Chelsea prefers organic foods

"Hmmmm, what's this? I like that taste...."

"How many can I fit in my mouth before mum notices?"

So I have gone through the fear of watching my child choke and beating on her back until she thew up. Yep- Chelsea likes to eat leaves, and then proceeds to choke on them. Unfortunately since it's Fall dried leaves have swept in the door and gone unnoticed. Chelsea has an innate radar for these leaves. We have gone through the choking ordeal 4 times! Intense and scary (and gross because after she pukes up the leaf she dries to chew it up again and I have to scoop it out of her mouth).

"Thanks mum for saving my life....again"

Ladybug

When I put Chelsea's halloween costume on her I could not stop laughing. She looked so cute and really funny! When Hayli arrived and saw Chelsea she had the same reaction- lots of laughter. Chelsea kept looking at us like "What's the big deal guys?" Adorable....


Here we are dropping by to see my grandma and grandad


Here's Chelsea with her girlfriend Jaylen, the chicken!


And with her girlfriend Nora. (Nora lent Chelsea her ladybug costume from last year and this year was a ballerina zebra!)

Cousins Come To Town

We had so much fun with Jeremy, Laura, Kennedy and Ansley. They came and stayed a few nights with us and Chelsea could not have been happier. She loved having her cousins to laugh and play with and copy! A special thank you to Ansley who showed Chelsea how to eat from a spoon!

Each day we visited the park and here are the girls swinging...

We cannot wait to be with them and the rest of the Pickers for Thanksgiving.

Bit of pumpkin paradise

This is my favorite pumpkin- the fairytale.

Here are a few photos of "Under the Sun" where I work 12 hours a week. I love being outside, serving interesting customers, working with pumpkins and plants... and especially being with Penny! (I did take a picture of the 2 of us together but it was awful.)

And here was an attempt to get a cute picture of Chelsea and me. Unfortunately she was concentrating on getting the flowers into her mouth instead of smiling for the camera.

Catching up...

What a blessing it is to have a content and flexible baby. Currently and indefinitely our schedule is pretty unpredictable. I am working a bit- a few hours a week with my girlfriend Penny at Under The Sun. Yeah, it is an easy going job selling fall decorations and many varieties of decorative pumpkins. I LOVE it! I will be posting pics soon. I am also tutoring twice a week in the evenings. Pick is working at the Heart Hospital full time taking two classes. We are evaluating our housing options, looking for a house to buy, wondering if we may need to just rent.... not sure how it will play out.

We try to reserve the in-between times to relax together as a family. We often go for evening walks now that the weather has cooled off. There is a park around the corner from my parents place and Chelsea is a big fan of the swings. She is also loves their lab Cadbury. She sits on the floor and he sniffs her, and occassionally will lay down with his head in her lap. She just grins and tugs at his ears.

Okay- seriously, could my daughter look any more like Pick?

Chelsea and her dad

Over Labor Day weekend we surprised my parents by putting together a new mailbox for them. Their previous mailbox had rotted out of the ground and was being supported by a few tacky bricks. Pick and Chelsea (and Cadbury) spent the afternoon outside together cementing a post in a bucket, then putting it in a planter and screwing on the new mailbox. It was a "thank you" to my folks for our current rent free situation.

This weekend we gathered with Picks family in Searcy for a family wedding. We had a REALLY GREAT time catching up with everyone. Looking forward to Picker Family Reunion over Thanksgiving.

After 3hours of travelling in the car Chelsea was over it and cried and cried. We took refuge at a rest stop to give us all a breather. Nothing like nakedness to set things right!

Family Ties

There is a lot of things involved in an international move and resettling. Unfortunately my blogging kind of fell by the wayside. Here's a brief catch up:

We are living with my parents and will be until Christmas. They were kind of hesitant for us to stay... not. Pretty sure Chelsea is welcome indefinitely and currently we are a package deal. We have had so many family visits. I miss New Zealand everyday, so it is really nice to be around family and appreciate the reasons we are back.

Keith and Cheryl came a few weekends ago and we had a jolly good time. Chelsea warmed to them quickly and enjoyed playing and laughing and getting undivided attention. Unfortunately I was hopeless about taking pictures with them. (Will do better next weekend when we see them again).

(Wow- Chelsea is already such a poser!)

My sister Hayli (who now lives in Austin) has been here 3 weekends in a row. Last weekend when Chelsea saw her she definitely recognized her and gave a huge smile and squeal. It was priceless.

We had a reunion with our Australia mission team. Travis and Kiala, Jordan and Rachel just returned from India, Kayla is back from 10months in China, Melody went to the Philipines this summer and visited Austin in Japan- he's beginning his 2nd year, and Hayli was back from her 3rd trip to Ghana at the Village of Hope. Luke, Heather and Leise have all been here in OKC; Heather is a legal consultant for migrants, Leise is a family counsellor and Luke is working at Oklahoma Christian. So all of us kiddos have followed in our mission/ministry patrents footsteps. It was so cool to hear everyone's stories. (Luke and Kate, Heather, Leise and Michael had left before this photo- sorry guys).


Pick's sister Cassidi was here for 5 days on her way back to Harding for the Fall. We played with Chelsea, shopped, swam and watched copious amounts of the Olympics. It was so fun for me to have Cassidi to hang out with and needless to say Chelsea was loving her cool aunt too.

Heath came home from a summer of roadtripping across the West Coast. He was gone about 10 weeks and has some wild stories about hippies, pirates, camping and festivals. He's moved back in with my parents too. My parents went from emptinesters to having 3 adult children and a grandchild move in...so we have a full house!

This week was my grandads 82nd birthday. We had a family get together and it was lovely to catch up with all the Hartmans.

We have visited my Grandpa Bob twice in Cordell. It has been great for me to see him, especially since he loves Chelsea. He is delighted with her and that makes me very proud and is really healing for my relationship with him.

Okay- I think that'll do for now. That basically covers the last few weeks. Picks grandma and great aunt arrived tonight for the weekend. Next weekend we are off to Searcy for a family wedding. Needless to say will really love seeing all of them.

More tickles...

Watching Chelsea and Pick play together is sunshine to my soul.

Living in an Oven

Seriously, it is so hot in Oklahoma right now that when you step outside it's like being slowly baked in an oven. Even in the evenings- like at 8pm it's still 90+ degrees. We are fortunate to have air conditioning to make summers here bareable.

Another thing that helps is being in water. Chelsea and I have gone swimming in friends pools which is refreshing and my favourite summer past time. Recently we hit the lake with our good friends Gavan and Melody. It was great to be in their boat and cool off in the water. I promise not to compare everything to New Zealand but allow me this one. In New Zealand the water was beautiful, crystal clear and yes, freezing cold! In lake Arcadia the water was so muddy I couldn't see my feet while only ankle deep- however nice and warm.





Chelsea and her girlfriend Jaylen hanging out.






Finally check out this video of Pick tickling Chelsea.

Farewell New Zealand

We have made the big move across the Pacific Ocean and then across the United States and now have our feet safely planted in Oklahoma City. We have ridden the roller coaster of moving overseas; the turmoil of emotions, the stress of downsizing to a bare minimum, packing- weighing our bags- then repacking, farewelling our favourite spots around town, and hugging and crying as we left our dear friends. We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to live in Tauranga. It is a beautiful city with lovely people and our hearts hurt as we miss them.

Here's some pictures covering the last few weeks:

Here I am with my girlfriends (and Chelsea) at our going away party

The church praying for us. (Notice all the kids surounding Chelsea!)

Chelsea with Chris and Melinda Miller (the minister at Otumoetai)

We are missing everyone there already....

And so begins our re-entry to America.