Stafford - the Edge of reason

Our return trip to Stafford to see Clare, Martin, Ben and Sam proved great fun, particulary for the kids.





Hiding and diving in their mammoth den.



A trip to Monkey Forest in Trentham was wonderful...



...and a little scary!



Theo giving the thumbs up to a fab meal.



Ben keeps the train on track.

Brazil win the World Cup?

There's a rumour that Brazil are set to win the 2006 World Cup. So in preparation Roger decided to adopt their colours for the Shakes Badminton indoor Championship at Sheffield's English Institute for Sport.



Could the 3 - 0 set victory over George be a sign of things to come?

The Chronicles of Half Term

February half term arrived without a drop of snow to stop us having a great adventure.















Hannah (Susan), Yasmin (Lucy), Nikhil (Peter) and Theo (Edmund) enjoying their own interpretaion of The Chronicles of Narnia.


Yasmin (Lucy) prepares to become a Princess.

40 Years Young!

At forty Roger could easily find himself looking at life with the cup half full, but after an evening hanging out with the Sheffield posse, the cup was simply overflowing. A big thank you to everyone that turned out. We hope you all had a great night!




Roger & George



Alex, George & Lesley



Karen & Sam



Shelley & Wendy



Tom



Lorraine & Jim



Jane & Nav



Dom



Bev



Dorte, Oliver & Sue















Miles & Paul



Karen, John, Wendy, Claire & Sam



Ceris & Gerry



George, Sherry, Wyn, Carolien & Rob



George, Sarah, Joy & Bryan















Lesley, Craig, Sarah, Luis & Alex



Amy & Mark



Dave, Michael, Shelley, Roger & Laslo



Peter & Roger

Yasmin's 6th Birthday

Yasmin with her birthday cake.


Happy Birthday!!!








Funny Faces...














...but why so sad???















Pass that parcel!













No party is complete without your favourite balloon.












Yasmin with her best friend Oscar.

SHM on Friday

It has become customary for Roger to see the guys at Soundhouse Media on the ocassional Friday evening for a quick drink to catch up on the latest news from Sheffield's finest PR team.



Roger is with Chris and Dave has the solo spot.

Peak Walk

Walking in the Peak District with my best mate Jon.

Into 2006

Theo in awe of some of the many girls in his life.


It's easy to start 2006 with lots of resolutions, but for the Shakes family we're focusing on getting the final pieces of the puzzle complete as we prepare to make our move to Auckland. We had a great time on New Year's Eve with the Hermitts in Cheshire before heading to Chinley to hand out with Dom & Bev.

Family Reunited

Christmas is traditionally a time when families gather for festive fun and the Shakes are no different. A brief trip to Luton and Bury-St-Edmunds proved a wonderful time to catch up and share news of our exciting adventure. Each meeting has added poignancy as it could be the last time we see some people for a long time. But as you can see, it was smiles all around.

Welcome World!

Welcome to the family Shakes blogspot. Over the months ahead we will be posting the odd comment as we embark on our journey from the UK to Auckland, New Zealand. Although our departure is a few months away, we'll be giving regular updates on our progress and describe how we negotiate the challenges that are sure to arise.