Monday 29 January 2007

Gracie looking very relaxed!

Anniversary Day

Yesterday was Anniversary Day here in Auckland which meant we got the day off; The sun was blazing, so we met up with Rich, Kath & Amélie at Cornwall Park and went for a lovely walk around One Tree Hill - interesting trivia: the U2 song One Tree Hill was named after this volcano - strangely enough there isn't actually a tree up there at all now, so maybe they should think about renaming the volcano to 'No Tree Hill' or maybe even 'Hill'


Rich and I trying to feed our children Diet Coke, and Chocolate Ice Cream.... of course the girls are far to sensible - they are only interested in boobs.... me too!

Friday 26 January 2007

A perfect Saturday...

Laura is feeling a bit better today, so this morning we headed out to our friends Dizz & James in Oratia - they have a fantastic house on a huge section in the middle of the bush; it really is perfect. At this point I should mention James' new shed - he built it himself from scratch over the christmas break, and I can honestly say it the best shed I've ever seen!!! Photo's to prove it! (from Dizz's blog)

Photo Photo

We had a sensational brunch with them before piling into their newly aquired 17 year old minibus type people mover thing. We loaded a couple of longboards, and headed off to Piha, which is a very rugged west coach beach, made famouse for having 'The Piano' filmed on it.



The weather was absolutely perfect and there was some great surf, so James & I went out into the waves for some fun. Surprisingly, I found out that I can actually surf, and caught a few nice wives and rode a couple into the shore.


After the beach, we headed back to theirs for a beautiful roast lamb on their deck. This evening we've got our good friends Greg & Yona and Aaron coming for a BBQ. Clearly Gracie will be too tired to make it!!!

New Car!

Well today we said fairwell to our good friends Matt & Carolyn; they arrived in New Zealand from USA at the same time we arrived in from the UK - they've been at St Paul's for the duration of their stay here, and were founding members of our small group / cluster. Matt also played lots of electric guitar (and well) with me in the worship team. They generously gave us their car as they left, which is a huge blessing to us. How cool does it look - it's a propper family car!

Thursday 25 January 2007

What's Up?

Hi guys, sorry it's been a little while since we've posted anything of any great substance. The last week, Laura has been pretty ill which has been a lot of hard work or us. She is on antibiotics, so should get better soon - it's made for quite an unsettled week though.

Gracie is utterly gorgeous - she is growing heaps and is becoming more and more responsive to us. We're now getting loads of smiles and some baby talk... very cute. Here is a little video of us yesterday having some baby chatter on the sofa.




And a cute photo of her sleeping in her cot yesterday.

Ouch!

Swimmer trapped by balls

What next?

Friday 19 January 2007

Another video of Gracie

More Gracie!

Gracie

Gracie & Lani

Welcome...

Our great friends James, Jenny & Evie Cornell have just started blogging... welcome to the blogosphere guys - hope you get the hang of it soon!

Thursday 18 January 2007

My 2 beautiful girls...

oh dear!


Yesterday afternoon I came in from work to find Gracie sat in the armchair with a beer and a cigar.... what babies do for a bit of attention!

Tuesday 16 January 2007

Ah!


DSCF2322.jpg, originally uploaded by thekingsleysmiths.

Monday 15 January 2007

New tricks...

In the last couple of days Gracie seems to have found her thumb; She had accidentally sucked her thumb quite a few times up until now, but she now seems to be getting some sort of technique to it! Here is a cute photo of her in the bath with me earlier this evening....

And another...


My new trick is BBQing - we've taken quite a fancy to our gas bbq and are cooking on it on a very regular basis... I'm really enjoying cooking up some chicken and a wide variety of veges - it's good fun, and requires so little clearing up!!!

Saturday 13 January 2007

Gracie and her rubber ducky!

Gracie in her new red dress!

Gracie's first night away...

This weekend we went to stay with our good friends Bex & Si, and Sarah and Phil; They have a family bach in Leigh, which is about an hour outside of Auckland. We had a fantastic time, and Gracie loved the change of scenery, and we of course loved the company. We had a lot of fun learning some new games, eating lots of fine food, and I even got out for a little surf with Si & Phil. Here's a little piccie of Si & Gracie.


Gracie & Si, originally uploaded by thekingsleysmiths.

Wednesday 10 January 2007

Fatherly Advice!!!

Tuesday 9 January 2007

Up yours daddy!


Up yours daddy!, originally uploaded by thekingsleysmiths.

Gracies first motorbike ride!

It's a hard life!


It's a hard life!, originally uploaded by thekingsleysmiths.

Gracie having a play!


Gracie having a play!, originally uploaded by thekingsleysmiths.

Sunday 7 January 2007

Gracie having an afternoon nap


DSCF2157.jpg, originally uploaded by thekingsleysmiths.

Here's a little photo of Gracie yesterday having a nap after a feed. She is doing very well - she keeps us on her ttoes, but generally you couldn't ask for a better baby - she sleeps well which is great, and she is a lot of fun to be with. We love her very much.

Wednesday 3 January 2007

A new car...

We got some fantastic news yesterday - some friends of ours from St Paul's, who are moving back home to the USA are donating us their car... It's such great news as we have been praying for a new car this week, as our Mazda just isn't big enough now that we have Gracie.

We'll be getting our car at the end of the month, and I'm very excited indeed... It's a Toyota station wagon which will be absolutely fantastic - it has electric windows, a sunroof, a roof rack, a huge boot, and low mileage also which is a huge bonus.

Summer is here!

Well, summer has finally arrived again after having a short break! This week has been absolutely glorious - we've been getting out for heaps of walks, getting to the beach everyday, bbq-ing, and I've been playing some tennis. Gracie appears to enjoy the summer, although I get the impression that she's rather be swimming than be stuck lying down the whole time. Here are some photos to keep you going.....

Gracie playing on her playmat

Gracie desperate for some food!

Gracie satisfied after some food!

Gracie enjoying time with her daddy!

A Tour of the house...

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Tuesday 2 January 2007

Gracie is getting chubby!!

Blogged with Flock

New Year Photos

I promised the guys I would put a picture of New Year on the blog. Here are a couple.


Blogged with Flock