Mike and Rebecca's wedding

It was the week before Mike and Rebecca's wedding and so we headed off to the airport for the 1.00 pickup on Monday morning - worth getting up for!!  It was a very special week, and although we had to work most of it we spent the evenings with everyone and we took some early afternoons to go out to the venue and do a few last minutes things.  Friday night, saw us all in Tulsi, the Indian restaurant, where about 50 people turned up to enjoy the food and the company.  I'd been looking forward to it as Harry and I hadn't seen many of Mike's friends since college days.  A bit like a reunion for us.  We also had a chance to meet some of Rebecca's family (Grandad from UK, Aunty from Saudi Arabia, brother from China) for the first time.  Saturday morning and we awoke just as the sun rose over the hill.  What a way to wake up (it had been a weather bomb the weekend before - fairly torrential rain, cold and windy - though we did manage a walk along P'ram Beach after seeing Marion and David and Annette and her Mum, and another walk along Petone Beach the next day).  Sunshine on our bed was only the beginning of a great day.  I joined the girls for brekky, hair and make up (first time wearing false eyelashes) and then came home to round up the boys (who arrived back from their brekky and hair stylist).  The next couple of hours was spent tying ties, taking photos and ironing shirts.  Then it was time to go - the girls arrived at the venue in the rented Statesman, the boys in our Honda Jazz (Satchmo) and they spent a couple of hours having photos taken before the ceremony. What a magical time. It is impossible to describe the pride and emotion I felt on a very special day!  

 Judy and I were asked to do a couple of readings...

The Art of Marriage by Wilferd A Peterson

A good marriage must be created. In the marriage, the little things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands. It is remembering to say, "I love you" at least once a day.  It is never going to sleep angry. It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through all the years. It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is standing together facing the world. It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family. It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.

It is speaking words of appreciation, and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways. It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have the wings of an angel. It is not looking for perfection in each other. It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor. It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is finding room for the things of the Spirit. It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual, and the obligation is reciprocal. It is not only marrying the right partner, it is BEING the right partner. This is The Art of Marriage.

And the other one...

All of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do,

and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of
the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery
school.These are the things I learned...
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Give them to someone who feels sad.
Live a balanced life.
Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and
play and work every day.
Take a nap every afternoon.
Be aware of wonder.
Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the
plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like
that.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.
And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into
the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

After the ceremony, guests had the chance to throw axes or have a go at archery but somehow I never got past talking to people and watching the family photos being taken.  There were some very memorable moments in the evening - here are some...

• guests were very touched with the personal letters Mike wrote to everyone 
• the bridal party were introduced to the guests before dinner
• the speeches - where Sharon gave Becks some hints about living with Mike, and the best men gave Mike a hard time and Don gave a great speech about Becks and Mike
• the first dance - where Mike and Becks looked so good together
• the girls dance to Mikes favourite song and the boys dance to Come on Ilene and the haka
• the great atmosphere during dinner and the dancing
• catching up with people we hadn't seen for a while, and meeting lots of Aussies (almost half of the guests were from overseas)
• the food...

A magical day - lots of photos cos it was so hard to chose.

Sunday, was another great day with the barbeque at the Dell.  We were up early, buying the meat, making the kebabs and salads...

Our 300th blog

300 blogs and 5 years later we find ourselves back in Wellington.  It always amazes me that we packed so much into our few years abroad and how busy we continue to be.  I must admit I am looking forward to my knee operation being over and then we can really get out and about!!  Over the last two weeks I've played a bit more bridge, we've been to see some movies including Romantics Anonymous (which we both enjoyed), went to Harry's Rovers Reunion (I keep called it Rovers Return), Nicky and Dave have taken the aviary for a chook house (8 people were required to lift it over the fence) and we've enjoyed some of the Wellington arts festival.  First of all, we sat in the sun and watched the French acrobats Arcane.  Rather a meditative display of two acrobats climbing and clambering over two wheels that have a tendency to move - balance was the key. They did some flips, spins, somersaults with a touch of humour and kept the audience fairly entranced for their 20 minute display.  We've also been to Circenses on the opening night! (Dinner at my favorite little Italian restaurant in Courtenay Place first).  Well, it would have been the second night if they (who shall remain nameless) had remembered to switch the sprinklers off during the day and avoided the equipment and seating in the marquee from getting wet.  It was great fun, a bit of theatre and a bit of a circus act - the comedy mainly in the back stage and the serious circus stuff mainly at the front (audience switched around at half time).  Its a family affair - 3 generations of Belgians get together for a show with a difference. In the weekend it was a social time (met Marion and David for lunch in Waikanae, caught up with Annette and her Mum, Sharon and Aaron), went shopping for those last minute things for the wedding and went for what might be my last walk on the beach for a while - and all in the midst of the 'weather bomb'.