Kiwi XMas

Merry Christmas!

We just had our second Xmas in New Zealand this time with a little baby. Leading up to the big day we spent some time at the beach soaking up the beautiful summer sunshine. The sun is really strong due to a battered ozone layer, so be sure to bring your sunscreen!

Tent for baby.

Nice "Posi" at Bethell's Beach

My man wasn't in the best of moods come Christmas time. Mostly because all 8 of his teeth decided to come on in at what seems like the same time. This led to irritable, cranky baby...

You gots to have teef! (you can just see the bottom two in this blurry pic)

Since Kim and I have been together we have never done a proper Christmas at our place. Not because we are Jewish, but we just always traveled to family's place for Christmas. Ella would not have cared anyways.

But THIS year it was time to get the spirit going. I proudly picked up a nice tree and Kim and I decorated it up....not bad for first timers.

Beau doesn't know what it means either. He DOES know how to start off Xmas at 5AM, however...

Ahhhh. Christmas morning. I've always loved it. And of course we were to follow STRICT Stewart family Christmas morning rules:

• Rule# 1 - NO opening gifts on Christmas Eve....you have to learn to wait..."le pause"
• Rule# 2 - We open gifts ONE at a time from youngest to oldest...oldest looking...so I went last.

Mocka truck. Thanks Pa-Pa

• Rule# 3 - Mimosas for Mom and Dad. Go easy on the OJ....

Fortified on Mimosa at 530AM, presents unwrapped...time for a nap...whole family...

Santa brought us some sweet panoramic prints we have been meaning to get done for a while. Two of our favorites below. Bethell's Beach (the big one) and The 12 Apostles (Australia).

Then it was off to friends house for XMas lunch. It was Ham and Lamb all around....delicious.

Mommy needs a refill....

 The rest of the holiday season so far has been spent House Hunting. Our rental is up in February and we are on the lookout for a new spot....the pic below should give you a hint of what we are after...

...Is the Nicehouse

Kim and I are very close to becoming 100% debt free for the first time in both of our adult lives. The order in which our debts got paid down should not have surprised me. 

Car loan for the truck, gone.

High-Interest Credit cards that Kim (sneakily) held on to, gone.

0% interest loans for TVs, etc, gone.

Lee's student loan.....still carrying it? 

Here's how this works, my man. Kim is still currently working and gets paid in US $s in the a US bank. Those dollars go towards paying off any remaining debts. The logic for leaving the student loan until last can eloquently be summed up  in my wife's own words...."I'm not paying for the time you spent at college getting drunk with your buddies!". 

Obviously this is just an assumption on her part. We didn't go to school together so who knows what I was up to at UF.

Let me get to the point. 

We received a package yesterday and it was as if a stork flew straight from Gainesville and delivered a bundle of joy right into our growing family.....

so peaceful when they sleep. sure do pee a lot.

walkies in the bugaboo

safety first. don't want any trouble with the law.

time to eat

Such a handful (22oz!! Thanks Brian/Kia!!!!). Kim and I can't decide whether to have the cap removed or not....medically, they say, there is no reason.

We've been here for 1 year now, and it has been one year since my lips have tasted the sweet-deliciousness from the good folks at Plank Road Brewery. Cheers!