Yes - it’s true. Ella entered the Talent Fest at her school with a couple of mates and made the finals. Below you’ll find the video which I can only hope you find half as amusing as me… that is - you’ll like the video half as much as me…. I mean, that I hope you still like me, but that you will enjoy the video as well - but maybe not quite as much as… I’ll stop now. For some more brand new pictures - take a look at www.ellaryan.com

The other little girls are April (left) and Angelina (right) - Keep a close eye on April for some extra special moves…

Enjoy!

So we moved to Sydney, Australia in August last year and haven’t really figured out what to do with this site and all of our new comings and goings!

Oh - and since the last time, Kavan has turned 1 (yesterday!), Ella is in Kindergarten, and Tane is still a disaster. We’ve got some new pictures up at www.ellaryan.com, so take a look at some of our early days in Australia. For what it’s worth - we’re having a great time in our new digs, but certainly are missing our second home Aotearoa.

Here’s a few pics to get you going!

So Kavan is 2 weeks old, and is an absolute doll!

Sleep, however, seems to be a rare commodity - particularly where my absolutely wonderful wife is concerned! Last night we had the privilege of having not 1, not 2, but 3 wonderful children screaming at us at 2:30 am. It truly was an amazing experience.

Tane, meanwhile, has hit the terrible 2s with full force. He has also apparently developed one of the most sensitive pallets in the modern world resulting in a total repertoire of 7 foods in his diet - 2 of which start with McDonalds. He has also become a little modern rock star - complete with attitude! Let me tell you, if you haven’t seen Tane’s version of “Volcano” by Jimmy Buffett, you haven’t lived!

Anyway - the travels are starting again this week, so everyone say a prayer for Jen and the 3 mini-terrorists.

By the way - Jen is rock and roll.

Click on the photos below for a bit of a slideshow - we had a lot of fun with the new camera the other day, so let us know what you think!

Here’s some with a little less Kavan and a little more family…

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Kavan Kristopher Walker entered the world at 7:21pm on the 22nd of May. Mum and Kavan are doing absolutely great, and with luck will be home tonight! Tane and Ella have yet to meet our new little arrival but the grand unveiling will be within the hour…

Kavan is 7lbs on the dot, loves to eat, clench his hands, and is absolutely amazed at the world around him.

We’ve just put up some pics - so click on the photos below for more… less wrinkly ones to follow shortly!

I’ll post more soon, but for now, off to the hospital to give some cuddles to a wonderful little man and his mum!

Ella celebrated the most important day in a 3 year old’s life on Saturday - turning 4!!!!

In truth, Ella won’t turn 4 for another week, however, we thought it wise to avoid a possible conflict with the arrival of another little one. Bottom line is - the party was a raging success -

Jen out-did herself! From a homemade princess cake to glittering placemats to rice krispie treat magic wands… and this - from a woman who is 9 months pregnant and ready to pop any day now!

Still no baby names for our forthcoming arrival, so wish us luck, and we should have some brilliant pictures of our growing family shortly!

Too much going on in the lives of us silly Kiwis to stay up to date!

So - there’s a new addition to our family expected in 4 weeks…. Yikes!
Ella is getting super excited and has suggested a couple of great names:

Cinderella

Bright Melody

Olna

Billy Ocean

just to name a few!

Tane has quickly turned into a little chatterbox, although, most of his sentences still revolve around trains. 2 Years has flown past quicker than we ever could have imagined with this wonderful little man!

In other news, Ella came home last week and mentioned she had a new friend named James. “He’s in love with me”, says the little girl with curls. Seems that they’re starting younger and younger these days! Despite her boy troubles, she is absolutely loving school, and will be participating in her first “Trike-a-Thon” this weekend - if any of you would like to sponsor her, the bidding starts at a minimum of $0.50 a lap. Visa and Mastercard accepted.

So its been a bit hectic with the looming baby and move to Australia…. did we mention we’re moving to Sydney? But despite all of the craziness - it’s been a great few months, and we’re looking forward to enjoying the final days of Summer before being plunged into our final New Zealand winter. Hope everyone is doing well - and in the meantime, if there’s anyway you can help this child… please let us know!

Until next time!

Loads of new pictures - so take a look when you have a chance (click on any of the pics below to see the full albums!)

Just a quick note to gain some assistance from a higher power for our trip back home. If everyone can repeat after me…

“Please God, let there be an empty seat on each of our flights, that we may use to strap down our darling son Tane. If that is not possible, I pray that the nice airlines provide us with lots of alcohol to dull the pain of the journey. Amen.”

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

It’s been a bit of a cold wet winter, but spring is in the air and everyone seems to have a brighter look on their faces.

Ella has started school and having a blast! If you haven’t spoken to her recently you’ll be in for a bit of a shock. Both of the kids are obsessed with High School Musical. Tane is running - not walking - and has a mouthful of teeth. And I’ve been spending a bit too much time out of the country - although I seemed to have timed it well (during the worst storm in 50 years!).

Anyway - sorry for our laziness in keeping this up to speed, but you will now be rewarded with loads of new pictures of my darling children and my beautiful wife - click here for all the new pictures!

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Lastly - we have finally confirmed our plans for our trip home to the U.S. It will have been 2 years by the time we arrive home, so it will be a bit of a tour!

New Zealand….Tahiti….. Los Angeles…. Atlanta…. Charlotte…. Richmond…. Williamsburg…. Kingsport…. Atlanta…. Tampa…. Charleston…. Raleigh…. Charlotte…. Atlanta…. Los Angeles…. Tahiti…. New Zealand!

How’s that for a relaxing trip?

Anyway - we arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving day, and fly back out of Los Angeles on New Years. Should be a good trip - and can’t wait too see everyone! Keep in touch - and see you soon!

I think that we’ve resigned ourselves to updating this every couple of months at this point. You see, the problem has been that our cute little boy - who never got into too much trouble - has entered a new stage in his life. We like to refer to this historic age as the “Tane is Trouble” period… not to be confused with other famouse periods in time such as the Paleolithic period, the Rennaissance period, or the “I am the screamest in the world” period that our little darling Ella recently declared.

A couple of historic events have come as a result of this troublesome period in time. First haircut, Potty training, Baptism, First teeth (his first 2 teeth were his 1 year molars, so he looked a bit like a vampire for awhile), and just about a week ago - First steps! We did capture this on video for proof, but have barely seen it happen since. Apparently, crawling is a much more efficient mode of transportation that is way overrated by us adults. Along with first teeth (I think he’s up to 8 now) has come a lovely new attitude complete with hair pulling and throwing. Quite the arm on our little cricket player!

More haircut pictures here! …………………………………………………………..More Baptism pictures here!

In the middle of this significant change in family dynamics, we were blessed with the visit of not 1 - but 2 sets of parents! My folks spent the Holidays with us, and we were fortunate to have the Bonds spend most of February with us as well. The visits were absolutely terrific, and the kids were thrilled to have their granparents around. We’ve finally put up a bunch of new photos of the visits (about 9 new albums!) so check them out (click here! ) when you get a chance! If you need some motivation - this should get you going…

Another pleasant development over the past few months has been that all of us have met some great new friends that have made New Zealand seem not quite as far away as it used to. Jen and the kids have been enjoying getting out a bit more and sharing plenty of coffee and fluffies with some really great folks. We’ll leave you today with a couple of these pics as well as some of my attempts at being creative with digital cameras! Keep in touch!

New Friends!

Creative Pics!

Couple random pics from Malaysia

Just a quick movie for all to share in the first birthday of our little boy! It will take a bit of time to download - so feel free to browse our latest conquests while you’re waiting!

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Video was taking too long to download from the main page so I’ve moved it to the “other info” section.

Or - just click here!