Chillaxing during our 15th Wedding anniversary with kids on Denarau Island, Fiji...

Beach view at the resort at Denarau Island, Fiji

Pool view at the resort at Denarau Island, Fiji

Bula! It's such a blessing to be able to take our family each year to travel either within New Zealand or overseas. This year marks our 15th Wedding Anniversary with my beloved as we got married in Fiji on Sonaisali Island resort, 24th November 2001.

This year we made last minute plans to visit again since 2011 when we returned to mark our 10th wedding anniversary at the site with our children. This time, the last minute plans were nail biting, so much so that we were still waiting to receive our renewed passports (all 5 of them) the day before our plane flew out yesterday. Talk about living on the edge and having lots of faith! and never a dull moment.

I also thought to take my youngest sister, Maria, as she's been a great help with the book cover designs and next year marks her 21st birthday and what better way to celebrate her special significant day than to start with a before party function in Fiji.

In thinking about our overseas wedding, although it was initially very difficult for our extended families to accept our wedding in Fiji, we had a wonderful time with our minister/s, our parents, my grandmother, our aunties and uncles, siblings and those who were able to attend. I'll always remember how happy I was with my dad swimming in the pool in the morning before the wedding and having a great time with family.

Today, we are again spending a lot of time with our children in the pools, beach and splashing about for ages and just having some R and R. Because we live such busy lives with school and work, it's sometimes very hard to reconnect, between schedules and the busyness of life, but in taking time to just relax, we are able to chill and enjoy our time away with just Christmas around the corner...