Last Pic

Masaru with his two cuzzies. Elise in the front and Cora in behind. They're watching cars with their cares pillows. Cute.

Pic's on Air New Zealand

Here's some more pic's of our flight on Air NewZealand and a couple of the kids. I've got one more to send and then that's it until next week. Enjoy!

Pic's on the Plane

Here's some pic's of us coming over on the Utah to San Fran plane. Yuki's first plane ride.

Quiet Day

You probably heard but Thanksgiving for us was quiet and uneventful. Just us, Mas and Shauna, and Tosh and Grandma, ten in all. Grandma's hearing aid battery was dead and so it was apparent within 5 min. that she needed a new one or the day would be fraught with frustration. Mas ran out to a couple of stores to find one. Grandma thought that was crazy, but I think if he didn't we all would have been crazy. As it was, Grandma had her usual interesting things to say, much to everyone's interest or dismay. Johnson's went to Johnson's and so our kids were semi-bored until they returned. We benefited from a wonderful meal (thanks Shauna) and a pleasant time. Shauna attempted to elicit sentiments of gratitude from the boys, and Graham popped out a very genuine and unexpected, "I'm thankful for the world that Jesus made for us." Graham is just such a sweet kid.
The weekend for Ryan was filled with catch-up projects and honey do's...like getting some things ready for winter snowmobiling, odd and end mechanic projects, and putting up the Christmas lights. My time was spent preparing for tests, presentations (curse those group projects!!!!), more tests, and more presentations to fill up this last week or so of classes. Hopefully I will be finished with finals around the 11th, then on to more delightful things, like sleeping and relaxing occasionally and mostly just being with my family. Anyway, it's on to Christmas now, it's coming in a hurry!

Going, going, gone

Before

After

With a title like that you thought that we got rid of the dog didn't you?! Well we didn't . It appears that we like spending money on him. Another trip to the Vet., another 100.00$ in the bucket. The joys of dog ownership. Yoda had surgery today to remove a wart like growth due to the papaloma virus. The growth had doubled in size in about two weeks time. He was a good patient the Vet. said. Now that he is home he is a little sleepy and a little out of it.

Cousins, cousins, and more cousins

We visited with Angie and Rachelle last night. I thought it would be fun to get a picture of ALL the kids and there are many! It was great to see everyone. I have missed having Angie around since she moved almost two years ago. Hope you all had a great turkey day!

Second Week in NZ

Well we should have the camera chord by the weekend so we'll post some pic's.
The Thanksgiving dinner went really well. A turkey was going to cost $50 and Dru and I couldn't afford that so we did two chickens instead. I was in charge of the dinner and it turned out pretty well. I was actually pleasantly surprized. I think Dru was too. We had chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin, corn, candied yams, rolls, two different kinds of salads, gravy, trifle, chocolate cake, ice cream. I think that was it. The chicken was good. My first time roasting. Dru seemed to really like it and my family had a blast cause it was a good excuse for a get together and feed. The girls sat and talked about girl stuff and the boys sat at the table and played risk. Dru ended up winning so that's something to be thankful for right?!
We went to Auckland this weekend to go to my mate, Stella's, wedding. It was a t a beautiful restaurant with great food and the reception was wonderful. We stayed with my other mate Kat and got to know her fiance a little better. He's a great guy and Kat still hasn't given us a date yet.
We still haven't got a calling in the ward yet. I'm pleasantly surprized. It's nice not having anything you know.
Masaru went to kindy again today and loved it. They have everything you can think of there. I've never see anything like it. It's an amazing place. No wonder he loves it. There's a sprinkler for the kids to get wet under and a huge sand pit with all the toys you can think of and sails so they don't get sunburnt. Swings, slides, ride on cars and carts, obstacle course, painting and playdough, dress ups, books, all the art supplies you can think of, mat time wee little toilets for little kids to go potty, it's just amazing. It's $1.50 and hour until Masaru turns 3 and then it's free. So that's good.
We're loving being with our family. Masaru loves hanging out with his cousins. It's like a big party for him. He has been slightly more disobedient lately and I think it's because he has uncles and aunties and grandmas and cousins to get himwhat he wants, so I"m trying to keep ontop of that.
Yuki is just perfect, and doing well. She wore an american outfit to church on Sunday. Dru thought I was mad to put it on her but we got home safley with no injuries.
Dru's job is getting better and better with every day that goes past. I personally think this is good for him to learn how to do things differently. I'm sure it'll help out his skills and knowledge or at least give him more of an appreciation for what he had and how he could do it. If nothing else it gives him good stories.
The weather has been perfect and things are great. So far so good.
I'll write again next week and hopefully post some pic's.
Love you guys
The Dru Nakaya clan