Boxing Day is an extra holiday occuring the day after Christmas. I think at one time it was the day they opened presents in England. Anyway, here it is another day to go to the beach which is what we did while Lynn worked hard at the hospital. This is Smuggler's cove. After a short hike to this vista you can walk on down to the beach. We laid in the sun, played badmitton, had a picnic, built sand castles, etc.
This is Andrew on the way up to the Vista with Urquat's Bay in the background. We live on the otherside of the mountain (Mnt Aubrey) you can see behind him.
You can see us at the top with the rest of the crew walking on down to the beach carrying floats and other beach worthy Christmas gifts.
Rus and Cheryl decided we needed to buy a catamaran. Easy for them to say.
Hard work was done on making the day's sandcastle.
Anna and Andrew modeled the finished product.
Rus had to leave early the next day. Cheryl and Claire had a girl's time walking up to cafe up the hill (The Deck) for breakfast and coffee.
You can see us at the top with the rest of the crew walking on down to the beach carrying floats and other beach worthy Christmas gifts.
Rus and Cheryl decided we needed to buy a catamaran. Easy for them to say.
Hard work was done on making the day's sandcastle.
Anna and Andrew modeled the finished product.
Rus had to leave early the next day. Cheryl and Claire had a girl's time walking up to cafe up the hill (The Deck) for breakfast and coffee.
The kids got up about 7 AM and everyone piled in our bed before seeing the stockings and opening presents.
Lynn and I snuck in a set 6-6 (7/3) of tennis after presents and before lunch while Cheryl ran at Taurikura.
Viv put baby Jesus on my sister's Advent calendar I brought from home.
Anna loved the matching dresses Nana got for her and her baby doll.
After lunch new bathing suits were doned and the kids tried out the the splish splash my Mom sent. A water ballon fight broke out with Lynn having the most fun of all. Cheryl and I took a walk and delivered presents to a few neighbors while Rus and Lynn took a swim in the bay.
Phillip and I played Badmitten over the clothes line while some folks napped.
Lunch was a casual affair with the adults on the deck. After an afternoon of activities and napping we watched the second half of It's a Wonderful Life and went to bed happy and thankful for all of you we didn't see on Christmas but feel your impact on our lives.
My supervisor and office mate Dr.David Wei made his famous Spring rolls (below). Coming to NZ via Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Australia makes him an expert in Asian cuisine and the spring rolls are fabulous.
While I was at the work luncheon the girls walked around down town with Cheryl in the rain. 
Despite the overcast weather our Christmas Eve beach afternoon had some touch football.
The girls at the beach didn't give me the memo about wearing pink.
If you look close you can see Andrew at the bottom of this huge tree on the walk to the beach. The boys thought it a good place to "go behind".
Christmas Eve evening we all spent with our neighbors Nadine and Martin and their 2 kids. They introduced us to a Christmas toast with a glass of strawberries and NZ's version of Champaigne (Methode Traditionelle). They even have one variety which is "fraise" strawberry flavor. After a toast and some appetizers both families and guests headed off to a Baptist Christmas play which was the Mary and Joseph Bethleham story set in a Camp ground. It was different than the traditional candle light service but provided a good base for discussion about German church history and their backgrounds a few nights later. People are so fascinating. Anyway, the Christmas play with Mary in the Campground, Shephards as hippies, and 3 Kings that looked like rappers was a bit strange for us. The Christmas carols were the same sweet ones but we still missed the candles and the contemplative soft singing of Silent Night. After we got home, the kids hit the bed. Rus and Cheryl had their first ever experience of Santa's note, eating a cookie with crumbs left behind and being Santa's helpers. 
We had cake and presents. On a boat I figured one candle per decade might be a good fire precaution!
I had a great Birthday last week. It was 3 days and 2 nights of all kinds of beautiful scenary and relaxation. I had such a clear mind for the whole 3 days. We did lots of fun things and I have so many pictures of the kids. I will do another post to show some of the activities.
The kids enjoyed the lifestyle plot where they held chickens, chased sheep, and climbed fruit trees like this plum tree Phillip is hiding in. Below is one of the many views of farmland around their paddock/plot.
A bit of a digression before some more pics: It is interesting that some people here think that being Christian is a part of your heritage like being Maori or American. One of Claire's friends commented she was a Christian but didn't want to be. It begs the question what does she think being a Christian means. What is really fascinating about Jesus is that he challenged the Jewish way of birthright to a religion and said each person has to believe in their heart and their faith in Christ even if it is small makes them a Christian. Another point is the confusion we are finding about what it means to be a Christian may be because of the lumping of anything western being considered "Christian". Overseas folks sometimes can't seperate western actions (like colonialism, the war against terrorism, and sexual openess) from Christian faith. For example the Muslims we have talked to think the war on terrorism is "Christian aggression" and all Christians are like Sex in The City. It is hard to give a message of love and forgiveness of Christ to someone who has mingled Western politics, a moral decline in Western culture, and Christian religion. For many Muslims it is very hard to conceive there is a difference because there is no difference in politics, daily culture and religion in their own life view in Muslim world. They also have a hard time realizing the freedom we Americans have to look critically and believe this and disagree with that and at the end of the day not behead eachother for disagreeing and still call the whole lot with warts and all "American". I struggled a bit after my Maori 2 day course where the ills of colonialism and Western ways were displayed pretty effectively by a Non-Maori white teacher. After a few days of inner turmoil I came to the conclusion that each of us have 3 "rings of influence" that make up how we think and act: our culture, our religious convictions, and our own self interest. They overlap some but sometimes we act strictly out of one. Through time some things were done here strictly out of self interest (Like the men who ran the New Zealand Company who sold the same land deeds to multiple different English people ripping them off. ) Some things were cultural influence like the British colonialism keeping slaves. Somethings were done out of religious beliefs like the early missionaries planting churches and schools and trying to appeal to the British throne for their Maori friends. Sometimes the lines were blurred- by Christian missionaries, settlers, and Maori alike. The second day of the course the Maori teacher did a more balanced job portraying the struggles the Maori have and the beautiful side of their faith. I especially appreciate the humility they have before God, the importance of family/community (Whanau), and the respect/treasure the earth is to them. Just as he said that drugs and family violence aren't part of Maoridom ideology I feel that military aggression and open sexuality are not a part of Christian ideology. It's good to seperate these things in my mind.
The twins have enjoyed the sunshine, tree climbing, and sandy beaches but had a very sad week when it was announced their beloved teacher won't be returning for the rest of the school year. The announcement came in a letter from the principal saying the reasons were confidential. There have been a few tears and lots of sad comments. With 3 weeks to go in the school year we are all very disappointed because she was doing such a great job especially in creative ways for teaching reading and they were very attached to her. After next week starts a flurry of exciting weekly events including: my Birthday with a family sailing trip planned, Christmas with the arrival of Cheryl and my brother, Nate's arrival the week after, 2 weeks with Nanna and Papa, and finally 2 weeks of touring the South Island with a final stop in Wellington to see Rus. It's really getting good. 