Barthows: Parenthood

No excuse really but parenthood is a whole new world and we realise that keeping up with other every day things like, oh, I don't know, blogs (!!), aren't always top of the priority list.

That said, we love being parents and Kezia is a wonderful daughter to us. Here's a few of the highlights of our 2012 year so far.

In Kezia's first 8 weeks of life, we visited Daniel's family in Tauranga 4 times! Sadly, though, a lot of this was due to the failing health of Dan's Poppa who, after a very brief illness, passed away on ANZAC Day, 25 April, as a result of complications from Motor Neurone's Disease.

Since then, however, we have had happier times in Tauranga again. We have also been fortunate enough to see other parts of New Zealand. In July, we visited Taupo, and celebrated our friend's wedding - beautiful day and a really great chance to catch up with old friends. Kezia enjoyed her first wedding immensly!

At the beginning of August, we held a special Dedication Service for Kezia at our Church, Glen Eden Baptist. It was a really special occasion with friends and family in attendance, and we felt really blessed.

Later in August, we went down to a small town, Ohakune (pron, Owakooneh) for a few days where we managed to take in a scenic drive, do a nice hill walk and enjoy some cold weather. We drove up to the local ski field just so we could say Kezia had seen snow but it was pretty poor actually. On our way back home, we stopped off in Waitomo (pron Whytawmaw) to see some of the famous Glow worm caves. Susanna's parents came down for the night and stayed with Kezia for a couple of hours so we could go ourselves and that was really nice, actually, didn't think about her the whole time!

More recently, we have enjoyed hanging out in Auckland, pottering around the house and garden, and exploring some of the local beaches. On Labour weekend, we visited Anawhata beach with friends from our Ante-Natal class. We are really looking forward to spending more time at the beach as the weather begins to fine up - bring on Summer! Here are a few pics for you anyway from the last 8 months or so! Enjoy.