That trip to Brazil in November 2014 really got us thinking... and by early 2015 we decided that it was time for Tony to find a new position that would allow him to do the kind of thinking, planning and interacting that he's really good at. In February, he found a job with the Ministry of Education and after the time it took to tweak the CV, prep for the interview, land the job, negotiate holidays/start times, resign and finish off at the current job, it was finally time to say good-bye to MFAT! He's met a lot of great people there and we both are so grateful for the ways God has provided for us through that organisation over the past 11+ years: moving us to Wellington, our great Taiwanese experience, Tony's Masters Degree in Public Administration, lots of travel opportunities (Tony especially), heaps of training in negotiation, diplomacy, work place efficiency, and we can't forget a regular income.
On Friday 15 May Tony said "Farewell" to MFAT...
Sandra Pope made him these fantastic cupcakes, John MacArthur gave a very affirming speech and at the end of the day - he handed in his swipe card/diplomatic passport and said good-bye. Though the reality is he will continue to see and interact with a lot of these folks all over town - it is Wellington after all.
In order to prepare for the next role, Tony took a week off in between so he could do lots of reading. We did get a bit of hang out time together and he got to experience a little bit of the kid's regular routine.
Thankfully, the school cross country was the Tuesday he was home - so he got to see Helena charge off to run two laps - twice (first time around, the rest of the class forgot and only ran one lap... Helena gave it her all, then had to do it again! She out-paced everyone both times... though I suspect Trey will catch her in a couple of years). We also got to watch Hunter give it his absolute all to come in second place! He really worked hard and it paid off... he was invited to go to the Eastern Zone competition the following week.
To celebrate our little champs - we hit BK after school for a frozen mango drink and a couple rounds of Spot It!
When we discovered on Thursday that Hunter was going to the Eastern Zones, Tony decided we should check out the course. But instead of just checking out the course, he decided we should do something interesting for dinner - so we packed up our gas cooker (had to raid the emergency kit), a big pot of boiled water and some hotpot goodies and headed for adventure.
Instead of dinner at the race track, we moved down to the South Coast past Island Bay... it was a gorgeously still night...
We learned a few lessons that night - 1) eating outside is always way more fun than eating inside; 2) use a smaller pot and less water when trying to boil hotpot on a gas cooker outside; 3) family memories don't have to be expensive.
Though it had taken forever to cook, the kids both LOVED eating hotpot at the beach and asked if we could do it every third week. Hilarious!
Good thing we enjoyed our meal so much on Thursday, because on Friday we were participating in the World Vision 40-Hour Famine. As a family we raised $100 (thanks to Sasha & Phil, Dave & Bev) to give toward children in Bangladesh who don't have as many food options as we normally do. Because our kids are still young (and because Tony'd already invited his life group to dinner on Saturday night), we did a 24 hour rice & water fast... so we had rice for dinner Friday night, rice for breakfast on Saturday and you guessed it, rice for lunch on Saturday after soccer. By Saturday lunch, Hunter didn't want to eat rice... but I think the basic first glimpse caught on - we are totally privileged to have options and to know that we'll have food available everyday. May we always be grateful and may we always look for ways to share what we've got.
Despite being fuelled only on rice and water, Hunter still played strong enough to earn him Player of the Day! Well done buddy!
And thanks to the great group of friends who came over Saturday night to give us a good reason for a feast to eat more than just rice!
Oh and while Tony was home on leave, I had him take my photo for my NZ passport renewal on Saturday... I filled in the online form on that day and by Wednesday morning I had my new passport in my hand! California here we come!!!
Why don't we smile in passport photos?!?! I probably do look like this when I land in the USA after those long flights watching movies with the kids... HA!
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