caughtinannette

Patrick's Sense of Humour

2008-10-01T18:56:00.005+13:00

I want to share with you this little insight into the way the sense of humour of Patrick our 12 year old son works but to start with I have to give you some background.

During the recent Olympics I was preaching a series of sermons that was called iRun. Using as the basis of my series 1 Corinthians 9:24. With titles such as iRun with Confidence, iRun in Good company and so on.

We have been trying to organise our workday so that which ever one of Perry or myself is preaching is at home in the afternoon to be there for the kids coming home, sometimes this does not work and they come to the church if we are not home.

The other piece of infomation that you need is that Perry is still playing soccer at the weekend and he has been getting injured fairly often ... not seriously but enough to make it a joking and talking point at the church.

One day Perry had taken Emily home and was working but I had the car and because the car was not in the driveway the twins decided to come down to the church without checking inside. When they arrived I was explaining to them the fact that just because the car is not at home does not mean that nobody is there and the whole the one who is preaching will be at home.

Patrick says to me "I thought that you were preaching"

I told him that it is now his dad who will be preaching. He came back as quick as anything.....

"Will he be preaching about the Para Olympics."

The people of our July Holiday

2008-09-24T17:27:00.000+12:00

Our July Holiday included a catch up of massive proportions. There was those who live in Christchurch Corryn and the Toganivalus. The Bray, Marshall, stevens and Lequ families. So as you can imagine there was chaos at meal times when we were all together at either Corryn's house or Shelley and Tiko's house. Here are photos of some of the funnier people who showed up.

Ethan trying to prove that his mouth is bigger than his ice cream and stomach.

Shelley as seen by a smaller person.

Julie at her multitasking best. Eating and making a round of hot drinks.

Talei, Christina (black eye included) and Hannah.

The day before school finished Christina crashed with a high school student while at Buller High to do technology. The result was a huge and impressive black eye. This photo is almost 8 days later and the colours are still changing.

Talei making faces

Simeon doing that thing with the eyes

Christina and Hannah together again

Feeding time ...... why are we waiting....

Tiko makes eyes at the camera

Rueben and his ice cream

This of course was not everybody only those who made it in front of our camera. Corryn is strangely absent. She had been ill while we were visiting..... I think this night she stayed home to throw up.

July Holiday - Christchurch

2008-09-23T21:46:00.007+12:00

For the first week of the holidays we decided that a catch up in Christchurch was in order and so we packed our bags and headed out. The first problem of the holiday was how to get to Christchurch when the Lewis Pass is closed.... Thats easy you go to Greymouth (1 1/2 hour drive) and then hang a left somewhere and then drive to Christchurch through the Arthur's and Porters Pass. (Another 4 hours)

The road through the Arthurs and Porters pass was also marginal but at least it was open and we had chains. Chains that were slightly too small but they would do.

The scenery was spectacular and the drive was reasonable.... At least the road was not closed. We did have to try the chains for a small 500 mtr stretch as a truck had jackknifed in the ice that was a little scary but we made it through safely. We did at that stage decide that chains that fit were necessary.

Here are some of the photos of the scenery on our trip.

Share and share alike I say... This bridge just out of Greymouth is a one lane bridge but I am guessing that the trains get right of way.

Our first decent view of the mountains to come.

Snowy conditions are on their way.....

This bridge has been built over the road to allow the snow that comes down the side of the hill to fall harmlessly to the river below.... It was cool.

And this structure just 150 mtrs up the road to allow water to go in the same direction. Some of the water was in frozen icicles hanging off the end of the bridge. This photo was taken from the lookout area.

Christina having some fun in the snow.

Patrick has found his own footsteps in the snow.

A Kea that came out to play with us.... or maybe it was the food he came for.

Emily is enjoying the snow too.

We finally made it to Christchurch after having to put the snow chains on the car to discover that they were too small but they were enough to get us past a really tricky bit of ice that had caused a logging truck to jackknife.

God's Love - Article Four

2008-07-05T21:24:00.000+12:00

This was my last article of four - Published on 27 June 2008

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Over the last three weeks in this space I have been talking about the love that God has for each of us, about God’s pursuit of our hearts and the empty space that all of us have within that only God has the power to fill.

So what does God’s love, His pursuit of our hearts and our empty space have to do with anything?

Well it has everything to do with Christian faith and hope. God’s pursuit of our hearts went to the extreme of Him sending His Son to die for our brokenness. To pay the penalty that must be paid for the sins of the world. Our empty space was caused by the broken relationship between us and God that we experience because of sin.

Christ’s death on the cross has given us the opportunity to mend that relationship with God but it is a choice that we need to make for ourselves. It is not something that is forced upon us or that we earn by proxy. We need to make a choice to accept God’s pursuit of us through the cross of Christ. It is through Christ that we have access to a friendship with God.

All of what I have talked about over the past 3 weeks means nothing if I am to just leave it there. God’s pursuit of you and the love that he has for you means nothing if this is where I leave it. What all this comes down to is that you have to make a decision to accept the love that God has and then to start pursuing for yourself the life that is available to you through choosing to have Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, looking to God as the head of your life.

This might mean taking a look at this life that those who live in relationship with God and believe that Jesus is their Saviour call the Christian life. For you maybe this designation of being a Christian brings with it so much baggage of what you think that this kind of life might be and the things that other people say this life is. But you need to move past that and discover for yourself what a life with Christ is like.

God wants you to know that a life with Christ is a life lived to the full. Jesus tells us in Scripture that “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

The Christian life is often described as something that is full of restrictions a long list of things that you have to do and many things that you shouldn’t do.
In all reality there is a freedom that comes with the life that is lived with God at its centre, because we live lives that are grounded in the truth and lives that look more and more like what God intended our lives to be. Jesus says that ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Yes you might have to make changes in your life but those changes will be for the better, they will be changes that bring joy and happiness, changes that complete you and teach you and will bring about the restoration of your broken relationship with God.

The reality is that a life with Christ is about becoming a child of God. A much loved child of the creator of the universe. The Christian life is living a life that conforms to the rules of the family, the rules of the Father and these rules are just ways for us to live in better relationship with God and one another. These rules are not really rules but more a way of life.

So what about you? Are you looking for that thing that will fill your empty space inside? I want to tell you that God is the answer to the empty space and to that need for completion that you have in your life. God is drawing you to himself and He wants you to discover that you need Him in your life and He wants you to learn what it means to be a child of God.

It is your choice. Find a church that suits your personality, not all churches are the same and ask the right questions …. You owe it to your empty space and yourself…..
God is waiting for you.

Officers Residential Fellowship

2008-06-29T22:26:00.001+12:00

Just a small break in the articles. At the end of June Perry & I attended our Divisional Residential Officers Fellowship. It was a great time of refreshment and catching up with other officers. We spent much time in the hot pools, eating good food and laughing with session mates and others.

The fellowship was held at Hanmer Springs and while we were there it snowed and in fact we had lots of snow on our way home on Thursday. This made the week even more special as it is the first time I have actually been snowed on in my life. Yes I have seen snow and made snow balls etc but I have never been there when it fell. Here are some photos of our week and the way home.

The first snow fall.... Tuesday or Wednesday

The morning before we left. What a beautiful day and look at the snow on them there hills

But the drive home proved to be beautiful for very different reasons. The roads had been closed up until 2 & 1/2 minutes before we left.

The snow on the trees was amazing. There was waist high ploughed snow on the sides of the road. It was more than a little bit disconcerting when the snow got too heavy for the trees and plopped onto the roof of the car.

Everywhere we looked was snow through out the Lewis Pass to just past Springs Junction. We were snowed on while driving.

The Empty Space Inside - Article Three

2008-06-25T22:20:00.001+12:00

This was my third article for the Westport News - Published 20 June 2008

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The Empty Space Inside

Have you ever felt like there was something missing in your life, something you know you need and sometimes it seems like it is just about in your grasp but then in a brief moment it disappears again. You feel like there is something that you need to make life complete. Or as that intrepid little mouse Stuart Little put it in the movie of the same name when he was wondering about his real parents and where he had come from he told his adoptive parents the Littles “I have an empty space inside”. Here he was living in a house with a family who were able to give him everything that he needed he still felt that there was something in his life that was incomplete and he was searching for the thing that would fill that empty space.

As human beings I’m sure that we have all at some time or another felt that there has to be something more that we need in our lives to make it better and to make us feel complete. Many of us spend so much time searching for that perfect thing that will make us feel complete and whole. We think that if we could just be more confident, have more friends, be more popular or making more money, then everything will better. The problem is that so often the things that we try filling up our empty space with in reality are not really good for us and are things that will not make any difference to the empty space that we have.

There are plenty of things that people try to fill this empty space with. Some people try eating all the nicest food and end up overweight, they might think that alcohol might make them more likeable and confident but they end up just being drunk, using drugs might make people feel happy to begin with but that is just a false sense of wellbeing. When we look at being more popular or having more friends we end up being in destructive relationships that have the opposite effect and end up leaving us feeling less confident about our self worth than we did before. Working as many hours as we can to have money also is not the answer and neither is filling up every moment of every day with stuff to do. There are many other compulsive and addictive behaviours that can trap us into believing that we are filling up that empty space inside.

And so no matter how hard we try the emptiness still remains and we go on thinking that there has to be something to fill it.

I believe that all of us have within us something a friend of mine once called “A God shaped hole”. An empty space that only the love of God can fill. God is the answer to the empty space that we all have within us. He is the perfect person to fill the void that we all feel.
A relationship with our creator gives us everything we need to fill those areas in our lives where we think that there is something lacking. God is the friend to those who are lonely you do not need to be more confident, you do not need more money and you definitely do not need to prove your worth to him. As I have said previously he is pursuing your heart anyway because you are worth it.

All you need to do is to respond to His pursuit of your heart. Go to a church and find out how God through Jesus can fill the empty space that you have in your heart and you will find out that there is a “YOU” shaped hole in the heart of God because He is waiting ….. just for you.

God's Pursuit of Your Heart - Article Two

2008-06-21T22:14:00.001+12:00

This is my second article in the Westport News June 13th
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In last week's comment I talked about God’s relentless pursuit of each of us and God’s intimate interest in you. I thought that this week I would talk to you about God’s pursuit of us, God’s pursuit of you.

Consider the courting couple who are doing everything that they can to declare their love for one another; the gifts, the words spoken, the written words, the snatching of every possible moment together and hurdles that they will jump over to prove their love for one another. They pursue the one they believe to be their true love and soul mate.

God’s pursuit of us can be looked at in much the same way only much much more profound. His pursuit began at the beginning of time andhe will continue it until the end of time. He will not let anything hold him back in His pursuit to win your heart. Everything that he has ever done has been in the hope of winning your heart and having you become one of His children.

The difference between the courting couple’s pursuit of each other and God’s pursuit of us is that the courting couples only see and show the very best to each other. They do not wear the comfy at home or in the garden clothing while out together, they do not show each other the things that are lurking in the closet.

But God already knows the worst about each of us, he has seen us in those comfy clothes that have holes in them and stains on them and He has seen all the warts that we possess. Yet He pursues us anyway because He loves us for who we are not what we are or what we look like.

Throughout the Old Testament we see stories of God rescuing His people from near disaster, disaster that they brought on themselves by making choices that were not in God’s will for them, but every time they called on God he came and rescued them. All these stories that we have did not happen just to fill the Bible with words but to win your heart. To show you the lengths that He is prepared to go to demonstrate that His is a relentless pursuit and that His love for you is beyond anything that you can conceive or imagine.

It is true that in all of the stories of the Bible God is teaching Christians about living a Godly and righteous life but He is also trying to show you what a life lived with him can be like. He is showing you what you can expect when you accept his pursuit of your heart.

In the story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17) he is telling you that with Him in your life you can know that he will help you to slay the giants in your life. In the story of David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) he is showing you that no matter what you do in life that when you ask Him for forgiveness you are forgiven and blessed.

In the story of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers (Genesis 37:12) he is showing you that while trouble may come in your life that over time when you trust in Him even the worst things can be used for the good of you and many others besides.

In the New Testament’s story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) God is trying to tell you of the welcome you will receive from Him our Father, even after you have rejected him and thrown everything he has given you away, when you decide to return to Him with a sincere heart. In the story of the woman at the well God is showing you that it does not matter to Him who you are and what you have done your heart is worth pursuing and that He loves you.

In His pursuit of your heart God even let Jesus die a painful death on the cross to pay the penalty of sin, so that you and I can find forgiveness and know that the pursuit of our hearts continues. He is saying in this act that you and I are worth the effort and cost of His pursuit.You are special and God is pursuing your heart and will continue to pursue it. So will you accept His court-ship, His pursuit of your heart and His love?

He is waiting for you and He will not give up on you. God Bless.

Westport News Articles

2008-06-20T21:35:00.002+12:00

Here in Westport the ministers of the different church take turns to write articles for the local paper called 'Church and Community' in June it was the turn of The Salvation Army. Perry decided that this was part of my job description.

During the year most of the ministers had not bothered to submit stuff so I had to do this a little bit blind I found out how many words they wanted and went from there. I am going to put each of the articles that I wrote onto my blog over the next couple of weeks. I wrote these articles expressly for no believers and perhaps to encourage the believer who has lost sight of who God is in the grand scheme of things.

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Week One - Printed in the Westport News 6th June 2008

You may have recently seen the ads that we (The Salvation Army) ran in this paper advertising our Sermon Series over the months of March and April which used the popular “YEAH RIGHT” in response to a question.

I have been doing some thinking about this “YEAH RIGHT” thing over the past couple of days and how it relates to a much bigger train of thought when we look at Christianity and the idea of God. Many people will hear the Gospel being talked about and hear the words that God loves them and their first thoughts will be “YEAH RIGHT”. It might even be something that you reading this comment would say to me if I was talking to you right now. And you might follow it up with something like “How could God love me after ……” and you insert the worse thing you have done in your life. Or the other side of this could be is you say “if there is a God how could he let …….. happen to me” and in this space you would put the worst thing that has happened to you.

No matter what your comments are after you have uttered those now famous “YEAH RIGHT” words the fact still remains that God does love each of us individually. One of the most read scriptures confirms this to us “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16 New International Version).

We live in a world where things are not perfect and we do things and things happen to us that we would prefer did not happen but they do happen because of the choices that we and or others make that go against what God wants for each one of us. But be assured that God is relentlessly pursuing each of us to show us that a life lived with Him at its centre is to live life to its full. No matter what we have done we are forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus, (the only person who is perfect) he paid the ultimate price for our wrongdoings so that we can concentrate on receiving the forgiveness that is on offer from God through Jesus.

Yes God does love you and he will do anything for you. Sometimes the pain in our lives can serve as a reminder to look for or turn to God. C.S Lewis says that “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: pain is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” It no doubt causes God pain when he has to use this megaphone but if it turns you to him then mission accomplished.

But he does so much more in our lives to get our attention, in so many much nicer ways. Every Sunrise and Sunset he paints a picture in the sky for you to see or if it is raining there is the rainbow to remind us. You know that didn’t have to happen God could have made everything black and white right from the beginning and we would not have known the difference.

Here in Westport we are so close to some beautiful reminders in nature of his love for us, places for us to rest, relax and enjoy ourselves. We also see here his provision for us through natural resources that feed us, warm us and employ many us. God didn’t have to provide these things either but he has done it out of love for us and he can’t wait to see the smile on our faces when we are up close and personal with some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

God is intimately interested in you and wants for you to know and understand him and his will for your life and before you say “YEAH RIGHT” read this message from Jesus in Matthew 10:30 “What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” (New Living Translation).

You are valuable to God and he wants you to know that.

Family Store Conference- Hanmer Springs

2008-05-25T18:07:00.001+12:00

One of the 1st major training sessions for me was the Family Store Conference (13 - 15 May)where I learned everything from the mission of The Salvation Army (again) to how to spot and deal with Shoplifters..... This was a good opportunity for learning, catching up with officers and family store managers from around the top end of the South Island and to have a soak in the hot pools.... Lovely.

Also to experience the drop in temperatures due to snow in the nearby hills. There was ice on the windows of the car on our final morning and lots (or so I thought) of snow on the mountains....

Some pictures of the lovely setting that we were in.

Frost on the ground and snow on the hills

And a little bit closer

Self Portraits

2008-05-21T17:46:00.002+12:00

It seems that all the funny kid stories are about Emily at the moment and here comes another... Sort of story.

Emily has taken a liking to taking photos of herself whenever she gets her hands on a camera... I think she is taking a leaf out of Corryn's book actually.... I guess we imitate those we love....

Here are a few examples of her photography skills in self portrait.

Smile Crocodile

Emily after she had a bit of a crash involving teeth, nose and lips

She took off with the camera again. This was the nicest shot of about 10 self portraits

Emily and her picture of her own beautiful blues

Emily comes of age

2008-05-20T17:18:00.000+12:00

Just a really quick story about Emily. I was sitting at my desk at the office with Emily hanging around like a bad smell. She really wanted to do something other than watch the DVDs that we had brought to the office for entertainment. (We are still waiting for Morning Kindy). I have spent the morning writing cheques to pay all the bills..... Morning tea time arrived and Perry made me go to the kitchen to have a drink and biscuit.

Emily makes a detour on the way and I think that she is watching her DVD. When I get back to my desk I look at the next cheque in the cheque book and I see that Emily has been busy.

She had decided to 'write' a cheque in the book and then found a highlighter and highlighted what she had written. It was all circles by the look of it and neatly along the appropriate lines on a cheque. But then her conscience had got the better of her and she decided that this might not please Mum too much. So she found the corrector tape (the twink but dry stuff that rolls on) and 'corrected' all that she had written... well most of it.....

I wonder who the administrator of my children is going to be.....

Our church buildings

2008-04-20T16:20:00.002+12:00

It has come to my notice that I have not put into my blog pictures of our Corps buildings or Family Store. So I have decided to make that addition today....

This a picture of our Corps building from the road

A closer look at the main entrance

Our Family Store exterior

Our Worship Hall before we made a few changes. Like putting the platform back.

Our office before we shifted the furniture around.

The activity centre that is used for all activities apart from the Sunday service. Including all activities that include food. We also hire this space out a fair amount. The pictures on the back wall that you can see are painted onto polystyrene. This room is now used for children's church and Friday night Kids Club.

Congress

2008-04-17T16:02:00.000+12:00

So the Salvation Army Congress in Dunedin was a mission. How often would you fly from the South Island (Westport) to Wellington in the North Island to get to Dunedin (South Island). I spend 3 hours or so sitting in Wellington airport waiting for the connecting flight to Dunedin. And on the way home my flight schedule was full. Dunedin to Christchurch, Christchurch to Wellington and finally Wellington to Westport. Talk about a round about way of getting to your destination.. But on the other hand it sure was better than a 7 - 8 hour drive....

On my way home as we flew from Wellington into Westport it was raining a bit and as I looked out my window at the coast line moving on past, I was lucky enough to see a rainbow and because we were up in the plane when I looked out at it properly it was a full circle rainbow. I have never seen anything like it before. It was so cool. I tried to get photo of it but that did not really work out a tiny plane window....

Here are a couple of photos of the rainbow after we landed.

It had turned into a normal half rainbow but a double one so still a little bit different.

And that is all I have to say about that.... Congress that is.

Denniston

2008-04-16T22:08:00.000+12:00

During March we took another trip doing some tourist stuff and we went up to Denniston which is a historic site where there was once a very busy town. The whole town was based around the coal mines that surrounded it. There is only a few houses left up there but some local people are slowly trying to restore the historic sight so that visitors can see what the mining town once looked like.

You can still clearly see the incline which was used for the coal buckets to make their perilous and fast way down the hill to the rail head to be carted away to Christchurch or to the port. There is also some of the works around that you can look at and see where different places like the school, shop and of course the pubs were. Most of it is in barely recognisable ruins but it was interesting. There are stories of children who were born up there who never came down "The Hill".

The top of the incline. The coal wagons started their journey here and basically just went over the top at speed.

The children sitting on one of the restored coal wagons that would have gone up and down the hill carrying the coal around. Small wagons were used to bring the coal from the different mine areas.

This was a brick viaducts that is still in place that was used to bring the coal from one of the mines to the top of the incline for dispatch down the hill for transport away.

The floor of the old engineering workshop. Not very much left

A piece of the old machinery that helped to make the coal wagon move up and down the hill.

The view from up there once the cloud cleared was amazing all over the valley all the way back to Westport and our to sea. Good a clear day. The day we were up there it was clear for very brief period of time the rest of the time it was covered in low cloud.

Additions to the Bray Family

2008-04-15T21:47:00.003+12:00

I have just realised that I have not introduced the new members of our family.

We have two cats now. The first one came in the conventional way via a Vet/Pet shop here in Westport the day after we arrived. The second one was found one morning on our Family Store doorstep and after following us home that first day he has never left and we have adpoted him.

The first cat is a black and white fluffy girl names Cindas. This name was decided on after we realised that Cinderella was just too long. We figured that if she had not fallen into cinders/ash of a fireplace she would have been a white cat.

The other cat is a short haired tabby cat and his name is Dova. This name came about because when he first arrived Emily would wander around the house and yard asking where is 'the other' (it actually came out de ova) cat and so Dova has stuck... Like glue really.

Cindas was not so keen on sharing her family to start with but the two cat negotiated terms and are now the best of friends. As evidenced by the photos below.

This is Cindas 0n the back of the couch. She also likes playing in the clothes rack when it is up trying to dry our clothes inside

This is Dova. The other cat. This photo was taken when we were making the effort to find his real home... However he now has his real home

This is the pair of them after they had negotiated terms.... They got even closer than this but the photo is not as good.

No Petrol Signs

2008-04-01T20:58:00.002+13:00

I have been promising more pictures of Westport. Have you ever wondered how far away Westport was from anywhere. Well this might just let you know a bit clearer how far to go to the next big town..... but then again.....

This sign is on the road on your way further up the West Coast heading to Karamea and the Heaphy Track. Once you get to Karamea it is basically the end of the road.... literally.

This sign is on the road after we turn off the main road up the Buller Gorge to head to Greymouth.

And finally this sign is on the only other road that heads out of Westport and the Buller region and this is the road that heads in the long run to either Christchurch via Reefton or to Blenhiem or Nelson via Murchison.

So as you can see it is a mighty good idea to full up with petrol before you leave Westport because it could be a wee while before you see a petrol station again. Considering there is only two petrol stations in Westport and they cost a good 5 - 8 cents more per litre of petrol than Christchurch or Nelson they have their futures pretty well taken care of don't you think.

Update

2008-03-21T20:55:00.000+13:00

I am working on doing some updates and while this is dated 21 March it was actually written on 29 July. I am going to try to update this in order and the easiest way is by changing the dates and starting from the last entry...

Good luck following the trains of thought... here goes

And a child will teach them

2008-03-20T17:37:00.001+13:00

A cool little story about Emily.

Just recently in church the offering had just been announced and our daughter 4yr old Emily saw what was happening and it is something that she has seen all her life. All of a sudden she took off for the other room and came running back, after the offering bowls had been placed on a table in front of the piano, with a small backpack that was full of the activities that keep her amused during church. Music was still being playing for the congregation to listen to while seated. Emily proceeded to open her backpack pull out her own wallet and take out coins to put into the offering bowl.

All eyes were on her I would wager... including mine. She gave out of no thought of the value of her coins but the lesson was that if she can give out of the few coins that she possesses, just like the widow in scripture, then why do we hold back. Her determination to give also shows us that we should do whatever it takes to give to God even if it means going out to the car to get our wallet.

It also goes to show that a child will teach us even when the child doesn't know it or even understand fully what they are doing.

Happy 4th Birthday Emily

2008-03-10T21:48:00.000+13:00

It was Emily's 4th birthday and she really knew it this time. Here are some cool photos of cakes, pressies and things.

Thanks to Sue Stevens for this brilliant idea for balloons at the Birthday Party

Emily in her party outfit with her friends eating the birthday food

The Princess Castle Birthday Cake. Another messy creation.

Blowing out the Candles

Opening her presents on her actual birthday.

The pressie haul. Not bad for a four year old me thinks....

More Sight Seeing

2008-02-25T22:25:00.001+13:00

Over Waitangi Weekend we went and did a bit more sight seeing. We went to Reefton a bit of a non event as most of town was closed but then we detoured to the Buller Gorge Swing bridge. It was another beautiful day and we had lots of fun.

This rock formation hangs over the main road from Murchison - Blenheim or actually from almost anywhere (other than Greymouth) into Westport.

ONe of the many view of the mighty Buller river as you drive along it.

Emily and I on the swing bridge. It is a long way down. Patrick by the way is the tiny figure you can see in the middle of the bridge. No fear in him.

Christina at the beginning of the bridge. I think that by the time we got half way she was wishing that she had gone before Emily and I who were taking it one step at a time.

The view of the water of the Buller river from the swing bridge. What an amazing colour and see that waterfall way down below.

The Swing bridge takes you over the Buller river into an area of significant historical value and there are lots of different walks that you can take. Also for a price you can try your hand at Gold panning, jet boating and of course you can do the superman or flying fox back instead of using the swing bridge. The swing bridge is a must if you can handle it.

Westport

2008-02-22T17:06:00.001+13:00

Well I have finally got around to some blogging. I had almost forgotten how.... I will back date this entry a bit just to make it look good but also so I can keep things straight.

Westport is a small town. There is approximately 6000 people in the district. It is a beautiful town with rivers on either side and the sea on a third, so we are surrounded by water. It is interesting talking to locals about what we are doing here in Westport. During our first week I had to find Melissa (my sister) a birthday present and went into a shop and was asked how long was I on holiday (it being summer hols) and the lady behind the counter got the shock of her life when I told her that my family and I had just moved to town. We still get the standard 'So are you enjoying your stay in Westport?' like we will be leaving next week. And we get asked all the time 'How long do you think you will stay here?'

Our congregation is small and made up of people who are mostly 50yr +. Numbers have been in decline over the years. The previous officers had started to replant the church and have started some family and children ministries and we are looking at taking what they have started, change it a little to suit us better and add to it. There is a lot to consider about the direction that we are going to go though and what ever we decide to do will be done with limited resources.

We are slowly getting grips with all the things that we need to do and all the places that we need to be. We are also getting to know our way around even if we get a little bit messed up on the order of the streets in the grid system.

The children have settled into school well and are making friends. Emily is doing things tough with afternoon kindy being the only thing available for her. She has gone from Educare at Training College 6 hours a day to only 3 afternoons at 2 hours a time. All the childcare places here are full with waiting lists and I wager most of them will take full time children before Emily for whom I have booked her for 4 hours a day (mornings basically) I would like to spend some time with her in the afternoons before she goes to school next year.

Well that is all for now...

Photos of our Sight Seeing

2008-02-20T21:10:00.001+13:00

The lighthouse at Cape Foulwind

The Kids and I waving to Perry

The Seal Colony
Patrick and Christina having a rest at the Pancake Rocks

Emily on the steps at the Pancake Rocks. Her hat is too big and keeps falling down over her eyes.

Patrick and Emily climbing the steps back up towards the road

One view from the walkway around Pancake Rocks

Welcome to Westport

2008-02-02T14:53:00.000+13:00

And so I have finally found a small space of time to get on the computer (now we have broadband or internet at all at home) and do a post about where we are at now.

Well we have finally made it to Westport and I can say that we have almost unpacked all the boxes. There are just 4 or 5 left and they are not important.

We are slowly coming to grips with being in this new place it has taken a wee while and it has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. There was a brief moment in time... actually a few of them when I considered just packing everything back up and disappearing somewhere where nobody could find me but that has passed and I have to say that I am really enjoying Westport and our role here. We are still obviously finding our feet and trying to work out which demands for our presence and our time we are going to accept.

Our first and most pressing job upon arrival has been to hire a new Family Store Manager/Supervisor. We had a lady start on Monday last week and that has made a big difference to where our time is spent.

We have also been doing the tourist things. We have visited Cape Foulwind where there is a lighthouse and a little further on is a seal colony. We also went about 3/4 hour north along the coast to a place called Granity. It is amazing how much the beaches can change with just a relatively short car journey. The beaches around Westport are all sandy and at Granity there are rocks, rocks and more rocks. We have also made the journey along the coast south to Greymouth to do some real shopping (warehouse etc) and to pick up our new lease car.

We took all day and stopped at punakaiki (pancake rocks) It was a beautiful hot sunny day and the coast road is just beautiful. We did not get home until 7pm and were exhausted but it was lovely.

I get to go to Nelson next weekend for a regional rally and Officer's Councils. That should be interesting... Another chance for a Warehouse shop too.

Well once I am able to get photos onto the laptop (which the kids are hogging today) I will try to get some photos of all sorts of things around here onto this blog.

TTFN - God Bless

And finally Commissioning Photos

2007-12-15T08:55:00.000+13:00

Perry and I after Graduation

Auntie Melissa and Emily. Emily could not last the night

Afterwards during supper this photo was taken. Emily had finally woken up. I really like this shot of us together.

This is me being ordained and commissioned.

Then it was Perrys turn.

Then together we were appointed as Corps Officers - Westport Corps

The 7 God's Fellow Workers together with spouses who are already officers

This was the photo that was used in the official Commissioning 07 Brochure.

Just for the record

2007-12-12T08:47:00.000+13:00

I was busy talking to Patrick after the Saturday Commissioning on the way back to college in the van, the conversation went a bit like this. Just remember that I was in somewhat of a whimsical mood after all of the emotion of commissioning.

"Guess what? Your Dad and I have been commissioned as Captains"

Patrick nods and says "Cool"

"Guess what Patrick?"

"What?"

"I outrank your father by 3 and a half minutes"

(I was first to be commissioned because my name starts with A and Perry starts with P)

This evoked huge laughter from the back of the van from Corryn who thought that this comment was hilarious and decided that it needed to be immortalised in the history book.

Commissioning

2007-12-12T08:27:00.000+13:00

So Perry and I have finally been commissioned as Officers of The Salvation Army. The last cadets in the world and only cadets of the God's Fellow Workers Session to be commissioned as Captains. But what is in a rank. No matter what rank we are we are still being commissioned to do the most important work in the world - saving lost souls and showing them to a personal relationship with Jesus.

So the timetable for Commissioning went something like this.

Thursday was Covenant day where we sign our covenant to God promising to serve Him faithfully as Salvation Army Officers.

Friday was Graduation. Perry and I now both have Diplomas in Biblical Studies... Our first qualifications ever.

Saturday was the actual commissioning day which began with a march from Courtenay Place to the Wellington City Citadel.

Sunday saw us at the celebration service as the Witnesses for Christ (the next session of cadets) being appointed to their out-training appointments.

And finally on Sunday was the Silver Star lunch where the parents of new officers are recognised.

The weekend was very significant for all of the cadets being commissioned and the culmination of our two years training and now we are being released on the general public. Very scary but we are really looking forward to being involved in ministry again.

The Wedding Ceremony

2007-11-26T14:45:00.000+13:00

The date was November 9th and it was our class on Ceremonies..... you know enrollments, dedications, funerals and yes weddings.... This was to be a practical class... Each member of both sessions of cadets had a role to play. Perry had to conduct a funeral complete with grieving family (Lachie, Rochelle and Corryn).

Me ..... well .... somebody in their wisdom decided that I had to get married... to somebody else as Perry already had a part in this fabrication..... So I got 'married' to Steve. And Andrew was our marriage celebrant. Now we were all completely fed up with this whole role play thing and each team decided to make it as funny as it could possibly be and so our task was set to make a ceremony as real and yet as completely ridiculous as possible. Mission Impossible you might think..... Actually not.

Here are some of the photos from the aforementioned Wedding.... The bride is in red ... of course...

The Hysterical (in laughter) Bride....

The Groom (in Red) and the Best Man!?

The Bridesmaid

Signing the Register

The 1st (and last) argument as a married couple. An annulment was asked for and granted on the spot

Even the names of each of the participants was a total fabrication. The Minister was Reverend Seymour Bigamy, (Andrew Moffatt), the Bride was Annette Tocatchem (Annette Bray), the Groom was Willougby Court (Steve Campkin).

Our vows also threw caution to the wind......

I Willoughby take you Annette to be my unlawful wedded partner.
To leave and deceive from this day forward, for worse and lots worse,
in officers salaries and student allowances,
in madness and dementia,
to dislike and argue bitterly with, till after this class do us part.
According to the Majors unholy timetable
and this I declare upon my honour with my fingers crossed.

I Annette take you Willoughby to be my unlawful wedded partner.
To throw out and abandon from this day forward,
in appointments and moves,
to never live in the same town as you,
in visa debt and gambling addiction,
with long hair and in baldness,
to slander and back stab, till after this class do us part.
According to the Majors unholy timetable
and this I declare upon my honour with my fingers crossed.

This and the other ceremonies made for a very enjoyable day out of something that could have been ridiculously boring and we all walked away with very sore sides and multiple tissues were used to wipe away tears of laughter..... I have to say it was a good laugh that proved to be medicine for the soul.....

To laugh or not to Laugh

2007-11-09T14:02:00.000+13:00

So this week has been fairly eventful....... Lots to Blog

Yesterday Patrick and Christina arrived home from school and Christina hands me a brown envelope that had been given to her by a teacher at school to give to Perry and I.....

I opened it to discover that it was a letter for Perry and I about the behaviour of Patrick at school.

*****

The first laugh

They obviously did not trust him to bring it home to us, so what better Plan B than to give it to his 'big' sister...... who by the way will take every opporunity to 'tell' on her brother.

*****

The second laugh

Once I read the contents I did not know whether to laugh, cry or just get mad....

And I quote verbatim from the letter:-

*****

'Patrick was involved in a lunchtime incident on Tuesday 6 November where he was seen kissing Georgia on the lips. He has admitted to this involvement and said he was dared to do it as part of a game. he will be on Consequences during Thursday lunchtime along with the other students involved. We are alerting you to this formally as we consider this a serious incident and are sure you would want to know about it. Please feel free to discuss this further with us.
Regards *********** (Teachers Name).

*****

I can understand to a degree that the school is trying to cover themselves on all counts in case some parent gets really upset about these playground goings on but all I could do was laugh... If this is the worst that Patrick is getting up to at school then I am reasonably happy.

Perry on the other hand was very proud of his son..... Kissing the girls already mate....

Patrick's explanation of the incident was that Georgia was the one that was dared to kiss him... And I guess that the only thing that a boy can do is to help in the accomplishing of such a dare.

LOL

It is time to be serimouse (oops serious)

2007-11-09T12:30:00.000+13:00

We have just finished one of the more ridiculous and the funniest classes that we have had in recent times. (More about the actual class when I can get photos) My next move was to go to the library and start work on my pastoral care in life's crises assignment a 1500 words essay on what a pastor can do to help themselves in their task....

Something that is supposed to be at least a little bit serious....

Do you think that I can actually get back into the serious frame of mind.....

Absolutely not....

My most recent sentence reads like this

'if they are not careful and watchful these things can sneak up and bite them'

I think that I need to change that last little bit....

Things could go drastically downhill from here I think. This is just in the introduction....

I still have 1420 words to go.

Thanks .... I think

2007-10-23T21:55:00.000+13:00

Last weekend (14th) we were having lunch at the Kilbirnie Corps Officers home after church. Cheryl was at the Women's conference and Peter was left to play host..... At the end of the meal I asked Emily if she had enjoyed her lunch and she said that she had and so I asked her 'What do you say to Peter?" and she looked at me then turned to Peter, raised one eyebrow and with a most serious face said "Coffee?" Now that was not the words that I was looking for but it did make us laugh.

Appointments

2007-10-18T20:11:00.001+13:00

Well it is finally official. The appointments are out and Perry and I have been appointed as Corps Officers Westport Corps...... Westport is a small town on the west coast of the South Island. We are really looking forward to the new challenge and putting to use all the things that we have been learning for the past two years at college and all the things that we learned before that at East City Corps.

Holiday Antics

2007-10-18T19:56:00.000+13:00

We had an amusing day during the school holidays where I was at home on my own while Perry was at the main building doing some study or something and the three 3year old girls from campus (all blonde might I add) where in Emily’s bedroom playing and they were just playing so nicely. I could here them discussing who was being what part of their mum’s and dad’s role play and I was doing some of the required reading that we must do for each class.

The girls had spent the better part of the day changing clothes and wearing all sorts of different outfits including pj’s, swimming togs and normal clothes…. Perry walks in and wants to know what the strong smell was. Well I couldn’t initially smell it but when we opened the bedroom door we discovered three little naked girls who had got into Christina’s girly drawer and found an unopened talc bottle and had proceeded to empty the whole thing on the floor and themselves. They had rubbed it on their bodies, the floor and even each others back. They were covered from head to toe in talcum powder and on closer inspection it seemed that at least one of them had turned up at our house naked… Maybe…..

I phoned the respective parents who happened to be all in the one house and they came over to have a good laugh at our three little princesses. Needless to say it was all three in the bath to wash off the lovely smell….. We did find each child’s respective clothing in the end but it took a while to sort it all out.

Sue did make a quick trip home to see what damage they had done at their home as it was unlocked and an open invitation to destroy or otherwise rearrange. Lucky for her other than some relocation of clothes from drawers to the floor there was no permanent damage done.

Cunning Christina

2007-09-20T11:21:00.000+12:00

As most people who have been in or around the college lately are aware there has been this craze of pegging people when they don't know it going around.

This craze has finally filtered down to the children. A few days ago on their way home from school Patrick, Christina and Ethan were pegging one another and on arrival at our house decided to try it on Perry and I this lead to 15 minutes of the three of them trying to peg us and each other. I decided to join in as well. I have to say that a fair amount of wrestling was included in this activity.

It was then time for me to go and get Emily from creche and Christina who had possession of the peg at the time decided to come with me thinking that she might be able to get me too. Then she saw Suzanne in the distance....... Plan changed. She went running up to Suzanne to give her a big hug and then as Suzanne walked away I realised that Christina had managed to peg her.

When did she get so sly? And who has she been learning off?........ Corryn.

Alternative Clothing

2007-08-31T10:19:00.001+12:00

Just had to share these photos of Emily coming home from Creche with some interesting choices for clothing accessories........

No Mum I will not put my proper shoes on.

I have a tissue box for one shoe, a muesli bar box for another and a toothpaste box for my glove...

This kid will go far in the Wearable Recycled items clothing range.

Needless to say she was really upset when she discovered that the concrete had worn holes in the soles of her shoes......

Weekend Away - Cafes

2007-08-31T10:04:00.000+12:00

So more about my weekend away.

This weekend was totally about rest and relaxation. And I have to admit that it was needed. But I also have to admit a bit a guilt at leaving my family behind and going it alone....

My train was 1 hour last leaving Upper Hutt for half of that time I was sitting on the train waiting for it to leave.... They had to get a new engine from Wellington or something because the one attached to the train was not working properly... A great start to a relaxing weekend I must say.

I arrived at Masterton and Katherine was waiting for me and our first port of call was a local cafe where we spent the next 1/2 hour drinking Hot Chocolates and talking..... This started the weekend pretty much in the way it was intended to go for the rest of the time I was away.... The second place to visit was a local patchwork fabric shop. This to support my growing addition to patchwork quilting....

That night was spent patch working and talking some more. The next morning (after a most enjoyable sleep in I must say.... if you call 8am a sleep in but for me anything beyond 7am without a three year old jumping on me is a sleep in) Katherine decided that we needed to go to the local farmers market and we took with us a member of her Corps with us.... The effort of going to the market was so tough that we just had to visit another cafe on the way home and the three of us sat there for the next hour and a half drinking Hot Chocolates and Coffees and eating yummy stuff and talking.....

The next day just before I was ready to leave. The thought of coming home was just so daunting (I don't really mean it I was looking forward to coming home) that it necessitated a visit to yet another cafe for Hot Chocolate and Coffee.

I have to say it was a perfect weekend and I really enjoyed my time just chilling and doing whatever it was that I wanted to do without interruptions..

I do have to say that I had seriously thought about using some of the time constructively... Assignments, bringing the laptop or even just getting readings done for the following week, just so I didn't feel so guilty for being so selfish as to have time to myself .... However these plans were totally anticipated by Perry who confiscated anything from me that even remotely looked like work.... Going to the extreme of taking my class stuff off me and putting it somewhere I could not find it..... Bother......

Train talk for the railway challenged person

2007-08-27T11:57:00.000+12:00

This past weekend I was off for a well deserved weekend away from everything. Me myself and I were going to Carterton to spend the weekend with Katherine Sonntag (Wairarapa Corps Officer). More about the actual visit in another post.........

My first hurdle was the train to actually get to Carterton. I do not travel very much by train nor do I have a very good knowledge of anything to do with trains or train travel.

I arrived at Upper Hutt station and very quickly crossed my first hurdle. I found the ticket office and paid for my fare. My next question to the ticket agent person was..... "How do I know the difference between the train I want and any other train that comes to the station.....?" The answer was the only difference is that the trains for the Wairarapa have a diesel engine on the front....... Like I actually know the difference between a diesel engine and any other train that might come down the track......

At this point I decided that this person was purposely being less than helpful and left the office just hoping that somebody else might clue me into actually how to tell the difference.....

I need not have worried. The train was actually announced by an loud speaker system as it arrived to the station.... Like I was supposed to know that........

Time flys

2007-08-21T14:58:00.000+12:00

It is hard to believe that we are already half way through August and that the end of the year is fast approaching. Before we know it Perry and I will be Commissioned Officers of The Salvation Army ready and armed to do damage in the community out there somewhere. I have to admit to all who read my blog that I am starting to get a little bit anxious about where we will end up.

Deep down I know that I know that God has everything in hand but it still that whole thing of not knowing... And I have to admitt that now I WANT TO KNOW......

It is so hard to make plans for the future without knowing even vaguely where we are going to be put.

And I guess that a part of the frustration is that I am now over being 'at school' in training and doing most stuff just in theory. I now want to start putting some effort into something that actually means something, something that will be an ongoing type of ministry instead of just showing up on a Sunday and preaching or leading and then that is it.

I am so looking forward to knowing where we are going, which hopefully will be in the next month or so. Sorry to you out there who are also interested but it will not be made official until mid October.

Although on second thoughts the knowledge of where we are heading might be more frightening than the not knowing.... hehehehe

Daddy Ruined My Day

2007-08-08T13:46:00.000+12:00

For you parents out there have you ever had those heart breaking times when a child will say something like "Daddy ruined my day" .... "you don't listen to me" .... "you don't love me" or even the classic "I don't love you anymore"...

Well yesturday I had Patrick in tears around dinner time (having myself been out of the house for most of the afternooon) He was supposed to be folding the washing but taking all year to do it. Patrick had been grounded by his father for certain indiscretions unbecoming an 11 year old..... In short he had blown it.

I asked him what was wrong and he answered that Daddy had ruined his entire day because he had been unable to go out and play (a huge punishment when you have a campus of children your own age to play with) and that he had had to do all the 'jobs' (this meant tidy his room, take out the rubbish, fold the washing and no doubt knowing his father as I do the making of a cup of tea or two).

I spent the next 10 minutes talking to him about the rules of our house. It went kind of like this.
"Do you remember what you are supposed to do when you get home and we are somewhere else on campus?" a sullen reply "Yes" "Do you remember " another sullen "Yes". This went on for another 3 or 4 questions and then I explained to him that he was being punished for not doing what he knew was right......... Then I asked him "Who ruined your day?" a very long pause and then a very very sullen "I did" .

At this point while feeling very sorry for him on the inside I declared victory to myself and congratulated myself on a job well done..... Until about 1/2 an hour later when Patrick came to me and said "Mum how old were you when you left home?"

Now I wonder where this came from........ I am pleased to report that this was just an interest question rather than a response to Daddy ruining his day.

Recess

2007-07-18T21:22:00.000+12:00

Well we have just had our first few days back at college after a couple of weeks away on recess. We were really looking forward to having a few days just relaxing and enjoying some time away from the training college.

However what with the weather and the fact that some of us decided that the recess was the best time to get sick it was not the most relaxing time.

We headed up to the Coromandel to visit my parents and grandmother for a few days to start with and then on to Hamilton to visit Perry's family. Then finally we headed to Auckland to visit my sister and to do the business in our storage unit getting everything ready for when we are ready to leave college for our first appointment in December and we need for our stuff stored in Auckland be moved also.

We still had a good time over the two weeks doing a fair amount of traveling and visiting East City our old church along the way.

Here are a few photos of our trip.

Emily on the Beach at Whitianga. We found lots of shells to take to Creche.

Christina on the Beach. I really like this shot.

Patrick the explorer staking his claim on this part of the beach.

While we were in Hamilton we visited this great little place called Candyland. Where everybody who goes on the tour can make their own cool, large lollipop.

Emily had a bit of help to make hers and then did not want us to take a photo of her face.

Christina showing how big her mouth is.

Blah Blah Blah

2007-07-18T21:15:00.001+12:00

So there I was just yesturday reading out my sermon to Perry as I was preparing it and trying to work out if what I had to say was actually making sense and there is my youngest child, my darling Emily, who was obviously distressed that she was not getting all the attention and so decided to do something about it.

Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah was what she started chanting as loud as she could.

That is one way to give your mother confidence about the sermon that she has to preach on Sunday........

Emily and Mission Weekend

2007-06-28T17:21:00.001+12:00

You know those times when you are out and you are hoping that your children will behave themselves and make a good impression. Well Levin was one of those times, we had all arrived back for dinner to the Corps at Levin and were waiting patiently. Well this was Emily's idea of behaving and making a good impression.

Can she open her mouth any wider than this....

She did redeem herself a little bit with this cute bit of peek a boo.

To Broadband or not to Broadband

2007-06-28T16:12:00.000+12:00

Well broadband finally arrived at our humble abode at the Training College on Friday, thanks to the endless metres of trenches that were dug from the main building to all the houses on the campus.... And some technical expertise from ISG.

The only problem is that since coming home from Queenstown on Sunday it has been very difficult to separate Perry from the computer. Yes I know that he has not spent all that time on the internet but the presence of fast internet in the house has increased his dependence on the computer, particularly since he started his own site at bebo and myspace to update with his own stuff... Typical that he has to take something quite simple as blogging and then make it complicated.... Downloading video clips, adding presentations that he has put together ....

Needless to say that much of the last couple of days without classes Perry has been joined at the hip to the laptop. I guess sooner or later that the novelty will wear off and that He will get on with more important things like housework.... Assignments and shaving......

Bad photo days

2007-06-25T20:03:00.000+12:00

You know those days when people are trying to take your photo and you just don't want them to well I think that that was the kind of day that Monique was having a few days ago when she was watching TV with Emily......

See for yourself......

Emily thinks that this is a laugh a minute. She loves having her photo taken...

Monique on the other hand is highly suspicious of this camera thing...

She did not want it taken at all.

Ooops this was not quite the photo that she would want to have taken. I really like this picture of Emily though.

I just thought that they looked so cute sitting together on Emily's barbie couch watching Hi5.

Gimme 5

2007-06-25T11:10:00.000+12:00

The weekend of the 16th & 17th of June saw all the cadets and children heading for Levin at various stages of the day for our first mission weekend of the year.

There were a number of projects that were to be done including painting at a local school, a sunday service and 1hour outreach thingy for music morning children to come to. I was part of the music morning team. Our brief was to provide a music type afternoon for 50+ kids similar to a Hi-5 event.....

So we did. Complete with our own Gimme 5 song and 4 activites for the children and their parents to participate in..... Our team were; Sue Stevens, Kylie Tong, Rochelle Chisholm, Corryn Smith and yours truly......

Here are a few photos of the Gimme 5 team .... Never fear there is no chance of us giving Hi5 a run for their money.... except with musical composition .. well done to Shelly Toganivalu and Julie Marshall for their musical rearranging skills.......

Round and round the world we go

There are people high and low

People people everywhere

Round and round the world

Playing working helping out

Sharing trusting SHOUT IT OUT

Together is a better way

All around the world

Everybody dance and feel the joy
Everybody, every girl and every boy
Everybody dance and come alive
Because together we are better GIMME 5.

We all had a fantastic time making fools of ourselves. I think that there are times in our lives as adults when we need to make fools of ourselves just to keep us in touch with the children around us..... And also to remind us that God still uses us to impact people even when we make fools of ourselves....

Supermodels in the making

2007-06-12T10:09:00.000+12:00

A few weekends ago Christina and Patrick were asked to be models for a fundraiser for Kilbirnie Corps with a fashion parade of clothing from Pumpkin Patch/Urbal Angel..... Christina took to it like a duck to water but Ptrick was more interested in keeping his very young catwalk partner under control than actually showing off the clothes.... Typical boy

Here are the photos....

This energetic young man gave Patrick a run for his money

literally. I must admit Patrick does look very handsome while proving what good big brother he makes whether to his own little sister or somebody else's children.

Christina and Stephanie stepping out together with confidence. I really liked this outfit on Christina... It was at this point that I did have the horrible thought that this little 'fundraiser' could work out really expensive for me.

This little boy again taking up Patrick's attention off the purpose of the event.

Christina comes out in her second outfit... Again looking fantastic.... Although I think the blue looked much better... I still can't get over how tall she is looking....

They both had a lot of fun and the event raise a good amount of money towards 2 or 3 of the young people's trip to Kaivata for the tri territorial youth conference in Jan 08.

Keeping the Aquarium

2007-06-07T18:33:00.000+12:00

While doing research for my latest sermon I found this wonderful little illustration in my Libronix computer programme..... I found it really amusing.... I so wanted to be able to fit it into my sermon but alas...... it just will not fit no matter how much I shove it....

Keeping The Aquarium
Dr. Kermit Long says, “With all our education, our fine buildings, our image of the church, we are doing less to win people to Christ than our unschooled forefathers did. We’re no longer fishers of men, but keepers of the aquarium, and we spend most of our time swiping fish from each other’s bowl.” — Christian Victory

Just to keep the copyright people happy the book that this is in if you can find the actual item is as follows:-

Tan, P. L. (1996, c1979). Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations : A treasury of illustrations, anecdotes, facts and quotations for pastors, teachers and Christian workers. Garland TX: Bible Communications.

Enjoy

Ooops She did it again

2007-05-21T11:14:00.000+12:00

Corryn is really doing things hard at the moment.....

Towards the end of last year she gave Perry and I a spare key to her house because she was constantly having to ask the main building staff for access to her humble abode, as she was constantly locking herself out.

Well she has really out done herself in the past two week locking herself out a grand total of 4 times...... One time at 9pm at night.

I think that it is time for a keypad to be installed on her front door so that she does not need to have keys, she only has to remember a combination to get in..... Or maybe we need to slip into James Bond secret agent stuff and get a eye retina scanner or voice recognition thingy installed and then all she has to remember is to take her eyes and voice wherever she goes .... I'm guessing that even she will have a hard time forgetting to take these with her.....

New Kitchen

2007-05-16T19:23:00.000+12:00

Well the week has finally arrived.....
Our kitchen is currently being replaced. ON Tuesday 'Dad's Army' arrived to pull out the old kitchen and the plumber and electrician did their thing to make the new kitchen fit in all the right places.....

Emily was adorable bringing in all her friends from on campus to see the empty kitchen..... "Look our kitchen is all gone ..... the boys came and took it away."

Tomorrow sees the new kitchen arriving and being installed.... Yeeha .....
It has been quite odd not having a kitchen although we have been well catered for in the meal department with a couple of conferences in we get to eat with the conferences and experience some of Murray's yummy dinners..... For those who have ever been on campus and had a Murray meal your mouths are currently watering I know this....... The best thing is that I do not have to cook and the dishes are pretty much done for us..

Although I must say that having dinner and lunch with the Territorial Executive Leaders was a bit of a daunting thought.... So much so that I ended up eating lunch in the kitchen and then Emily was not very well so we took dinner home.... Phewww that was a narrow escape ....

All I can now say is bring on Thursday night when all should be returned to much better than its former glory.

Children's Day activities

2007-04-30T13:40:00.000+12:00

One of the more interesting things we did as part of our outtraining was to go to things that were going on in the community to try and raise the profile of The Salvation Army Kilbirnie in its area. One the things we went to was the Children's Day 'festival' that was held at Kilbirnie park. By the time we got there after church and lunch it had more or less finished even though according to advertising it still had 2 hours to go..... We did manage to get some cool photos though... Here they are..... I have to say at the moment most of the photos that we have taken lately are of the youngest member of the family.... We may have to do some things to fix that in future days......

We found this funny looking train thing... I

think that it is called Henry... I assume all you

Thomas the Tank Engine fans will correct me if

I am wrong..... Perry looks thrilled to be

aboard... Not....

Emily had a blast on this merry go round thingy.. I thought that she would be frightened but no actually she had a blast...

One of the better things for your child to drink when they are at a festival.... Maybe not but that was about all that was available.... Emily certainly enjoyed it.....

And then there was the River

2007-04-24T09:24:00.000+12:00

When we were not playing with the water slide on campus there was always the river to go for a swim in. Freezing cold but refreshing. The only thing I found was that it was not too pleasant if you got a mouthful....

Christina ready for action
The water was very clear and also quite fast moving in some places. Further upstream from here it was deep enough for the boys and some of the girls to jump off the cliff....

Emily decides that the best way to get everybody wet is by throwing stones into the water

Emily enjoying the sun shine on the edge of the river.. I think that the swift current may have been a little to challenging for her.

Patrick building a wall to create a nice sitting place in the river... Where current is no problem.

Patrick the builder.... Still having a great time in the water.... Fully dressed and all.

Go on jump in the water is great.... At this point in time this is our water baby. Emily comes a close second.

The river was definitely a great place to cool down and relax... I had wondered why we never did this at the beginning of last year and then remembered that there was the issue of some sort of toxic algae in the river and so a swim was somewhat ill advised..... We however made the most of it over the summer.

The Hazy Days of Summer

2007-04-20T12:02:00.000+12:00

During the first couple of months of Summer quite a lot of fun was has at the college with a great big black plastic, lots of water and dishwashing liquid..... To put it clearly a giant water slide.... Here are some pics

Christina getting up steam to make a dash down the slide....

Christina trying to
'encourage' Sarah to get wet

Christina towing Naomi down the water slide... mmm... a little too much soap by the looks... all those bubbles... Some dishes won't be getting done tonight.

Look out 3 year old with the hose

At the starting line ready to race down the slide... Christina, Kate, Hannah, Tiko, Simeon and Rueben

Patrick hiding out from all the wet stuff..... He did have the excuse of having had heat stroke during the day at school and was avoiding the sun and heat........ Playstation was his adventure of choice.
A group shot...... from left
Christina, Naomi (sitting in front) Hannah behind Naomi, Louis and Ethan.....

Sad to say those days are now over.... The weather has turned cold and not much chance of getting this slide out until December , maybe November if the weather heats up soon enough, but going on this past year there is not much hope considering in Nov 2006 we were still getting snow on them there hills.....

And finally ...... Some pictures

2007-04-18T16:20:00.000+12:00

I have finally worked out how to get the photos off my camera.... so for you pleasure and delight some of Emily's 3rd Birthday.... Enjoy.

This is all very exciting for the one getting to open the pressies. Christina looks a little depressed..... Never mind darling your birthday will come around far too quickly..

And what is behind door number 3.

Look at me I am mobile and I want to be off right now..... This big girl bike thing is all just a bit too serious tho and besides it is far to early in the morning to be smiling.......

At last I have escaped with my bike.... Where shall I go.... Maybe just around and around the teardrop at college...... This event was planned by the creche as a fundraiser..... A bike a thon... played into my hands quite nicely really..... They planned it on my actual birthday day. So I got to try out my new bike properly..... I even got to test the helmet when I fell off.

Now I am really mobile.... hehehe. Talking to my Granny Pat when she rang me to say Happy Birthday......

Well I hope you enjoyed these. I will try to add more photos as we go along. Some of them will be a little bit older than this but I have to catch you all up some how.
Ciao

Out Training at an end

2007-04-17T15:09:00.000+12:00

Well it is over. I can not believe that 3 months have gone past so fast. Out training is now over and we are preparing ourselves to go back to the classroom and continue with the academic stuff that we need to complete this year.

For us it does not seem quite real having been on campus the whole time and not having to actually come back from anywhere probably makes it a little bit surreal. Then there is the fact that we have not actually left Kilbirnie for good either. We will be going back every Sunday until the end of the year.

But it has come to an end and in some ways I am looking at getting on with the rest of the stuff that we have to study ..... because it means we are another step closer to the end of our training and closer to finding out what God has in store for us next.

It has been great to see Sue, Simon and the girls and Corryn back from the deep dark South.... Emily certainly is loving having Monique back as her playmate and has spent every minute she can with her. We even tried a 3 year old sleep over at our house on Sunday night.... It lasted until about 8:30 when Monique wanted her Mum. We will try again another time.

We now have the task of completing a 3000 word assignment about the 10 things that we have learned while on outtraining..... Watch this space for a more homourous version of my assignment. Most likely to be entitled "The 10 most useless things I learned on out training" or even "The most frigtening things I learned on out training." I'm not sure yet.

The catwalk beckons

2007-04-02T11:20:00.000+12:00

Well Friday night saw me and 5 other people from Kilbirnie Corps (+ one person from the fashion store staff) strutting our stuff on the catwalk at the Ballantynes Fashion Central store in Kilbirnie. This was a fundraiser for the Corps who were able to sell tickets at $10ea to the event and all they had to do was supply the supper and the models for the clothing.

What a hoot.... We had four categories of clothing to show off. There was the denim range, casual wear, day wear (for the working woman) and then after 5.

I am pleased to report that there was only one changing room tantrum that was thrown.... hehehe .... not really somebody managed to knock down a whole lot of coat hangers around the place.

There were 70 people there. The only hitch during the whole thing was that the store staff could not get the sound gear working and so there was no music.... Made me feel just that little bit more self conscious.

I do have to admit that I have always thought of Ballantynes as a shop for the more mature woman but I was surprised that some of the clothes were actually things that I would wear if I only had the money. I have to admit to a little bit of a spend up..... Just the important things mind you..... Seeing as I have lost a significant amount of weight since Christmas, I decided that I could justify quite nicely a certain amount of spending.... Maybe .....

It was definitely something different to be doing on my Out training ( a lot different to sorting second hand clothes at the very least) I really enjoyed myself but I doubt that I will have any talent agents knocking at my door in the near future.......

Finding the sermon in the task

2007-03-21T09:58:00.000+12:00

So it goes like this.

2 weeks ago I on the Monday I was desperately trying to get my sermon started for Sunday. I had my topic, I had my scripture and I had a whole day to put it all together..... I spent the whole day typing up stuff and then deleting it because it just didn't sound right or seem to say what I wanted to say.... which by the way was "get off your backside and put your talents (gifts & abilities) to work in the church"... perhaps not the best way to make friends.

I finished the day having spent a good number of hours on my sermon and not having got very far... Now for me this was somewhat of a stressful moment (to say it mildly) .... and I did not sleep very well that night having dreams that I was going to get to Sunday and have nothing to say.

I was somewhat reluctant to go to Kilbirnie the next morning but knew that I had a huge pile of clothing just waiting for me to sort (again) ........ So I went anyway and I spent the morning sorting through the clothing and at one point looked at all that needed doing at the family store and felt quite overwhelmed...... chaching ..... there was the beginning of my sermon and the rest flowed from there.....

So if anybody tells you that one needs to sit at a computer and read heaps of commentaries to write a sermon and that is all it takes ..... They got it wrong.....

Also for those who have been told by a certain tutor that it takes 20 hours to prepare a 20 minute sermon and you wonder where you might find the 20 hours ..... then just remember that the 20 hours can include the thinking that you do when you are doing some other task.... Talk about multi tasking at its best............

Tricky First Year Cadets

2007-03-19T14:17:00.000+12:00

Well the first year cadets are well and truely on campus. They have really made their presense known .. On the whole a fantastic and sociable lot. We have enjoyed any number of BBQs together and Perry and I have really appreciated being able to get to know them well.

I can see that the college are going to have their hands full with this lot though.... There are already a number of pranks that are in the pipe line and a few that have already taken place. This year is going to be so much fun.

Just a little taste of the fun. A certain male (single) cadet had a dentist appointment recently and upon return a female cadet asked him how the visit went... With somewhat realistic tears in his eyes he groaned and held his mouth..... The female cadet said "Do you need a hug" the offer was accepted and the hug given. It was only then the dentally impaired cadet came clean and said that the dentist had in fact done no work what so ever..... hehehe..... I think that there will never be the offer of a hug again........

Being Real

2007-03-06T21:15:00.000+13:00

I had the opportunity again to learn about being real in all situations on the weekend. It was Emily's birthday party and we had some people, mostly from the college campus and from Kilbirnie Corps....

The father of one child from Educare started asking all sorts of questions about how the military ranks work in the Salvation Army and asking about what happens if you come into the army with lots of qualifications and so on... Do you like get a better rank the more you have to start with and so on.

I told him that we are all equal. His next question was "So why do it?". Now by this stage I had the feeling that he might be taking the mickey out of us but instead of laughing it off I thought, you asked for it buddy and gave it to him....

"We do this because we are called by God to serve him in a full time and the college is the first step to that. We believe in God and trust Him implicitly." There was stunned silence for about a minute and then he said.... "That is that best answer anybody who is a minister or priest has ever given to me.". Thank you God that I didn't go with my first instinct to brush off this question as a wind up and give a half baked answer.

And yes I know this is the answer that we are supposed to give but it does not come easily sometimes and judging by his reaction, it does not come that often from those of us that profess to be followers of the living Christ.......

Shopping for 10 year old

2007-02-27T21:00:00.000+13:00

I have officially come to the conclusion that it is time to start taking my 10 almost 11 year old daughter shopping with me when it comes to buying clothes.... Just looking at the size of the item of clothing although it is supposed to have some relation to the age of the child has not relevance what so ever any more and just holding them up and looking at them is not a clear answer to my problem either....

It goes like this.. I recently brought a swimsuit for Christina and it was a size 14.... The only problem with it was that the straps were too long and it is slightly on the baggy side but she is growing so fast and the size 12 was just too little in places it needed to be bigger.... Christina is a very small but quite tall for her age. Then it was time to buy one of these rash tops and boardshorts..... So I got a size 14 in the top because being the tightwad that I am she needed to be able to fit it next year (the swimming season nearly over and all that) and holding the 12 up it looked way too small for her... it was perfect fit.

Then looking at the boardshort I decided that a 12 look way big enough for growing room. Got it home to discover that the 12 was like 2 inches too big on both sides of the waist..... In the end I got her a size 8 pair of shorts and these still fall down. This just does not make very much sense to me.

Then she needed pjs and because of the aforementioned mammoth task of getting togs to fit I decided to just go for a size 10 to match her age... Guess what.... way too small.

I have come to the conclusion that it all depends who makes the garments and where we buy it from.... Farmer vs The Warehouse and so on....

Moral of the story .... to save time effort and the embarrassment of having to return endless amounts of clothes.... Christina now comes with me.... I guess this will save the future problem of buying clothes that she simply will not wear because they are just not the thing to be worn... Not that I want to bring on the teenage hassles of clothes shopping just yet.....

Corryn replacement on Campus

2007-02-19T15:01:00.000+13:00

Well it has taken a whole year but I have finally managed to lock myself out of my house.....
I think that I must miss Corryn being on campus (subconciously) and the humour that her continual locking herself out causes around the place and have tried to fill that void for all who miss her..... hehehe

Small bit of honesty here I have locked myself out once before but Perry had the other key on him so it was not really locking myself out was it..... Just projecting responsibility for getting back in on somebody else...

By the way Corryn, we still have your spare key and will water your plants for you.....

Traveling to Kilbirnie

2007-02-19T14:59:00.000+13:00

Well it has not taken long and the traveling to and from Kilbirnie is getting a bit tedious…. Yes I know that the traffic in Auckland is way worse but it has been a long while since I had to travel anywhere in peak hour traffic.

The distance from our home to the Corps is about 75 kms and it has been taking us a good hour in the morning to get there and before the schools went back it was taking just as long to get home… Although now we are leaving at 2:30 to get back in time for the children it usually only takes 45 – 50 minutes …except on Fridays it would appear.

One of the very amusing things that I find is that (particularly along the Hutt “Motorway”) We end up in a slow moving and long queue of traffic that appears to have stopped for no reason … then just on the side of the road I spy a car that has been pulled over and everybody is having a good sticky beak at what is going on and then just a little bit further somebody else has pulled over to talk on the phone (good move that – instead of trying to juggle cell phone and diary and driving I have to say) but everybody is slowing down to have a good look at that too.

What is it in our nature that makes us want to slow down and experience vicariously somebody else’s misery or misfortune….. I have to say for me I would much rather just get on with what I am doing and avoid holding up all the other commuters and making them 10 mins later than see somebody getting a ticket for not indicating.. By the way I might get to work on time even…

I must admit I have applaud two van drivers the other morning on our way to Kilbirnie…. We were on our way to Kilbirnie on Friday morning in the first rain that we have had for a number of days. Three cars in front two vans failed to stop in time when the traffic suddenly came to a stop in front of them, I must admit that I was driving and we had a extremely difficult time stopping in time as well. But these two guys got out had a quick look at the damage and made the decision very quickly that they could both drive to the closest off ramp and take care of business there instead of holding up the traffic for the next 20 minutes….. Way to go guys…. (It was interesting to note that Perry actually recognized one of the guys from a Corps that we have visited recently… Go Nigel)

Family Camp

2007-02-15T12:13:00.000+13:00

We have just returned from the Kilbirnie family Camp.... We all had a fantastic time getting to know the Corps members a bit better and also leading them in some brainstorming time... Although I have to admit that at time it was my brain that we were storming but that is OK.

The Corps members that came to the camp are all really positive and excited about the potential that their Corps has which is really helpful.

We also had the opportunity to have some fun to and I have to admit that I joined in them all... Sometimes though I feel it was much to the surprise of some of the younger people.... I do enjoy the odd flying fox ride and hooning down a water slide from time to time ..... I'm not really that old and stuffy........

I do confess however that we forgot the camera which I was really annoyed about because I have just brought a new one and was looking forward to loading in some photos for family and friends to look out... Sorry guys maybe next time..

Some of the more regular programmes have started now and we find ourselves involved in leading some stuff and just attending other things. We are still doing the last of the tidying up but this is happening at a much slower pace. But I imagine I will be making a trip to the archives department at THQ shortly to deposit some records and so on.

I am preaching this Sunday and today we are having a at home day during which I am supposed to be finishing my sermon..... Which I really should get back to ..... but just before I do.. We had guest speakers on Sunday at the Family Camp and the chosen scripture was Philippians 1:27-2:11 and would you know it the scripture that I had already chosen for my preach this Sunday follows on directly Philippians 2:12-16. God works in wonderful and mysterious ways does he not........ Amen

One Month Gone

2007-02-08T21:09:00.000+13:00

Well it is almost one month gone for our out-training and man has the time gone past really fast...

We are finally doing some interesting stuff.... almost. I have been helping Cheryl put together some music morning stuff which has almost been like 'day shar vu' (spelling is wrong but you get the idea) back to my East City days of trying to put together programmes but worse because they did not have half the CD's that I would have used if I was at East City.

We have family camp coming up this weekend which will be fun but make for a really busy couple of weeks.... We have work at the Corps Friday morning (tomorrow) and then Perry and I are off to Prison to conduct a chapel service and then as soon as we get home we will be travelling to Waikanae (El Rancho) for the weekend camp. Then when we get back on SUnday we will need to go to Hutt City on Sunday night for the welcome to new officers to the division. Then on Tuesday it is Officers Councils in Levin and then on the Sunday I am preaching and then sending Perry to Christchurch for the strategic Launch through to Tuesday 7pm (our anniversary by the way).

But it is all good we are still tidying up at Kilbirnie but that is now being interrupted by programmes that are starting.

We feel confident that we are right where God wants us to be. Peter and Cheryl are really appreciating our input as they strive to make some practical changes at Kilbirnie that will have a positive impact on the people who attend. The main building is starting to look more like we and Peter and Cheryl would like it and things are much tidier which can only help.

Just can't wait

2007-01-31T20:12:00.000+13:00

Well it has got to that time of the summer school holidays where parents everywhere are saying I just can't wait for school to go back. And I am no exception. It is not that I do not enjoy having the children at home. It is just that it gets to now and every 3rd or 4th sentence that comes out of their mouths is one of the following.....
Mum, I'm bored
Mum, I'm hungry
Mum, what can I do now......

Then there is the constant arguing, fighting and just downright not getting on with each other for the older two of my children..... And for the younger it is I am so used to having Mum around all the time that I want to now sit on her knee constantly no matter where she is or what she is doing. All that independence that Creche gave her has gone out the window.... No matter how many times she corrects me when I call her little girl or baby by saying 'me not baby me big girl'. This makes life difficult when you are trying to work writing sermons, archiving accounts and even when one is up a ladder trying to tidy out cupboards....

So all I can say is roll on Wednesday the 7th of February.....

Our mission should we choose to accept it

2007-01-23T09:17:00.000+13:00

Well we have just completed our first week at Kilbirnie Corps... And our brief for the first few days from the incoming new officers (who by the way were on holiday until Thursday and then were unpacking for a couple of days) was to tidy up in a big way. While the building was clean there was a lot of STUFF just hanging around... Including an office that had not been used properly as an office for the past 3 years. So it had become the collection point for just about anything that did not have a proper home or the person did not know where the appropriate home was.

I have to say that this has been a huge undertaking... We have found financial records going back past the 7 year need to keep stuff.... Going back even past the 10 year mark. We found a box of 1 & 2c pieces that probably amount to $100.00 or so... Although I am told that they will be worth more as scrap than the money we would get from the reserve bank..

Around the hall we have found lots and lots of empty box that appear to have been kept 'just in case we may need them"

We have already made some changes that we thought would really rock the boat (with Peter and Cheryl's blessings.. (like moving the holiness table) but much to our surprise it appears that it was not as much of a big deal as we thought it would be. But then again there is still the Corps Council Meeting tonight......

Our two fold mission was also to start a letterbox drop to the community and this has been a lot of fun with 3 children in tow... Predictably the older two just loved it, putting things into peoples letterboxes has held a certain amount of appeal for them.. For the first two days Emily was content to sit in her pushchair and be pushed around but by the 3rd day she felt that she was good enough to push her own chair, with scary and almost dangerous results. Then she discovered that some of the letterboxes were about her height and that she could 'help' too. Well I think that in the end I was almost at the end of my tether after she had drop numerous brochures in the windy conditions (do not fear I did collect them all up - looking slightly silly running around the streets jumping on these silly things), her running over my toes with the pushchair, and then the arguments from her about which letterbox was hers to post into and which Christina could post.

We are really enjoying doing some practical things for a change and are definately looking forward to the next 3 months helping Peter and Cheryl settle into their new appointment.

Out-training......

2007-01-12T11:02:00.000+13:00

Well we are one day into out-training and I must admit that I was really looking forward to getting started and accomplishing something..... But Yesterday was a bit of a non event really we just spent time talking to the CSM (Corps Sergeant Major) and having a look around the building and then looking around the community and so on. So in fact we didn't really DO anything..... Today we are having a preparation day for the service on Sunday as Perry will be preaching.

Next week we actually start to do other things and the officers will arrive on Thursday so we will really be able to get stuck into some stuff then.....

4:30AM Drama

2007-01-08T14:50:00.000+13:00

You know how I was discussing beds and good night sleeps ... Well Saturday night saw us saying goodbye to the last of our session of cadets (God's Fellow Workers) who are training to be Salvation Army Officers.....

Sue, Simon, Kendal and Monique Stevens, and Corryn Smith were to be heading off to the ferry at 4:30 am on Sunday morning so that they could head to their respective appointments for their outtraining..

On Saturday night we had Corryn over for dinner and Sue and Simon brought the girls over to say goodbye to our kids..... That was it we said our goodbyes and everybody went to their own homes for the night.. And I settled in to bed for a well deserved nights sleep after my mammoth drive north. And I would have had a great sleep too but .................

4:30am Corryn scares the living daylights out of me and wakes me from a really deep sleep by knocking on our bedroom window...... what was she thinking..... who knocks on a bedroom window at that time of night....

She has lost her wallet and thinks she left it at our place...... Perry and I get up and frantically search the house.... (remember she and the Stevens have to be at the ferry at 5am) we cannot find the wallet anywhere..... Then we remember she took Karen Hill's car down the road for hot chips to compliment the meal the night before.... We have the key as we have been charged with keeping its battery charged..... (hehe no pun really intended) sure enough the wallet was left in the car.....

As they leave we crawl back into bed just a little grumpy with adrenaline running high.... Man it took me ages to get back to sleep.....

I think for next Christmas I will buy Corryn a really useful gift something that will tie her house key and her wallet to her on a permanent basis.... Yes Corryn you will even have to shower with them...... (If the house key bit confuses you just visit Corryn's blog and you will be enlightened... a link is on my page somewhere - unless Corryn lost it for me...)

Teenage Toilet & Food Stops

2007-01-08T14:12:00.000+13:00

Well it seems that I am making up for lost time with my blogging but there is so much to say.....

It goes like this....

Saturday was the day for the driving favour that I had been talked into, the drive to Raurimu (for those who don't know this is up by Mount Ruapehu. The Salvation Army's Blue Mountain Adventure Camp is located here. a 4 - 5 hour drive from Wellington)

Picture this:- me driving a 12 seater van loaded with 10 teenagers (aged 14 - 16) and 1 21 year old, we start travelling at 8:30am ish on a Saturday morning. The first conversation I hear from the back of the van 20 minutes into the trip ends with a young lady saying that the thing that she misses is the fact that she is normally asleep at this time of the day..... I wish.....

Because I am not totally sure of the turnoffs that we need to take at the end of our journey I am following Katherine all the way to our destination.... The van I am driving is a gutless wonder and 3rd gear is required for getting the revs up enough to overtake or go up steep hills.

We are trucking along quite nicely with my co-pilot (Cameron) systematically changing the radio stations on the radio as we lose reception of one he finds another... Totally skipping the stations that I would preferred to listen to (I did begin to feel like I was a bit of a music Nana/snob) and tuning into a talk-back type program at one point as there was nothing else to find, or very much up to the minute music stations complete with mind numbing rap stuff. (or am I just getting too old and totally out of touch... just remember I have 10 years old before you answer that).

Anyhoo back to the trucking along when the car I am following take the sudden move of pulling over in Levin as a couple of people in her car desperately needed a toilet stop...... Stupid place to stop really, outside McDonalds so not only does this turn into a toilet stop that takes forever but it also becomes a breakfast stop, almost fastfood style but it takes quite a while as there are about 6-7 individuals from our collective cars getting food at 9:30 am on a Saturday morning (and a some of them wanted cheeseburgers which are not avaliable at that time). We finally get going realising just before we leave that we had arranged with the other cars also going that we would meet at the Mobil station at Bulls (only another 40 or so minutes away from where we are) before continuing... Oh No another McDonalds........ So this turned into another long toilet and food stop... I must admit these kids (most of them in my van girls) can certainly put away a lot of food.

Next stop (or so I thought) Raurimu... I wanted to offload this lot as soon as possible and head back because just remember I had to make the return journey too. And these teenagers are getting noisier and noiser and they are just itching to get up to mischief. At one point one guy in the back asked me if he could do something and to this minute I still have not worked out the term he used. I nearly said yes but decided that maybe that it might not be a good idea so I suggested that he wait until we got to Bulls and the rest of us were out of the van. He responded that it needed to be done while the van was moving and again I almost said yes.... Thank God I didn't. I learned a few minutes later from my co-pilot that the young man was planning to moon passing cars.... An experience that I feel we and the other cars could well do without.

Towards the end of the trip just when I thought we were doing well, we only had 40 minutes or so to go and we were beating the 2 other cars that we heading to Raurimu with us the cry came for another toilet stop..... What was this !!!! 3 toilet stops for teenagers in a 4 and a half hour car ride...... That is worse than my own children..... one who is nearly 3 (she is toilet trained by the way, no nappies for this kid) and two 10 year olds..... I know that our bladders get weaker as we get older but that is ridiculous.

The only other thing to report was the slight panic I felt when Katherine decided without too much warning to overtake and with the gutless wonder full of teenagers there was no way I was going to make too.... I must say the gutless did get quite a bit more grunty when I had offloaded the teenagers......

Although the trip back was quite a bit quicker and very very quiet ... It was almost too quiet and it was just a little bit lonely .... So much so that I almost picked up a hitchhiker or too to break the boredom but I could only find male ones so my better judgement prevailed and I left them where they were and just enjoyed the quiet time and used the solitude to talk to God and to find a radio station much more to my liking......

The great bed debate

2007-01-08T13:51:00.000+13:00

I have been thinking over the last couple of days about the whole Goldilocks thing and the problems that one has finding the perfect bed. This has been brought about through discussions with Corryn recently about the quality of beds when one is on holiday, particularly with family.

Goldilocks was particularly lucky when she went looking for a perfect place to sleep after eating and sitting her way around the house of the 3 bears because she had the choice. Unfortunately when one travels between family and friends over a Christmas holiday one does not have much choice.

We were away from home a total of 13 sleeps (? this is a hard thing to define really sleeps would actually indicate that you got some sleep and there were nights when I wondered where the sleep part came in..... yes I dozed but does that actually count as sleep .... anyway back to the topic at hand) and during that time I slept on a total of six different beds and I have to say that there was only really one night that I was totally comfortable, (don't forget for every bed there is always the first night that it takes to get used to something different to what one is used to). I think the worst place for getting comfortable had to be my mothers house...... Sorry Mum and Dad but it is true.

The first two night we were staying in their holiday unit that they rent out occasionally. That was not too bad but it is quite old, double (we are used to Queen) and has a bad case of roll together.... Then they had people using the unit so we graduated to a sofa bed, you know those trampoline types..... Well it has been used a reasonable amount the springs are not as strong as they once were and so we found ourselves sleeping with our backs at about mid shoulder blade level on the wooden bit that holds up the sofa cushions when it is doing the job that it was more obviously built for.... But then at the other end where the first fold is for putting the bed away we find the small of our backs or thighs/bottoms/knees (depending on how tall one is or how far
down the bed we have traveled to aviod the afore mentioned wooden bit) are sitting on the metal bar that stretches the width of the bed.....This resulted in a very uncomfortable and sleepless night.

So the next night we decided that an airbed on the floor may be a perfect sleep - except we probably put far too much air in it and it was as hard as a rock... Knowing that airbeds tend to have air sepage over any given night we just left it alone figuring if we took any air out we would possible find ourselves on the hard wooden floor..... but not this airbed it did not get any softer the whole night...... So the next night we took some air out and had a perfect night sleep .... apart from the fact we were in the lounge room and our nearly 3 year old was up at the crack of dawn... Then we packed up and travelled off to the next port of call .... just when we had the perfect bed...... boo hoo.

Incidentally the next place the bed is almost brand new and is almost as hard as the airbed with too much air..... only at least this was smooth not all bumpy and lumpy as the square cell bits in an airbed. It was a bit easier to get used too......... By this stage Emily had decided that she was sick of travelling around and was up almost every night at 2 or 3pm.

Go Figure... Obviously we came home for a rest......and a bed that we are used too..... being a training college bed it has its issues too but at least we are used to them....

Christmas break?!?

2007-01-05T10:52:00.000+13:00

Well despite my well intentioned ideas and my self confessed addition to blogging (which didn't last long) I have not added any posts to this blog over the Christmas time. My only excuse is that internet speed at my parents place on the Coromandel is something that just cannot be discussed in polite company. And being the impatient person that I am I just could not be bothered waiting.......

I have come to think that the whole Christmas "holiday" or rest time has become an urban myth... Just looking at the time that we have had since the 22nd of December that was supposed to be a time to relax and recharge I have come to the conclusion that we do too much and try to fit in too much.

Now I am not saying that I didn't enjoy my Christmas because it was a great time of catching up with people that we have not seen for 6 months or longer. But now I find myself trying to catch up with all sorts of other things including, sleep, washing, (no matter how hard you try to keep up with this it is always there threatening to swamp you), shopping and other miscellaneous things.

We spent our time off travelling..... To Auckland then Ngatea, then Papa Aroha (for those who do not recognise this destination it is a little place 14 kms north of Coromandel township - so far up the Coromandel penisula that you can see the back of Waiheke Island from the front window of my parents house there) then back to Ngatea. While in Ngatea we drove to such wonderful tourist spots(?) as Te Awamutu, Hamilton, Waihe, Waihe beach and of course back to Auckland to catch up with those we didn't the first time around.. Then Yesterday we drove back home to Wellington. Man I was so please just to be home... and not living out of a suitcase.

So to say I am sick of being in a car is a small understatement...... I do not know what I was thinking before going away to volunteer to help the Divisional Youth Secretary in the deep South to drive to Raurimu (Blue Mountain Lodge) and back in one day tomorrow.... I think that I will get back from there and totally not want to see the inside of another car again .... for at least a week anyway.

I am now looking forward to a few days of real rest (after my trip tomorrow of course) doing more or less nothing while we prepare for Thursday when we start our outtraining at Kilbirnie Corps of The Salvation Army. I must say I am really looking forward to getting stuck into some real work.... Not that we have not been working really hard this past year but that has mostly been theory and classes etc. Now we get to practise on real live people all week not just the odd prison service, Religious Education in schools and weekends.......... I am really looking forward to it....

The blogging bug

2006-12-21T21:18:00.000+13:00

Well it has been just over 5 hours that I have officially been a blogger and well it seems that a strange complusion has come over me.... I just can not get enough ..... I have already rearranged things and been into my blog a few times ... just to see if anybody has noticed my new blog and if I have had any comments made etc etc...... Might be just as well that I go on holiday tomorrow morning very early otherwise I might be here like really late tonight just doing touch ups or add ons or just spouting all sorts of nonsense..... which is what I am doing right now really.....
Oh well back home to pack the vehicle so that we can get that early start.... Need to be at McDonalds in Palmerston before the troups starve to death......

I have only just begun

2006-12-21T15:24:00.000+13:00

Well I have decided that if you cannot beat them you may as well join in...... So Corryn has just helped me to set up my own blogspot.. It will be interest to see if I actually post anything that often but hey it might be a good way for people to keep up to date with what I am actually doing. Appart from the fact that if I am staying upto date probably means that nothing much is going on or that I am doing a fantastic job of procrasinating over what I should be doing.....