May and June 2023

Dear Friends,

What a full two months it has been! I am settling into my work with Urban Neighbours of Hope, Michael attended his first graduation in person with his students, and our family is settling into community life here in Randwick Park (our neighbourhood) and also nearing the one-year mark of living here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Here are some highlights:

Jubilee turned 6! She invited all the girls from Soufpac, the kids club that I lead and that our whole family attends every Thursday. Lots of laughs and joy shared with bouncy castle games, pass the parcel, and fancy tea party complete with donut holes.



Isaiah turned 11! We did an "Auckland Snowball Fight" (flour-filled portions of pantyhose), complete with cardboard forts, face paint, and enthusiastic friends from school. No one left the party clean, I will say that much.

Hollidges' visit. Our dear friends (next door neighbors from Tate Street, we did Bible study together, Ames' kindergarten teacher, etc. etc.) Anna and Mary Hollidge came to visit us. We had such a delightful time with them! We took day trips to may places, including Piha, Shakespear Regional Park, and Rotorua. We also enjoyed lingering family breakfasts, neighbourhood walks, late night chats, and LOTS of time playing board games. It means so much to us that they came all this way to see our lives here and be with us in our new home.

Sunset at Shakespear Regional Park

scampering up Mangere Mountain 

group hug

Anna and Mary babysat, and Michael and I got to go on a hike date at Duder Regional Park.

Neighbourhood Work and Life. We are coming to the end of Term 2 (of four) for the New Zealand school calendar. Soufpac, the kids club I lead, runs based on the school calendar, so that means we have just finished up our club meetings for Term 2. We had a great time in Term 2! We are developing as a Soufpac leadership team, we have more kids wanting to come than we know what to do with (great problem to have!) :), and we are working our way through learning about the Fruit of the Spirit.


Soufpac Adventures...
Matua ("uncle") Mike (affectionately nicknamed "Michael Jordan") leading game time

Whaea ("auntie") Denise and Matua Steve (dressed for winter) leading craft time (making Mother's Day cards)

Gaga Ball is a new Soufpac favorite

Nova (and other Soufpac kids) costumed up for the "spooky" school disco

Soufpac Scavenger Hunt night at the local mall. Big fun. 

Whaea Rebecca's all-star scavenger hunt group (l to r: Bentley, Dougy, Jubilee, Tama Ora). I don't know why we looked sad, but this picture just makes me laugh.

Kids at school...
Every Friday Ames and a small group of students work on painting projects around the school. They painted penguins last week.

On a school trip to the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Ames and his classmates practiced using a traditional Māori cord drill.

Isaiah trying on a WWI-era uniform on a school trip

Jubilee's retelling of the story of Kupe and Te Wheke (a traditional story of the discovery of Aotearoa New Zealand).

Nova's self portrait

And of course, just some good ol' family fun...
Playing the game of "Life" with the Purdy family, friends from our church here (left to right: Harry, Emily, Nova, Lily, Ames) 

"Dadderday" mini golf

This is how Jubilee smiles for the entire time she plays soccer.

Weekly soccer games that result in "player of the day" win a trip to McDonald's (known here only as "Maccas") for lunch.

Evening family hymn sing with interpretive dance provided by Ames 

Waddle Downs, one of our favorite family walking spots

Carey Baptist graduation. On the left is our dear friend (and Michael's former student), Rebecca. On the right is Michael with Rachel and Matt Renata, who many of you met at our farewell party in Memphis last year.  

We ❤️ west coach beaches.

Isaiah and Jubilee lost a tooth on the same day!

Stop and watch the rainbow. This one perfectly arches over our house. We see rainbows almost every day here! The sky is quite magical.

Early morning duplo build.

Boys' trip to the Weta Workshop. Ames might have been the happiest he has ever been. 

We are so blessed. Life is full. Our hearts are full. Thank you for being with us on this journey. And we always love hearing from you and seeing pictures and videos of you and yours.

Love,
Rebecca for all of us πŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’š

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