Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you had a good one and stayed warm! We definitely did. We had a lovely Christmas. Pick made us a delicious breakfast of pancakes with berries and white chocolate chips. Yum yum! We had a huge lunch with a family from church with teenage kids and then came home and chatted with all of our family on the phone.

7 weeks to go!

Pick playing cricket

Later we joined two families and went camping for 4 nights at Hahei beach, a tradition we began last year. The weather was beautiful, the company great, and we just relaxed. It was a nice getaway and time to soak up the beginning our our summer.

Celebrating 27 years of Pick

Yep, my husband clicked over another birthday a few weeks ago. It was a fairly low key event since we had just returned from the States. I made him French Toast for breakfast, yum, yum ... and then we spent a normal day at the office. That night we went out for dinner and saw a beautiful sunset across the water on our drive home.

So here are a few things I love about my husband:

* He is super good looking

* He likes to eat pizza, hamburgers and toasted sandwiches with pineapple

* He loves playing and watching sports but usually just watches sports when its the play-offs instead of being glued to any and every sporting event on t.v.

* He stuffs all sorts of pillows around me at night so I will be comfortable and has not even mentioned the fact that I now take up atleast 3/4 of the bed and have invaded his sleeping space.

* He is generous with his time when it comes to friendship and is extremely loyal.

* He loves his family and genuinely wants what is best for them and has the same care for my family.

* He makes me laugh and laughs at my silly jokes.

* He is open to new people and new places and is curious and interested.

* He loves Christmas music.

Okay- thats just a few things off the top of my head. Happy Birthday Pick!

God Bless the USA

We have been back from the States for almost two weeks. We had an awesome time catching up with friends, family and our favorite resturaunts! Here are a few of the highlights from our trip:


Heather's beautiful wedding! Her dress was goregous as was she. It was an honor to be a part of this beautiful day.

Heath played a tune for the wedding. Here is our mission team family.

Here I am with my girlfriends eating what else, Mexican. And with Melody who had her beautiful baby girl Jaylen right before we left!

Here's Pick with his Grandma Nell getting ready to feast for Thanksgiving. Pick, his brothers, and dad after playing hours of Nintendo Wii! Cassidi Pick's sister was a Wii master by the end of Thanksgiving.

I loved seeing my grandma Hartman, and here we are at the airport with my parents. Notice Picks supersized chocolate shake that dad bought him as a going away treat!

We were able to spend really good times with our family and friends. Unfortunately I don't have pictures with all of them because of my loosey goosey pregnant brain that tends to forget to take pictures! Regardless, we love you all and are so grateful for the time we had to catch up.

We're going to America!

After this post I will pack for our trip to the States. I can't wait to see our family- especially Hayli- she has been to Africa twice and Germany since I saw her last! This 15 months has been the longest we've gone without seeing each other. I am just busting to see her and laugh with her. We will see our siblings and parents, cousins and grandparents and are eager to share the pregnancy and hugs with them. This is our last chance to have our families attention before the little lady Picker comes. After her arrival Pick and I will be forgotten and she will bask in the glory. It will be sweet to catch up with our friends who we have missed so much!

I can not wait to eat taco's, tacos and more tacos! Bring on the Mexican food! We leave tomorrow (our Monday afternoon) and will be back in 3 weeks.

Off to Sydney

I've been to cities that never close down, from New York to Rio, and Old London Town. But no matter how far, or how wide I roam- I still call Australia home. (All of you Aussies will recognize these song lyrics which I was singing as we disembarked the plane in Sydney- no shame here. I was so happy to be in Aus!)

Pick and I just returned from a trip over to Aus to catch up with all our good friends and enjoy the Sydney sun. We are so blessed to be a part of a church family that loves us-- and we love dearly, in the Sydney area. It meant so much to me to be able to see the people that invested themselves in my childhood and cared about my relationship with the Lord as I grew up. This was a fun time for Pick and I and a refreshing time. I loved worshipping with my home congregation and catching up with all the members. We have been in NZ for 15months, just 3 1/2hrs flight from Sydney and so we had been eagerly awaiting this trip for a while!

Here I am with my Aussie grandma Jean who brought with her my fav. desert, the pavlova. Wow, it is so delish. And of course, there's Darci Craghead and her husband Terry (next pic) who are in Campbeltown working with the church where I grew up. Terry and Pick were catching up with Jeans husband Reg who fought in World War II and loves to tell stories about it. We spent several mornings at their home chatting and reminiscing. Jean remembers so many things about my childhood, as well as my cousins Luke, Heather and Leise, and the Powells, Trav, Austin, Jordan and Mel, that it is so fun listening to her. And she is REALLY funny so we laugh and laugh. I am so grateful we were able to be with Jean. She is a dear soul.

Here we are with my two best friends from primary school, Emma and Tracey! Tracey and her fiance Denbeigh are getting married in two weeks and we spent some great times with them. Some of you may remember last time we were in Sydney, Tracey and Denbeigh lent us their car to drive around for a week, with the one condition that I was not alowed to drive it! Tracey lived around the corner from me growing up and we walked home from school together every afternoon, from year 2 through year 6 and we have remained goodfriends. It was great to see them and we are so exited for their upcomming marriage.

The other pic. is me with Frank who is the minister in Campbeltown, the church where I grew up. His ministry is a testimony to Pick and I of Christs unrelenting love for the church. He is a caring, devoted and faithful man of God that we respect and love. I also had a great catch up with his daughter Emma. It was lovely to see her. Emma is really fun and full of life and also faithful to the Lord.

Terry and Darci were so great to us. We stayed about a week at their place and chatted late into the night, laughed so much and had a spades tournament. They are connecting with the Sydney youth and young adults and we were encouraged by their ministry. We took a fun day trip with them, through Bowral where they are having a spring tulip festival then to Fitzory Falls for a mini bushwalk and stopped at Jervis Bay, Green Patch, for a bbq a relaxing wander at the beach. While Pick and Darci were cooking up the food Terry and I coaxed Rainbow Lorikeets and Kookaburras to be our friends with green grapes and sausages!

Pick and got a day tripper pass (includes all trains and ferries) and went to have tea with Bob and Lynne Marks in Manly. Dinner was grilled steak, chicken and lamb shanks with greek salad, turkish bread and hummus- soooo tasty! They have been serving the Lord faithfully with the church in Warringah for years. They are strong ambassadors for Christ. We loved seeing them and hearing about what their kids (my peers) are all up to. Bob has a real knack for ebay and had a bunch of books on pregnancy and babies for me! Woo hoo, thanks Bob!

I also caught up with my two best girlfriends from highschool Elizabeth and Alisha. It was great seeing them and hearing all about their lives now. They are both very accomplished and successful and still so caring and fun!

Here we are with Fred and Margaret Darling my old next door neighbors! We took a country train to see them in their beautiful Exeter home. Fred and Maragret have supported my family through so many life changes and we are grateful for their love and enduring friendship. It was lovely spending the night with them. They are Chrustian role models for us and a beautiful example of an enduring, loving and romantic marriage.

Our last stop on our "catching up with friends" tour was in the Capitol City of Aus. Canberra where my dear friend Kate and her husband Mark live. Kate and I have been pillars for each other since we were 16 seeing each other through silly boyfriends, random jobs, university studies and international adventures. We are able to be honest with each other about our spiritual journey and have stengthened each others faith consistently, even if its meant calling each other out. Kate and I have always lived alteast 3 hrs apart but we have stayed in touch and cared about each others well being.

So we went to Canberra for 3 glorious days. Thursday Pick and I did some sight seeing, then met Kate and Mark after work, and fellowshipped with the church that evening. Kate and Mark took Friday off work and kept their schedule clear so we had two full days of relaxing, picnicing, strolling around, eating well, and chatting with them. It was a wonderful time. Pick and Mark talked a lot about ministry and church growth and played basketball, while Kate and I talked about babies and marriage and drank tea and milkshakes! Our time with them was refreshing and a blessing. They are dear, dear friends.

And now we are back in NZ, happy to be back in Tauranga, and feeling full of gratitude that we were able to have the opportunity to see our church family in Aus.

p.s. If you are a nay sayer about frequent flyer miles you are silly! Pick and I travelled on his miles accumulated during his business trips through Boeing. A BIG shout out for airline points!

Our little lady

Yesterday we were blessed to find out we are having a girl. She was moving around and has a healthy pumping heart, a normal sized brain, and 10 fingers and 10 toes! Pick and I were happy to see her and felt a real sense of peace at her health and fascination that we could see her so clearly. Here's a little video clip from Ultrasound:

On Sunday, during the Lords Supper I was definitely feeling her kick for the first time. Pick was across the church building, opperating the sound system/power point for services, so I sent him a text to let him know. Guess that might be considered inappropriate during worship but I was excited and wanted to share it with Pick! Here's me on the day I felt her kick (18weeks):

Happy 3 years for us- baby bump and all...

Our anniversary was August 14th. We were planning a little getaway but I was still pretty nauseous then so we decided to postpone the celebration. This last weekend I was in Roturua for a Ladies Retreat. (Those of you who are familiar with New Zealand know that Roturua is the area in the North Island that smells of rotten eggs because of all the volcanic activity and sulphur in the air!) I really enjoyed the times with my girlfriends, there was lots of good testimonies of faith, I played several really great games of spades, and think I may of felt the baby move- not sure, could have just been a stomach reaction to the smell!

On Sunday as the retreat finished Pick came and picked me up and we drove off to Ohakune for a night away for our anniversay. We stayed at a lovely backpackers that had private rooms available. As we drove into town it was still light outside so we went for a beautiful bush walk, through the ferns and palms along a riverside. It was chilly outside so we walked quickly and it was lovely. After the walk I was starving. We ordered delicious hamburgers at a local restaurant that were quite possibly the best burgers we have ever eaten, then retired for the night.

The next morning the weather was terrible- light rain, fog covering the mountains and gale force winds. This cancelled out our plans to go skiing b/c the slopes closed. We were dissapointed but found a ski lodge with a tv and watched the US Open final and Roger Federer win while drinking hot chocolate. So the morning was semi-resurrected.

As we were driving home resigned to the fact that the weather was too bad and our skiing hopes were dashed, Pick looked up at the mountain and decided we should drive up to it anyway. It was close to noon and the fog seemed to be clearing. As we reached the slopes they opened up the lower mountain and Woo Hoo, we got to ski for half a day! Pick was a bit gutted because he would of liked to snowboard the upper slopes however I was happy because it meant we would spend the afternoon together. The sun came out and the snow was soft (much better then the icy concerete I skied on previously!). We had a fantastic afternoon together. Pick took a little video as I came down the last time. (The baby bump picture was taken when we came home from our trip).

Hitting the slopes...

Quite literally- I was hitting the slopes, bum first, arms and legs flailing! The snow is a 3 1/2 hr drive from us, so Pick and I went down recently for a half day of learning for me. Pick was very patient and a great teacher as I tried out my skiing legs on the bunny slopes. I stacked it several times like a quality learner but was surprised at how quickly I picked it up and was enjoying myself after the 3rd and 4th run. I stayed on the bunny slopes with my friend Rebecca who was learning to snowboard, while Pick took off to snowboard the high slopes. It was a beautiful day and a great way to learn without the crowds. Ohhh, the aches and pains that followed!


This last weekend we took a group of 13 young adults to the slopes for a weekend retreat of fun and fellowship. It was a sunny, clear day and the crowds were out. The mountain totally packed with kiwi's out to capitalize on the good weather! We had a fun day. Pick had some awesome runs down the blues while I stuck to the green slope and tried not to bowl into little kids. My goal: to complete a run without stacking it! Good, good times.

Mt. Raepehu, the skiing mountain, is a dormant volcano!


Pick and co. about to snowboard- we were there at 8am to catch the first lift up. (Weather cleared up within 30mins of us being there)

Heidi, Rebecca and Kelly cooking breakfast at 6:30am Saturday morning for our group. Toast and eggs, yum yum.

Evermore- our fav Kiwi band

We saw Evermore in concert last week in Hamilton. It was a great concert. Check out this top band and their tunes on www.evermoreband.com

Happy Birthday to me!

So I celebrated my 28th birthday on the 12th. Yeah, I'm close to 30- bring it on baby! Pick bought me a ski jacket for my bday which will come in real handy over the freezing winter- plus we're going to hit the snow a few times this season and I'm going to give skiing a go. I may not master it but I'll look good! And yay hurray my parents arrived on my birthday for a 9 day visit. We had a great time visiting and showing them the beautiful sights of NZ. We ate great food and introduced them to our Tauranga friends. It was definitely over too soon but so good that they were here. They are back in OKC where the weather is nice a sunny and we are hunkering down for a chilly winter.






Quick shout out to my cousin Heather- yay for being engaged. And to Jeremy and Laura woo hoo for baby number 2!