2nd Wedding Anniversary! St Louis here we come...

Greetings long lost friends & family! Sorry it's been so long since we've updated this...to be honest we haven't really done anything too exciting until this last weekend in St Louis ;)

So, this is us at the world famous St Louis zoo which totally tops any zoo eva!

Hold on...Stanley Bone! How did you sneak yourself into the zoo pictures?? As you can tell, our little baby is growing up fast...and likes to wear black eyeliner...

Back to St Louis...we had a blast on our complimentary tour of the huge Budweiser factory, Sarah was loving all their recycling bins and Russell...well, he was interested in other things!

We had a great time at the St Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds (who we saw play on our last anniversary...hmmm) baseball game...which was really close and exciting (for once! according to Sarah). Oh and that's not a rainbow coming out of Sarah's head, that's the 'Gateway to the West' arch which is incredible....St Louis is definately worth a look see!

We also got to meet up with Sarah's old English teacher (Fiona Eason- who's pregga's now- congrats!) from Wellington Girls, who lives in St Louis now with her husband. Oh the pure joy of hanging out with kiwi's again!!

And to my H.M.I friends...I haven't forgotten...E.O.N!

We love you all so much and can't wait for our trip to NZ...2 & 1/2 months to go!!

God bless,

Russell, Sarah & Stanley Bone xx

Brooks & Cade

So...you like our new children??

Of course you know we are not responsible enough for our own off-spring!!


But we just love being Uncle Russell & Aunty Sarah. Last week, we had a fantastic time hanging out with Russell's sisters' family in Richmond, Virginia- Brooks (3 years) & Cade (3 months) and Becca and Christian too.

Then just to make our summer even better than expected, Sarah's sister (Katie Turner) had her little girl this week- Evelyn Grace :) And we can't wait to go and meet our other niece when we travel to NZ for Christmas this year. So, praise God for beautiful families & hoped you liked looking at ours.

Bless ya,
Russell & Sarah xx

Exreme Build Mission Trip, July '08

Hey everyone! We just got back from our church mission trip in central Kentucky, where we helped build a house in just 1 week for this lovely family (Bessie, [next to me], widowed with 2 kids is the proud new home owner). Here you can watch her house take shape....

Morning of Day 1...let the fun begin! Day 2...wow! look at the progress :)

Day 3 & things are moving along. Beautiful sunrise on Day 4

Still smiling on Day 5 Day 6...mission, almost accomplished!

Russell & Tim, and the studs! Look at those muscles!

Yes they trust me with a hammer! Two in fact!

Sarah & her building buddy David (no he's not Amish, Sarah did ask though!)

So love to you all and know we miss you loads.
Russell & Sarah xox

Summer time is here!

Hey everyone, sorry we've been lazy about updating this...we've been busy bees this summer so far. After finally getting out of school the 2nd week of June, we hit the summer running.

We ran a Vacation Bible School at church,

and had about 100 kids each day day.

Then the very next week we took 20 youth down to camp for a week in North Carolina.

Once we got back, we had a wonderful time of showing Russell's parents around Louisville.

After fitting all that in June, along with Russell's softball league,

in July we are off building a house in a week with a bunch of other churches in Kentucky and then try and make a visit over to see our new little nephew in Richmond, VA. I guess that is what summer is all about, packing as much as you can into it.

Stanley, as you can see is getting bigger everyday and is ALOT of fun...definately a cling-on on the starboard bough for sure!!

Blessing to all,
Russell and Sarah
XXX OOO

Happy Birthdays!

Felicio Cinco de Mayo everyone! We had a great time celebrating our birthdays at a local Mexican restaurant with some friends...it's pretty cool having Mexico's Independence day on our special day.

But what made it REALLY special this year, is that Russell's sister (Becca) had her son on May 5th...so little Cade now becomes the 6th family member to celebrate his birthday on this popular day (and just to let you know...IF and when we decide to have kiddies, you bet we'll be planning for a May 5th birth!!).

Otherwise we're all good, just fussing over our baby Stanley and working hard...3 & 1/2 weeks until school lets out for summer :)

Oh and mum...you wanted to see the front garden in all it's glory...thank you for all your hard work!

Arohanui to you all,

Russell, Sarah & Stanley xox

Stanley's garden

Well, say hello to our new baby: Stanley Derby Bone!

Today is the Kentucky Derby and also the day Russell got his surprise 30th birthday present. After he picked me up from my shift at the YMCA this morning, I was like...honey...I have a little surprise for you and then told him about my workmate's promiscuous dog and her 8 gorgeous, yet unwanted puppies...how could we resist? So we drove out to this farm and stood in a pile of s***, while 8 crazy dogs clambered all over us. Stanley however, spent most of his time lying beside his old owner's feet just chillin'...and that's how we knew- he was the one!



We have had quite the afternoon as new parents...stopping in at the pet store with Stanley stealing the show around the pet shop girls. Then he had his first bath....hmmm....100 fleas later...we have a very silky, bouncy, little baby checking everything out in his new house. He loves diving into the new flower beds my dad helped us put together (thanks so much dad!!) and has already pooped outside about 4 times....hmmm...in just one afternoon...is that right??

So yeah, as Russell heads into the new era of the 'thirties' and me the 'twenty-sevens'...this is probably a good thing for us...learning to be more responsible and all. We'll keep you posted and I'm sure you'll be hearing/seeing more of our new baby boy (who by the way is exhausted and sleeping at my feet as I type).



Love you all lots & God bless,


Russell, Sarah & Stanley xox