My Week

I don't think i've posted in a while, so I thought I'd fill you in on what i've been up to. Of course, i've been looking after Laura 24/7 but i've managed to fit in a round of golf this week at an awesome course called Formosa. They played the New Zealand open there a few years ago, so it's a pretty good course. I didn't quite play to my usual standard, but i haven't played properly for about 2 years - Si and myself did have a lot of fun though. The above photo is of the course - you gotta love it!

So my other biggy is that I've been loaned this awesome scooter - i filled it up on Monday, and it cost me $5!!! It's still only half empty!!! So watch this space for more photos of me on my travels on the scooter. I also started a Myspace page which is all a bit modern for me!!! If you want to come and say hello I'm at www.myspace.com/paulkingsleysmith - i'm hoping at some point to put some of my songs up there; wait and see!

Anyway - off to bed now. Keep in touch.

Here I am!

Ok, for all you nagging friends and family-here is a photo of me- we took this last night after dinner so i would be at my largest size of the day! Not the best picture but it gives you an idea of how big i am at 28 weeks. The weeks are going fairly fast now-I'll be 29 tomorrow and it won't be long until we can put photos of the baby up-yey!

Our new home

I've been asked to put a few more photos up of our new house so here are just a couple i've taken tonight- enjoy!

Pauls new toy!

We have been loaned a moped by friends at St Paul's to make our transition into the suburbs of Auckland easier. This is such a blessing as now Paul can go to work and i can still get around- its mainly for when the baby arrives but Paul is loving being back on a moped again- I think he looks hysterical!

12 weeks until Kinglett is due!

I've just realised thats there is only 12 weeks until our baby is due- how exciting and scary all at the same time!!

We are slowly making our house feel homely but it will take a while as it feels a bit empty- not surprising after moving from a tiny apartment into a 2 1/2 bed house with lots more room.

We have started to get the baby's room organised, the photos are of Paul putting together the cot- a job he did in no time and without any problems-apart from getting lost in the box!

We're in...

Well, we finally moved in to the new place at the weekend; we're now officially living in the leafy suburb of Point Chevalier - apparently it is one of the up and coming areas of Auckland which is a great thing. We have a beach within a few minutes walk, some beautiful reserves, a couple of nice coffee shops, and some lovely neighbours.

This evening we picked up a lemon tree (with lemons on!) for our patio, and we erected our Cot... very exciting indeed. We will take some photos and a video soon but want to get things a little more sorted first.

We'll get back into the blogging again and will try to keep things flowing steadily; it's been a busy few weeks with little time for sitting at the computer at home.

Love to hear from you - please leave us comments; they are always a pleasure to read!

Moving Update...

Well, we made it out of our flat and we're in limbo at the moment. The move out went well - Elliott and I loaded our Smartbox van in 2 hours which I was pretty impressed with; They will deliver it back to us on Saturday morning at the new house.

Since moving out, I've had tonsillitis which sucks a bit, but i'm on some antibiotics which seem to be doing the job. We'll try and get some pictures of the new place up on the web at the weekend. Ciao

Funny!

One more sleep to go!

Well, we've made it; We're all packed up and moving out in the morning. We're going to stay with our good friends the Alcocks for a week, and then move into our new house on Saturday the 9th September. Our new contact details are as follows;

Paul & Laura Kingsley-Smith
291a Point Chevalier Road
Point Chevalier
Auckland
+64 9 8452242

Please bear in mind that you won't be able to ring this number until the 9th. Until then, we are uncontactable!! We'll post again from the new house.

Where are we going to be living?

Matt Groening's Apple Brochure

As i'm sure you all know, I'm an all out Apple fan; so you can imagine that I was amused recently when I came across this file through a video podcast that I subscribe to. We used to have an Apple Classic, and it really did feel like it packed a punch at the time! It really does show how far Apple has come in the last few years!

Becca and Adam update!

Tonight Becca and Adam are off to Christchurch tonight to visit Emma and Dan. I'm told they need to brace themselves for the cold weather so they better get the winter wollens out! Here they are on the beach on their first day in Auckland.

New House

Well after lots of looking, and dreaming of moving out of our apartment, the end is finally in sight. We move out of our small apartment in Grafton on the 1st September, and move on the 8th into a lovely 2 bed detached house in Point Chevalier which is a lovely area close to the sea.

We're extremely excited about really making home here - it's going to be a great place to raise our first child; Laura is already very busy figuring out the things we'll need to buy to make it feel homely - ouch!!!!

We'll try and get a photo soon.

Free Calls with Jajah

Found a new website today courtesy of the good old beeb.

Jajah allows registered members (which is free) to call landline to landline from around the world. I'd thoroughly reccomend you check it out, as we'll be making all our calls through here in the future and we can talk for free if you sign up.

I'd be interested to know if anyone has already ventured out into this stream of 21st century telecomunication - most people are already using skype, but this simply blows it out of the water.

A Great Weekend Away

Yesterday we came back from a lovely weekend away in the Coromandel with Becca and Adam. It was really great to get out of Auckland as i have been so tired working and not feeling up to much.


We took Becca and Adam on the Cathedral Cove walk which we did earlier this year with my mum and dad which is just so gorgeous.

We also went on a cove/cave boat tour which was a giggle!

My Talk

I only just realised i had put the wrong link down below; If you wanted to listen to my talk, try again.

I'm back!!!

Hey all - I reaslise i've not posted for almost a month now; luckily Laura has been flying the blog flag - I promise I'll get right back into the swing of it again.

So the last month has been rediculously busy - we had a fantastic time visiting our families in England; it was great to eat some good English sausages, although 3 meals on the trot at one stage was a little over the top!!!

It took me a week to fight the jet lag from the journey home (i thoroughly reccomend Emirates - we're now Silver Status fliers!) I led worship our first day back, and then led SOAK the following week which was a success.

Last Sunday Becca & Adam arrived from Sheffield, and we've been taking them around our favorite cafes and eateries in Auckland. We're going away with them to the Coromandel this weekend - should be a lot of fun should it stop raining!!!

Last night I spoke at the evening service on John 2:1-11. We recently started podcasting our talks, so you can take a listen here. Hope you enjoy.

So, all of the above has kept me pretty busy for most of our time. Laura and the baby are doing amazingly - I can now feel the baby kick which is awesome. Aparently it kicked and wriggled the entire way through my talk - do you think it could tell it was me?

I'll post again!

The Birthday Cake!

Paul's Birthday Bash!

We had a great time on Saturday celebrating Paul's Birthday. The day started with a lovely breakfast, followed by a game of mini golf. In the afternoon we relaxed and then had pizza before heading of to the Pub for drinks with friends. Here is the birthday boy!

Paul's Birthday

I know i've left this a little late for all of you not in New Zealand to send cards etc, but i just want to remind you all that its Paul's 26th Birthday on Saturday! I've been a little lame and have no idea what to get him and he has had to organise his own birthday drinks! Oh dear, i guess theres still time so if anyone has any ideas!

20 Week Scan

Yesterday we went for our 20 week scan which was great! I was a little nervous as everyone has been telling me how tiny i am but Kinglet is the right size and everything is as normal which was a great relief to hear. This scan picture isn't the best and the baby looks slightly strange but we can assure you it looks normal!

We also has a DVD recording taken where it is possible to see Kinglet swallowing and the tongue more- very cute! We will try to post that later....

HILARIOUS!!!

Having a fantastic time!

We are having a wonderful time here in Croxley Green, eating lots of yummy food, sitting in the sun filled garden and visiting the wider family. Paul is out with chezza (his mother!) shopping for the fun filled weekend ahead whilst i relax with Amy.
Yesterday was such a laugh, we went to visit the aunts and uncles; much singing, laughter and more food! We have captured some great moments on the handicam which we will laugh at again and again i'm sure!
I'm feeling great- i'm sure the first 16 weeks of pregnancy prepared me for this trip as i've not felt better and the tiredness is just normal now-infact i haven't noticed any extra tiredness and i just catch the odd 10 minute nap once or twice a day and i'm good to go!
Anyway, enough of my rambles! Just wanted to let you know i'm having fun!

In England

Well after a flight to London via Brisbane, Singapore, and Dubai, we arrived safely back to London yesterday afternoon. We've had a great trip so far, including 2 anniversary cakes on the planes - that was amusing.

Today we're off shopping to Watford, to see what has changed in the year that we've been away. We're with my parents until Monday, head to cheltenham till Wednesday, and the hit Bridgwater till the following Tuesday, leaving us one more day in Croxley before heading on the plane again to Auckland.

Who's the Pimp?

The Luge

On Saturday we went and did the Luge which was a LOT of fun. We caught the Gondola to the top of a reasonable sized hill, and then hutled ourelves down on what can be best described as tras with wheels and handle bars!! If you come to New Zealand, you absolutely MUST try this!

Weekend In Rotorua

We had a really fantastic time in Rotorua for the Life Course. One of the many highlights was driving through a small town called Tairua (i think). It was a very random town with lots of oversized items such as this information centre dressed as a dog! As the day ended on Friday we cought an awesome sunset....

Life Course here we come...

Well, we're off on the Life Course weekend away today in Rotorua; there is about 75 of us and we're staying in a nice looking backpacker hostel with its own thermal hot pools.

Rotorua is one the key tourist spots in the North Island, and we've not been yet so it will be great to see it.

We arrive back in Auckland on Sunday afternoon, and will be leaving on Monday afternoon to fly back to England, arriving Tuesday afternoon UK time. Very exciting indeed!

Graduation!

Well, Mum and Dad have been nagging me for 1 whole year to hire some gowns and get a photo taken of my 'graduation' so i can go on 'the wall of fame' back in Bridgwater, and finally i've done it! The pressure went up as i became pregnant as they didn't want me fat in the photo! As we leave for England in 3 days i thought i'd be a great daughter and go back with photo in hand however time is short and that might not happen, but at least i've got it done now even if the colours/gown isn't exactly the same as what it should have been!