All of August

All of August just seemed to fly by! It could've been the initial shock of returning to winter, a bit of sickness, almost routine routines... or maybe it was just because it was BIRTHDAY MONTH!

We started out the month trying to get back into the rhythm of our New Zealand lives...

 "Back to life, back to reality, back to the here and now..."

"But mom, can't we be on vacation for a year?!?"

 

But it's hard to have a rhythm when it's your BIRTHDAY...

 I was content to just stay home on that blustery Thursday which was the 6th of August, but Tony decided we should go out to celebrate. We layered up our winter woollies and hit a Thai restaurant for a delicious meal together. We did have to give the children some lessons in real restaurant etiquette, but it was a lovely way to celebrate.

 Yay - I do like birthdays!

 This 43rd birthday seems a bit more significant now that we've decided to let nature take its course and stop dying my hair dark. I'm "giving up" as Matt says... but yes, I'm giving up vain attempts to cover up the natural process - I've got these silver hairs for a reason! I better live up to the wisdom contained therein!

 The church has begun a new prayer team that meets on the site of the future Arise HQ each month. We headed over on that first chilly August morning to join a group of faith-filled folks ready to see this land turned into a place where people's lives are transformed. It was a great 40 minutes - then we had to head back for soccer games that started at 10! On the way home we saw the most beautiful double rainbow... 

must be good things to come!

Besides birthday parties, we had a bit of fun and games around the house with ourselves and a few other friends...

 this is Helena's rendition of Uncle Matt's "BOOYAH"!!! I think she won Yahtzee that night!

 And our first weekend back we had the Milne's over for a catch up... Helena LOVES Bethany and Bethany LOVES being loved by Helena!

Oh... something else very significant occurred in the beginning of August... Hunter's iPad arrived! YAHOO! Well done Hunter... he earned it by reading all of the New Testament.

Good thing he's got that iPad... his homework is now being done on Google Classroom! Yikes!

There were a couple of soccer games in between birthdays but Tony's birthday rolls along pretty quickly after meimei's so it was time to celebrate again!

 On Saturday the 22nd we stopped by an Art Show/Farewell for Sammy - a young girl from church - then headed down to the LUX Light Festival along the waterfront. It was a fun evening out - perfect conditions for such an event... though if we were in California I'm sure we would've had Starbuck's spiced pumpkin lattes or peppermint hot chocolates - it was that kind of feeling.

 On Sunday the 23rd we had a very casual shared lunch after church with some friends: Burrows, Milnes, Tyes, Ngiengs and a new family. It was so nice to celebrate Tony in such a relaxed way... after all that family time in July, it was great to have that same feeling here!

The following week he got a call from the creative team who wanted him to be part of a Father's Day item so on the Thursday our dinner time became filming time...

 "I've got bills, I gotta pay... so I'm gonna work, work, work everyday..."

The evening was hilarious... and the final product on Father's Day in September was an absolute hit! These guys are so talented and we've got some funny folks willing to make it work!

 August was a creative month for the kids at school. Helena's class has art lessons with one of the kids' mum - she is coming up with all sorts of really cool things like this interactive animal print - Helena is a jaguar chasing a fox (or a dog - I can't remember).

 

And every Friday Hunter's class has Discovery Time which he LOVES! This is his crane he designed with bits of boxes Mrs Anderson had hanging around the class! Well done, Hunter!