The brides niece, sister and best friend, Ayumi the bride, Chris, Luca, Dean, Bevan and celebrant

ANotHEr WeDdiNG

Deans family (from right to left) Mum/Teddy, Aunty Heather the grooms mum, me, Wayne, Sara, Fleur, Jake.

(Chris the groom, Luca the grooms son, Dean, Bevan a groomsman and the celebrant who was gay)

Over the Weekend Dean was the best man at his cousins wedding. It was a dreary winters day, but at least the rain held off for a couple of hours for the ceremony and photos. It was held at a funtion centre just out of Hamilton which was really nice, just a bit stark given that it's winter. They had a bunch of doves that they released at the end of the ceremony and a couple of guests got pooed on, it was funny. There was an open bar so people were getting pretty loose before the meal had even started.

Ayumi the bride is chris's second wife, his first wife was Japanese as well, Ayumi is very nice and her family all came over from Japan. Anyway so here is a picture of Dean and I 9 months pregnant. It's quite tiring being pregnanat, but I have no doubt that it's more tiring being a Mum and Dad, I think our bodies know this as both Dean and I sleep for at least 10 hours solid a night lately. Anyway not long to go now, its just a matter of days.

Auckland

We decided to go to Auckland for the weekend for our anniversary. Just for fun we decided to catch the bus, this was interesting (in terms of the other patrons) and made us feel like it was more of an adventure, like two country folk heading to the big smoke on the bus. We stayed at a hotel right by the casino and managed to loose a whole $30 on the pokies before we gave up, this was a little depressing as the guy next to us kept managing to win albeit only $30 in total but anyway it was fun and where else are you going to go late on a sunday night. The hotel had a nice spa bath with cable and sky so we watched alot of the olympic action, and did the regular tourist type things, like the markets and the wharf etc. We went to the local super market where we were by far the minority, it being full of asians, even the buskers out front were asian and when it was time to leave we felt quite sad, which is always a sign of a good trip.

It's late and I'm bored

We have now had week's of rain, its starting to get everyone a little down I think. Dean has some friends who have decided to join the other half of our country and move to Australia, and after all the misrable weather I wouldn't mind moving there myself especially after I heard on the radio recently that the average wage in OZ is 100,000. I have been trying to download photos of what I do all day, which is make stuff for the baby, but its not working, its cold outside. I don't have long to go until the baby arrives and I suddenly realise that theres lots to get done before he does.

Its our anniversary

4 YeARs Of BeInG MaRrIEd

Dean and I were married on the 7th August 2004. It was a Saturday and it was wet, but not so much as to be bothersome. We had the ceremony in the Temple at 11.30am Dean picked me up that morning from my house and we went together. Later that day we had a reception at the Koromatua community hall, this was a last minute venue as our original had been canceled. However the hall ended up being better. We had around 150 guests. Given that I had only just returned from my mission and Dean was still a student we had to keep it a very modest affair, which it was as far as weddings go. My dress cost $25 from the salvo's, mum bought my flowers from pak'n'save, a lady in the ward gave us a good price for the catering, mum arranged a couple of her friends for the band and another friend to make the cake. The cake was yummy, Dean and I saved ourselves a whole tier and ate the whole thing the following day with some help from Pita and Tasi. The whanau did all the decorations in the hall, with gaylynne at the helm. Dean and I had a great time and never wanted to leave, after all the guests except whanau had left we sat down and opened all of our presents it was really fun.

Honeymoon in Cairns

Dean and I headed off to Cairns for our honeymoon, the beaches were beautiful the water was warm and the weather was perfect. A friend loaned us his station wagon for a couple of weeks so we were able to do a bit of exploring going up north to the rain forests and heading inland to visit various lakes and reserves. We also visited a couple of wildlife parks, but we saw the most interesting animals in the wild. We had the best of both worlds really as we could drive out into the country side and do some exploring then come back to town and eat takeaways, watch movies, play tennis and hang out on the beach. Cairns was great I hope I can get back there sometime soon.

Deano the Perfect Hubby

The first time I saw Dean was at a church 'dine and dance' for some reason he had come dressed in a seventies suit, which was very tight on his bottom, and was initially wearing an afro wig, I assumed this was some sort of dare as he soon removed it. He was also the only guy to arrive with a large group of girls, he never had an adequate explanation for this, but I'm assuming its the reason why he has no recollection of me at the dance at all, admittedly we didn't talk or interact in anyway, but I decided that I liked the look of him. The first contact I made with him was several months later, I had just returned from a spell working in Sydney. Pita was not long back from his mission, and had befriended Dean in my absence. On my return we had a movie night, Dean was there and this time I made sure I didn't go unnoticed.

In the four years that I have been married, I have had the opportunity to do some pretty amazing things including:

• A trip to the Philippines to visit Pita and catch up with Rose
  
• spend 3 months in Taiwan visiting Rose and working part-time
• A great trip to Tonga, this time with Dean.
• A holiday to the middle-east to spend time with Pita and Tasi, then on to London
  

One of the first things that attracted me to Dean was his obvious sensitivity and emotional openness which was mixed with just the right amount of mean to be manly. Dean knows how important it is for me to be able to see my family and has always made it possible for me to see them when they have been far away. Without Dean I couldn't have afforded any of these trips, and most of them have been without him as he has usually been too busy to come, but he has always supported and wanted me to go even though he couldn't. I don't think there are many husbands who would let their wives go away for so long and as often as he does, as well as indulging my wants when I am at home. He is the perfect man.

SoPpy LoVe SOng FOr DEan
Gravity by Bic Runga

More Baby Stuff

Well feeling like it was about time to do another post, (and having nothing much to do lately except wait) the only thing that I have really to write about is the upcoming arrival of our baby. First thing I thought I should do is tell you about how awesome Gaylynne Tunstall (My neighbour) is. Because basically she has bought and given me most of what I have so far for the baby, not only including such things as clothes, but furniture, blankets and toys as well. So in the group of pictures below just about everything is from her. So big shout out to Gaylynne. I should also thank her hubby kevin with the super good job who actually paid for it all.

The pictures below are things that I have either bought or made myself, so go me. though I have given up making baby bibs as they are quite time consuming to make and very cheap to buy, but as soon as I can be bothered I will make some more baby bloomer outfits, the black crushed velvet and the red corduroy are my favourite's so far. At first I was only planning to dress little Asher in black and white, then I decided that red would be OK too, but then most things I have been given are in none of those colours.

And the photos from my latest scan, like I said previously the bigger the baby gets the harder he is to make out. But in one of them I can make out a foot. At my next midwife appointment I will ask for a 3d photo scan, which will show us all what the baby actually looks like. I was glad to discover at my last scan that the baby is only on track to weigh 7 pounds and that he currently weighs about 5. I counted this as a blessing as my mum had really big babies. The Radiologist told me I was having a nice normal european sized baby...I didn't say anything even though strictly I don't consider myself as european.

I have to admit that I have done a bit of a Nicole Kidman in terms of not giving up exercise, I still try to do lots, including weights and riding my bike around at night time. And while I have definitely put on alot more weight than she did, I'm hoping that all my exercise will put me in good steed to loose it all quikly after the birth. I'm even thinking about going for a hike up to the pinnacles next weekend with Dean and Dad. I just figure that theres plenty of asian's and africans who walk for miles heavily pregnant for water and work in rice paddies until there babies drop out, so theres no reason why a westerner like me can't go for a hike. Also I decided against anti-natal classes, I don't know why but I just didn't like the sound of them. Anyway to all my friends and family who arn't close by I miss you guys.