July and August 2023

Dear Friends,

July in Aotearoa New Zealand is cold! And August is wet and cold! As many of you are seeking out water to swim in and A/C to enjoy, we are cozying up next to our wood burning fireplace nearly every morning and evening. Michael and Ames are the family fire builders right now, and therefore the real heroes of this story. :) Here are some highlights from our first full Aotearoa July and August.

World Cup. The FIFA Women's World Cup, co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, was a huge highlight for our family, our community, and for Soufpac. We attended several games as a family, and then traveled by train to downtown Auckland with over thirty Randwick Park neighbors and Soufpac kids to attend a game. It was an amazing experience for our youth club to do together.

Supporting New Zealand on opening night, along with Anna (far left) (and other coworkers and friends) from Carey.

Can you tell which team we're cheering for?

The pre-game "feed" and face painting in our backyard with Soufpac.

Our Soufpac crew at the train station ready to go to the game! We were all "Americans for the day" as we attended the USA vs. Portugal match. The only disappointment was the 0-0 tie. Kids new to soccer asked... "Wait, so who won??" I had to explain several times that no, nobody won, and no, nobody scored. Bummer.

But still, a wonderful experience.

A long day! This is on the train late at night on the way home from the game. Kalais (pictured above, one of the older boys in Soufpac) allowed Jubilee to sleep on his shoulder on the way home. So sweet.

Soufpac and community work. Our weekly Soufpac gatherings have been a highlight the last few months. We have had the "problem" of too many kids wanting to come. The leaders are under strict orders not to recruit new kids right now, as the seats in our vans are at full capacity right now. We have gone swimming, played "sport" (touch rugby and soccer are the favorites), do team-building exercises, and continue to learn about the Fruit of the Spirit. Last week we acted out the story of The Good Samaritan. We explored: in this story, who is good? and how do you know? We know the Samaritan is good because he acts like a neighbor, caring for someone else at a significant cost to himself. The Soufpac kids were able to identify with neighbor language, as all of us are physical neighbors with one another, and all of us see the value and good of caring for others. It has been an amazing journey to be doing neighborhood based work in the place where we live, attend school, and are developing friendships. Please pray for our Urban Neighbours of Hope team as we hope and plan next steps for a more formal discipleship gathering for us and our neighbors. Kids and parents and families are asking big questions about God and the Bible.

One week we did a "Ninja competition" where kids had to complete a series of tasks that were equal parts challenging and silly.

School trips and Soufpac overlap heavily as many Soufpac kids attend Randwick Park School. Left to right are Jasmine, Evany, Nova, and Molly, all friends, schoolmates, and Soufpac members.

Soufpac Swim night is always big fun.

A couple weeks ago we were able to host a few Soufpac boys sleeping over. Michael offered some bed time banjo music.

Matariki. Māori New Year's is a national holiday here that marks planting season and is a time to remember stories from the past and look with hope to the future. Michael took Isaiah, Ames and Nova on a backpacking trip to Bream Head for the long weekend, and Jubilee and I stayed home. Jubilee and I baked star-shaped biscuits and woke up before dawn to view the Matariki (Pleiades) star cluster in the winter sky. She learned all about Matariki in school, and was thrilled to wake up early and see it in the pre-dawn sky.

Celebrating our first year in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is hard to believe that we have been here a full year! We marked 18 July, when we arrived here last year, with Sal's (New York style) pizza (a favourite of ours during our first few months whenever we felt particularly homesick for America) and a backyard bonfire with some of our first friends here, telling stories and reflecting and celebrating the last year.

one year

Tauranga and Rotorua. Occasionally we get to join Michael on a work trip. During term school break in early July, our whole family got a mini vacation to Tauranga and Rotorua to enjoy those places and each other while Michael had some speaking engagements. Some highlights of the trip captured below.

A beautiful walk around Mount Maunganui, including Ames spotting a seal sunning on the rocks.

Tauranga is special for many reasons, but one joy for us was viewing the sunset one evening at the beach, and then going to the opposite side of the peninsula hours later to view a beautiful sunrise (still on the beach!).

Experiencing some of Rotorua's hot pools on a chilly day.

From our thrill-seeking Jubilee to our cautious Nova, to our need-for-speed Ames and Isaiah, we had a big time at Skyline Luge in Rotorua.

School Community. All four kids are heavily involved at Randwick Park School. Isaiah and Ames both placed first in the school cross country competition, which allowed them to participate in the South Auckland competition. Nova attended a one-night "camp" (sleepover at school) with fun activities, Jubilee took a school trip one afternoon to do gymnastics, and much more. We continue to be amazed by this community where our kids are making friends, learning and growing, and finding their place, all in walking distance from our house.

Isaiah and Ames were part of their school Netball team.

Isaiah and Ames with some school friends at the school cross country competition.

I got to go with Nova on some of her school camp adventures, including to Snow Planet for an afternoon of learning to ski!

Riding on a 19th-century replica sailboat (the Ted Ashby) with Isaiah and some of his classmates.

Ames and his classmates learning about boat model building from retired sailor, Ian, at the Auckland Maritime Museum.

Eight is Great. Nova turned 8, and she wanted to have a soccer birthday. Her friends showed up in a big way, getting out and playing soccer in the mud and rain! We had a splendid time.

Winter Backpacking. I have traditionally left winter backpacking to Michael and other crazy people, but we gave it a go as a family for the first time. Just one night out, and the lovely Waihohonu Hut with a cozy fireplace were at the end of our 5K trail, but we did it! An epic snowball fight, bananagrams, and hot chocolate were all part of the fun.

at the trailhead

gorgeous views all along the way

yay fireplace

tiny snow person!

sunrise happies

ready to hike out

Jubilee's "relaxing bush"

we think this was a SNOWbow (as opposed to a rainbow)... it accompanied us the entire hike out... just gorgeous

Other things... Life is never dull here. We are grateful for healthy bodies, meaningful work, family pizza night, and chopped-wood-turned-warm-fire. We are also grateful for you, for friends and family, mostly very far away, who love us and take care of us even from across the world.