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What a fantastic trip!!!!!!!!!!!

It was well paced to begin with ,dividing quality time between family and friends. Then all hell let loose inthe last 6 days, all of us sleeping in a different bed each night and then 2 sleeps on the plane. We were pleased to get back despite arriving in Auckland to the 3 1/2 hr drive back to Taumarunui through the worst storm in 10 yrs! A far stretch from ambling through an Animal Park near the M25 with Lorna,Dan,and Cathy (dan's mum) on a beautiful 30 degree summers day back in the u.k. 24hrs before.

I would like to thank Lucy and Neil at this point for taking us to the airport, and welcoming us back, providing friendly faces at the airport and some where to recover with bacon sarnies and coffee b4 the drive home.

Week one was a fab , calm and relaxing catch-up with Carol and Malcolm. I got excited about shopping in Bromsgrove...it had been 18 months! Ga and I discovered a new fab run. We visited the Lido and a real chateux for cream tea, and saw a Lynx in Birmingham city farm. Carol and Malcolm managed the girls jet-lag well, getting up with them at 3am the 1st morning! Also baby-sitting whilst We went to Henley with Mark and Serena for a day of drinking Pimm's on the riverbank. David and Lynsey joined us there too and we bopped the night away collapsing into "de-luxe Ruffell sleeping quarters" later that evening.

And then the storm that was" Alflora," lots and lots going on all at once, boring it wasn't!!!!!!!!!!! first Gem's 3rd Hen do, a yummy Thai meal, followed by throwing crazy shapes on the dance floor in Mazza's. Gem asked the bouncer to check her I.D. saying she had memorised her b'day e.t.c., but alas some years had run under the bridge and He didn't feel he needed to ask. Our cousins Hannah and Brett were there too, which was really cool, especially as Hannah normally lives north of Bendigo, Oz.

Mand had me baby-sitting within 24hrs of getting home- which was cool! We also caught up with Jane and David and Dan....Great to see you guys , Me, Mand and Jane all with a new baby to show off!!!

Of Course Gemsy and mum were headless chickens( or was it ducks?) inthe Pre-Wedding build-up, Esp. Gem which I thought was probably beneficial to her not noticing the shear volume of water which fell out of the sky and ran speedily towards the magnificent marquee before the BIG DAY.120 name places later and 3 ivy bound marquee posts ,a scull along the Avon and it was time to party! The Wedding was amazing with Gemma and Steve looking so great together, the bridesmaids looking great, esp. La after having her dress constructed around her 10day old baby's breast-feeding needs. Lots of mass colour co-ordination, and organisation. It was a really great to meet Steven's family, they had made great efforts to arrive in England for this special occassion. Linda and Mum looked fantasic mothers of the blissful couple. For me it was "massive" that so many of my cousins were together to celebrate Gem and Steve's Big Day. 14/15 of us and family was an awesome effort,with Sue and Martin from Beijing, Graham and Brigit and Vic from Oz oh ,and us from N.Z. Despite Mandy not making the Wedding We did get to catch up on the Friday which was great.

The following day and Merryn's Christening saw friends turning up in their finery from various parts of the country, special Thankyous to my Godmother Laurie who travelled from Bonnie Scotland, Celia, my rowing partner from Northumberland, and Lyn , Nick and Joseph (not a baby anymore) from Deal, Kent. Big Thankyous to Uncle Mark, Auntie Lorn and Gem, for being fab God- Parents, finally huge thankyous to Mum and dad for Facilitating the occassion, El for Merryn's cake and Carol for her help on the Day. To everyone not personally mentioned it was " Fabolous" to see all of youse.Especially all the squids playing together a memory that will last alife-time. Thanks for making it such a special day.

I'm signing off now.. to be continued.