Week Review

So, this week has been pretty eventful.  It all began on Tuesday when Ben and I got married.  I know...I know...we didn't exactly advertise that we were going to, we just up and did it!  It was nice, quiet, and simple...no fussing, or all the stress that goes into wedding planning.  We couldn't be happier!  

On Wednesday, I saw my midwife for the first time.  Yes, I said midwife.  In NZ, you pay out of pocket to see an OBGYN if it isn't medically necessary, or you see a midwife for free.  This girl decided tot take the free option.  I found her and was in contact with her before I came over.  She is really nice, and I couldn't be happier with her.  I'll talk more on midwifery in a later post.  I do have to have an ultrasound next week because the chunky monkey is measuring a little ahead, but no worries..it's not uncommon for that to happen.  All in all everything is fine on the baby front.  I see her again on Monday, and then every two weeks until I get closer to term.

Wednesday night was Christmas lights night!  Ben, his mother, and I went to see the pretty lights around Hamilton.  There's a subdivision called Harrowfield, and they really go all out with the Christmas lights.  I'm talking these people rival the Griswold's from Christmas Vacation!  There were so many people there viewing the lights..some drive through and others struggle to find a parking place and walk through.  We accepted the park and walk challenge, and really got to enjoy the pretty lights.  We saw just about everything you could think of.  One house was all lit up with someone dressed as Santa sitting on the front porch.  There were kids lined up having their pictures taken with him.  Another house had a projector set up, and they were playing the story of Christmas on a screen on the side of their house.  There was a caravan (camper) all decked out with a Santa scene inside for you to see.  Someone had a fake snow machine set up right off the side of the street.  When you walked up to see the little polar bear they had set up, you triggered a sensor, and got covered in fake snow!  It was fun, and I was glad to see some people still go all out! It kinda reminded me of Christmas City when it first started out...I know some of you remember Christmas City!!

After we left there, we went to the Mormon Temple to see their pretty light display.  The Temple lights are the gift to New Zealand from the Mormon Church.  You get to park and walk there.  Lights are everywhere...including on the palm trees.  One side has the Temple itself with all the trees and shrubs  surrounding it in lights.  The other side of the street has trees in lights, boards lining the sidewalk telling the story of Christmas, and a beautiful ivory colored nativity scene.  They also have a the New Zealand Visitor's Center open with various pictures of Christ on display.  We didn't go through, it was pretty packed.

Here are a couple of pictures from the Temple.  Most of the ones I took blurred out, so you can't see exactly how pretty it really is.

The Temple

Hillside Lights

Lit Up Palm Trees

 If you want to see how pretty the lights are, click here.  If you want to read more about the Temple, this link will tell you more.

We also saw the Hamilton Christmas tree downtown.  That thing is massive!!  By massive, I mean 88 1/2 feet tall.  It's the tallest tree in New Zealand!  No, I didn't get any pictures of it because someone *coughBencough* was busy pretending he was a NASCAR driver while we were going through the downtown area.  Here's a link to the tree if you want to see it, and I will get pics of it before Christmas is over!

I think that about sums up my week.  I'll update everyone again soon!  Have a great day tomorrow, and no, you can't be off work because it is the end of the world.  It' already 12/21 here, and if it were gonna happen, I would know first! LOL! XoXo Until next time!