New Zealand is now a better place...

Thanks to a Christmas present from Taylor, I have discovered that it is now possible to buy dill pickles here! They aren't as crunchy as Calussen pickles (but to be fair, I was never expecting them to be...), though they did taste as perfect as any American dill pickle. Three years of wishing for dill pickles has now been satisfied.

Berry Picking

A couple weeks back, we found a local "Pick your own" berry farm. So Aaron, Sabrina, Taylor, and I headed out to pick a truckload of berries. The strawberries here are 2nd to none in the world, and we sure were't shy when it came to filling up our containers! Here are some pics of the fun:

Long Overdue

Seeing as how we're only a mere 5 days away from Christmas, I figured I'd better get my act together and post some of my Thanksgiving photos. Nevermind the fact that we're well past Thanksgiving and well into the Christmas season. But that's beside the point. Better late than never, I suppose.

My little helper, making pumpkin pie

Our turkey, not over-cooked this year!

Our whole spread.

(Sorry, Esther. Didn't realize 'til now that I never did get a photo of the cranberry relish. But it sure was yummy, thanks to you!)

Gotta love the pies ~ apple, pecan, and pumpkin!

(And a big thanks to one of my dearest friends from home who sent the Thanksiving decor items!)

Christmasy

I still have Thanksgiving photos I want to post, but until then, a short word about Christmas.

We finished putting up the Christmas decorations today. It was tons of fun; Taylor thoroughly enjoyed herself, and we had a good time working on it. It's fun to see how much they grow and change within a year, and how much more they remember, understand, and are able to hep with each Christmas that goes by. Being a parent at Christmastime really is fun.

Aaron very aptly pointed out this evening that it feels very Christmasy now, and it's even 20 degrees outside. The only problem is that it's 20 degrees Celsius, not 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Big difference.

Awake

It's 2:30 in the morning, and I am most definitely awake. I've had some pretty bad nights of sleep the last few nights, all manifesting in different ways. Tonight appears to be a bit of insomnia....how annoying!

So lying in my bed, trying to fall back asleep, my mind has wandered in all sorts of directions.....from the book of Revelation and eschatological events and the Man leading it all, to (a slightly less spiritual topic).....food. It all started as I randomly remembered this time when I was a kid and we went to New Hampshire for vacation. My parents had lived there at one time, and wanted to bring the family to their favorite sub-sandwich joint, called Moe's. I was only a kid, but I can still taste that sandwich to this day. It was hands-down the best sub I've ever eaten in my life. What's one to do when such a craving crosses the mind in the middle of the night? Nothing much that can be done but remember. So then I started thinking of a more realistic craving....which brought me to Subway and their veggie delight subs. Yum. A bit more realistic, but not at 2am. *sigh*. Of course, going back to sleep would be the best option by far, if only it were that easy.