Spring is Here?

On August 4 we celebrated our 39th Anniversary. On our 38th we were in Provo at the MTC, this one in New Zealand, so where should we go for the big 40th?  Any suggestions?  We celebrated by going to work at the Archives, then going to "The Lone Star Cafe" We had steak and all dishes are served with coleslaw, so I thought it was wonderful, dad, not thrilled with that, asked for a substitution and got potatoes.  On the 5th, dad gave his talk on the atonement, which I think you all have, and on the 6th we all took the day off and dad, Don Overton, President Kezerain (mission), and President Harvey (stake) played golf at a links course in Paraparaumu. It was chilly and rainy, but all had a great time. Dad scored 100+, but he hasn't played in over 2 years, plus knee surgury, I thought he did a great job.

Then in the middle of August, yea, a new refrigerator! the old one was a non-defrost, that had to be defrosted and anything toward the back would freeze.  We were told in January that we would be getting a new one, but nothing happened, so oh well, then we got an email, that the elders would bring up the new on Wednesday.  And there it was, I was so excited. We bought a new refrigerator for our home before we left and I never really got to use it, now I have this one. YEA!





















Towards the end of the month we had a combined Zone Conference, plus the senior couples from the North Island. It was wonderful to get together with the senior couples, plus the elders and sisters. We received inspiring instruction Elder Craig Christensen and his wife (they came for Salt Lake) and Elder Pearson and his wife (they live in Auckland).  We were also able to hear them speak at Stake Conference on Saturday and Sunday.

It is Spring here, so on the first Saturday of September, we drove into the country with the Ditchburns, Overtons, and the Freemens (new office couple) to see the daffodils.  There is a farm that over a hundred years, when the family came from Holland, brought daffodil bulbs with them. When they settled on their farm, they planted all the bulbs and they are still here. Unfortunately, the week before we went, they was a hail storm, so a lot were destroyed, but we still were able to see some.  Roy Ditchburn like the chickens and was able to have one be pretty friendly.

In Wellington there is a beautiful botanical garden. At the entrance, they planted 25,000 tulips.  We went over one Saturday morning, and it was just amazing.  It was one of the first warm days we have had, and there were alot of people there. The pictures don't do it justice, but here are just a few.

We were on our way to the Wellington Quilt Show when we saw these public bathrooms, or as they say here, Toilets. 

These two smiling young men are Elders Ross from Utah and Christensen from California.   One of the girls from our ward went to Canada and brought back Hershey's chocolate bars and graham crackers, both unavailable here, and was kind enough to share them with us and the elders. We roasted marshmallows over the stove and made smores.  They were delicious!

 

 

On September 8th, in honor of TJ's birthday, we went to the All Blacks vs Argentina Rugby game. We won, which of course was a for gone conclusion.  I don't have any pictures, but dad does and he will post them on our mission blog.  We had some of the senior couples for dinner at our apartment then went to the game. It was really fun.  It was the only All  Blacks game being played in Wellington, so we, of course, had to go.