Christmas Eve

Today was Christmas Eve, and it was a beautiful day, but it just didn't feel like Christmas Eve! We decided that it felt more like the Fourth of July. We met our team on the beach for lunch and presents (and swimming, tanning, and frisbee). We spent about three hours at the beach and it was awesome. In the evening we went to some friends house, had a baseball game, a cookout, and ate dinner outside. We felt like we should be getting ready to watch fireworks, not open Christmas presents!



Hope you are all enjoying your Christmas Eve with your family, with your friends, or with whoever you happen to be with today, in whatever part of the world you are in. We feel very blessed by the friendships on our team that help to make the Holidays feel less lonely. We are also thankful for the many families at the church we are at who have invited us to be a part of their family celebrations.

Earthquake

We have heard that there was an earthquake last night in Gisborne NZ. It was a 6.8 on the Ricther Scale. We live about 2 1/2 hours north of Gisborne and did not feel anything. We actually heard about the Earthquake from Americans who were asking us if we were okay or if we had felt anything. We did not hear about it from New Zealand news, though we are not great at getting the news here! It happened at 8:55 Thursday evening, Joe was with some guys and I was hanging out with a friend, it was a beautiful night and neither one of us remember even feeling tremors! We looked it up to check it out and it looks like the town was hit pretty bad. Thanks for your concern!

O Christmas Tree!

Being that Christmas comes in the summer and that we did not have Thanksgiving, we are having a little trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year. We didn't really think we should get a Christmas tree because our crate hasn't arrived with all of our decorations. We didn't want to buy all new decorations but we also didn't want to have a bare Christmas tree! We finally broke down last week and determined that our lack of Christmas Spirit must definately be from the lack of Christmas feeling in our home. We went out and bought a real Christmas tree! We brought it home and spent all of two and a half minutes decorating it with a strand of tinsle and a string of lights. I guess I have some Christmas spirit, I went to buy the lights and there was only one box left so I raced to grab them before anyone else did-that sounds like Christmas! Our tree didn't seem complete without an angel up top, luckily, Biggie did not get packed on the crate, but in our suitcases! He now graces the top of our Christmas tree.
We hope that you are all having a Happy Christmas Season! If you are having a stressful season, we hope this picture gives you a laugh, like it did for us!

Summer is Here!

As all of the schools are officially out for the summer the youth group had a pizza and pool party to celebrate! The kids mentioned to the youth minister that they were in the mood for some 'American Pizza' so I was called to make some 'good American tasting pizza'. I didn't think this would be a good time to tell the youth minister that ,thanks to the just add water pizza crust in the states, I have never made pizza from scratch! I also am learning that just-add-water-foods are not something that have made it to New Zealand...yet! The kids each brought their favorite toppings, which ranged from pinnapple to M&M's to smoked chicken and beef jerkey! The pizza turned out fine and the weather, after almost a week straight of rain, was beautiful.

Christmas Party!

Shore has a program for young mothers on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings called Mainly Music. This is a time for moms in the community to bring in their toddlers, meet with other moms, and have their children entertained by songs and activities. This week was the last week of Mainly Music until after summer so they had a big farewell Christmas Party. All of the moms and their children were encouraged to dress up and they had a parade to show off their Christmas attire. During the parade Santa came! Truthfully, it was Joe, but I think only one really smart girl caught on to it! The kids were able to sit on Santa's lap and get a present. I was dressed up (by one of the Mainly Music leaders) as a Christmas tree! I stood behind Santa and added great background for the pictures! The kids really enjoyed the morning and it was a great way for us to meet alot of new moms. Over half of the moms are not a part of the church but love coming to Mainly Music. It is a great outreach program.

Home Sweet Home

Here is a picture of our new flat in New Zealand! We are beginning to feel very settled and right at home. There are four or five units similar to ours just behind our flat. The garage that is seen on the edge of the picture is not ours, but our neighbors. We have the car-park just in front of our door. We feel almost completely at home here. We are excited for the arrival of our crate so that we can complete the kitchen and have the rest of our belongings to add to the flat. We hope for the crate to arrive before Christmas, until then, we will continue to be creative in using what we have!



Our Address:
202b Greenhithe Road
Greenhithe
Auckland 1311
New Zealand

House Phone: (64) 9 413 6506

Christmas Ball

This week we have been busy setting up for the youth Christmas Ball. The Christmas Ball is put on by the SCCC youth program, but attracts many students who aren't involved at Shore. The teenagers love the Ball and even hire out (rent) tuxes and wear formal gowns. I was able to help some of the girls 'get ready' beforehand. It reminded me of helping youth group girls from the States with hair and makeup at Homecoming and Prom. The Ball consists of dinner, gift exchange, and dancing. There were prizes given out for the best dressed couple, the best dancer, the most creative dancer and other fun categories. Below are some pictures of the evening.