister..so next time, we are going through an agency!
Anyway..better head off and stop babbling, been to look at 3 houses this morning and have another this arvo, and gotta fill out all the forms and get Phil from work. Phew..i'm so tired lol, havn't been sleeping well, keep having odd dreams..think i'm stressed!
Keep in touch,
Love Claire
Ps. Hayden and Gemma, we are trying to save $$ to maybe come there at Easter..but will let you no closer to the time. xoxo