I got to spend about 3 days with one of my best friends, who also happens to be due with her first little girl 2 weeks after me (talk about perfect planning). It was so fun to compare bellies, and all the "joys" of being prego since this is all new territory for both of us. There was LOTS of baby talk- sorry Lynds, who had to endure it over lunch- but it was the best! We played in Rancho and San Clemente (who doesnt love a beautiful day at the beach in the winter). 
My Uncle and his family were in town from UT as well, so it was fun to see them and my cute cousins. They ADORED Justin. He is going to be the best dad ever!
My grandpa from Canada (my moms dad) was also in town and made it out for a great evening with us. Hes a big cowboy, and Justin loves getting him going about life back home on the cattle ranch. 
Hiking up Ruapehu Volcano on Christmas day: Hide was having so much fun sliding down the snow, and finding a christmas snowman
Trout fishing on Lake Taupo: taupo is world famous for trout and fly fishing, our biggest catch was over 50cm, then our hotel cooked them up for us and we feasted! It was so good! Our boat hire also took us to these Maori rock carvings on the lake. We also went kayaking, but I forgot my camera... boo!
Rotorua- Hide grew up in a geothermal town in Japan, so the sulfur smell of rotten eggs soothed him. I on the other hand, with this superpowers sense of smell, spent the whole day trying not to vomit. Justin was the chief at the Maori show we watched, he did the hongi (no, hes not about to kiss the guy) which is a traditional way of saying hello by touching noses. Its their way of kissing cheeks. It litterally translates to "sharing of breath".
Day 4: We hiked around to Mt. Cook base to get a closer look at the massive mountain. Then later that day we took these kayaks on a glacial lake and over to icebergs and the glaciers terminal face, or where the glacier ends. They also had this museum on Sir Edmund Hilary, who is a kiwi and was one of the first 2 people to ever climb Mt Everest.
Day 5: Today we had to drive 6 hours to the other side of the mountain (literally only 15 miles from where we were) so we could play on some of the only glaciers in the world that are still growing. On the way, we stopped in Wanaka at Puzzle World to play in a human maze. It is really amazing how the west side of the mountains is like a rainforest while the east side is more like farm land. 
Day 6: I think this day was everyones favorite. We took a helicopter up the Fox Glacier and hiked around it for a few hours. We found some awesome ice caves to crawl through and the glacier terrain is unreal. 
Day 7: We went 15 km down the road to the Franz Joseph glacier and hiked to the terminal face, well as close as we could get. These massive glaciers move so quickly. I think they said around 2 meters a day, which is like 6 ft. We got back in the car for another 6 hr drive over Arthurs pass to Christchurch. This was a really pretty drive through the northern part of the alps. 
Day 8: This morning we were up at 4am to be picked up and go on a hot air balloon. I have always had a fear them, like we would get blown into a crazy mountain side or go way to high and the basket would break or something totally crazy. I dont know why, but the whole time I was silently freakin out. It was really amazing and the views were incredible. We had the largest balloon in all NZ and the 5th in the world. It was massive. I dont know why but I always thought of them like slightly bigger birthday balloons. Good to know its a bit more sophisticated than that. 
