Anticipating April's Harvest Festival

We've really enjoyed the last few weeks in Wellington.  Wellington is truly feeling like home, and honestly I pinch myself every day - I feel very thankful to be here!   We finished an exciting week of prayer at our church.  The church setup a 24/7 prayer room about 20 minutes drive north from our home.   We signed up for a 1-hr session as a family, and I  brought the boys to a few 1-hr sessions during the week.  In so many odd ways, Wellington feels so much like my  college days in Boston.   This is mainly due to the strong community we've experienced.  The following are located within a 5-minute walk from our home: Jason's work, Charlie's preschool, my work, our doctor, grocery store, 2 parks, the waterfront, our church plant building, our babysitters, 14 coffee shops (exaggeration - but not by much).  Many friendships have quickly blossomed with Jason's work, our church and the expat American community in Wellington.   I think this is a really precious season in our lives - and I'm thankful!

Autumn is upon us and it is strange to think about April Harvest Festivals.  In my "northern hemisphere" thinking, I've equated springtime with Easter as NEW LIFE is springing up everywhere!  My brain constantly feels twisted with opposite seasons, but Wellington's temperate (i.e. San Francisco) climate doesn't really offer intensely distinct seasons.


We really enjoy after-work runs along the waterfront as a family (especially for the last few weeks before Daylight Savings Time in NZ).   Here are some pics from a park about 1.25 (okay exactly) miles from our home.    

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Sandbox

When we found out we were moving to an apartment in the city I was so bummed out that the kids wouldn't have a Sandbox. Secretly I really don't like sandboxes as the primary mission of any toddler is to empty the box of all of it's sand. Here is our new "urban" sandbox! Much better!!!

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Bob Barker is in Town

Jason had a little shindig at the Ambassador's residence tonight so I took the boys for a picnic on the waterfront.  Imagine our surprise when we stumbled into none other than Bob Barker!  It sounds like Japanese whaling boats were on their tail until they got into New Zealand waters.  They are docked in Wellington for 4-5 days to restock so they can go out and fight the good fight before Antarctic winter! 

Charlie and Liam in front of the Bob Barker (love the skull flag in front)

Little Dribblers Football Club

Jason was thrilled to find an indoor soccer team at his work.  The team plays in a league at lunchtime on Wednesdays in a gym right next to the Queens Wharf Heliport on the Wellington Harbour about 1/2 mile from our home.  He is LOVING it!  I want to be a supportive "soccer wife" but honestly I haven't really gotten into spectating the sport.  That being said, Jessica and I went to a game this week with our kids to cheer on our husbands.  Although they lost (insisting it was the worst game they've ever played) they both scored a goal - it was actually a lot of fun to watch. 
Here is a video that gives you a feel for the game (unfortunately I didn't catch a goal):

Here we are cheering on daddy/husband:

This leads me to the question du jour.  Do we sign up Charlie for the 3&Under Little Dribblers Football Club in Wellington???  If you can believe it there is actually an Under 2 team.  I think that would be hilariously painful to watch....  :)   When I was pregnant with Charlie, we decided that we wanted to expose him to soccer (Jason's influence) and swimming (my influence) as a young kid. Is 3 years old too young for a soccer team?  Would it be good for his social and gross motor skills or will we go crazy watching him pick grass and "make salads" with the dandelions (most recent passion)?  It is only 10 Saturdays, and although we will miss a few weekends, we are largely home....  Thoughts?   




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My Dream

I'm sort of obsessed with the idea of jumping into the Wellington Harbour.  Look how much fun they are having???!   The air temp was about 65 degrees but it felt like 80 degrees.  I kept spraying 100 spf sunscreen but still burned.   The State Department welcome packet we received when we arrived highlighted the low crime rates in Wellington but emphasized the high rates of skin cancer.  Yikes!    I'm starting to look like I'm changing my ethnicity after yesterday and today in the sun (with heavy suncreen!), meanwhile the men in my life (Jason, Charlie and Eliam) maintain their snow white complexions.  :)

Doesn't that water look like so much fun???   It reminds me of summertime jumping off the pontoon boat in Shirt Lake in Northern Minnesota.  Yet so different...

I was out with a friend "treasure hunting" this afternoon.   Basically we prayed for clues to guide us to specific people in the city - God's treasure.  When we prayed, we got words like star, lion, green cardigan, to name a few.   Going into the city was really stretching and actually a lot of fun.   We had some really good conversations and were able to pray with a few people.  One girl had become a Christian only a few weeks ago before she left her old life in Auckland for Wellington.  She was so excited when we shared with her what we were doing.  She was desperate to find a church community and she is actually coming to church with us on Sunday.    It was really encouraging!  


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Bloody toes

I finished my next to last long run before the marathon.  Here is a 3D rendering of the run in Google Earth (give it time to buffer before running the route) .  It is was a beautiful day and the run is just gorgeous - I'm so thankful to be able to run in this city!   That being said, it ended in pretty severe leg cramps at mile 21 (I miscalculated the route by 2-3 miles, it was only supposed to be a 20 mile run).  Jason was home with a sleeping baby, but fortunately I was able to catch a cab for the last mile or so home.   When I got home and pulled my foot out of my shoe it was bleeding (just a scratch from my nail).  Charlie saw it and asked if he could kiss it - so sweet but SO disgusting!

Wellington Harbour

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Merry Christmas - we made it!!!

We landed at 230pm wellington local time today. A few hiccups on our journey to include lost luggage, toddler meltdowns and a flight attendant dumping water on mama - but we made it!






Christmas near Wellington Harbor












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NZ Thanksgiving ( Part 1)

We just finished celebrating our first of two Thanksgiving celebrations this week. This evening we went to the Defense Attache's home for a super yummy dinner with others in the Embassy DoD family.











Charlie had a funny run-in at the party. He is a great pooper but he needs a lot of time and a lot of privacy. One of the other little boys at the party grew impatient with Charlie and forced him off the pot so he could go poopy. Here Charlie describes the incident:

Okay - confession! Jason, Liam and I spent the day together while Charlie was at preschool. I asked Charlie if he wanted to stay home or go to preschool and he chose preschool. I felt a little bad, but honestly it was a little nice having a special day with Liam. The video also shows how cool NZ gym class is.

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