The Shepherds

2010 so far...

2010-07-27T18:58:00.012Z

Ok, so a big photo catch-up is in order! Here goes:

The start of the year remained ridiculously chilly, but fun! One of our favourite places to explore is Blaise Castle and on one occasion all of ChurchNext came along for a walk - everybody on the little bridge was a photo opportunity we couldn't miss:

Lots more snow gave Neil more days off school and all of us the opportunity to build an entire Snowman Shepherd Family.

All the hard work obviously made Daniel slightly peckish so Mummy's 'nose' was a good edible option!

Our gorgeous friend, Olivia, came over to visit from Burundi and it was great to catch up, though an afternoon was not nearly long enough.

As the weather improved in March we got the bikes out; Matthew loves his helmet as it has racing cars on which are one his favourite things.

In March, Daniel also finally decided to walk independently! He'd been teasing us since Christmas, having taken fie steps to Neil on Christmas Eve but then done no more. Now, of course, there's no stopping him - particularly when we're about to get in the car and he's running off up or down the road!

During the Easter holidays Neil went skiing with the school so I took the boys to stay with my parents for a few days. It was great but drama-filled; the boys came out in chicken pox (Matthew's spots appeared at the science museum in the middle of the lovely day out in London that I'd planned - need less to say it was cut short as all he wanted to do was go to bed!) and I ended up in A & E having tipped very hot tea in my lap. Not ideal but I did have my mummy and daddy there to look after me which helped enormously!

Matthew's chicken pox was worse on his body...

... but Daniel's really came out on his face and ne has still has marks now :(

Matthew's spots came out first so, while he was waiting for his (!), Daniel had fun with Grandad... And, back at Blaise Castle, was given his very own ice-cream rather than just having licks of mine!

In May we had more fun playing football and running around on the Downs:

And Matthew celebrated his fourth birthday with everything on a racing car theme.

Grandma and Grandad came to visit and I used their extensive horticultural knowledge (and my boy's love of getting messy) to help me plant the rose Neil gave me as an anniversary present last September (yellow, fragrant roses - my favourite - and named 'Pilgrim'...).

And we had more fun in another favourite place, Leigh Woods:

In the holiday we took our new and very spacious tent to Cardiff to have a trial run at camping before we head to France in August. The weather was amazing (though a little chilly at night which meant we didn't get quite as much sleep as we could have done!) and we enjoyed exploring. Highlights included visiting Castel Coch...

...taking bikes out and riding the Taff Trail...

...and getting the river bus to Cardiff Bay where we saw the church where Roald Dahl was christened (we're big fans of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!).

In June we travelled all over the place; Sheffield visiting the lovely Hewsons - here are our boys with Sam and Ollie, hanging out together in front of the TV!

And meeting the very gorgeous Esther Andrews - Daniel particularly loves babies and there is a photo of him giving Esther a big kiss but you can't actually see her then!

We had time in Liverpool catching up with family; our nephew Luke (in matching England shirt with Chris when the nation was still optimistic about our chances - before the first match!) is only 10 months old and walking around:

and time at Knowsley Safari Park gave Matthew his first meaningful go on the dodgems with Daddy - I love the glee on Alastair and Emma's face on this photo!

And then it was time to meet the newest member of our extended family, our nephew, Oliver Michael Savage:

Matthew was very pleased with his new cousin, particularly that he is a he and is now looking forward to epic football contests!

He's obviously gorgeous but has been a bit of a pickle in settling to sleep so Sally and Alex are wrecked!

And now into July; Matthew has finished pre-school and is really looking forward to starting school. We're so proud of him and the "happy, confident child who loves to talk and play with children and adults"; he's grown up so much and it's been lovely to look back on his 'work' and record of his time at preschool and reflect on how he's changed and developed over the last 18 months.

It took time but he now has a place at a new school site currently still being built which means his classroom for the first term is actually in a stand of Gloucestershire County Cricket club! We're really excited about this new school and the potential it brings - and the fact it looks over the cricket pitch is just wonderful for our sporty boy!

And, having finished school for this academic year, Neil celebrated his birthday with a barbecue and a chocolate cake - though no lit candles as the wind kept blowing them out!

Latest development is that we have had an offer accepted on a house so hoping to move early autumn - hooray!

Winter Fun

2010-01-12T20:15:00.007Z

Well, even though it didn't actually snow on Christmas Day I will be counting Christmas 2009 as a 'white Christmas' as there was snow on the ground and all activity before and after it has been dominated by SNOW!

This time the highlight has been sledging. We found a sledge in the cellar in Sheffield when we were clearing out the house and reluctantly brought it back to Bristol thinking we've had the 'once in 20 years snow' that Bristol gets so probably won't need it. How wrong we were! And we've definitely needed it because the only way to get Matthew to preschool on several days was by sledge.

Matthew also surprised me with his willingness to share his sledge, necessary as there was a city wide shortage (that's what comes of living in a city where snow is only expected every couple of decades - the man in the toy shop was genuinely concerned at the rush he may have on this morning when the new order arrived!); here he is with his friend Phoebe.

There were some moments when it appeared that Daniel would like nothing more than to be running around in the snow but these were quite brief - and never captured on film - and he generally looked unimpressed and as though he wished we'd all hurry up so he could get back inside! Christmas was great with lots of fun with the family; Daniel was catching up on his cuddles with Grandma and Matthew gets on so well with Emma (apart from when they're jostling for position on the penguins!) and particularly amusing to the rest of us was their role play as Mary and Joseph which lasted for about 4 days! I'm sure not sure what comment to make about the photo of Matthew clearly enjoying himself in the Tinkerbell dress-up...

As always, we had lots of fun in Liverpool including penguin spotting, visiting the art gallery and museum and shopping!

And we had our obligatory New Year's Day walk, this year to Blaise Castle (along with half the population of Bristol it seemed).

And here are a couple of photos of Matthew growing up; as a shepherd in his first nativity (with Ella, the angel) and a self-portrait (complete with belly button!) with his name!

Mo-vember

2009-12-09T19:59:00.003Z

During last month Neil joined several of his male colleagues (and thousands of others around the world, mainly in the Antipodes I think) in growing a moustache to raise money for research into testicular cancer. It has to be said his immediate family were not really impressed - Daniel was the most pleased with it as it gave him something else to pull on and investigate - but at least it was for a good cause.

It was lovely to be visited by Monique for a few days; having not seen her since we left NZ nearly 3 years ago we had lots to catch up on and lots to reminisce about. On a day - well, let's face it, a month - of pouring rain we decided to visit the SS Great Britain which apparantly is a great attraction whatever the weather...and it was! All inside or under cover apart from briefly being on deck and for that the rain stopped for the 15 minutes we needed it to!

Daniel's First Birthday!

2009-11-10T19:31:00.003Z

Daniel is one today! We're celebrating with lots of friends and family through the week but the highlight for Daniel so far definitely seems to be his cake, complete with chocolate buttons!

Sold!

2009-11-06T21:13:00.003Z

The biggest and best news of the moment is that we've finally sold our house in Sheffield. It had been on the market for a loooong time and even the time from initial offer to completion was six months (with an unbelievable number of hassles along the way) but it's now done and dusted and we're looking forward to where next!

Half term was last week and we went and 'holidayed' in Alastair and Helen's house in Liverpool while they holidayed in France!

Matthew thought it was amusing to be eating a banana whilst standing next to one of the many famous 'superlambananas' around the city and the boys enjoyed 'racing' each other along the steps (designed by their uncle Alastair) outside Liverpool's Catholic cathedral.

We had amazing autumnal weather and so much fun playing in the leaves - me the most I think! I can't get over what a good match Daniel's hair is for all the colours of the season!

We had quite early starts all week as the body clocks of the boys remained on BST for a fair while after the clocks changed. To compensate Matthew still manages to fall asleep in strange places and in awkward positions during the day; a couple of weeks ago I had to carry him to the sofa because he was so tired he'd lay down on a coconut doormat on the kitchen floor to go to sleep!

Growing Up

2009-09-28T18:50:00.002Z

Matthew started morning preschool this September; not that big a deal as he's been there in the afternoons for 6 months. But he's been "waiting for ages" to go "after breakfast" and now he can wear the 'uniform' too it's all abit more official!

Dublin

2009-09-12T08:14:00.000Z

On September 4th we had been married 10 YEARS!!! Hooray!!! To celebrate our wedding anniversary we spent the weekend in Dublin (on our own - thank you Ken and Sylvia for looking after our boys!) and had a wonderful time! No digital photos as I left the battery for the camera behind! We learnt lots of the history of the city whilst walking (and bus-ing) the length and breadth of it (therefore crossed the Liffey a lot!), ate delicious food, experienced the buzz of the city when the hurling championship final is on (Kilkenny won for the fourth year in a row but it was controversial - just in case you're interested!), didn't get rained on all that much and thoroughly enjoyed being together - just us!

Summer 09

2009-09-11T18:45:00.008Z

So, brief catch-up: much is still the same in the Shepherd household but there are a couple of significant changes since the end of June; notably that Sam has now moved to Norway (so Matthew has now moved into Sam's old room in the attic which he loves) and Daniel is now crawling and standing, which changes life dramatically!

We've had quite a relaxing summer hanging out in Bristol and catching up with friends...Emilia was 'home' for the summer and it was so good hanging out

...and family(clearing out our house in Sheffield wasn't exactly relaxing but amusing to reminisce and, yet again, discover the many ridiculous items we've kept over the years! There have been many annoying obstacles to completing the house sale but hoping it goes through very soon...)

The latest addition to the Shepherd clan, our nephew Luke Maguire, arrived at the beginning of August and it was lovely to meet him at only a few hours old.

We've visited a few farms over the last couple of months but the best aspects included a maize maze, go-karts and sheep racing (among the sheep were 'Fleece Lightning', 'Woolly Whippet', 'Lamb-orghini'!). Sally, my sister, joined us at one and the boys really enjoyed her company and participation!

In Hartlepool Matthew went to his first football match (which he managed to fall asleep in!).

Daniel also demonstrated that he will eat anything he can get his hands on; very frustrating when all the time on the beach is spent taking stones etc out of his mouth (in the garden particluar favourites are flowers and bumble bees!) but not as painful as he when he decides to take a chunk out of you!

Although the weather this summer has not been what was forecast it has not been nearly as dismal as last summer and the day we spent at Newby Hall was warm enough to play in the fountain.

We also made the obligatory annual visit to the Downs to watch the launch of balloons at the fiesta; Daniel has taken after his brother and is quite an early-riser too so it wasn't too much effort to be out and having a picnic breakfast at 7am!

The highlight of the summer was a wedding anniversary treat from Alastair and Helen (Neil's brother and sister-in-law) - tickets to see U2 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff! Neil had never been to a major gig so this was a good 'first'! It was amazing; venue, music, atmosphere, overall 'show' just brilliant and it helped being only about 30metres from the walkway that came out from the stage! No photos - I think you probably had to be there!

Birthdays

2009-06-20T18:17:00.004Z

Matthew turned three in May and the birthday celebrations lasted for a week, including three cakes! He loves anything to do with football or rugby so a 'proper' rugby ball, football strip, goals and football bedding were the highlights of gifts!

The Shepherd family got together the weekend before Matthew's birthday and the weather was so lovely we went to the beach; Daniel's first experience of sand which took some getting used to! That was a big weekend of firsts for Daniel including sitting unaided, eating in a highchair and rolling over! I guess he wanted a share of the limelight!

On Matthew's actual birthday we went to the zoo. It was particularly wet but there was a new attraction - feeding the lorikeets. Sam came with us, we thought it would be good for him to visit Bristol zoo before he leaves in July :(

Then came the party! Nine 2-5 year olds was not quite as manic as I thought it would be - and we managed to get outside to hunt for 'treasure' in between the rain showers which helped.

I've also had a birthday which had to include a cake and pass-the-parcel as it's obviously not a birthday without them! That was great but I think I enjoyed the visit to the Chocolate cafe in Clifton, the strawberries and wine and dinner out with Neil a little more!

Our Boys

2009-05-01T20:41:00.004Z

Easter

2009-05-01T20:08:00.005Z

We had a fantastic time in Sheffield the week before Easter. It was a wonderful combination of catching up with special friends (the most bizarre spending quality time with Emma and Dan and reminiscing about NZ and it feeling like it was only last week, rather than two years ago, that we were there together!), chilling out as a family and visiting some of our favourite places in and around the city

Hathersage

Padley Gorge

On Easter Monday, back in Bristol, we went on the miniature railway at Ashton Court which was a little gem to discover for a Sunday afternoon out in the summer. We went with our Kiwi friends Paul, Ange, Toby and Hana - making the most of time with them before they head back to New Zealand at the end of May :(

And Daniel has started on solid food!

BIG catch up!

2009-04-01T20:00:00.009Z

Big apologies for being so appaling at keeping this blog up-to-date; surely my excuse of tiredness and having two small children is acceptable...anyway, here are some of the photo highlights:

Christmas

We spent Christmas day on our own in Bristol then travelled the length of the country visiting family which was great fun.

We embarked on our customary New Year's Day walk; this year it was to Matthew's favourite place in Bristol, Leigh Woods (this is because he can follow the marked out trails and has something to aim for otherwise walking is a little boring for him and he ends up wanting to be carried). It was -1 degree when we set off and was sleeting when we arrived - proper cold. I was pleased that Daniel was in the sling because I think he would have been too cold any other way (and he was a nice little radiator for me!).

Brotherly Love

Matthew is still fantastic with Daniel and Daniel has his best smiles and giggles for his big brother which is just lovely.

Matthew 'helping' Daniel to smile!!!

Smiles

Daniel kept us waiting for his first smiles - he was nine weeks old before we were convinced the expression was not just a random muscle spasm. Now, of course, we melt every time!

The red line down the middle of Daniel's forehead is due to his killer fingernails - they really do inflict alot of damage, not that Daniel seems bothered.
Let it snow!

The start of February brought some of the best snow I can remember. It was an added treat because all long-standing residents of Bristol told us not to get excited about the forecast because snow never settled in this city. So imagine the joy when we woke up to this:

and it meant Neil had two days off school - they wouldn't even let him in to collect his computer so he could work - so we wer forced to just go out and play! The snowman and ice-house were all the work of Neil and I (mainly Neil!); Matthew did love the snow but mainly because he could eat it and still play football in it.

Daniel was not as impressed, mainly because he was tired and needed a sleep.

Favourite toys

Matthew's Christmas present was a scooter which he is now incredibly fast and almost kamakazi on. Yet there has only been one altercation with a wall which, if you'd seen him on the scooter, you'd realise is pretty good going.

Daniel is really enjoying being able to take hold of things and shove them into his mouth! He gets very excited under his play gym or when we take his trousers and nappy off so he can kick away. The banana is the favourite of the moment though, much to Matthew's delight as it was the present he chose for Daniel when he was born.

Other 'highs'

In February I went to see Olivia graduate from Bristol university which was great fun. Here she is with Sam, who's been living with us for the last 18 months. Both of these guys are great, bringing a constant challenge and encouragement to keep pressing on and live on the edge. Matthew is a particular fan and takes the opportunity to hang out in Sam's room or learn from / 'help' him (grinding and making coffee and gutting fish are the latest) whenever he can.

At the beginning of March the Shepherd clan got together just outside Matlock to surprise Christopher and celebrate his 30th birthday with him. Thirty candles obviously takes alot of puff so naturally Chris needed Emma and Matthew's help - though this photo seems to suggest Matthew is slightly more committed to the task than Emma...

Currently Neil has just completed his first full term as Head of Year 8 at school and he's enjoying the new challenges that's bringing, Matthew is adjusting to pre-school (he has come up with some quite sophisticated reasons not to go such as "My tummy hurts so I can't go!" - I thought you were slightly older before you started feigning sickness to get out of school!), Daniel is about to cut his first tooth (well I hope that is the reason for the pooy nappies that are so bad they run down his leg onto the floor when you pick him up!) and as for me, I'm enjoying them all! I think that's us up to date now!

Daniel James Shepherd

2008-12-04T19:22:00.004Z

Daniel was born on Monday 10th November so is now over three weeks old and settling nicely into the family! I know it's taken a while to post the news and photos but I'm quite amazed at how little time there is to do anything other than feed a baby (most of the time), try and have quality time with a toddler and sleep (the least amount of time!) - my expectations of what was going to get done regarding Christmas have flown out the window.
There's probably lots to say to introduce Daniel but I think pictures will say it best - and save time! Suffice to say we all think he's gorgeous and are enjoying getting to know him.

Baby Shower

2008-10-21T19:40:00.003Z

I've just had a look back at the blog entry for my baby shower with Matthew and trying to work out if I'm bigger this time round or not! We did play 'Guess how fat I am!' again and nobody was as way out as they were last time; in fact, Chriscelle was spot on! Another game was guessing celebrity baby names and my least favourite was a blind taste test of baby food - I'd forgotten how gross it is!

The highlight had to be the chocolate fountain which was obviously really healthy as we had all that fruit to go with it! This is my friend, Ange, tucking in!

Anyway, two weeks to go and counting...

Camping

2008-08-28T19:03:00.000Z

Having given up relying on the weather forecast and thinking we ought to get out of the house (the coverage of the Olympics was just too good) and Bristol, we decided to brave the elements and head to the Gower, south Wales for a few days camping. Now I'm a reluctant camper at the best of times and given that my last experience was in the much warmer, drier New Zealand with very well equipped campsites, I was slightly nervous that I'd be put off for life. Especially when a friend said that their tip for a successful camp was to locate the nearest travel lodge!

But I have to report that I wasn't deterred, in fact I'd definitely do it again! The weather was dry for us to put the tent up and take it down and we only had one day of rain which Matthew proved is no hindrance to having fun on the beach.

The sun even came out and we enjoyed the fact the campsite was practically on the beach so we had easy access to great rock pools (Neil was definitely the most keen of us all and did catch the biggest crab!), sand (again, Neil had the most fun making a sand turtle, crocodile and mermaid!) and sea - which Matthew walked straight into to jump the waves and didn't seem to bat an eyelid at the ridiculous temperature (I guess he was born in NZ!).

We all slept well too and the earliest morning was 7am which is later than it is at home!

I also enjoyed visiting some old haunts in Swansea where my Nanna used to live and reminiscing at Joe's ice cream parlour!

Hartlepool

2008-08-15T12:16:00.006Z

We've just come back from a relaxing, though slightly soggy week away catching up with family. We stayed in Sheffield on our way northwards; Neil's parents have a caravan on a farm on the outskirts of the city and we thought Matthew may enjoy this. He loved the tractors and cows and didn't stir at all during the incredible thunderstorm at 3am which thrilled us as it lit up the sky and rumbled up and down Rivelin Valley!

The majority of time was spent in Hartlepool where Matthew enjoyed rock pooling (despite the fact it wasn't very successful and we only found one live and one dead crab) and the wildlife (frogs and squirrels) and toy (supersized football and bubble machine) delights of Grandma and Grandad's garden! We also went to Flamingoland - a theme park/zoo - for the day which, in between frequent soakings from unforecast rain showers, allowed Matthew the opportunity to 'fly' a helicopter and 'drive' a tractor!

Neil and I got some time out too and visited Durham (which we often do when we get time together 'up North'). I realised there are very few pictures of me with an ever expanding tummy so thought that now I've reached 28 weeks there ought to be some photographic evidence!

July

2008-07-31T11:06:00.000Z

It was sooooo good to meet up with Emma and Dan when they were back in the UK at the beginning of July - surreal to be walking around London with them when we hadn't seen them for 18 months but feeling as though it had only been a few weeks. They both did an excellent job of carrying Matthew around the dinosaur exhibit in the Natural History museum and bonus points go to Dan for participating so willingly in the lunchtime football practice!

The predictable mixed weather of the British summer has meant we've got out whenever we can. Mags and I met up with the children at Dyrham Park where Matthew and Skye demonstrated they can still get into mischief together - they really love it when they see each other again!

Neil celebrated his 31st birthday the day after breaking up from school for the summer. The weather was great so we headed to Chew Valley lake and Matthew was delighted that he could make a cake for Daddy's birthday and he could sing for him!

Matthew has grown up so much in the last three months; every few days his speech and language seems to have made huge steps forward and he's increasingly independent. He loves his Daddy very much and likes to copy him in many ways - including taking shots in football with his hands in his pockets (Neil obviously has a very casual style when playing with a two year old!) and shaving!

The other stage in his development has been potty training. I decided to attempt it this summer before Baby Shepherd #2 makes it's appearance in November. I was prepared for him not to be ready but he seemed to take to it well for the first few days. Bob the builder underpants sent by Nanna were definitely a big incentive in the early stages! It was after that that we had many, many accidents (definitely D2 for those into Lifeshapes) which was not the way Gina Ford had said it would go in 'Potty Training in a week'! We decided to stick with it, it seemed pointless to go backwards, and it's getting better but definitely not done and dusted in seven days!

Winners!

2008-07-01T10:12:00.000Z

Neil's football team won their league - they are the Bristol and South Gloucestershire Year 7 champions! Not only that but the staff at Fairfield can't remember the last time there was a winning football team from their school!

June

2008-06-30T20:10:00.001Z

June was quite a busy month and we were away more than we were home. We were around for our local street party though, the theme of which was the Olympics so Matthew dressed up as a swimmer and got his first taste of sports day style games; he didn't really grasp why he shouldn't hold onto the 'egg' in the egg and spoon race!

We loved catching up with friends in Sheffield and had lots of fun hanging out with the Hewsons; this is Suse and our gorgeous boys at the butterfly farm.

Most of the Shepherd family met up in Liverpool for a trip to Chester zoo. It was nearly thwarted due to a pretty much unexplained illness for Matthew (we did have to visit Alder Hey children's hospital in an ambulance!) but we did make it and had a good day, in spite of rather windy and chilly conditions. Emma and Matthew enjoyed the tunnels and viewing of the prairie dogs but their highlight was the ice-cream and I think these cheeky faces say it all!

May

2008-05-31T19:34:00.000Z

So the major event of May is my excuse that I've been hopeless at updating the blog; we moved house and hence no internet access for weeks (ok, not months but then there's all that catching up to do...). So the era of The Ark ended and the Kellys and Shepherds went their separate ways; it's amazing how much Matthew and Skye have changed in the 11 months that we shared a house. This photo is a similiar pose to one posted just after we moved in last June:

Matthew turned two and likes to tell everybody how old he is - "I two!". The weather was fantastic and so hot that we needed a paddling pool, a big change to last year when there was torrential rain all day.

Matthew and I joined my mum and dad for a few days of their holiday in Cornwall and Grandad got up with Matthew so Mummy could have a lie in - what a treat!

Ilfracombe

2008-04-30T20:25:00.000Z

In the Easter holidays we went to Ilfracombe on our first holiday, just the three of us! Yes, we can't believe it took us that long either. We had great weather and enjoyed building sandcastles (well, Neil built them and Matthew knocked them down), rock pooling, walking, eating ice cream and just being together. Matthew had his first meal out at a tapas bar too but his highlight was the fact the apartment we were staying in had FOUR Thomas the Tank Engine jigsaws which he did at least three times a day!

Stockholm

2008-04-26T20:54:00.003Z

I was very grateful to my wonderful husband and friends who looked after Matthew and made it possible for me to go to Stockholm for 4 days at the beginning of April. Mal was speaking at a church planting conference and it was great to go as part of his team - getting to know the team and learning from them was one of the highlights. I really enjoyed the opportunity for the space to focus on something other than being mummy (which I love, don't get me wrong) and to be involved in what God was doing in a different context. We didn't see much of Stockholm (probably a good job as the shops looked fantastic!) but the Sunday afternoon did give us a couple of hours to look around the old city which was beautiful.

I really enjoyed spending lots of time with Olivia.

Easter

2008-03-30T18:59:00.004Z

The Shepherd family joined us for Easter (well, Christopher and Carrie didn't make it but that's ok as they're moving just down the road very shortly!) and we had lots of fun celebrating with a

Middle Eastern symbolic breakfast (courtesy of the Calladines) involving crackers, coffee, sugar and egg yolk - it's actually quite nice!

hunting out Easter eggs,

eating chocolate,

going on the Avon Valley steam train (though Matthew wasn't as impressed as I expected, partly tired, partly poorly and partly because the train steamed into th station with quite a bit of noise and he was a little frightened; he remembers it fondly now however!)

and experiencing the competitiveness of the Nintendo Wii (and nearly losing our TV screen).

Coach Carter

2008-03-14T20:51:00.002Z

So Neil had his choice of players (bar 1) for this weeks crucial match against a sport's academy local school. He was clearly inspired by Barnsley's win over Chelsea last weekend (the first thing Neil said to me when he woke up on Sunday morning was not "I love you!" but "Chelsea lost!")because they were 3-0 down at half time but came back to win 7-4! I'm very proud!

Liverpool

2008-03-10T20:56:00.000Z

At the end of half term we went to Liverpool to see the Shepherd side of the family. I always love going to Liverpool (not least because every time we go out for a curry it's amazing!) and it was great to see Alastair and Helen's house nearly finished after over a year of building and refurbishment - it's so nice! We visited a children's centre called Underwater Street which had a fantastic range of activities, including painting a mini (as in the car!)! Matthew and Emma did manage to paint quite a lot of themselves too!

We also took a trip to a National Trust red squirrel sanctuary; I realised why people think they're so much cuter than grey squirrels. I was amazed at how near they came up to us, but then we did have a big bag of nuts to give away.

On the way home we stopped at The Iron Men, a piece of art - iron sculptures of men spread out down the beach over a distance of about 5 miles. At high tide only their heads are showing but as the tide goes out more and more of them appear. It was really quite impressive but my photos won't do it justice.

Weston-super-mare

2008-03-09T20:24:00.006Z

On one of the very chilly days in half term we decided to visit the helicopter museum just outside Weston-super-mare (our thinking was that it was way too cold to go for a big walk with Matthew in a carry-pack so we'd do something inside, not thinking that a helicopter museum would just be a big metal aircraft hangar which would be freezing but not have the benefit of the sun!). Matthew loves helicopters and he spent the whole time running from aircraft to aircraft saying "copter"! We didn't spend very long there as a toddler's attention span is brief but it meant I didn't have to try and look interested in the immense amount of reading there was. The entry ticket is valid for a whole year but I think I'll send Neil with Matthew and a grandad or uncle next time!

After the museum we decided we couldn't possibly leave Weston without visiting the beach. Matthew loved the space to run and giving us parcels of sand and then we had a picnic in the boot of our car - very English but good fun!

Catch Up

2008-03-07T21:41:00.007Z

There has been little blog activity over the last two months because I thought there hasn't really been a lot to tell. However, in searching ou a couple of photos I've found quite a few so this post will probably turn into two!

English winters are definitely warmer in Bristol than in Sheffield but that hasn't stopped either Mags or I making the executive decision to put the heating on all day on a regular basis. The park is still a favourite in most weathers, apart from on one occasion when Matthew's only word the whole time was 'chilly'. I thought this was understandable when he came off the the slide with his fingers covered in frost!
Still, spring seemed to arrive very early and the flowers and sunshine encouraged me to get my camera out and try and be arty. Matthew's become more of a chatterbox and it's great for him to be able to make himself understood - less frustration and tantrums! He's a bit more into sticking and colouring but balls are stil the absolute favourite (unless, of course, he could be watching In the Night Garden and then there's no contest!). Matthew went to one of his first birthday parties too and they decorated gingerbread men - what I think was most impressive was that they survived long enough to actually be decorated before they were eaten! I've done a couple of days supply teaching which I've enjoyed; though I'd had enough of the features of instructional texts after I'd taught the same lesson to four different classes on one day!

Neil is now the manager of the Year 7 boys football team; he's very proud at the moment as they've won all their matches. However the lads have dubbed him 'Coach Carter' - basically if their behaviour in class isn't good enough they don't get to play. So who knows if there will be a team to actually turn out and play the next match...watch this space.

Christmas tree, Oh, Christmas tree! How lovely were your branches!

2008-01-05T20:41:00.000Z

Our Christmas tree had served us well and managed to survive 5 weeks of our children running past it and poking it but it was looking very tired and droopy so we decided to put it out of its misery a couple of days early. Although our council will collect and recycle the old trees, Neil decided making use of his chiminea would be much more fun. So I went for a 'nanna nap' (sleeping at night is not a top priority for the 3 children in our house!) and had to be woken up to see the last of our tree branches being devoured by flames. No wonder all the needles had been falling off it - it really was bone dry.

Friends reunited

2008-01-05T20:34:00.000Z

Some of the best friends we made in New Zealand were Ed and Jenny Trotter and their three gorgeous children, Josh, Ben and Abi. They've been spending the festive season in the UK and we managed to catch up with them at the Travelodge where they were staying. I wondered if it would seem slightly random but it was such a blessing to see them again and it only felt like a few weeks since we'd last caught up. They're such a fantastic family - we love you guys!!!

Our Christmas and New Year

2008-01-02T20:01:00.000Z

We've had a lovely Christmas and New Year; it's been great to see many friends and family and we've been spoilt with many lovely gifts. Here's just a few photos:

Christmas Brunch with the Kelly and Taylor family

Assembling the Fisher Price garage!

Matthew with his Auntie Katy and new Thomas the tank engine apron (too old for bibs now!)

The mud bath; what started as a quick trip to the park to feed the ducks turned into the messiest outing yet with both children's trousers ending up in the bin. I always thought it would be Neil to bring Matthew home in that state but it was me! Although Emma enjoyed it at first, getting so wet and cold didn't appeal, Matthew however, when asked by Neil if he'd had fun and if he'd do it again replied "Yes!" on both counts! Note to self: remeber to dress Matthew in his all-in-one waterproof in future!

Highchair antics

New Year's eve with the lovely Duckers and Kellys.

And our first walk of 2008 in our fast-becoming favourite place, Blaise Castle estate.

2007-12-23T20:49:00.000Z

I can't believe it's nearly Christmas so before we get into festive photos and tales I thought I'd post a couple of pictures from the last month. Although it's been freezing cold we've still managed to continue discovering Bristol - namely it's parks. Blaise Castle has lots of walking trails and a great playground.

The highlight of the month so far was being visited by our fantastic friends John, Anna and Elijah. The boys were quite excited one morning when they realised they were monopolising the kitchen and they wanted a photo - clearly all the testosterone went to their heads and they forgot whose son was whose!

2007-12-07T21:35:00.000Z

Christmas preparations are in full swing in The Ark and we did not delay in getting our (7ft) tree; we who've been in NZ are quite enjoying the fact it's dark enough for the lights to have an effect!

Matthew has already chomped through a chocolate and a gingerbread heart but is learning that we'd prefer it if he looked but didn't touch!

New Addition

2007-11-30T21:57:00.000Z

The most exciting event of November was yet to come; the arrival of the very cute Joseph John Taylor Kelly. Considering the little fella made his appearance 3 weeks eraly we can forgive Mags for thinking that she had indigestion rather than she was in labour! When we established this was the real thing I was thinking what very good timing considering we were in the middle of planning our Christmas shopping trips and there was a HUGE turkey - we're talking 9.6kg! - in the fridge waiting to be cooked.
Christmas had not arrived early, but surrounded by Americans (and those who'd lived there) we had planned a grand thanksgiving meal! Well, as Mags had reassured me, Delia Smith did have all the answers and the turkey was beautifully cooked after 6 and half hours! And everybody elses contributions, including incredible sweet potato and pecan pie, made for a very full-filling evening!
And Mags and Joseph were home to join us so we really did have lots to be thnakful for! No photos of the thanksgiving - too busy wrestling the bird - but here are a couple of the baby and proud mummy, daddy, big sister and excited housemate (I know the photos don't really show it but Matthew thinks little Joseph is amazing and particularly likes helping change his nappy!).

November (so far!)

2007-11-20T21:35:00.000Z

It's been a pretty busy month so far - but judging by the photos it's been alot of autumnal frolics!
We were excited about the prospect of a bonfire night when it's actually dark and the fireworks actually show up! We were even more excited about having the event at Wick Court, the Jacobean mansion in the countryside on the outskirts of Bristol that we (the people exploring new expressions of church here) are renting as a retreat and training centre. It's a fabulous house and a great venue for big events.

Matthew didn't exactly enjoy the fireworks but wasn't freaked out until one fell over and the crowd ran screaming! We decided to retreat to the safety of the house and Matthew seemed to appreciate the pretty colours much more when they were minus the bangs!
Sam has purchased two ducks, Dave and Janine, which are living at Wick; Sam's diligently working on a duck house for them but here they are wth Phil and Skye.

Fallen leaves are currently providing much entertainment - every time we go out Matthew wants one to hold and it's getting harder to find one that is to his desired colour and shape as they become more and more mushy. The children helped Mags and I out raking the leaves in the garden; their tools obviously being the limiting factor in their usefulness (nothing to do with them running through the neat piles of leaves we'd raked).

We also went out to the Forest of Dean with some friends one Sunday and there was lots of opportunity for leaf frivolity.

We've been preapring for the arrival of baby Kelly too which involved finally painting over the 'seascape'.

And Matthew has suddenly decided he quite likes the television. He isn't interested in any old rubbish; Thomas the tank engine is popular but nothing compares to the joy of seeing Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy in 'In the Night Garden'. I'm sure there are child psychologists who have some clever explanation for it's appeal but I am truly at a loss. Never the less, it's the only thing - ever - that has held Matthew's attention for so long.

The Eye

2007-11-03T14:03:00.000Z

Whilst Neil was on half term last week we took the opportunity to go to London, leaving Matthew with Nanna and Grandad. We realised when we went to NZ that there was lots in and around the UK we'd meant to do and not yet got round to; one of those things was 'flying' on the London Eye, so we seized the gorgeous, clear autumn day (and the fact that we didn't have Matthew to queue up too).

It was good fun trying to identify different landmarks and interesting how out we were with our sense of direction and perspective!

2007-10-19T18:25:00.000Z

We've had a busy couple of weeks and been catching up with lots of friends. My sister, Sally, came to visit us last week and bought me these gorgeous sunflowers.

Matthew loved her being here and seemed to read her his entire library.

We've begun to have regular Sunday brunch with our friends Olly and Sonia and their gorgeous 7 week old son, Seth.

Most things we do revolve around food and this has given us a perfect opprtunity to introduce the Kiwi pancakes, bacon, banana and maple syrup though there was a reluctance for the banana.

On a Friday morning we go to the library for Story Time where we sing some songs, listen to a story and then do a craft activity. Generally I end up doing more of the craft than Matthew does and his favourite part is trying to eat the glue stick but today we made a lion mask and he loved it! It took him a while to realise what it was for but now he walks around roaring his head off when he's wearing it! (oh, and he's finally sussed that cows go 'moo')

2007-10-04T19:55:00.000Z

Last weekend it was Ken's 60th birthday so the Shepherd clan met for a 'surprise' at a cottage on a farm in Herefordshire. Matthew was made up with the cows, cockerels and pig - though you would have thought that after a weekend surrounded by mooing creatures he would know that a cow does not 'roooaaaar' like a lion!

Neil was well enough recovered to drive the kids around on the go-kart; Emma was far more impressed with "Mat-mat" than Matthew was when Emma took his spot on the back of the go-kart and went riding off with his daddy!

The early mornings have continued resulting in Matthew and I touring the farm practically in the dark and seeing the cows being milked and Neil getting to watch live coverage of the grand prix - again focussing on the positives of being completely shattered.

Life back in Bristol is heading back to normal - hopefully no more trips to the hospital for a while now that Neil is better and Matthew's little op is over and done with.
It's all feling a little more like home. Although the views are very different, I do have some favourites and one is this one of the rooftops driving down Ashley Hill.

The wonderful Sam Lovell is staying with us for a while and Matthew is made up because as soon as Sam appears in the morning Matthew grabs a football as he's got a boy to play with!

Poorly

2007-09-14T19:48:00.000Z

The new term didn't start quite as we'd expected; Neil came back from a weekend in Denmark in lots of pain and, after a day of frustrations and not getting very far with the GP, ended up in A&E and subsequently having his appendix out! Bless him! He doesn't do poorly - he's never ill! After three days in hospital he came home and has been a pretty good patient, mainly because he's had to be - he really can't do much at all. I was able to spend quite a lot of time at the hospital because Sylvia came to stay (hot off the plane from holidaying in Croatia) and looked after Matthew which was wonderful. Here is the little man with his Grandma...

And this photo is of Matthew having a tantrum, something that is becoming a more frequent occurance - it's obviously hard work being 16 months old.

They generlly occur when Matthew's hungry or tired but he really does get quite cross and throws himself around - can't imagaine where he gets it from...Anyway, this proves (for Jo P) that Matthew isn't always smiling!

Face Off

2007-09-01T11:19:00.000Z

I now realise why blog posts have diminished as everyone has jumped on Facebook. I only properly got started last night and I really could get quite addicted. I think my saving grace will be the fact that Neil starts back at school on Monday (boo) so he'll have the laptop and I'll have less opportunity. Anyway, Neil is in Denmark and so for the weekend at least, I have unlimited access to technology and so will endeavour to catch up on blog and facebook.

So, the summer...not really summer weather but definitely summer activities including exploring more of Bristol and the surrounding area and travelling around the country visiting family and friends.

We went to Cheddar gorge, walked across the Clifton Suspension bridge and Matthew and I got to see the 6am launch of the hot air balloons from the balloon fiesta (one of the very few benefits of having a son who is an early riser!).

Neil and Mags swapped children at Cheddar!

Took several photos in between as gradually the sky filled with balloons but I wouldn't want to bore you!

In Liverpool we stayed with Alastair and Helen and did something we haven't done for a very long time - we went out dancing!!! We ended up in 'Heebie Jeebies' which is more soul/funk and I loved it, especially as I didn't feel like I was harping back to my student days (I always did very cheesy clubbing as a student) or trying to reclaim some previous life - we were just having a good night out. We looked after our neice for the day when Helen was working and now not sure how quickly I want Matthew's vocabulary to develop; whilst out shopping Emma (only 5 months older) spent the whole time saying "Get out me!" to let us know she clearly wasn't happy in the buggy!

In Hartlepool we had lots of rest and relaxation. The weather wasn't great but we did manage to get to the beach and climb Roseberry Topping.

One of the highlights has to be Neil and I having extended time just the two of us in a very nice hotel while leaving Matthew with grandma and grandad for the night! What a treat for all of us (not sure grandma enjoyed the 1 and 2am wake ups - we may have to work on that before we leave him again).

Then onto Sheffield to stay with the lovely Lovells and catch up with friends; seeing people has become so much more regular now that I've stopped taking photos! Though should have taken one of the gorgeous Sam Breen as we've not seen him for 3 years - Matthew was made up with the very big Sam boys to look up to!

Haircut

2007-08-06T19:57:00.000Z

Matthew has been in desperate need of a haircut for a couple of weeks now and so I took the 'bull by the horns' (or 'hair by the scissors') and had a go! I had more confidence as Neil, Mags and Phil were around and there have been a few DIY haircuts in the house recently - all successful I might add! Matthew was amazing and sat very still, clearly aware that Mummy had not done this before and his ears are very precious! Anyway, Phil did a whizzy montage of the photos so you can see before and after shots and how delighted Matthew was when he could see clearly again!

Monkey Business

2007-08-02T09:33:00.000Z

Neil has broken up from school (just in time for his thirtieth birthday) so we're getting into holiday mode. It's nice to get out and about and the newly discovered walking means Daddy can now begin discipling Matthew in football!

We've actually had some summer weather lately which has been a treat - especially as we've had lots and lots of visitors! First some Norwegians came for the night on their way to Momentum - that sounds like we didn't know them which is nearly true (though Phil did, but he was climbing a big mountain in Wyoming!) but I do know Miriam Cave rather well from time in Sheffield and it was so good to see her again. Then the Manserghs returned (we'd like to say they can't keep away from us but the arrival of a new niece was the greater pull I think!). Not much personal space when there's three in the bath!

I managed to get to Momentum for the day (student Soul Survivor) but I have to say my very spiritual encounters were catching up with friends over hot chocolate and lunch! Here are Matt, Toby, Phil and Miriam sheltering from the rain in one of the venues.

It was good to have some time with Debbie and to see Joannah S and meet the very beautiful Tia and Zoe. It's so nuts you don't see people for three years and nothing very much feels like it's changed (yes, we've had children and moved countries - twice - but other than that...). The downer of the day was that I wasn't very thoughtful lifting stoller and travel cot and toddler in and out of the car in the rain and my back objected strongly over the next few days - praise the Lord, it's much better now but I must be kinder to it in future...

Giles and Naomi stayed overnight and then the lovely Ducker family came to hang out for a couple of days; we went for a walk and a bit of a kick around on the Downs though it was a little blustery! Here are Ella, Skye and Matthew having a look down the Avon gorge towards the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

To add to the fun the Shepherd family descended (with the obligatory surprise thrown in; Neil's parents flew down from Hartlepool for the day and it was lovely to see them. We've decided the surprise to pull next is when there's no surprise and everybody in the clan knows everything!). The plan was to head to the zoo but the afternoon was spent in the children's emergency department checking out a dubious rash that Matthew and Emma both had; it turns out they both had randomly and independently caught hand, foot and mouth! They are both fine now and we don't think we passed it on to anybody else which is quite miraculous considering the amount of hugs and kisses that pass between Skye and Matthew at the moment!.
We did manage to get to the zoo on the following day and Matthew is now beginning to appreciate such visits and there is much pointing and many excited noises made! The Monkey Jungle allows you to get very close to the lemurs and it was amazing to be just a couple of feet away - amazing that is until they all start going ballistic, shrieking, bearing their teeth and then running straight towards you!

For a few moments I thought the traditional bars were a better idea but on seeing that the warden looked completely unphased and the lemur bounded off over our heads to join it's mates I thought it was probably ok. Matthew was not bothered though Skye was slightly more sensitive and there were a few tears.
Our children don't stay still for very long so photos were hard to come by but I'm sure Alastair and Helen will appreciate this one!

2007-07-19T18:37:00.000Z

Yesterday Matthew and I went to visit my parents and also my sister, Sally. It's lovely to be able to drive over for the day - it's four hours there and back but that's a good opportunity to sing my heart out without anybody else having to suffer (Matthew sleeps most of the way!). Dad and Lis are getting set up for a small person being around and have bought a high chair and a little ride-on which Matthew loved (he is crawling away from it and a fair speed but that's because the camera is more interesting!).

It felt like summer should do to, just being able to sit outside and enjoy the garden and we even needed suncream!

This photo is especially for Emma and Dan who sent Matthew some All-Black shoes for his birthday - who knows, maybe they're what got him walking!

Matthew and Skye

2007-07-16T21:03:00.000Z

A video of the two of them playing - well Matthew is more wrestling - on the sofa!

Matthew's first steps

2007-07-15T21:03:00.000Z

We're back!

2007-07-15T18:37:00.000Z

I seem to have spent lots of time this year catching up on our blog. This time I have a very legitimate excuse for my lack of communication - not only no broadband or dial-up but no phone line for what seemed like a very long time! I'm assuming there was life before the internet but judging by the twitching and shakes in our household it was certainly long before our time. Anyway, now we are totally connected (and wireless, so Neil says I can update the blog sitting on the toilet on the second floor of our house - I don't think anybody's that desperate for our news!) and have a very good deal on international phone calls so nobody can escape!
So, what's happened in the Shepherd family...

Well, the biggest change is that we've moved from the quaint Pucklechurch into a rather large house in the centre of Bristol (there will be a video at some point, I promise Emma!). Although there's a lot less countryside around there are more people and I like having shops and other facilities I can walk to. Having said that, Neil can now walk to work so it's more feasible for me to have the car. One of the lovely little discoveries is the pohutakawa tree in one of the local gardens so every time we walk past I think of all our Kiwi friends and smile...

We're living with the lovely Phil, Mags and Skye Kelly which seems to be working out rather well and we're beginning to get settled and find our way around.
Highlights of this include finding all the back routes to avoid the rush hour (though not necessarily) traffic and sampling the various coffee shops and pubs; we have a rating system on our fridge for the various establishments though Phil and Neil seem to have the monopoly on the pubs!
I've been to a couple of parent and toddler groups (one has a waiting list!) which have been ok but different people go each week so it's not all that easy to get to know people but I know this takes time.
The house is great and we've named it 'The Ark' - partly because our children have three Noah's Arks between them and we have one large piece of artwork depicting it, partly because of the ridiculous amount of rain that fell in June (and thus far July too!) and at one point flowed through the porch but also because the drains got blocked and overflowed down the path and the toilets needed fixing on three occasions (the house doesn't sound that great now does it...at least we're renting!) There's loads of space which is great because shipments have arrived from the US and NZ (ours took 21 WEEKS!!! having gone via Valencia and having been quoted 8-10 weeks) so there are boxes galore. There's also a cute little garden, just about the right size for two toddlers, and Matthew and Skye love it - they'd love it even more if it would stop raining...

Sharing life (highs and lows) with the people we've joined here in Bristol is continuing to be fun and it's been great to have friends to stay including the wonderful Mansergh family.

Outside of life in Bristol, I had a weekend with my Nan in Peterborough (I got a whole two nights of undisturbed sleep which has not happened for a very long time!) and we went up to Sheffield for the TOM weekend which was great as we got to catch up with lots of people and I shared my 30th birthday with some special friends (no photos as I was too busy chatting!). I'm feeling ok about this milestone, though have to agree with Debbie, there's something about saying I'm in my thirties and not my twenties...

Other headlines include the fact that Matthew is now independently walking! He's been walking holding our hands for a while but would drop straight to his knees whenever we let go. Well, last Thursday he walked straight out the bathroom
all by himself and did about ten steps! As Mags and I are whooping (well, more me than Mags) Matthew stands still with the look of "What's all the fuss about?"! He's so confident (when he thinks we're not looking!) I think he's been secretly walking for weeks!

There are a couple of movies to follow but here's a picture I've found proving the sun does shine in this country, albeit occasionally!

So that's about it. We're getting settled - again! One thing that has obviously helped this is the arrival of my Pride and Prejudice DVD - just need an uninterrupted six hour stretch to watch it...

A few more photos

2007-05-28T20:41:00.000Z

I did manage to find a few pictures that we took on Matthew's birthday - this was the birthday boy riding high with his Daddy!

You might look perturbed too if you'd opened a card to hear Zippy from Rainbow singing you Happy Birthday!

Matthew received a trike from his Grandma and Grandad - he loves 'riding' to the park rather than being pushed in his buggy.

Our budding rock guitarist!

My favourite photo of the moment of our gorgeous and perpetually happy little boy!

And finally, a big thank you to Jo Parkins for sending a little parcel from Australia containing some of the most delicious biscuits in the world! When we lived in NZ Tim Tams were one of our favourite biscuits and they taste as good as we remembered!

2007-05-16T20:18:00.000Z

The last month has been more settling in - especially for Neil at school. The majority of his classes are fine (I've even heard them described as 'lovely'!) though a couple of classes of the youngest pupils are a little (well, alot) trying. But Neil has just the right disposition to deal with it and it doesn't phase him - he's great!
We've been familiarising ourselves with more of the city and enjoyed a picnic on the Downs - can't believe how many people hang out there on a Saturday afternoon - Matthew loved the open space to chase his football and Neil took the opportunity to catch up on his sleep (Matthew has decided that 5am is an acceptable time to start the day - we beg to differ)!

Matthew and I are discovering what's going on for little people and their parents. We've been to a couple of playgroups and recently ventured to a soft play warehouse for the first time - which was obviously a hit!

It's been a little strange as I've known that we won't be living in this area but last weekend we finally found a house to rent nearer the centre of Bristol which hopefully means it will be easier to make more meaningful connections with people. The house is lovely and large and we'll be sharing with friends, the Kellys, from the beginning of June.

Finally finding a house was nothing compared to our other big event of the weekend - celebrating Matthew's first birthday! I can't believe he's one but at the same time it feels ages ago that he was born and so much has happened in a year that he surely should be older!
Anyway, the day was lovely and included phone calls from NZ (Matthew was hugely excited when he heard Emma's voice over Skype and appeared to be looking around searching for her!), family came for lunch and then some local friends (older and younger) arrived for a 'party' in the afternoon. It was a very wet day (as are many at the moment) so we all went hyper inside but I think we all coped for an hour. Big thanks to Andy and Debs for allowing everyone to invade and there will be pictures to come but we were too busy to take very many so I'm relying on family sending them to us...

Easter holidays

2007-04-21T09:20:00.000Z

Not really sure that 'Easter holidays' is the best title as we've had one, quite long holiday but the photos to follow are from our time away with family and friends over the last couple of weeks.
We've had time catching up with the Simms crew, where Matthew learned to crawl/slide down the stairs as well as up! This photo is a rare one with Matthew and his Nanna Simms, very rare because Lis is usually taking the photos or Matthew is bouncing so much they are all blurred.

We also spent some lovely quality time with the Hewson family in Sheffield, including a day around Chatsworth House.

There was lots of love between Sam and Matthew too, on occasions, so much that Matthew was overwhelmed!

We got to catch up with the Manserghs too, including good conversation with Anna and John while our boys slept (hooray!) and frolics (and a rather nasty fall for Elijah which resulted in a fair amount of blood) and ice-cream in "my park".

Hanging out is much different now with small children in the mix but just as fun and so good for us.
Also met some special friends from times gone by (I don't mean that to sound like I'm really old, it's just those seasons seem a long, long time ago now...) down at Philadelphia on Easter day morning. Matthew also had his first haircut and sampled his first chocolate - obviously a winner if you think about his gene pool!

Lastly we spent time with the Shepherds (though minus Christopher) in Hartlepool where we got to see our gorgeous neice, Emma, now walking!

Matthew had his first trip to a farm. He was far more impressed with the ride-on tractors than the animals but then we knew that would be the case!

Now we're back in the still sunny and warm Bristol but the holiday is well and truly over and Neil has started work - all going ok and only one joke from the pupils about having Shepherd's pie for tea!

Feeding Time at the Zoo

2007-04-01T18:45:00.000Z

The past month has been quite frustrating food wise as Matthew has become very unpredictable in what he will eat and when. Anyway, yesterday evening, he was playing with his spoon having decided he'd had enough tea (I say tea, it was the beef casserole with weetabix because that's the only way he'd eat it!) when he grabbed the bowl off the table and began to scoop some onto his spoon and feed himself - none of which he's been remotely inclined to do before!

Time flies when you're having fun...

2007-03-30T17:54:00.000Z

We've been here a month now and have already had a weekend away with friends. About thirty of us took over a 5 star bunk house in the Brecon Beacons in south Wales - a very beautiful place and it greatly helped in my withdrawal from the Christchurch Port Hills.

It wasn't exactly restful as there were lots of children around but it was great fun. One morning we went for a walk up a very steep hill. It was very exhiliarating but rather chilly (it snowed over the weekend!) and Matthew desperately wanted to be back in bed; even though he was on his dad's shoulders, one of his favourite places, he still had a "I am not amused look!".

So Neil took him back - good job too as there's no way we could have carried him as we scrambled up the cliff faces!
Last weekend we went to a mop fair in Chipping Sodbury (great names). No idea why it's called a mop fair; it's just lots of fairground stalls and rides, some of which looked very thrilling but as their was no one to look after Matthew and we didn't fancy going on alone, we declined on this occasion. Though Neil did enjoy the bumper cars with Sam and I took Matthew on a little train (Youttube vid to come when Neil's back from Denmark and tell me how to load it!).

Spring has truly arrived (except for today when it's been freezing and wet!) and we've had lots of fun in the garden, it was even warm enough for the kids to eat tea outside. This photo is of Ella, Matthew, Adam and Sam - Ella is Sam's school friend and loves carrying Matthew around; we don't think Matthew likes it quite as much!

Surprise!

2007-03-26T18:26:00.000Z

We flew from Melbourne to Dubai (dreadful airport if you have a baby) and then onto Manchester and Matthew did really well; we got quite a lot of sleep on the first flight but the second was more tricky as there were 4 babies in a row and they set each other off. I really don't mind the long haul flights but it was nice to know we wouldn't be repeating it in a month's time.
Matthew enjoyed the free reign to crawl in Melbourne and made his way through the tunnel created by the rows of chairs - so many of our pictures of him are of his behind because he's so fast he's gone past before you can take it!

Now was the time for the most exciting/nerve wracking part of our journey and the culmination of a month's scheming (but not lying, which is good!); to completely surprise Neil's mum and dad with our arrival!!! The Shepherd parents are very good at surprises and secrets and we thought there would not be a better opportunity than this to show them how well they have taught their children the necessary skills! And this was the main reason that we've not blogged as we didn't want to give anything away - I even stopped speaking to my in-laws on the phone in case I put my foot in it (my track record of keeping surprises is not good! I think it's good because it means I can't lie!). I really hoped we could pull it off but not at the expense of their health, hence being rather nervous. Due to Alastair and Helen being away (a brilliant and legitimate excuse for the grandparents to babysit) we were met at Manchester by a kind neighbour who was only too happy to take us to Liverpool and have a role in the plot!
When we arrived Tom went to the door and asked Sylvia to come out and look at her car - and there we were! She was totally shocked and surprised but in a nice way (I think!).
Ken had not been able to get to Liverpool until later in the evening so we had the opportunity to do the whole thing again. We were feeling incredibally tired and almost had to go to bed but the reminder of the lunar eclipse made us rush outside and the cold night air woke us up enough to keep us awake until Ken's arrival.

So we had a few days in Liverpool catching up with the Shepherd side of the family (as well as a brief visit to Sheffield to see Susie and meet the very cute Oliver!)and then we headed to Bristol. We're staying with Andy, Debs, Sam and Adam Woods in a very cute village called Pucklechurch where King Edmund lived (and was murdered!) in AD946! The house is just over the road from a very small 'village green' and there are enough old, stone buildings even to satisfy me!

Two days after our arrival we came down with a tummy bug which we managed to pass around to others quite effectively too - it takes friendship and community to a new level! And within four days Neil had been offered a full time maths job in Bristol to start after Easter - completely the opposite scenario to NZ!
We're enjoying getting to know the area and Matthew absolutely loves having big boys to play with/chase/laugh at! It's great to be catching up with the Calladine family and making new friends too.

Geelong

2007-03-25T18:28:00.000Z

We didn't think it right to have not visited Australia before we returned home, and we really wanted to catch up with Matt and Jo Parkins so we descended upon them, in Geelong (about an hour from Melbourne), for a week. It was really lovely to catch up and a delight to meet the gorgeous Scarlett Cate.

We had a really restful week (apart from an altercation with a white-tailed spider which put me on heightened alert for the rest of our holiday!) and I fulfilled my desire to see koalas & kangaroos and to sample the vibe of Melbourne - not too hard to please really!
We saw the Australian animals at a small sanctuary and happened to be there just at the right time so we got to stroke a koala!

We also tried to see them in the wild at a local reserve but there was some confusion about entry times etc so we only managed to experience the Aussie bush with it's flies and parrots and a passing wallaby.

We visited a working museum in Ballarat, the largest inland city in Australia. It was the region of a huge gold rush in the 1850s so you can go down a mine, visit shops and schools as they would have been, go bowling (nine pin?) and pan for gold which I was the most successful at and the amount I recovered will lead to millionaire status I'm sure!

We went to Melbourne for a day; walked through parks, had lunch at an amazing food court along the South bank, found a cute little alley/lane with coffee shops and generally enjoyed being in a big city.

In the evening we went to Tim and Catherine's (new friends we met earlier in the week who are in TOM - Catherine and I gelled over shopping and chocolate and Neil and Tim played golf so that was that!) for a lovely meal and then, apart from a brief visit to the beach on the Friday morning, that was our holiday over.

In Transit

2007-03-25T15:28:00.000Z

Having left Rangiora we moved into Christchurch to stay with the lovely Emma and Dan Andrews. We had lunch with E & D and Andrew & Christine and then there was one more goodbye to make; we called in to see our friend, Carolyn, who had been in the nearby hospice for a few weeks. It was very hard to say goodbye not knowing if we would see her again this side of heaven. Carolyn did lose her brave battle with cancer a few days after we left New Zealand and I want to give tribute to an inspiring lady who it was a priviledge to have known.

The last four days in New Zealand we spent as tourists. My parents came to visit as part of a big 5-week holiday and it really was bad timing that we had to leave when we did. Still, we had managed to extend our visa until the end of the first half of their trip so we got to hang out and drive them round some of our favourite places including the botanical gardens, our favourite cafe, The Blue Rooster, in Rangiora and the stunning Akaroa (where Matthew ate his first chip!).

The weather was really good which was a treat considering the previous week had been very grey and all my attempts to drive out to see the mountains had been thwarted! Lis bought Matthew a sun hat as he'd thrown his previous one out of the buggy when we weren't looking! The new one only stayed on when he was preoccupied with more fun things like swinging. The good weather meant we could also have time on the beach and Matthew really enjoyed chasing the seagulls seen as now he can crawl really rather fast!

We had a couple of chilled evenings in with Emma and Dan, enjoying bbqs and wine in their back garden (and being enjoyed by the mosquitoes!) and then it was time to leave. Very bizarre to think that we wouldn't be sharing everyday life with them and I still haven't got my head round that - missing you heaps guys 'cos, although Skype is great, it's not the same. Thought we'd have pictures of Matthew with his favourite surrogate Aunt and Uncle but can't find any of Emma, will post when they arrive off the ocean!

Emma took us to the airport and it was a great relief when our worldy goods (minus the 11 boxes) in 3 suitcases was not over the weight limit and the airline took Matthew's buggy and car seat no questions asked. So off we set, not to travel half way the round the world just yet, but to Australia for a little holiday!

Moving On

2007-03-24T19:39:00.000Z

So most of January was spent hanging out with youth, organising and running family services and having a big clear out of our offices so we could leave Rangiora with resources in some sense of order. We said goodbye to our very good and faithful friends, the Trotter family, who moved to Wellington but for most of our other friends things were less final as we thought we'd only be down the road! This photo is of our wonderful small group - the Fisher family and Joe! - who we will miss heaps.

The church held a relaxed leaving do for us which involved various desserts (always good) and many people had lovely things to say about our time with them. Dessert featured highly in our goodbyes because we also went with our youth small group to 'Strawberry Fayre' for their infamous chocolate (had to be) dessert - a visit we had been planning for a long time. Sam brought along his sombrero and, as cool a role model as he is, I think it will be a while before Matthew can fill his shoes/hat!

Having found out that we were going to be moving back to the UK, packing took on a whole new dimension. We needed to work out what items we wanted to ship back (11 boxes instead of the 9 we came with which I think is pretty good considering we've had a baby!), return borrowed items to their owners and then sell everything else! So we had a garage sale! They are very popular in NZ and a little like a car boot sale though run from your own garage so the scope of things to sell is much larger. I'd been to a couple when we first arrived and couldn't believe some of the junk that people tried to sell - items that I wouldn't even give away! But my friend, Anna, often finds bargains so i think you've just got to know how to look.
I was slightly nervous as I'd heard that people turn up really early, regardless of the advertised start time and that some can be quite mean with bargaining - something I'm not very good at. But our friends Jacqui and Paul sold some of their stuff too and we had a laugh. Our garage was full of tables of clothes, CDs, books, tupperware, crockery, baby things, beds, chest freezer, chairs etc but it soon went and we were packed up by 1pm with only a couple of boxes of things left to take to a charity shop and having made a tidy profit! The Hurleys also sold some of our newer and more expensive items on Trade-Me for us which was such a blessing as we had no idea what we were doing and they are excellent consultants!

So all that was done in under 3 weeks! On the 17th February we left a very empty house, called in on friends to say some hard, final goodbyes (reality beginning to sink in at this point) and waved farewell to Rangiora.

Bringing you up to speed

2007-03-24T13:57:00.000Z

Well, nearly everything has changed in the life of the Shepherds over the last couple of months so I've got some catching up to do!
If you want it in a nutshell, we've left New Zealand and are now living back in the UK, in Bristol! You can now skip the next couple of paragraphs and jump to the pictures!

If you'd like a few more details, here goes. In November last year we decided that it was time to leave our jobs in Rangiora as God was calling us to move on to explore new expressions of church. It was hard decision to make as we had made some amazing friends and there was much we were looking forward to seeing happen. Initially we thought we'd move into Christchurch, that Neil would work as a maths teacher and we'd work some things out with a church there. However, by mid-January we were beginning to realise that maths teachers were not as scarce in Canterbury as we'd been led to believe and that, with our job ending at the end of that month, our visas would have expired and we'd have to leave the country very soon! We looked at a few options but our 'fleece' was that if Neil didn't get a job in the next 10 days we'd take that as it being time to return to the UK. We'd previously considered moving to Bristol to work out life and emerging church with some good friends there so that was the obvious place to head for.
So, with no job, we booked flights, packed boxes, sold nearly everything else and three weeks later left New Zealand. After a week in Geelong (not Melbourne!), Australia, we arrived in Manchester and we're now getting settled into life in Bristol - still excited about exploring new expressions of church with some awesome people it's just the context, city and country have changed!

So that brings you up to date! More of the in between stories and photos to follow!

Belated christmas antics!

2007-01-29T07:34:00.000Z

Now that we've worked out how to upload our videos, here is the one I promised of Matthew's pursuit of the christmas tree!

Chuckles with Matthew

2007-01-28T22:50:00.000Z

The other day, I was swatting flies with a tea towel and the following video was Matthew's response - hope you enjoy!!!

Summer sun/showers (delete as appropriate)

2007-01-10T19:24:00.000Z

Well, the rest of the festive season was rather uneventful but nice and relaxed. The weather continues to be changeable; we've had some glorious, hot days when Matthew had his first experience in a paddling pool.

We've also had some days when it's been just warm enough to go to the beach (though the beach shelter was needed to protect us from the sandstorm, not the UV!); we took some youth with us and Neil did a good Pied Piper impression and the rest of the children there wanted to join in the cricket game too! Matthew was intrigued by the sand, not least because it just ran through his fingers and he therefore couldn't get it in his mouth! I was quite relieved because any time in the garden is just spent with me trying to prevent him eating grass and daisies!

And then we've had days like yesterday when it rained all day and when we went to friends for a meal in the evening they had lit a fire!

2006-12-29T07:45:00.000Z

Our third upside-down Christmas Day was a very relaxed affair; the first half spent at home and the second half at Emma & Dan's, along with some of Emma's family over from the UK and Helen and Paul (Emma met them when she worked in the physio dept but, in the small world we live in, Helen also lived with my sister, Katy, when they were at uni in Cardiff!).
Matthew did seem to enjoy opening his presents and was more intrigued with his new toys than I expected (lots of people told me he'd only be interested in the wrapping paper). It took us a while to open them all because so much of a day is eating and sleeping! And there are more presents to come because we are still waiting for parcels from the UK (I feel very sorry for Elisabeth who, having posted a parcel surface mail last year which didn't arrive 'til mid-January, decided this year to post it air mail and it still didn't arrive on time) - so Christmas will be an extended affair this year.
Christmas food was very different with a whole salmon (expertly barbecued by Dan), cold ham (which honestly could have fed an army) and lovely salads and bread. We also had a chocolate truffle cake for Christmas cake which was amazing! We ate outside, though in typical English style; actually it was quite chilly but we had to eat out because we could and it should have been warm!

The one frustration of the day (which continued into Boxing Day) was difficulty with technology in trying to make contact with family at home. When we could get through on the phone, after several attempts, the connection only lasted a few seconds. The internet was not much better and when we tried to use the webcam it crashed.

The rest of the week has been very quiet and relaxing. The weather has been much warmer so we've been for a picnic and walks and generally enjoyed time to read and play with our new toys (and that's not just Matthew!).

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-24T12:05:00.000Z

It's 1am and I've just got back from Midnight Mass and as we've just entered Christmas Day (and we're some of the first around the world!) I thought I'd send greetings! And also a couple of photos - our family Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve (because we're being Kiwis tomorrow with bbq etc) and Matthew with his stocking! Anyway, have a good one and lots and lots of love xxx. Off to play Father Christmas now...

Christmas Proper

2006-12-20T06:46:00.000Z

Yesterday it was 30 degrees here and Matthew couldn't sleep because he was too hot. Today the wind has shifted from the north west to the south west; it's blowing a gale and absolutely pouring with rain! Neil has lit a fire and is out for the evening so the only thing for it is for me to put on my cheesy Christmas music and wrap presents. Everybody else is probably very ticked off with the weather but I love it! It makes me feel much less homesick and it's just the kind of weather there ought to be at Christmas!
Matthew is also getting into the spirit of Christmas and is obsessed with our tree. He's a little like the squirrel in Ice Age who is in pursuit of the acorn; he looks at where the tree is, appears to think out his route and then rolls - back to front, front to back, left to right, right to left (a skill perfected over the weekend) - and pushes himself however he needs to in order to reach those very pretty beads that hang nicely from the lower branches! Then, very cruelly, Mummy or Daddy swoop down and scoop him up - denied! I have a great little movie of it and if I ever figure out how to post it you can have a look but, for now, here are a couple of photos of his brief moments of triumph!

Youth Weekend Away

2006-12-17T06:37:00.000Z

Just back from taking some of our youth on a weekend away to Hanmer Springs, a thermal resort about 90 mins away and we had such a fantastic time that I had to blog about it immediately (otherwise Christmas will be upon me and I'll be consumed by presents and food!).

So Sam (just finishing his breakfast in the photo!), Tim, Dan, Monique, Kirsten, Mel and Jaimee joined us in the rather large bach that we stayed in with Alastair and Helen and co when they were here in October.

The lads slept downstairs, the Shepherds on the middle floor and the girls had the top floor - though not sure the girls got a huge amount of sleep!
Our aim for the weekend was to hang out and deepen friendships by hearing one another's stories and by listening to what God had to say to each of us. This was all linked wonderfully together by food, silly songs, Cranium, street cricket, bedtime stories and the hot pools (which I appreciated far more today because the weather was dreadful). Matthew had lots of fun with different faces to entertain him and lots of cuddles! He also loved the pools - just a big bath really!

Anyway, our aim for the weekend was achieved and it wasn't for me but I feel totally blessed and encouraged by them all. They are fab!

Plunkett

2006-12-14T22:17:00.000Z

Plunkett is the association responsible for looking after children under 5 years old and their families. When your baby is about 3 months old they get the mums together and have structured sessions on things like CPR, active movement, first foods. Then they encourage you to continue to meet together for mutual support. Some groups gel and work out (Carolyn's group are still friends and meeting up and her daughter is now 5 years old), some don't. Anyway, ours has been together for 2 whole months! We've been meeting fortnightly but still at the stage where we just talk about what our babies are doing - really gripping stuff, though it's amazing how much we can talk about teeth and sleep and poo! A couple of us suggested that we'd porbably get to know each other better if we met up every week so yesterday we went to the Blue Rooster (my favourite cafe, though they've changed the loyalty card so you have to buy 10 coffees/hot chocoltaes to get one free whereas it used to be only 5!). We totally took over the bar area and decided the huge leather sofas were just a good size to line our babies up and take a photo.

So here's our Plunkett group: from left to right - Tessa, Finlay, Braedan, Emma, Matthew, Ruby, Bradley and Evie!

Ah - how cute! What you can't see is that we had to give Matthew a toy because he kept hitting out at Ruby and you may spot Bradley pulling on Ruby's neckerchief - he wanted to suck on it and go to sleep! Poor little girl - she got the worst spot to sit! Finlay was very tired and about to lose teh plot and Emma nearly slipped and lay down chewing on her feet! Can you imagine the carnage when they're all moving?!

Santa Parade

2006-12-14T21:10:00.000Z

Every year there is a Santa Parade along the main Rangiora High Street. Some of the floats are more festive than others (if you're interested see our friend Charlotte's blog
www.upsidedowncharlotte.blogspot.com) and this year our church entered as a walking group 'telling' the nativity story. Neil was an innkeeper, I a shepherd and Matthew a sheep! Matthew didn't seem too impressed and slept all the way so won't be scarred from wearing the little ears and outfit! Here he is with two gorgeous girls from church, Hannah and Grace.

He kept himslef amused by shaking the sleigh bells - maybe he thought it may drown out the bagpipes band marching just ahead of us!

The 'float' looked great with rickshaws decked out as camels and a stable and a host of angels, wise men and a star - such a success we won first prize!

The Christmas season is in full swing and we had the youth Christmas party on Sunday night. It was an 'S' party (because it's the youth gathering has been Sunday @ Six) so we had Star Wars characters, a stocking, Santa, soccer player, special agent, something and something else! We also had a sausage sizzle and played Singstar (Neil and I sang Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen; we had no idea the words were quite as dodgy as they are!). Lots of fun was had and it was a great way to end the year.

Fresh Air

2006-12-14T20:38:00.000Z

On the last couple of Fridays we have been out walking with Matthew in the back pack. He absolutely loves being carried up high - he's the king of the castle - and he chats and giggles constantly (until he falls asleep!). In this part of the country you can either go for a stroll around the town or local park or go on a mammoth 3-6 hour tramp. There aren't gentle ambles between villages (and their local pubs) and along footpaths through farmer's fields. But we have found a few hour long walks in the local mountain forests which are really lovely, though can still be hazardous (Neil prefers 'adventurous') when trees have fallen and blocked the paths and we're trying to duck or climb over with a baby on our back - good job Matthew had a hat on is all I can say!

The beach is another favourite place to visit. Last week it was quite windy but the recent mixed weather (mixed putting it politely - it is so still spring here and not summer) had resulted in the tide bringing in an abundance of fantastic driftwood and somebody must have had fun building a tee-pee.

(PS: If anybody can instruct me on how to post two photos side by side without them touching I'd really like to know!)

Scott

2006-12-03T07:24:00.000Z

Scott is one of our fantastic youth who Neil regularly spends time with - usually having milkshakes with him after school. Neil also gives him a lift home after Sunday @ 6 and tonight Scott called in to wait for Neil whilst I was updating the blog. He insisted that I mention him and so we decided the best way for me to do that was to post his picture. He wants me to say that he's very good looking and he was very pleased with the photo as it shows his best side!

Step into Christmas

2006-12-03T07:07:00.000Z

I'm not usually somebody who puts the Christmas tree up as early as is reasonable (when I say reasonable I mean the beginning of December NOT the beginning of November like one house in our town) but this year December 1st it was. There were a number of reasons for this; the first is that it was very cold and miserable and we had to light the fire (in spite of the fact it's the first day of summer!). It still does not seem right to me to have Christmassy things happen in warm weather and on light evenings so the opportunity to decorate the house in 'traditional' Christmas weather could not be missed. The second factor was that my sister, Sally, had sent us two parcels full of Christmas presents which really needed somewhere to live for the next three weeks and where better than under the tree? The third factor was that I have recently accquired a cheesy Christmas album (from the church garage sale so didn't spend lots of pennies - well cents - on trash) so that was in place to add to the atmosphere. Neil was not impressed with the latter at all but Matthew seemed to giggle while I danced round the room with him - he was probably thinking his mother is barking mad.
Anyway, I have included a picture but it's not very clear because by the time the tree was decorated we were all roasting as the sun had come out and was streaming through the window - you couldn't even tell there were any lights on the tree!

Guests

2006-12-03T06:47:00.000Z

A YWAM (Youth With a Mission) team have ben serving at our church over the last week and two of the team members, Hannah and Sarah, stayed with us during that time. It was lovely to have them around; they introduced us to falafels and baby sat for us so we could go to the cinema - the first time since Matthew was born! Matthew thought it was wonderful to have more people around to smile at but it also meant that the last three nights he's ended up in our bed because we didn't want him to disturb them. I do hope he's not got too used to it...

Birthday 'Treats'

2006-12-01T00:32:00.000Z

Last week we went out to celebrate Carolyn's birthday. Carolyn is a great friend who has been especially helpful concerning all things 'mum'; she bequeathed to us many essential items including cloth nappies and a sheepskin rug (for chilly NZ floors), she was a source of tremendous encouragement when breastfeeding was a nightmare, she was the first one to get pillows and cushions behind Matthew to encourage him to sit up (Neil and I had been saying to each other "How do you think he learns to do it - does it just happen?!") and Matthew always has a big grin for her. Eighteen months ago Carolyn was diagnosed with cancer; she continues to fight bravely and we continue to pray for her healing so it was really good we could join her on her special day and eat cake!
While we had our cake and ate it, Matthew was trying a different delicacy. Another gorgeous friend, Lisa, had spotted the sand pit and thought Matthew needed initiating into this new world - her theory is if boys (and probably girls too for that matter) come in grubby and caked in mud and sand they've obviously had a really good day! Well, he was certainly intrigued, enough for it to take a good few minutes before he decided to take the taste test.

Rusks

2006-11-16T19:54:00.000Z

Now Matthew is 6 months old he's allowed to suck, bite and generally mutilate a rusk. They say a picture tells a thousand words - enough said.

Icebergs off New Zealand

2006-11-16T05:33:00.000Z

Yes, it's true. Who would have believed it!! We've said it can be cold in NZ but, honestly, it was 33 degrees today!

Well here's the proof:

If you want to see the news footage go to:

http://content.mediaworks.co.nz/tv/News/061115/3NEWS.ICEBERG.151106.300k.wmv

They say it has nothing to do with global warming, although Al Gore was in NZ yesterday - works as a good PR job!!!

We learned today that the iceberg broke off from the South Pole, 7 years ago - that's an epic journey!

Update

2006-11-13T19:43:00.000Z

Well, life has been pretty busy but I wait to blog until I have some photos ('cos to me they're the best bit!). Unfortunately I get so immersed in the moment that I often forget to take pictures so updates are few and far between and not very pictoral. Anyway, we've had a Light Party for children to celebrate Jesus instead of Halloween, Christine organised a Princess Party for our girls at church and the little ones enjoyed the older girls giving them a makeover and painting their nails and then we had a family fireworks night which apparantly was lots of fun (I say apparantly because I was on babysitting duty) and I think less scary than on previous occassions. Instead of a huge bonfire they had a brazier and toasted marshmallows and since we've been having warm nor-wester weather they didn't need a fire to keep any chill off. It's still funny waiting til it's dark at 9pm to set off the fireworks!
Mike and Sally (from The Order of Mission) came to visit the TOMees here in the South Island; it was great to see them and, as always, brings a mixture of refreshment, challenge and lots of laughs.
Matthew has had his latest round of vaccinations; he screamed with the most vigour we have heard yet and gave himself rash (which the doctore and nurse had never seen before) but after his bottle he was absolutely fine, smiling and chatting and there was no grumps later in the day either. He's sitting pretty well now, just the occassional wobble and he's rolled from his front to his back twice but, yet again, we missed it! He can pull his legs up under him now and get his tummy off teh ground - he so wants to crawl! Well, there maybe a lack of pictures of anybody else but I'm snap happy when it comes to our son so you can see a couple of the latest shots.

Matthew went through a stage of being quite confused by the grey box Mummy and Daddy held in front of him so although smiling one minute (honestly) he looks quite perturbed when the shot is taken!
Now he's getting over that so we have many more smiles captured for posterity!

Teeth and food

2006-10-19T08:22:00.000Z

Matthew seems to have shifted into another gear development-wise over the last week - maybe it was having older babies around him. But aside from being more interested in his toys and books, enjoying different textures and pushing off with his feet so he propels himself on his back across the floor, cot and his changing mat (the latter being rather scary from my point of view) and growing lots more hair he also now has his first tooth and has had his first taste of baby rice. Understandably, he thought it a rather odd sensation to start with but certainly didn't refuse it and even cried out for more. So the joy of peeling & pureeing has begun - what fun!

2006-10-19T08:07:00.000Z

Here's a photo of the 9 of us which was being stubborn and wouldn't publish on the last posting!

Family & Friends

2006-10-15T06:42:00.000Z

We're just recovering (that makes it sound like we've been through an ordeal - we haven't at all, it's just we're shattered!) from a 10 day visit by family and friends. Neil's brother Alastair, his wife Helen and daughter Emma arrived on the Wednesday and then their friends, Benji, Nicole and Jake, arrived from Adelaide on the Friday.
It started off pretty gently with a chilled couple of days; Matthew had his first experience in a swing, Helen and I ventured into Christchurch on the bus (more like a coach so the buggies had to be stowed underneath and apparantly the timetable is an estimate and they're "long gone" by the time quoted - very helpful - good job the bus driver knew us and waited as we ran down the street!) and had a picnic in the botanical gardens and Neil and Alastair had a ball skiing @ Mount Hutt.

Then the real fun began. 'Carnage' was the word most frequently used over the last week to describe our home with the presence of 6 adults and 3 babies. Great fun and lots of laughs; from food across children's faces/clothes/floor, an abundance of smelly nappies, to a pancake 'bake off' with different types of beer batter, mini golf and competition verging on the ridiculous (Neil and I being the main culprits) over the game of 'Cranium'. There was also the lovely Hanmer Springs with it's stunning mountains, hot pools and mini golf and Akaroa with the best fudge I've ever tasted. Everyone agreed that holidays are very different with children - it took us hours to get out the house and any plan we made rarely got seen to completion; if two of the children were ready the other would need a sleep, nappy change or feeding and then there's their parents too...
Anyway, it was "all good" and the house was strangely quiet when they left (though Benji, Nicole & Jake did return for a night at the end of their NZ jaunt so that let us down gently - and must have meant the whole experience can't have been too bad if they came back for more!).

Going Bush

2006-10-14T08:43:00.000Z

Well Neil has had a very adventurous and energetic couple of weeks. He left early on a Monday morning with our very Kiwi friend, Ed, heading to a true Kiwi experience shooting, fishing and tramping. They had a three hour drive across 4WD only 'road' to get to the middle of nowhere (actually Lake Sumner) where they then had to finish the journey by boat across the lake to their accomodation. This consisted of a boatshed which had the facility for lighting & cooking but no toilet! I ask you - I mean I love my food and being able to see at night is important but not having to use a shovel is definitely higher on my list of priorities. The weather was absolutely shocking (the second excellent reason why Matthew and I stayed home) but they had great time and the fishing was far more successful than the shooting - I'm looking forward to tasting the trout.

The night before Neil went away, Matthew was up several times so I think Neil left slightly anxious that he'd come back to completely wrecked wife. However Matthew seemed to get whatever it was out of his system and we had a great couple of days, including flitting around getting organised for the arrival of family (more of that in the next installment), a reassuring first trip to the doctors for Matthew (he had quite a disturbing rattle on his chest which he was totally not bothered about, it was just his parents he thought it didn't sound quite right. Needless to say he's fine and it's cleared up now) and an awesome time with our youth at their small group. The strangest thing was not being able to share it with Neil at the time; he was out of mobile phone range and it was interesting to realise how much we're used to at least being in touch by text.

Heaven Scent

2006-09-18T21:17:00.000Z

There are two things I'm very grateful to God for at the moment. The first is the fragrance of spring that surrounds me everytime I walk outside our front door - it almost smells like I'm walking into a florist's and I absolutely love it. The second thing I'm thankful for is blackout material! We bought some last week and made a blind for Matthew's bedroom as he seemed to be waking earlier and earlier in the mornings. He does still stir but gives up quite quickly, hopefully thinking "There's no way Mum is going to be up and around it's still dark!" The reason he stirs could well be the birds & their dawn chorus (they are the reason I'm awake at some ridiculous hour) but there's nothing I can do about them - and nor do I want to really as we never heard them in inner city Sheffield!

Meteorite

2006-09-13T07:44:00.000Z

Yesterday a meteorite burnt up as it crashed through the atmosphere above New Zealand - quite exciting really. What's most amusing for us is that hundreds of people were highly concerned about the huge bang they heard (it could be heard over a stretch of about 500km in the South island) and phoned the police whilst we thought it was just a truck on the building site over the road! No photos of it I'm afraid - in fact nobody seemed to get any footage, so the TV stations keep playing re-runs of the meteorite that crashed 9 years ago!

Family Day

2006-09-01T23:22:00.000Z

Now I'm back at work too and life is in a semi-routine we've decided to instigate Family Friday (modelled so well by friends). This week we visited a cafe and then headed for my favourite place in Christchurch, the Botanical Gardens. Matthew has been before but has always been asleep. But yesterday was officially the first the day of spring (though it's been very nice & warm all week) and the daffodils and snowdrops wanted the world to know it. So Matthew decided he'd wake up and check it out for himself. Not sure how excited he was about the flowers but the ducks certainly intrigued him!

Girl Time

2006-09-01T23:07:00.000Z

Last Friday night I went away with some girlfriends from church for 24 hours - many of whom thought I was mad to leave Matthew for that long! I didn't see why not as Neil is more than capable of doing the do and it was very nice to go to sleep knowing that a baby would not be waking me up (though not sure how loud Matthew would have to be if Neil was to arise from his slumber!). They did great and had some good male-bonding time with Dan over a cooked breakfast on the Saturday morning.
As for us ladies, we enjoyed being princesses, eating chocolate and being in a superb location. Even though the weather wasn't fantastic the views were, as usual in this country, stunning.
I did fine until the lunch time and then I just wanted to get home - I was missing the smiles and cuddles from my favourite man and boy!

Baby Clothes

2006-08-20T03:54:00.000Z

I really loved all the clothes we got for Matthew in England - especially this little set from Gap, courtesy of Rachel!
Also bought this top from Next - no need really because he's got so many clothes but I couldn't resist ("Probably the best baby in the world" - completely biased)! There are two pictures because if you get a photo of Matthew smiling he's generally so excited that his arms are all over the place so you can't see the rest of the picture.

2006-08-15T09:09:00.000Z

2006-08-15T08:55:00.000Z

Neil and John reunited

2006-08-15T08:41:00.000Z

Getting some culture in London - Matthew was very attentive in the National Gallery but we realised it was because he was concentrating on filling (and spilling out of) his nappy; hooray for good baby change facilities!

2006-08-15T08:36:00.000Z

The Shepherd grandparents with their grandchildren

2006-08-15T08:33:00.000Z

Matthew with his seven month old cousin, Emma

2006-08-15T08:23:00.000Z

Grandad Simms and his 'best boy'

Jet lag

2006-08-14T21:18:00.000Z

Having incredible difficulty loading pictures of our trip but hoping there will be breakthrough soon - a bit like the breakthrough we had with jet lag actually. Matthew slept really well on the plane and was still sleeping Thursday afternoon so we thought we'd wake him up and keep him awake until the evening. No chance. He slept 'til 10pm (we'd gone to bed @ 7pm) and then was awake ALL night until 10.30 the next morning! I then tried to wake him up throughout the afternoon, again with no success, and beginning to wonder how the total reversal of night & day would ever occur if was going to continue to sleep through the day (and consequently was there any point in us trying to get our body clock sorted when he pretty much dictates it anyway?). Well Matthew did wake up at 7pm which was great because it meant Emma & Dan could catch up with him and then we thought we'd do the usual bath, bottle, bed routine at 11pm and see if we could fool him to sleep. And it worked! Gradually since then he's been moving back to 'normal' and last night he slept right the way through! Praise the Lord!

Home Sweet Home

2006-08-13T05:38:00.000Z

We've now returned from our time in the UK and it's quite amazing how quickly five weeks can go. We had a fantastic time and it was so great to catch up with everyone we got to see; there's never enough time, I guess, but it did feel that there was real quality time with many family and friends. Nearly everywhere we went it felt like we'd only been away a couple of months which was quite bizarre (the greatest change was seeing the children of friends because they give the biggest reality check that we've been away two years - Sam Hewson was only the age Matthew is now when we left and now he's a proper boy!) but great because it felt we could carry on where we left off.
Matthew was adored and seemed to take the travelling in his stride; it did take a few days to adjust to the differences in time, temperature (minus 9 in Rangiora when we left to the heatwave of the UK!), food, bed etc but enjoyed all the attention and cuddles. He was very spoiled with gifts of clothes & toys too (so many that we had to post them back!). And he's changed so much - he's now smiling and chatting away and generally interacts much more with what's going on around him. The highlight was of course watching Matthew with his grandparents, aunts & uncles and cousin (our neice who we met for the first time too and who was dedicated while we were there) - very precious times.
Other highlights (not nearly as significant or memorable) included shopping at Tesco (Finest triple chocolate cookies), driving on motorways (you just get to drive faster than in NZ), listening to quality radio, eating great indian food, Neil finding trousers he liked and going to the National Gallery on our trip to London (actually, just being in London) and the hills & moors in Derbyshire .
Going back to the UK felt like going 'home' but coming back to Christchurch did too - especially returning to mountains and a home with a roaring log burner (stoked by Andrew) and homemade soup for lunch (from Christine).

Unimpressed

2006-07-04T00:56:00.000Z

On Saturday we gate-crashed Emma & Dan's day together and joined them as they headed to the mountains for sledging. We headed to a slope that had been highly recommended to the Andrews, very near to Lake Lyndon (perhaps Emma will put a picture on her blog...) where Neil went biscuiting on Boxing Day - the difference now is that the lake is covered in 12cm thick ice and people were skating on it!
While the adults were drinking in the amazing scenery, Matthew slept. He missed the drive there, he missed his Dad sledging down a near vertical drop and even having been woken up, fed and dressed in his bear suit he still slept on (just blew a few bubbles). I know he's a baby and wouldn't have got very much out of the whole experience but he never sleeps that much (except on Saturday night when he slept for 8 hours. This would have been great but it was the night of the England match which we got up to watch so we missed out on the benefits. Matthew must have been unimpressed by the football too - or thought he'd save himself from the disappointment).
Maybe Matthew will be more impressed with the heatwave in England than the freezing weather here. Speaking of Engalnd, only 48 hours to go and counting...

Legal Alien

2006-07-01T08:16:00.000Z

We finally got Matthew a visa yesterday so he can legally be here in NZ. Since January 1st only children born to NZ residents are entitled to citizenship which means that Matthew is a British citizen and not a Kiwi. We got a passport for him two weeks after his birth (with a photo that has to last for the 5 years validity!) and then yesterday waited two hours to get the visa and permit which allows Matthew to return to NZ after our trip to the UK. The conditions of Matthew's visa are that he does not undertake employment and cannot study here for more than three months - I don't think we'll have a problem with that yet!

Baby Sitters

2006-06-19T09:24:00.000Z

Saturday was my 29th birthday (though my Nanna was shocked to discover I'm not 27!) and I kind of feel 29, if that makes sense. Can't really explain it, other than that I think I expected to be at this stage in life at this age so it seems to fit.
Anyway, Saturday night we went for a lovely meal (again, chocolate dessert being the highlight) and it was the first night we left Matthew with baby-sitters, the very able Dan & Emma. It didn't feel that strange to be honest. Matthew was sleeping peacefully when we returned, giving the impression he'd been like that the whole time but apparantly not! Generally he's a happy bunny but evenings have been more grouchy lately, giving the opportunity to try lots of different cuddling/bouncing/rocking positions!
Anyway, Emma & Dan did an awesome job (despite bits of information I think I forgot to tell them) and have said they'd do it again which sounds good to me!

Snow

2006-06-12T20:53:00.000Z

Although we know the match wasn't fantastic, an England win was a good opportunity for Matthew to show off his England outfit sent over by his auntie and uncle. Kiwi friends weren't hugely impressed but seen as it's soccer there really isn't much competition.

On Sunday night the weather forecasters predicted heavy rain & strong winds (which did come & woke me up more than Matthew's night time noises) but did not predict snow down to sea level or how much there would be. Many areas of teh South island have been without power but our supply was maintained - good job too or we'd have been heading to friends who have a gas supply!
I was very excited about the substantial amount of snow and wanted to go out and play but Neil pointed out that Matthew is still probably a little young for such antics (and we may have lost him in his white bear suit!). The snow weighed so heavy on the trees that many branches broke and several plants have been trashed - a number of trees have blocked the path to the back door. So we stayed in and I had plans to curl up with the log burner roaring and watch movies all day but Matthew didn't want to play...

2006-06-04T09:18:00.000Z

Having 'nappy brain' means I really can't remember what we've been up to and the days are merging into one somewhat. Matthew has put on lots of weight (like a pound in 6 days!) and is beginning to grow out of some of his clothes, though not his hats!

Emma, Dan, Andrew and Christine came for a meal to celebrate Dan's birthday and Matthew did a great job of getting Emma to sleep!

We had our first trip to the mall too on Saturday and had quite a substantial shopping time without feeding or nappy interruptions. Neil & Dan decided a round of golf would be more fun which left Emma & I to shop and eat very nice cake.

The other exciting event of the week was booking flights home to the UK for 5 weeks time! We'll be around from the 7th July to 6th August and there's lots of catching up to be done which we're really looking forward to. Now just trying to get our heads round long flights with a small person...

All change

2006-05-26T20:52:00.000Z

Matthew is a fortnight old today and I think we're all doing pretty well! Feeding is a bit of a deal (it seems it is for a lot of babies & their mums!) but he's putting on weight and growing. We're getting enough sleep at the moment (though we're suffering from bad nappy brain and can't remember very basic events) and we're thoroughly enjoying getting to know our little boy. He often has me laughing with his interesting facial expressions and nappy times are an education all round!
We feel very loved by friends and family across the world and also from the amazing support we've received here by way of cards, gifts and meal parcels.
Not much gets done in a day except eating, sleeping and washing (there's tons of it!) but the days certianly don't drag. We have also made it out three days in a row this week so we've tested out the stroller and front pack and Matthew has had his first experience of our favourite dessert and hot chocolate venue, The Blue Rooster - obviously he'll have to wait to partake.
Each day is a new adventure and we're never quite sure how it will work out - we hired King Kong to watch last night but it's a good job it's on a 3 day rental because we only managed an hour!
Oh, and Matthew received his birth certificate today which is not nearly as elegant as our Uk certificates. It also confirms that he's not a Kiwi because neither parent is a NZ resident so he'll have to play rugby for the Lions and not the All Blacks!

Unto us a child is born!

2006-05-15T00:58:00.000Z

The first picture of Matthew Joshua Shepherd, born 13th May 2006 at 8.10pm.

He weighed in at 6lbs 13 and a half and was 54cm long.

He is awesome!!!!

And our first family picture taken at 2 hours old!

Waiting...

2006-05-10T04:23:00.000Z

Well, we've arrived at the due date! I didn't expect the baby to arrive early until the midwife put the idea in our heads a month ago and because of that it seems strange I'm still in one piece and not two! Neil is more impatient than me; he just really wants to meet our baby and start getting to know it. I do too but I don't feel really uncomfortable and am still enjoying the time to relax and do not very much. I'm enjoying reading & having impromptu coffee with people and I still haven't done a six hour Pride and Prejudice session so there's plenty of time yet!

Baby Shower

2006-04-28T06:15:00.000Z

On Wednesday night some lovely friends got together for my baby shower. This was a combination of food, drink (one bottle of wine was called 'Cat's Pee on a Gooseberry Bush" - I only had a sip but it tasted nice!), silly games and praying for the new baby. One of the games was to guess how large my tummy is. Everybody cut off a length of string that they thought would fit around my bump - look how way out some guesses were! This one was at least two feet out! Everybody made me bigger than I am!

I also received lots of lovely gifts, inlcuding this 'nappy pavlova'! Kiwis are big on pavlova (apparantly they invented them, though I did hear a rumour it was the Aussies...) and the baby boutique on the high street, Wee Kiwi, has gift parcels made up in pavlova packaging. This one included the equally traditional All Black rugby playing kiwi and a book with the infamous Buzzy Bee!

Making the most of it...

2006-04-28T05:29:00.000Z

The last few weeks have mainly consisted of settling into our new house, finishing off things at work (very hard to do when everything has to carry on at church and I'm still around there nearly everyday) and making the most of the time we have together before the arrival of the baby. It's not that we think we won't be able to do anything ever again, but we know it will definitely be different!

One of the things we did was get up pretty early to watch the sunrise over the sea on Easter Day. It was totally awesome and we picked the right beach to drive to because the others had coastal mist and you couldn't see a thing.
I had also had a girly night out to the theatre to see Beauty and the Beast with Emma and some of her colleagues from work, we've been to see one of our youth in West Side Story and we've been given tickets to the theatre again on Monday night, so we'd like the baby to stay put until after that!
We also stayed over at the Andrews' pad when they were away so we could enjoy the Christchurch and not have to trek back to Rangiora . We wandered around a native bush compound with a 'historical' house, with a cottage on site that's the oldest in Canterbury. I don't think I need to say how modern it looked!

And also toured the botanical gardens (still with roses!) - it definitely is one of my favourite places, whatever the season or weather. The weather has been absolutely glorious, by the way, like 25 degrees and you'd be impressed if this was an English summer! The best thing about being in Christchurch was wandering around in a place that has a 'buzz' about it and people. We tried to go out for coffee in Rangiora the other night and everywhere was shutting up by 9pm!

2006-03-30T23:30:00.000Z

So now there's lots of room for visitors with even space for your luggage too! And you could have a bath and maybe home-grown vegetables (though we're not promising!).

The Shepherds

2010 so far...

Winter Fun

Mo-vember

Daniel's First Birthday!

Sold!

Growing Up

Dublin

Summer 09

Birthdays

Our Boys

Easter

BIG catch up!

Daniel James Shepherd

Baby Shower

Camping

Hartlepool

July

Winners!

June

May

Ilfracombe

Stockholm

Easter

Coach Carter

Liverpool

Weston-super-mare

Catch Up

Christmas tree, Oh, Christmas tree! How lovely were your branches!

Friends reunited

Our Christmas and New Year

New Addition

November (so far!)

The Eye

Poorly

Face Off

Haircut

Monkey Business

Matthew and Skye

Matthew's first steps

We're back!

A few more photos

Easter holidays

Feeding Time at the Zoo

Time flies when you're having fun...

Surprise!

Geelong

In Transit

Moving On

Bringing you up to speed

Belated christmas antics!

Chuckles with Matthew

Summer *sun/showers (*delete as appropriate)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Proper

Youth Weekend Away

Plunkett

Santa Parade

Fresh Air

Scott

Step into Christmas

Guests

Birthday 'Treats'

Rusks

Icebergs off New Zealand

Update

Teeth and food

Family & Friends

Going Bush

Heaven Scent

Meteorite

Family Day

Girl Time

Baby Clothes

Jet lag

Home Sweet Home

Unimpressed

Legal Alien

Baby Sitters

Snow

Summer sun/showers (delete as appropriate)