Rogo
The App continues to tick over, but not sell very much. We hope to bring out a free version soon. We sent out a sample booklet to Puzzler magazine, who responded well at first but we haven’t heard back again. This requires a lot of patience and faith. I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the website, which is looking quite good now. Jessica did the graphic design and the original setup and it is very nicely done.
Caroline Bay
We went down to Timaru to the Carnival. It was a pretty perfect day really – it was warm without being too hot (though it was very hot in Christchurch). We did all the traditional things, and even won two prizes on the chocolate wheel out of the three tickets we bought in the last draw of the afternoon. And I got a consolation prize on the Clowns (which are no longer clowns.) The concert was an Irish pub band, which was enjoyable without being remarkable. Jonathan enjoyed the rides – and went on the Hurricane, Octopus, Chair-o-plane and Ferris Wheel. Mark was happy when the Octopus ride finished. I went on the Ferris Wheel only, and neither Mark nor I were able to go on the Chair-o-plane. On the way down we listened to Bill Bryson. We had Burger King for dinner and got home about 8:30pm. Jonathan even thanked us for taking him. All the efforts over the years to take him when he was less than cooperative are paying off. The Bay has been nicely landscaped down near the water too.
Auckland trip
We had a lovely trip up north to get William. We flew up on Sunday afternoon after church, and picked up a very shiny new car at Thrifty. When we got out of the airport it was like walking into one of the hot-houses at the Botanic Gardens. It was very hot and very steamy. We went to where we had booked for accommodation, but it was disgusting, so we walked across the road to the Best Western and stayed there instead. We went to the Schwenckes for dinner, which was great. They are such a nice family. We had a slow morning on Monday and even watched a bit of tennis on Sky. We drove up to Waiwera and went in the hot pools. It is pretty rundown, especially compared with Hanmer Springs. But we had fun. We went to the Vaughans for dinner. Then on Tuesday we got up EARLY to get down to the temple for 8:00am.
Temple Baptisms
Mark, Jonathan, Nan (Rosemary) and I met at the temple and did some baptisms for my ancestors. It was the first time for the three proxies, though Mark had done baptisms before. However we all found it rather special. The names included my Grandmother and her siblings, and many of my grandfather’s siblings.
Getting William
After the temple, we spent a little time with Ray and Rosemary and had a little lunch at Bremworth Park – which none of us knew existed before then. Then we drove back up to Auckland, freshened up at the North Shore Mall, then drove to the Mission Home. William met us at the door, and you can see photos at the Mission website. There was a testimony meeting for the departing missionaries – all sixteen of them, and then we took William, his luggage and his bike back to the motel. At William’s suggestion we went to the Genghis Khan Mongolian Barbecue, which was fantastic. Then we wrapped up the bike and chatted.
Then on Wednesday we flew home to Christchurch. Mark took me first to the airport with two cases and the bike, and went back for the others. Good thing we were staying in Mangere. It all went smoothly. A few people met us at the airport and we took William off to the stake centre to meet with President McDonald and get released. Then home.
The first thing he saw when he walked into the house was our 27inch iMac computer, which he literally drooled over. It is beautiful, and we hadn’t told him we had it. We had Mexican for lunch, as that is William’s favourite. William rang and chatted to Jessica, as arranged, and Mark and I blobbed out.
William
William is home. I have asked him to write a bit about his mission. Since he has been home he had a few days relaxing, but there is a lot for him to do before the wedding, so it is pretty busy. As arranged earlier, we took him to the Casino for brunch on Saturday, and he and Nick went for a wander around town. And we had our first day of the team at the Chats trivia night.
Jonathan
Jonathan is very excited about his party, which will be on the 26th February. We are organising a trivia game, which he has made up the questions for. It has taken a bit of work getting all the invitations ready and sent out.
Tennis
Mark and I have been playing tennis quite a bit this month. We usually play on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6:15am, weather permitting. I am still nowhere near as good as Mark and seldom win a point (game). But it is a good way to exercise and we enjoy doing it together. And for me to lose every single time is character-building. Occasionally we get to deuce and then I get so excited that I might win a game, and then I lose.
Wedding
We have our flights booked for the trip to the US. William is flying over on 19th March and we fly out on Monday 28th in the evening after I teach a class in the morning. We will meet up with Nan in Auckland. Very big thanks to Laurie and her parents, we will be staying in Orem at their house. We intend to go to General Conference, for some or all of the sessions, and William and Jessica will join us. We plan to go down to Manti on the evening of the 4th, and driving back up on the 6th after the wedding and lunch. We will book somewhere to stay down there soon. Then on the 11th we fly out of Salt Lake City and home via Los Angeles on one of the new Air New Zealand planes. William and Jessica will fly to New Zealand a bit later.
Mueck Exhibition
There was an exhibition of sculptures that are larger or smaller than life representations of naked people. It has been extremely popular, so Mark and I went a week before it closed. I hadn’t been keen to go, and I was right. I lasted about 10 minutes, apart from watching teh video on how they made them. It totally creeped me out and felt invasive. Mark liked it. I went off and looked at some other art by dead painters such as Van der Velden, and Sutton, and felt better.
The Quake
We had another big quake – 5.1. Mark and I were just getting ready to go to tennis. It is the biggest one since September, and something actually fell down in my room.
See you all
Nicola, Mark, William, Jonathan
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