Rachel's 15th Birthday -- Part One

If I were to continue these posts in chronological order, this would be a good time to talk about Palmerston North, our home, etc., but I still need to take a few pictures before I properly introduce you to our town.  In the meantime, allow me to skip ahead a few days to Rachel's birthday.

Falling on July 4th, Rachel's birthday is always a party...parades, food, family, swimming, and fireworks.  The day before her birthday, we were all feeling a little blue.  I think it was mostly that we were missing Emily terribly (it had been a week since arriving in NZ without her), but we also felt homesick for the festivities in Utah that we were accustomed to.  Therefore, we brainstormed about what we could do that would be really different and memorable.  Rachel chose bungee jumping!!  Eeek!  We found a place to jump only an hour away from Palmerston (full report coming up in part two).

Julia helped decorate for Rachel's birthday...she always makes things look cute!

Cameron made Rachel a message with his Bionicles:

Julia left Rachel a trail of clues with Mentos wrappers (Rachel loves Mentos!)...

...which led to a Mentos design and earned her a big hug from Rachel.  Cute sisters!

We gave Rachel a new camera.  She loves it! 

As soon as the battery was charged, Rachel wasted no time going outside in the yard to snap a few photos with her new camera...here are just a few.

The skies cleared, the sun came out nice and warm, and we took off on our bungee jumping adventure!  Part two on the way...