:: we're here to stay ::

Exactly a week ago we were just stepping off the plane onto New Zealand ground after a smooth but very long trip from Switzerland. The trip on a whole was covered with a sense of blessing, from the beginning when we discovered we only had to pay a third of what we had expected for excess luggage (logically it doesn't make any sense!), a friend of a friend putting 'Priority' tags on all of those cases, the lovely mums and families with other almost-two year olds on both big flights, being able to take the short routes to skip long queues, right through to the friendly NZ airport staff who said "Welcome home!" and also helped us wheel three full trolleys through to our waiting family. Exhausted but very thankful. And now, a week later, we're feeling more adjusted. The girls slept the whole night through for the first time lastnight. I'm thankful to have a mum who heard them in the middle of the night wake-ups while we were oblivious in our jet-lagged deep sleeps. 

In many ways it's surreal to realise we have no return ticket and we're here to stay. And that our future is wide-open. We're excited and just a little nervous with this blank canvas ahead of us! We don't know what's next but we're starting to look at the options. Will Eti go into an electrician job first or pursue his dream of being a helicopter pilot? In the meantime we've enjoyed family time with one baby shower for our sister last weekend and another to come this Saturday for my sister, who is expecting her first baby in two weeks! Eti is out kayaking along the coastline right now and we've been for a few walks along the coast visiting the "toboggans" (slides) for the girls. 

Here are some photos from our first week here...

Helping papa put our kitchen together. We managed to bring the girls' IKEA kitchen and that dollshouse I couldn't let go of, thanks to some 'strategic' packing skills :o) 

Lovely salads for dinner. I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that we're heading into summer and not into winter...

Celebrating a precious little family member who is going to make his/her appearance in February

Enjoying stories with 'Megapop' and 'Superma'

Visiting some of the local playgrounds...

...and enjoying the change of scenery from European mountain alpine to Pacific Island sub-tropical...

So, please know that we're well and enjoying adjusting to our new home and looking forward to catching up with you either on Skype or in real life!!!

:: daisy kisses ::

Two things have made this week pretty cool around here. One...that daddy has been at home all week after injuring his back (that part isn't so cool), and two...it's warm and sunny! Yesterday we decided to take our lunch down the hill and have a picnic beside the lake. 

With the combination of warmer days and little girls who can walk, there are suddenly endless possibilities of places to go to and things to do. It's fun to introduce them to new things and watch them explore...

The ducks were awoken from their midday nap and disappeared pretty quickly! The swan was a little too more interested in the new company, though...

I think we have some swing fans :o)

And slides. They learned pretty quickly how to climb up...

The girls also discovered the daisies. And, with everything Amélie likes, she gave each one a kiss as she picked them :o)

The following photo made me smile...Amélie was having a little trouble walking on the big rocks. All of the photos I took of her here looked like this...

...and I just couldn't help (!) but notice the very new baby leaves on the trees. Spring arrives a little earlier down by the lake than up where we live...it's really, truly, almost here! See...

Oh it was so lovely to come home with cheeks warmed by the sun, tired but satisfied with a whole afternoon spent outdoors. 

Tomorrow morning we're off to visit Eti's cousins, aunts and uncles in Mulhouse, France. We're really looking forward to seeing them all! First stop the zoo, then on to Mulhouse for a fun weekend. 

Hope you all have a great weekend there! :o) 

Here we go!

I've been humming and ha-ing about whether or not to join the blog world. Just recently I discovered the world of blogging mums, which has seemingly endless depths of creativity, colours, crafts, children, thoughts on life, among other things...and a fun sense of community. It's been a fun discovery to make for a living-far-away-from-home mummy!

My main reason for getting into this is that, now that the girls are coming up to their first year, I won't keep writing monthly email updates to our faithful family, friends and followers who have kept in touch so keenly over the last adventurous year. Now you can come here and see what we get up to :) 

The girls are indeed almost one, which is hard to believe! A year ago this weekend they gave us quite a shock and arrived waaay too early. Now they have multiplied their 710g and 700g birth weights by 10 and are happy, healthy, joyful little girls who brighten our lives!

I made this video last week as a reminder of our past year - a picture of what we've experienced and all we can be thankful for...

Happy 1st Birthday A & E! from Maya Lacombe on Vimeo.