Ryder's Baptism (May, 2014)

Ryder's been so excited to get baptized.  He's been reminding us for weeks that it's only so many more days until he gets baptized.  He is very prepared.  Of his own initiative, and without any real push from us, he has taken it upon himself to start reading the Book of Mormon.  We tell scripture stories with the kids every night and they know the stories very well, but we really haven't done a good job of reading directly from the scriptures with our kids.  Ryder has been amazing this year.  He has made it halfway through Mosiah (we let him skip the Isaiah chapters in 2nd Nephi) and he tells us about the little subtleties that he picks up related to many of the stories that he already knows.  He is a very special boy and in many ways a leader and example for our family.  He is full of light, passion, and happiness.  He has a lot of resolve and dedication and loves new challenges.  We are blessed to have a front row seat to the growth and development of this strong, righteous, son of God.  We are lucky to have him in our family.  One of the things he wanted to do was invite everyone in his class, including his teachers, to attend his baptism.  His testimony is strong and he is fearless when it comes to missionary work and speaking about the truth.  We hope this amazing quality never wears off.

Ryder's baptism invitation.

His baptism was a very special event.  He was beaming the whole time.  He personally handed out invitations before church to members of the ward and was so excited to do so.  Sawyer gave a talk on baptism and prepared most of it herself.  She did an amazing job.  After Ryder was baptized, he told Cody that he felt really good inside and knew Heavenly Father was proud of him.  Ryder and his friends (Kemp, Bollard, and Glossop kids) sang the Armies of Helaman and Eliza gave a talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost where she used a wind up flashlight as an object lesson to illustrate how the gift of the Holy Ghost works in our life.  Eliza made a bunch of food and desserts for everyone to have after the baptism.

Family picture before the baptism.

 Nash was so excited for Ryder.

 Sawyer was such a good big sister and gave a wonderful talk.

 Mommy with Ryder.

Daddy with Ryder.

Ryder with mom and dad.

Auckland, North Island, New Zealand (May, 2014)

Cody had to head back to Perth to get back to work, but Eliza and the kids continued back to Auckland for a few days and stayed with Kip and Emily.  Kip and Emily were awesome and showed them around Auckland and a couple surrounding areas.  They were able to get to some glow worm caves and some short hikes.

 Hiking to the glow worm caves.

 Hiking to the glow worm caves.

 A view of the Harbour and Auckland in the background.

 Auckland skyline.

 Inside the glow worm caves...the glow worms look like stars in the night sky.

Haast, Fox Glacier, and Franz Josef Glacier, South Island, New Zealand (April, 2014)

We left Wanaka in the late afternoon and stopped to stay at a Motorhome Park in Makarora just before going up the Southern Alps.  We awoke early and began the drive to Haast and the West Coast on our way to Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers.  We stopped a few times to take small walks/hikes to waterfalls, crystal pools, and through the rainforest.  One of our favorites was the "Blue Pools" which had a stream and pools with some of the clearest, bluest water we had ever seen.

 The rocks along the riverbed were full of color and variety.

 Short rainforest walks to waterfalls.

 One of the many waterfalls we walked to.

 Nash, leading the pack through the rainforest.

 Daddy, carrying Zander on one of the trails.

 Sawyer and Zander running along the trail.

 The "Blue Pools" between Wanaka and Haast.

Our version of the pancake rocks.

We arrived early afternoon to Fox Glacier.  The weather was overcast and it was fairly chilly outside.  Cody decided to take a plunge in the icy glacier waters of Fox Glacier.

 A mixture of rocks and ice running off from Fox Glacier.

 Cody, getting swept away by the rapids at Fox Glacier.

 An amazing blend of blue glacier water with green moss from the rainforest makes for amazing colors in the lakes at the bottom of the glacier.

We left Fox Glacier after Cody had his plunge in the icy water and we were off to Franz Josef Glacier, which we had heard was the better of the two glaciers.  We decided to take a hike up to the base of the glacier, and we enjoyed amazing scenery, dozens of waterfalls, and a blend of rainforest and glacial ice.  It was amazing.

 Some of the scenery along the 2 hour hike we took to the base of Franz Josef Glacier.

 Our destination, Franz Josef Glacier.

 Ryder and Nash were hiking buddies.

 Daddy, with Zander and Nash on the mossy green rocks along the path.

 Family picture at the base of Franz Josef Glacier.

 Ryder, playing in the rocks.

 Nash, playing in the rocks.

Some of the scenery around Haast, after leaving the Southern Alps and beginning the drive along the West Coast.