April 20th

This weekend was good for all three of us. Saturday we took the train into Auckland City and spent the day walking the parks and shops. I’m not sure how far we walked, but it felt like a long hike. It was so beautiful, which was crazy because it’s in the middle of the city. We were able to locate a Kauri tree. We had been guessing what type of tree they were and it was great to finally know what they looked like. They are really big, tall and beautiful. The city is impressive and flashy, much different from Papatoetoe. In the suburb it’s very simple and plain. It’s a treat to go into the city and see all the frills. In the middle of the city all the alley’s are paved in brick and there are so many different expensive shops and restaurants at every turn. We wanted to get something to eat and ended up at Burger King. It was nice though because there was a group playing some Peruvian bamboo music on the street. We sat down on a bench to enjoy the music and the meal. When we got back to the flat we felt like our legs wouldn’t walk anywhere else even if we wanted them to. We made some pop corn and watched half of a movie. We were too tired to finish it.
Sunday was a covenant service at the church. Lorri was getting fidgety as we were worshiping so I took her to the quiet room since they don‘t have nursery. I stayed with her there until communion and then caught up with Dale to go up front. We knelt at the alter to take the communion. I wasn’t sure what to do with Lorri so I took her with us and let her down on the kneeling pad. As we were praying she started playing with the glasses that were set in the slots above her. The pastor got a kick out of it because Lorri was so enthralled by the look of the sparkling glass above her.
Today is the last day we have our rental car. We planned on going to the beach but when we woke up this morning it was raining. I guess that means it’s a good library day. Dale has been reading every chance he gets. I think he’s finished three books now. I’m guessing he’s ready for next week to start and reading is a good pass time.
We are trying to get Lorri to sleep through the night, so we move our mattress into the living room every night. It’s been good for me because I sleep a little better when I don’t hear her every move. We get up at 6:30am now, so that’s good. We go to bed around 8:00pm. I think we are slowly adjusting to the time.
Lorri has four teeth coming in on the top now. Two are showing and the other two are working their way out. She has discovered that she can grind her teeth, which is crazy to me. She’s a smart little thing. Her walking is getting a little more balanced. She likes to hold on to our hand with one of hers and have the other hand free. The cabinets are her favorite toy. She opens them and brings everything out. If I’m cooking or cleaning in the kitchen she wants to be in there with me. Most of the time she crawls up my leg and hangs onto my pants. She’s learning so much and growing fast. We are trying to get her to eat more of a variety of foods and protein. She’s become very picky with what she will eat. I think she’s a vegetarian at this point. Tonight we are going to try some beans and see what she thinks.
Dale got his working visa, which is an answer to prayer. We have to wait on Dale’s permanent teachers license now. Once Dale gets his teaching license I will have to get a working visa and find a job for myself. I’m hoping to get a job at the preschool near Dales school. That’s something we are really praying for.
We haven’t tried the coffee here, but it truly looks amazing. They serve it in big round mugs and it looks like the cream rises to the top. It also looks worth whatever the cost. We tried two of their candy bars. The Morro chocolate bar is like a Milky Way but much better. Don’t try the Crunchy bar here, it’s suppose to be like the malt balls, but it’s not as good.
We went to the library today and tried to get on the computers, there was a long line for the rest of the library’s open hours. I can’t wait until school starts again for all these kids. I won’t have such a long wait once they are back in school. The kids like to play games on the computers and they always have a large group around them waiting to play. Once school starts I’ll be able to get internet at the school with my lap top and not have to worry about waiting in line.

April 25th

The rest of this week hasn’t been anything special or exciting. Today is a type of veterans day for New Zealand, so there isn’t anything opened today, plus it‘s raining out. We were going to go shopping for food, but I guess we have to make do with what we have in the cupboard. We plan two meals ahead of time since our fridge is very small.
Lorri has been practicing her walking these past two days. Last night we walked her back and forth to get her really tired for her bedtime. We’ve set a bedtime for her and we are letting her put herself to sleep. She’s been crying herself to sleep, but hopefully that phase will end soon. We get her ready for bed around 8:00pm and we read a chapter in the Bible then a chapter in kids book from the library. She’s all calmed down and ready for bed by 8:30pm. It’s been a really nice routine for us, now we just have to get her to sleep through the night. We’ve done well with getting her to wake up once instead of twice.

April 26th

Dale starts school today! He’s very excited and has been waiting for this for a long time. I think he had trouble getting to sleep and then he was up really early. It wasn’t raining today so I think he has a good start for his first day.
Sunday it rained all day for us. It was funny because we both set out for church without our jackets because we thought it was warm enough to go without. It started raining softly at first then it really came down in gusts has we were walking to church. Lorri was all snug and dry, her stroller had a plastic rain covering. A guy walking in the other side of the road saw us and offered his umbrella. We said no and walked on, but he crossed the street and really wanted us to take it. We had just been talking about buying one as soon as we could. We were already soaked, so it seemed odd to take an umbrella. The guy wanted to be helpful and I thought it would be snobby if I didn’t take it. I took it and thanked him. We looked funny walking with an umbrella soaked to the bone. It was so windy too that it turned the umbrella inside out. We were laughing so hard about the whole thing. Once we got to church nobody noticed that we were wet. All our cloths were so soaked that it looked like we had dark cloths on and Dales hair looked jelled. I looked like I had just stepped out of the shower, but my hair dried fast. We were cold through the whole service, besides that it wasn’t a problem.
I took Lorri to where all the kids were instead of going to the quiet room. There were a couple of little one year olds that liked her and all the older girls loved playing with her. All the kids were watching Madagascar 2 so it was nice to have her play around with all the kids without interrupting anything. Some of the ladies are taking me to a play date on Wednesday morning. They said there are a bunch of younger moms more my age and lots of babies. They just get together and have the kids play while they drink tea and fellowship. I’m very excited about it. This morning one of the ladies from the church came over to visit with her little one year old. Lorri and her played together while we talked. We even went to the park together and had the girls play. I think all the ladies don’t want me to be bored while Dale is at school. They all wanted my phone number so that they could call and talk. I’m very well taken care of here.
Something else funny happened yesterday. We were talking to an older lady behind us while everyone was finding their seat for church to start and we told her that we were pregnant. She had been a nurse/midwife in her younger days and we just got to talking about it. Dale told her that he wanted me to have twin boys and we were laughing about it. Well, after church everyone was coming up to us and congratulating us on our expecting twins. Some of the ladies were sad for me, being all alone and having such a big responsibility without help. We had to spread the news that we didn’t even know what we were having yet because it’s still really early.

April 28th

Dale’s first day was an orientation/get to know the school type day. He has the class to himself today and he’s pretty excited about it. Susan, the lady who has been helping us all along, took me to the school today and gave me a tour. We went to the lounge room to wait for Dale to come and say hi. It’s amazing, they have a coffee machine that makes any type of coffee you could want and free internet. I get to visit every Friday after school and hang out in the lounge with Dale. I’m so excited for Fridays to come now.
Earlier today I went to the shopping street because I wanted to pick up a few groceries for the next two days. I met a friend! I had to pick up some wipes for Lorri and there was a special baby shop that is cheaper than any place around. Her name is Nunia and she works at the shop, she is my age and has a son that is 10 months. We talked for two hours and were instant friends. She has been married exactly the same amount of time Dale and I have been. I think I would have stayed longer but I had to get back for Susan. It’s nice to have someone my age and so much in common. She is the first one I have met that isn’t 15 or 20 years older than me that has a baby.
Another thing that I’m so thrilled about is Susan gave me a table cloth. I know it’s crazy, but I thought the kitchen looked ugly with the orange and blue one we had before. I’m going to get some flowers to brighten it up as well.
Dale’s birthday is coming up on Friday. We were going to go out for the day on Saturday, but someone is letting us borrow a car until mid July. They are giving it to us on Monday, so we are waiting until next Saturday to go. Susan and George are going to watch Lorri for the day we are out. They call themselves Gran-mum and Gran-dad for her. They said, “if her real grandparents heard us say this, they wouldn’t be to pleased.”

April 30th

Play group was great yesterday. Lorri didn’t know what to do with all the babies her age. Chikirah and Lorri were the only girls though among six boys. Chikirah is Lorri’s one year old friend from church. Her mother Lisa brought us to the play group. We are going shopping together today. The grocery store in Manukau is much cheaper than the store I can walk to.
On Friday night I was invited to go to a ladies gathering at Mcdonalds. They drink coffee and plan fund raisers. It sounded like fun (the drinking coffee part mostly), but Dale’s birthday is on Friday and I don’t want to leave him on his birthday. I think they meet every Friday night, so I can catch up the next week.
Tuesday Lorri and I are joining another play group, so now we have play group on Tuesdays and WednesdaysJ We are definitely getting to know the community here.
Dale is overwhelmed at this point with school. He wishes he had more time to prepare, but he is making do with the time he has in the evenings. The kids are really tough he says and it’s going to be a rough school year to get through. He’s up for the challenge though.

Today is Tuesday the 14th

We went into Manukua today to walk the mall and find a coffee shop to hook up to a wireless connection. Ha ha ha ha, yeah right. Nobody knew what we were talking about when we asked where a hot spot was. Ends up that there are special shops for printing and copying that have Internet, but you have to pay by the hour. We splurged just to check our e-mail and write our bank. We weren’t able to write much because Dale and I shared the hour. I think I had 83 messages or so. Dale says that his school will allow me to have free access to the Internet once a week. I think he starts in two weeks. If not than we will have to pay to get it to our flat. It’s not cheap here though, calling isn‘t either. It costs us 50 cents a minute to call home and to cell phones anywhere. We are planning on getting a phone card, which is the best way to go when calling long distance. You’d think that this place is on the other side of the world or something. We were definitely spoiled in America. We miss everyone already, but we are doing very well.
I’m already tired of the food, except for the fruits and vegetables, I can never tire of those. The rest of the food taste very Indian and I’m getting sick of curry smells. The noodles, pasta sauce, butter, eggs, beef, chicken, and bread all have a different taste to them. I think I’m extra sensitive to it since I’m pregnant.
I know I’m going to love to have a baby, but I wish I wasn’t pregnant at this time. I get so tired so easily and there is so much to explore. Dale and I went for a walk to several parks and I was about to throw up/pass out during the whole walk. I felt terrible, but I wanted to go out and see things. Today Dale went on a walk without me because I was dizzy and sick. It’s just to bad I have to be sick.
I’m loving the laundry chore here. I wash during the night and by morning hand it all out to dry, by afternoon I take it down and put it away. It’s a great system! I think Lorri likes it too, she plays in the grass while I hang it and take it down.
Lorri is cutting two teeth on the top left of her mouth. It’s interesting because I thought the two front came in first then the side ones. I guess the side one is coming up with the first front tooth. She loves to teeth on the carrots here. They are huge and she just chews on it forever. The family next door brought her a bag of little toys last night. Today she had fun figuring them all out.

Sunday the 12th

Today is Sunday and we still haven’t gotten a chance to get internet. There is going to be a lot to read once I post everything. We have been in New Zealand for five days now. It’s been crazy getting everything settled. We haven’t adjusted to the time very well. At first we were sleeping hard anytime our heads hit the pillow, but now we are going to bed around 6 or 7pm and waking up at 4:30 or 5am. It’s very different from what we are used to, but almost everything is that way here.
We moved into our flat on Friday, which took the whole day. We bought some household essentials and a lot was given to us to borrow. That was a huge blessing because we didn’t have any towels, sheets, pillows or even a bed. They also let us borrow chairs, table, kitchenware and a fridge. God has truly taken care of us. We live close to the school, the markets, library, train station and a park. It seems the perfect place to be to get by without a car. We are renting one for just a week, which is over on Thursday.
We live in Papatoetoe which is the slums to most of Auckland. We didn’t think so when we first arrived, but when we saw the rest of Auckland and compared the two there was a big difference. There are a lot of Indians, Islanders, Samoan, and Asian that live here in Papatoetoe.
The family next door to us are the owners of the flat we are renting. The whole family have been working in our yard clearing bushes and overgrown plants. Dale went out and helped with picking up branches. It’s been a great chance to get to know them. They are very kind people and excited to have us here.
I’m very excited about the way they do laundry here, they hang it out to dry. We just hooked up the washer, so I’m excited to start hanging the laundry.
On Saturday we went to the Otara farmers market. In every booth each table was overflowing with all types of fruits and vegetables. It’s crazy how cheap and good it is. Almost everything else is very expensive. We then took a scenic drive to Karekare and went to a few overlooks. It‘s BEAUTIFUL! It has been raining every day that we’ve been here, but it rains for an hour or two and clears up.
Today we found a good fellowship of believers at a Wesley Methodist church just down the road from our flat. We enjoyed biscuits and a cup of tea after church with most of the congregation. It’s nice that we found a fellowship so close because we won’t have a car for several months. After church we caught up with an older couple that has been helping us with settling in and took a long tour of Auckland. There is so much to explore, we’ve decided to start with Auckland and work our way out. It’s a good thing we are here for two years, otherwise I don’t think we’d get the chance to discover everything that needs to be discovered.

We Made it!! Wednesday the 8th

We praise God for all he has done for us during this journey. There could have been so many different problems with the flights or with actually passing security in Auckland without a visa. We are so blessed to have you all praying for us. I believe it all went so smoothly because of your prayers.
We got up at 2am on Monday morning with Dale’s family and drove to the airport. It seemed like a quick goodbye, but we were able to spend all week saying goodbye. Everyone was so nice and helpful at the airport, we had no problem getting everything checked in. Our suitcases were a little to heavy, so we had to fill a box with the extra pounds. Dale took the box as his personal carry on item. I was worried about Lorri with taking off. I gave her crackers while we were taxing the runway, but she started squirming and didn’t want anything. I started praying for her and right when we lifted she fell dead asleep. It was crazy how fast she went limp. She slept the whole way and had no problems with the landing.
We arrived in LA around 8:30am and we had to wait until 1:30pm for checking in our bags. Since we had “some” hours to spare we parked ourselves on a bench with all our luggage and waited. After awhile Dale, Lorri and I were able to sleep. I never imagined that a wooden bench would feel so amazing to sleep on.
Once the line started for Air New Zealand we thought it wouldn’t hurt to wait until the crowds died down since our flight wasn‘t until 9:00pm. We were able to sit and talk with many different people as we were waiting. It’s amazing how there is an instant connection and camaraderie between you and total strangers that love the Lord. They could be any type of nationality and it‘s like you‘ve known them all along. Lorri made friends with anyone that looked at her. She was miss social the whole time. Many people helped walk her around and let her play with their colorful bags. They were all amazed at how active she was. The time seemed to go fast because their were many people to talk to and Lorri kept us very busy.
Once we boarded the airplane I felt like we were in first class. We were able to put Lorri in a bassinet that came out from the wall in front of us. We had all the leg room in the world, the bathrooms right next to us, blankets, pillows, and free food. The food was amazing, but Dale says it‘s because we were starving. We were so very tired as well. Sleeping upright isn’t very wonderful. I was dreaming of a bed where I could lay straight. It was a blessing to have Lorri sleep in her own spot for more than half the flight.
We were in pitch dark for sixteen hours. The day seemed so long on Wednesday and the night even longer. I think we are still getting used to the difference in time. Once we were in New Zealand it felt like the ground was moving hours after getting of the airplane. I was so very tired I couldn’t think straight, so it was even more difficult with the ground moving. I saw a sign and asked what it meant. The lady who picked us up asked me to describe it because she missed what I was talking about. I said it was a pole with spiral black and white lines and a red dot at the top. We kept our eye out for it so she could tell me what it meant. It ended up being a stripped pole (no spiral) with an orange dot. Ha ha ha. I guess I was still dizzy from the flight.
We were busy straight away. We toured Papatoetoe, looked at some rental homes, visited the school, set up a car rental, and walked around the main street. Once we actually laid down in bed it was the best thing in the world. We don’t have any access to the internet in our Motel or even a phone, I am just writing everything down for when we go to a hot spot. It’s terribly slow here, so it’s best that I write it separately to copy and paste later.
Today is Thursday, Wednesday for you though. We are getting our rental car this morning and sealing the deal for a flat. We have a banana tree in the back yard! We will also get unlimited grape fruit and oranges from a lady at the school! The fruit here is so cheap and incredibly good. The air is so fresh and crisp. It was raining this morning and the sun was shining. The rain is so different too. It’s like a light mist, it rains slow and soft. I know that sounds weird, but it’s the only way I can think to describe it.
I’m not sure exactly what you can put in your prayers for us, we are just so grateful to the Lord for bringing us this far safe and sound. That’s it for now.

Hey I'm ON!!

Wow, finally I am able to update you all. I walked to the Library in the rain with Lorri:) So this will be worth it. I also waited 45 minutes for the computers. The following posts are what I have written along the way. It's very lengthy, but hopefully you don't mind. We love you all and thank you for all your prayers!!

Hello Outside World!!

I have a lot already written out that I have been adding up since we arrived in New Zealand. We found a place that we could get internet but they already had computers and we didn't bring hookups for our computer. Maybe by next week we will have pictures and the whole update on our week here.
WE love you all and thank you for your prayers.
You will hear more later!

Everything is good to go!!

God is so good!! Everything is ready. Lorri's passport came in the mail today. That was the last thing that needed to happen that could have held us up. We are all set!!
We have really enjoyed our time here in Indiana. Four more days left in the United States. Monday morning we drive to Chicago to catch our first flight. We have to be at the air port by 4:00am. We arrive in LA at 8:45am, our next flight isn't until 9:00pm.
We are so excited that this is really happening. Thank you for all your prayers!!