The Kids Go to School

1st was Logan. He was off to start school at Westburn Primary School. In New Zealand they start with 1st Year (instead of Kinder). Logan was put into 2nd Year and was very excited about that. He is in Ms. Smith's class. The whole school wears uniforms that include shorts or sweat pants, a polo, fleece, and a hat when you play outside.
Some of the things that are different about schools here compared to Tucson are:
*They don't have a cafeteria. All the kids eat outside on benches by their classroom.
*Instead of snack time they have morning tea.
*The kids go out for a snack and the teachers have tea in the teacher's room.
*You start school on your 5th birthday.
*Schools have 4 houses (like teams) that compete all year long. Logan is in the Shepherd House.
*The school year starts in Feb.

Logan on his 1st Day of SchoolPlaying on the playgroundLogan with his classmates at the 5-7 year cross country meetComing to the finish line

Next were the two little ones. They started preschool at Portobelo. In New Zealand all 3 and 4 year olds (no matter your income) are entitled to free 20 hours of preschool. We were very excited to hear about that. It will help them be ready for 1st Year. They get together and love taking their backpacks and lunch boxes to school. They get to go to school for two full days and 1 half day a week! It is a great school and they are adjusting well!Landon and Levi on their 1st day of preschoolDoing puzzles at school!

New Zealand Home

Next stop was getting our new home ready! It was truly a miracle that we were able to rent our home. After the earthquake we decided we should rent a home before we leave due to the fact that rentals were now in high demand. Lynton and Philippa (Our leaders) were kind enough to search for a home for us. It was an on going process of looking online, they would go check on the house for us, and if it was good we would put an application in. Well, God picked the perfect home for our family. It is close to the University, a 3 minute walk to Logan's school, and lots of room for the kids to play. It also has all sorts of ways to heat your home. Heating in New Zealand is very different then in the states. There is no central heating. You basically close off rooms and heat one area at a time. Well this house was lucky enough to have double glazed windows which was very exciting. It also has a log burner, a heat pump (which heats really well and is pretty cost effective), and two night storage (now from what I understand a night storage collects the heat at night then slowly releases it during the day, but you will find these very expensive to run), and lastly we bought some oil heaters for the areas of the house that don't get much heat!
We received the keys to our new home and got to work going shopping to fill it. In a weeks time we found beds, sofas(which were kindly donated), a dining table, linens, washing machine, dishes, pots and pans, towels, and much more. It was crazy and I can actually say that I was so ready to be done shopping and I love to shop! Plus Trademe which a site similar to craigslist became a favorite of ours!

After that week we were ready to move in and have loved having our own space and the kids love having there space!Family RoomDining RoomKitchenI call this the hall with many small rooms.

(The shower has it's own room, the toilet gets it own room,
and the bathtub gets it's own room)Logan's room
Landon and Levi's roomThe guest room just waiting for a guestPatioMore PatioBack YardMy Lemon TreeHeat PumpLog BurnerNight StorageOil Canister

Driving

Next on the list was to find a car! After a week of looking and test driving we were able to find a car. We purchased a 2001 Honda Odyssey. If you look closely at the car you will notice that the Odyssey is a bit different here then in the US. It is not really a minivan. It has four normal doors rather then sliding doors. It does seat seven but you have to crawl to the back. Here they would call this a people mover for people like us with lots of kids. It is smaller, but that is really better for here because they have much more narrow lanes and spaces for parking.

So now that we have a car it has been a challenge to learn to drive. There are many differences:
*The steering wheel is on the right side of the car
*They drive on the left side of the road
*You may not turn left (which would be the same as US right) on a red light
*The person who has the right away while turning is the person turning right not left (which is the opposite as to what we are use to)
*Lots of roundabouts
*Much more

Bryan has done most of the driving and has done really well. I (Erin) am getting better and better and learning more everyday! The kids know that when mommy is driving they really should not talk to her because she needs to concentrate!

A Day to Remember

We took a day to rest and the next day we attended a memorial for the victims of the February 22 earthquake. It was held at Hageley Park. There were about 10,000 people there. They honored the people who died and encouraged those who survived to rebuild and honor Christchurch. Prince William was even there representing the Queen. It was about two 1/2 hours long. It was nice to get a feel for where the city was at and where they wanted to go.Memorial ServiceThe boys be so patient doing the serviceA building nearbyA car on the walk home that had been crushed by a chimney

Adventure Begins

The adventure to New Zealand has begun. We said our good-byes with lots of tears and left Tucson on March 14. Papa and Gigi drove us to LA with all the luggage that we could pack in the car and on top of the car. We squeezed our bodies in and drove the eight hours. We got to our hotel and tried to get some sleep. The next morning we went to the beach with Papa and Gigi to make some memories. As we got to the beach we realized that Landon had a fever....not good...our plane was leaving in less then 12 hours. We took his temp (which was 102 degrees) and started praying. God answered our prayers and 3 hours later his temp was gone without one dose of medicine. We said our last good-bye to Papa and Gigi and organized ourselves to get to the airport. At about 6:00 pm we loaded on the hotel shuttle and headed to the airport.

I (Erin) was dreading this part. I had images of long airport lines and long walks with crying children. To my delight there were no lines and only a 5 minute walk to our terminal. Having 3 kids we had plan on lots of time to get through the security and checked in and we ended up ready to go with 2 hours to spare. We were able to relax and at 10:00 pm loaded on the plane and took off.

The flight was 12 1/2 hours to Auckland, New Zealand. The kids were amazing...and I mean amazing. They slept for 10 hours of the flight! It was a good thing too, because their mom hates to fly and was nervous enough as it was. On our flight we were blessed from God with a concierge named Maggie. She notice that we had three kids, could not sit all together (because there were not 5 seats in a row) and that mommy was stressed. She helped with the kids, chatted about New Zealand, and got tea for Erin!

We landed and Maggie was there by our side once again. She met us at baggage claim and helped us get all of our luggage. She got us through customs, helped recheck our bags and walked us to our new terminal. I am really not sure how we would of done it without Maggie. Thank you Father for putting Maggie in our life!

We then loaded one more plane for a short hour and 20 minute flight to Christchurch. We arrived on March 17 at 10:20 am. When we landed we were greeted by Lynton and Peter both Navigators from Christchurch. And so the journey begins!Car packed and ready to go!Tight fitLuggage is all ready to go.Yes that is all of our luggageOnly the shuttleMy little troopersMaggie....such a blessingLast plane ride and view of New Zealand

His Ways

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9

As we have shared with most of you our travel plans have been delayed due to the earthquake in Christchurch. As we look back on this journey we have taken with God, this verse comes to mind! His ways are not always our ways. We were ready to go, but God was not ready for us to go yet. His timing is always perfect. Remember a little over a month ago when our visas were lost in the mail. We did not understand why that would happen or why God would allow that to happen, but His ways are not our ways. Had our visas not been lost it would have been very likely that we would have already been in Christchurch for our first week maybe even in the city checking out the sites (which is where most of the damage and deaths were). God’s ways are so much better. He protected our family!
So what now....? We still feel the calling to go to Christchurch. We are currently trying to secure a rental house since there is a shortage and as soon as we find one we will reschedule our flight. We have been working with people in Christchurch and have been on the hunt and applying for homes. We would like to get there as soon as possible and help the students as they return to school and work through the many losses they are experiencing!

Earthquake in New Zealand

Friends and Family,
We wanted to write you and update on our situation. We have received many emails from those of you that have heard the news that there was a 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand which is where we will be ministering. Our plans were to leave this Sunday, but due to the earthquake this is being postponed. The Nav leaders there are alive and well and we are praising God for that! The city does not have water or sewage right now and many building are not standing. After speaking with the Nav leaders in New Zealand today we agree (especially for our children) that it would be best for us to wait a little bit to fly.

Some specific prayer request:
For the families of Christchurch that have lost loved ones. (Death toll is at 75 and 300 people are still missing).
For the Nav leaders in Christchurch as the minister to their community.
For the Rescue teams and they continue to rescue people trapped in buildings.
That God would be preparing the hearts of people who are hopeless right now to hear and receive the Good News.
Wisdom to know when to travel.

In His Name,