Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Hey look what I spotted out witnessing the other day!


Reminding me a little of Ecuador - except you don't see alpacas or llamas behind fences over there

More witnessing shots you might enjoy - or are they morning tea shots?
Just to prove it is not all about the coffee break - Mark helps my Mum to and from a door

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Another action packed fin de semana en Nueva Zelandia

We have just had a most excellent weekend up in Auckland (2 & 1/2 hours drive away from Tauranga) and have come back feeling very satisfied with ourselves. As a side note - for people that don't even have a car we sure have clocked up some kilometers over the last few weekends.
Mark had the talk in the spanish group and I think he impressed a few people with his delivery which was nice.

A snippet from Marks talk
We also went with the group yesterday on spanish witnessing. It is an interesting how they do that up there. Of course the whole city is their territory and they are very organized. Someone goes through the telephone book and finds names that could be spanish then the information is transferred to a "map" with as many as possible in the same area. They then approach the householder and ask if there are spanish speaking people living there. A lot of them turn out to be from the Philippines but they do find one or two latinos which is cause for great celebration. I was priviledged to speak and place mags with a young girl from Argentina and Mark and Aaron also had an excellent talk with a man (they even got invited inside). We just loved it!

Amanda came with us and was able to catch up with her Chinese friend (Cherie is a special pioneer here in the chinese congo). We all met up after witnessing a went for YUM CHA! Now an interesting thing - I managed to avoid eating chicken feet in Ecuador for 2 whole years but had to do it here in NZ!
Cherie said I would never be accepted by the chinese congo if I didn't eat one so I put on my big girl pants an went for it. One bite though and I went back to being a wimp. They are just so awful! It's the texture that I just couldn't get past, oh and the fact that those three toes have been scratching round in the dirt!
Maria, although she looks like she is into it - couldn't do the deed either - so I don't feel so bad!
Amanda shows why she is well in with her chinese friends

We also had a lovely evening last night with our friends (and their other friends) Martin and Louise. They are going to Bolivia next month to live. They have been planning this for quite awhile and left Bethel a couple of years ago to get their plans underway. They will be greatly missed by the spanish group - having been there just about from the start.
Louise and I with the gorgeous little Columbian girls who now live in Hamilton

We had a lovely catch up with Jay and Sheryl (sorry I don't have their photo) who served in Ecuador at the same time as us and are also hankering to get back.That place sure gets into your blood there's no denying - it will be a great reunion for us at the English Convention in Guayaquil that's for sure.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

A weekend in the bustling metropolis - Taumarunui!

This scary sign may have something to do with why they don't get heaps of visitors in Taumarunui!

The locals are very cool - a little crazy but hey ain't that just the best way to be!

Aaron going into the KH

Some of the 60 million sheep we have here in New Zealand


Mark was privileged to give a talk in Aaron s new congo - Taumarunui. It is a very pretty albeit small town in the middle of the North Island. Not a place that I have ever spent any time in because - let's face it - why would we go there? However now I am looking forward to going back some time. As I say it is a very pretty part of the country and in places reminded me of the mountains in Ecuador - except of course all the sheep that we have here! We met some awesome folks and enjoyed our time there with them. Aaron is settling in nicely and has started himself a little business to help support himself - fixing computers (of course). Of course he is yet to get any paying customers but hey - these things take time, I am sure he will do well.l

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Wedding of the Year


Well - do we look any different? We are now officially a mother and father-in-law and while a little scary (going into a new phase in our lives and all) I am sure we will get the hang of it sooner or later.
The wedding went without too much of a hitch except for little Miller
(Marks brothers' 3 year old)
taking a swipe out of the cake before the photos were taken, but even that was just plain funny.
Me making some quick adjustments after Miller taste tested the cake
We had a lot of fun with the whanau (maori word for family) and the weekend went way too fast. Actually the last 25 years with Ryan have gone way too fast. I guess every mother looks back as their children marry and say the same thing - where did it all go?The girls dresses were made in Japan making it a truly international wedding (with the clothes that is)


My two boys looking super handsome in their Ecuadorian made Suits
Marks family and my lot pose with the bride and groom

Now we are super focused on getting that house sold and getting on with our lives. I miss Ecuador!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

my how the garden has grown


We are off today on our trip down to Gisbourne for the wedding and Lloyd thought it might be a nice treat to have some new potatoes while we are away.
Mmmm now that's fresh!
Next post will probably be all about the wedding. Hasta proxima semana!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Beach Bums



Aaron and his friend, Mike - take to the very poor surf (they had fun though)


Random shot of a kid (just wanted to show you the beach

Well I tried to stay away from the old fish and chips on the beach thing until after the wedding (got to fit into my dress you know) but it was pretty hard to resist! After the meeting (Mark gave the talk, much easier in English for him) we headed over for Aaron to have a surf and catch up with friends. It was a beautiful night and didn't get dark till after 9pm so we had a good long time to veg out.

Aaron tucks into a deep fried Moro Bar (NZ equivilent to a Mars Bar)
- sooo fattening (not that he has to worry about that!)


Battered Fish mmm!


Mark throws the frisbee around at sunset