Lovin' the New Chicas

Isaac really enjoys the new girls on our team. Thankfully, all of them love kids! Susanne-she has Isaac on her lap-loves to sing to Isaac and read him stories. She has 9 other siblings...wow! Isaac loves his new friends. The girls have been so sweet to play with him.

Kara, Susanne, and Lacey

Isaac got a real kick out of standing on Lacey's bag for some reason. Just his size I guess...

Cool shades buddy! What a ham.

Scooby Doo and the Gang greet our new team

On Sunday, October 7th, our new team arrived from the States. Our current team dressed up as Scooby Doo (Matt) and the gang to greet them. It was amazing that they arrived smiling after their VERY long journey to New Zealand. Check this out....they drove to Chicago, then they flew Chicago to Denver, Denver to LA, LA to Fiji, Fiji to Auckland, and Auckland to Wellington. Unbelievable!

Isaac and the many other kids at the airport got a kick out of Matt's Scooby Doo costume.

Kara and Lacey are pictured in this photo. They stayed at our house for two weeks while they looked for a house. They just moved two days ago and we really miss having them around.

Our new teammates are: Justin, Kara, Lacey, and Susanne.

The end of a really good thing

Saturday night, October 6th, marked the official end of our 2006-2007 STINT Team. The following evening our new team members would be arriving at the Wellington Airpirt, so we wanted to take a night to celebrate and bring closure to a great year with our first Wellington Stint Team. It was a great night- yummy food at our favorite Bistro, cheese cake compliments of Alex, times of encouragement and laughter...and a few tears. I wish that we could keep these members for one more year as we were just really getting to know one another. Alex, Jen and Matt will be in Wellington until November 11th- passing along students they discipled to the new team, helping the new team get settled in, and bringing closure to their own experience in Wellington before they leave.

Sarah, me, Matt, Josh, Jen, and Alex. Chris was also on this first team, but he went back to school in August.

Jen's Birthday Celebration!

On Saturday, Sept. 29th, we celebrated Jen's birthday at our house. Jen is second from the left in the top photo. The week leading up to Jen's bday was fun for me--Jen stayed at our house and kept us company while Josh was away in Australia at a conference. Her roommate Sarah was gone too, so it worked out nicely. We had a great time watching movies, cooking, and playing with Isaac. Thanks Jen for making a week that could have been lonely and challenging...really FUN!

Hmmm...the smell of peach cobbler

One of the things that I love about our new place in Ngaio is my kitchen. It has been such a blessing to have a large kitchen that looks out into the living room. I enjoy cooking and being able to watch Isaac and talk to guests that might be here as well. One night the girls helped me finish my first attempt at making Peach Cobbler (my pregnant self ran out of energy after a long day). It was so yummy, and I must admit, I was pretty excited that I finally put in the effort to make peach cobbler for the team.

My cool new table

Thank you Nana and Bapa for my cool new table. I know this is an early Christmas present, but I am really glad to have it. Thank you for blessing me. Love, Isaac

Moving Day!

We arrived back in New Zealand on August 31st, settled back into our home from the past year, and then moved a week later! In one week God provided us with a house in a great location, car, refrigerator, washer and dryer, phone, and help for our moving day. We moved on September 8th into our new place in Ngaio. I need to get the house pictures from Josh, but here is a photo of some of the folks that helped us move on that glorious day. Our friend Kelly literally cleaned our entire house for me...what a tremendous blessing! The guys moved all of our furinture and stayed to help me put things in place, beds back together, etc. My friend Claire also came with her husband and daughter...she unpacked my kitchen for me and put everything away! Thank you all so much for your help! we could have never done it all without you!

Friends from our team, students, and church came to help us move...Praise the Lord!

Isaac even helped mommy pack up the kitchen.

Stuart's BIG 30th Birthday Party!!

We joined Stuart for his 30th birthday celebration down in the city at the Tulsi Indian Cuisine. I was pretty jazzed about it 1) because we love Stuart and 2) I LOVE Indian food! It was fun to be a part of the celebration and to enjoy a night out with our friends from church.

Stuart is on the far left with his "Bling" on...thanks to Pete. His lovely wife Rachael is seated to the right of him.

Attack of the Ugly Lizzard

Even though Josh scoffed at me when I suggested that we buy this ugly/cute lizzard for Isaac, I think that both of my boys have grown very fond of Mr. Lizzard. He likes to come out to play especially at night. Josh races around the house, chasing Isaac, and attacking him with the orange lizard. Ohh what JOY dad's uniquely bring into the lives of their children.
Please excuse Isaac flashing you...these overalls never stay snapped for some reason.

Josh thinks it's fun to stick the lizzard up Isaac's shirt.

We Made It!

Thanks again to all of you that prayed for our visa situation. What a challenge they were in our lives...ugh! Thankfully, we were able to rent a car in LA and drive to the NZ consulate to pick up our visas just hours before our 9pm flight left for NZ. I must also mention that I was not looking forward to the long flight home with no sleep, but thankfully Isaac slept for 8 hours and Josh and I were both able to get some shut eye. We seriously had the best seats in the house...the last row in the back of the plane, right next to the hum of the engines to lull Isaac off to sleep, four bathrooms for mommy prego lady to access quickly, and four seats! Isaac slept on the two seats between Josh and I. Yeah! We felt so loved upon our arrival home as our teammates had made us a large "Welcome Home" sign and they left food and flowers for us. We also had other friends bring us food and presents as well. It felt good to be home at our home away from home. Thank you Jesus for getting us back to Wellington!

One Would Have Thought That I Might Never Finish

Yes, there have been moments when I wondered if I would ever catch up in the blogging world and finish posting my pictures from the summer. I have so many fond memories from our summer at home in Colorado...I just could not leave any out! This is a special blog of PRAISE to let you all know that I am officially done posting from the summer and I am on to events from our lives back in lovely, freezing, sometimes suprizingly sunny and warm, blustery, rainy, and chilly Wellington. On we go.....

Isn't Bapa Fun!!

Bapa, aka my father Larry, discovered that the foot rest on the deck also doubled as a kid's slide. As you can see by Isaac's expressionless face in this first picture, he had no idea the fun that was in store for him. Over and over again he slid down the foot rest with Bapa holding his hands and he LOVED it! Thanks Bapa for providing my night with fun.

He clapped after each slide.

And smiled!