New Zealand--Part One

Mark and I went to New Zealand Feb. 11-Feb. 21. We had an amazing time!!! Thank you to all of the people who took fantastic care of our children while we were gone. We felt like newly weds again!! It was very strange getting on that airplane with only Mark. It took a while for me to get used to not having my three little boys with me at all times!! It was so fun to walk hand in hand with my husband wherever we went and not have to push a stroller or hold a child. We did miss our children, but we knew that we should enjoy all the alone time we were having, and boy did we ever! Happy 10 year anniversary to us (we're a few months early, but this trip definitely was a celebration of our marriage). It was also a chance to visit Mark's parents while they are on their mission. Thank you to them as well!! They did so much for us and basically planned out our entire trip. We would have been lost without them!! They were able to spend nearly the entire time with us because the temple was closed, therefore, the Visitor's Centre was not busy. We also traveled with Mark's brother and his wife and it was so fun to have them there. They got married a month before we did and we lived in the same house the first year of our marriages (we lived in the upstairs apt, and they lived in the basement apt).

This is us at the airport in LA before we boarded the 12 1/2 hour flight to Auckland (which wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be--12 hours of sleeping, or eating, or reading, or watching videos, or just talking to my honey....hey, how bad could it be???). We were able to sleep fairly well. We arrived in Auckland at 6:30am, we rented a minivan, and off we went (on the LEFT side of road) to Hamilton to Mark's parent's home. My first impressions of NZ were, humid, warm, and BEAUTIFUL! So green (although it's the driest time of the year) and I immediately noticed these gorgeous trees called the Norfolk pine. As soon as we got to Hamilton (about an 1 1/2 hour drive from Auckland), my sister in-law, Bekah, and I did a quick run around the temple grounds, then we got cleaned up, we ate lunch, and then we were off to Rotorua.

This is me in Rotorua at the Agradome. There are sheep everywhere in NZ and this was a fun place to learn about them, to see a live show, and to see some sheep getting sheered!!

All of us at the Agrodome.

The live show and all the sheep!!

After the Agrodome we went right to the ZORB's!!! This was a lot of fun. It is basically a giant ball, filled with a little bit of water, then you get inside of it and then you are pushed down a hill!

Mark right after his ZORB ride.


Mark and me at the ZORB place.

After the Zorb, we road into downtown Rotorua and checked into the Novotel. We then went to dinner and for a walk around the city. This is me feeding the geese my left over icecream cone (mmmm...tip top ice cream is the best!!), a few feet away, there was a sign that read, "do not feed the geese, they may attack you." Ooops!!

This is Mark and I by Lake Rotorua (the whole time we were in Rotorua, I couldn't stop singing the Roto-Rooter song....:p)


This is me in front of a Maori building in Rotorua.

This is me kissing a Maori carving. I hope that wasn't bad to do. I meant no disrespect. I was really fascinated by the Maori culture. After that loooong day was over, we went back to our hotel, played a few rounds of 6 handed Rook, and off we went to bed (we all had separate hotel rooms :))! The next morning, Mark and I went running (it was the smelliest run I have ever been on because of all the natural hot springs everywhere) then we had breakfast at McDonald's (I know, way too American, but they are practically on every corner). Mark and I tried out the geothermal spa (very smelly) and then we were off to see some more of beautiful NZ!!

Next we went to this sled/go-cart/luge and I don't remember where it was, or what it was called, but it was tons of fun!! This is Dad, Mom, and Mark on the gondola.

Me, Bekah, and Jon, on the other side of the gondola.

Ready to race!! Here we met an Australian fellow who had on a BYU Hawaii shirt.

Mark and I after the races! Jon won just about every time.

Next we drove to Taranga and Mount Maunganui. We had lunch at Breakers (I had a chicken burger), and then we headed to the beach to look for shells and to hike mnt Maunganui!

Mark and his dad looking for shells.

That is mnt Maunganui behind me (notice the sheep behind me...I tell ya, there were sheep everywhere)

At the top of the mnt. We made it!! It was a gorgeous view!!

That's all I have time for now. More to come. This was only the first two days!!!