Celebrate good times, come on!

Saturday was a celebration that will last throughout the year. First, the Jackson house celebrated two birthdays. Joanna, Mike's daughter, turns 24 on April 3rd, while Tim, Heather's partner, turns the quarter of a century mark (25 yrs old). The party was a small gathering of close friends and turned from dinner party to bonfire singing and merryment. After a few drinks, Julian pulled out the guitar and started singing songs and everyone joined in! From Hey Jude to Wild Thing, the night was enjoyed by all.
Earlier that day... Tim played his second game with Waikite (remember pronounceed why-kitty). For Waikite, it was there first home game in 10 years. The field had been deemed unplayable because of a huge ditch and some holes and hard spots, but after lots of money and man hours the field was repaired and this is the first year the team could play on the home grounds. The pictures will come but there are two pitches with a huge squash/club house in the middle. It is one of the nicest club houses in NZ almost the size of a ballroom inside one bar. There were about 100 people out for the first game on home grounds in 10 years... and what a game it was. Waikite versus last years BOP (Bay of Plenty) premiership men's champions, Whakatane Marist (pronounced Fack-a-ta-ne). A big game for the first home game, but the Waikite boys gave them a game! After holding them scoreless for 60 minutes of the game, the marists only scored 2 desparation tries while Waikite scorced 4 tries with 2 penality kicks. End score- 36-12. A huge upset in the BOP prims. To top it off, Jim Love and Daryl Shelford (coaches at the acadmey and 'rugby experts' on a panel who picks the winner of games in the paper) picked Whakatane Marist to win! They both had a laugh and told me that they did NOT pick us to win but they wished me good luck (not to get hurt or mauled). Icing on the cake of winning... and the cherry on top of the cake. Tim got man of the match! Rather than getting free drinks all night they gave me 20 dollars. The old men from the club have a nickname, Timmy Whakamoto (remember 'wh' pronounced F). Whakamoto is the team fauna (fauna is the clan or family coalition that all the guys are from). 2 birthdays, a win on the home grounds, upsetting Jim and Daryl's weekly rugby picks, man of the match, and a party to remember. Celebrate good times, come on!