Merry Christmas To All!

We wanted to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year. It was our first Christmas away from our families. We were pleasantly surprised with all of our Christmas packages from our friends and family. We had so many fun pressies to open and enjoy! It was hard being away from our family but we were grateful to have New Zealand friends to share Christmas with. Here are a few pics of our pre-Christmas activities. We baked Christmas cookies with 3 kids from church then delivered them to several members, we hosted a young adults Christmas party, and there's a pic of us opening the package from our Memorial Rd Church Bible class. Pick says "thanks for the presents under our tree!" We miss you all and send our love via the world wide web!



Christmas Day we went camping with a few church friends. It was a beautiful location. We are constantly awed by the views around us. We had a great time relaxing, playing games and swimming- although the ocean is still freezing cold here. The water gleams a vibrant blue so it beakons you in. Pick describes it like jumping into a pile of snow! I love running in because getting out of the ocean and feeling my numb body come back to life is great! Here are pictures of us on a hike, and the group of people we camped with. Lastly are shots from the ocean kyaking trip we all took together.

U2 in concert- and WE WERE THERE!

What can I say that doesn't sound like a huge exaggeration? We saw U2 in concert and it was amazing. Pick managed to get us tickets on TradeMe (the New Zealand version of ebay) the night before the concert. It was a sold out crowd of 40,000. The 8 people from church we went with had camped out to get their tickets last year! We were hard core about it and showed up at the stadium at 1:00pm to line up. The earlier we got there the better our spots would be because we had general admission tickets for the field. We sat in lines on concrete until 5pm when they let us in the stadium and we were rewarded for our diligence. Checkout our distance from the stage-- 10 meters. We were right there! When U2 came on the stage at 9:20pm just as it was getting dark we had been waiting 8 hours-- but it was AWESOME. The show was incredible, great set, lights and sound. Needless to say their music was incredible. I was jumping up and down the whole concert.

It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We could have never got standing spots like that in the States. And U2 hasn't been in NZ for 13 years. It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time and man was it a blast.

Killer Swans

Today for lunch we decided to venture about 30 minutes away to Mclarean Falls. We grabbed a Dominos Pizza (Hawaiian is our favourite) and hit the road. We drove around til we found the perfect spot- right by the water, sitting in the sun, a nice patch of green grass etc. As we dug into the pizza we noticed a graceful black swan swimming towards us. It was beautiful. The strange thing is that it was gliding pretty fast, and coming straight for us. To our wonder as we looked around there we several black swans bee-lining towards us. And they looked kind of fierce! They grew more brazen in numbers and soon there were a dozen swans staring us down less then two feet away. We were half laughing, half intimidated. Pick retreated to the car to finish off his meal. I was only able to catch a few of the terrors with the camera.

This takes me back to a few years ago when I was in Spain, on the Rock of Gibralter, casually picnicing with some girlfriends. We noticed a few cute monkeys, then realized they were surrounding us. We took off running and screaming only to be CHASED by the monkies across the Rock. Let it be said that the monkeys are rumored to be full of rabies.

Both close encounters with territorial creatures have ended injury free.

Beautiful x 3

1. One of my friends asked me to do a favor for her grandma. She was hosting a ladies fundraiser called "Brides through the ages" or something like that. They needed "models" to wear wedding gowns for a small fashion show. Women from around Tauranga donated their gowns for the parade. I naively agreed to participate (who turns down a sweet grandma?)- not realizing I would be parading an 80's number. It was quite a spectacle and we had a really good laugh about it.

2. Pick celebrated the CARDINALS winning the WORLD SERIES! We have been anticipating their championship for the last 3 years. It was a gratifying victory. (Pick kept up with most of the games via ESPN.com watching dots on a screen- that's dedication! Fortunately we were able to watch the last few games.)

3. We went on a day trip along the Coromandel coast with a small group from church. The scenery was incredible and we are looking forward to going camping in this area after Christmas- it will be our summer holiday!

NZ home tour

Road Trip!

Last Thursday, we took our 1st tourist adventure. Our tour guide was a 78 year old lady (Nan)who has travelled through out New Zealand (and world wide) and wanted to take us around the coast. She likes to drive along roads she has "stumbled upon" and enjoy the view. Nan also likes the classics so as you look at the pictures and want to get the full experience listen to Il Divo.

Our other companion was Dale, a Bible College student, and fellow Aussie, who came along for the ride. The pictures cannot do justice to the scenery we viewed along the Coromandel. (click on the images to enlarge)

We had a picnic lunch and stopped only for ice-cream and tea. We also road on train that was built on private property by an ambitious man, who proceeded to construct a track for his train through the bush. Nan loves the train and the clever man who built it- I was honestly quite nervous about the whole idea- but it turned out to be a great ride and view.

We are loving the weather as it warms up here and we love Nan!

What a man

Last week Pick and I went to a Wednesday night class on the 5 love languages. It was really interesting and ever since it's been a hot topic of conversation. Many church members were there and we have all been trying to figure out each other.

This weekend I went away on Ladies Retreat (which was encouraging and I met many women from other churches around New Zealand). When I arrived home Pick surprised me with beautiful flowers (lilies are my favorite) and a hair straightener! I was thrilled. My hair has been driving me crazy. "Giving gifts" was not my primary love language, but these gifts hit the spot. So, here I am with my straight hair and flowers.


P.S. Did you see the Colts/Giants game? Pick and I saw it at a friend's place with cable TV. I felt so bad for Eli.

The boxes arrived!

Yeah, they arrived a few weeks ago, all 9 of them. It was like Christmas for us. Here is a pic. of Heidi's clothes box. If you're travelling across the Pacific and notice some women's clothes floating- send them our way.

Going up the Mount.

The most recognizable feature of Tauranga is Mt.Maunganui. It is off the coast, but attached to the mainland, and can be seen in the distance while driving around town. The Mount is a hub of activity. At anytime during the day there are people walking around the base or climbing to the summit. There are hard core climbers, scalling the sides, runners breezing by, and leisurely walkers sociallizing as they go. There are kids flying remote controlled planes, and people paragliding off the top, while others collected shells that are covering the sandy beach. And of course, typical to New Zealand there are many sheep grazing lazyily, unaffected by passers by.

Last week Pick and I walked to the top one day, then walked the perimeter the next. Both walks were beautiful (and a bit of a much-needed work out!) Here are some pics.

Love you... and miss you... Heidi

Crossing the Big Pond

Well, we're finally here. We've been in NZ about 6 weeks and are starting to feel settled. So much has happened and it's a bit overwhelming to try and catch up on all of it, so here's the basics ...
1) Tauranga is beautiful. And we're right by the coast.
2) The people are great. The church has already made us feel a part of their family.
3) We hit the ground running. We've been busy getting to know people and attending church activities. Now we are in the process of figuring out what ministries we will focus on.
4) It's freezing in the mornings and evenings in our house. We typically fight over who has to get out of bed first to turn on the heater. Usually Heidi gets pushed out.
5) At one point, I think it rained for 5 days straight.
6) We have a flat (apartment) that we've furnished through the classifieds, garage sales, and some pretty amusing auctions. In typical form, Heidi picked out our place while Pick was out of town at a Mens retreat.
7) Our car has already broken down and been fixed within the first week of ownership.

Quick stop in San Francisco

Before arriving in New Zealand, we spent 3 days relaxing in San Francisco. It was a great chance for us to regroup before heading south. We spent some time seeing the sites and we also got to see Brad and Rachel, which was an excellent bonus.

We've joined the bandwagon!

Well, here we are- live on the web! Come one, come all.