In the Beginning...

Our entire trip to New Zealand will probably take about 10 posts so I hope you enjoy it, even if you just look at the pics. We left Thursday the 5th at 9pm from LAX. It was really special to have Danny and Amy and Noah drop us off. They were there to see us all leave. It meant a lot to the whole team. Andrew was a stud and slept for 10 hours on the plane and then enjoyed his new Thomas laptop that we got him for a surprise gift. (Getting kids a special gift for long travel is highly reccomended.) He was a delight to travel with! We didn't have any problems with TSA or customs either. Phew! I got my nunchukas past them.

We arrived in Auckland at 5:30am their time. They are 19 hours ahead of us so we pretty much skipped Good Friday... Sounds like a lot of American churches today, doesn't it? Who cares that Jesus had to die? He rose again!... By the way, I care. :)

Our host families and pastors took us sight-seeing for a good portion of the day. It helped keep us awake and it was gorgeous! Andrew LOVED NZ because we spent so much time outdoors. He loves frolicking through the meadows... much like his mother.

Our team. Isn't this a cute photo spot?

Family photo. Already framed.

Alice and I clicking our heals in the beautiful country.
There is water everywhere in Auckland! I don't know if you've ever looked at a map of NZ, but seriously, Auckland is full of water. It's so pretty... everywhere!
Same place.
This is Mimi- Auntie Mimi. She was pretty much Andrew's nanny in NZ. She is a complete crack up! She can make young and old laugh so hard! Andrew loves her so much! It was such a blessing to have her traveling with us and staying with us at our host family's house.
A little hike we went on.
Speaking of our housemates... This is our "family" shot. We lived together for the trip at Elder and Mrs. Gao's house. I'll tell you more about the family soon, but let me just tell you that they are a wonderful, giving, loving family who took care of us each day.


Mimi gave Andrew lamb ears for Easter. Baaaaaaaaa! There are 60 million sheep that already live in NZ. Why not 1 more?

Check this out. Andrew fell asleep while eating lunch on Sunday... literally. Can you see the piece of cereal still in his mouth? We were eating and turned to give him another bite, and this is what we found!

Andrew slept in some of the strangest places and postitions on this trip. I'm thinking of dedicating an entire post just to sleeping habits in NZ. For all of you parents who are thinking, "I'm glad Andrew can do that. My son/daughter has to sleep in the crib or else they won't be able to sleep at all", Andrew was like that too. When push comes to shove, though, it's amazing what kids can do. He was happy and healthy too!
This is our other housemate... Wendy... Dr. Wendy. That's right, folks. The sheep above is a doctor. We were really blessed to be staying with Wendy too. She's an incredible woman who speaks 5 different languages and that's just the begininning. She translated for us constantly. She was not only incredibly helpful, but also an excellent friend to have on the trip.
Sunday was our first really busy day. Saturday night, I just about fell asleep in my dinner plate sue to jet lag, but Sunday was crazy. We went to 2 different church services and ate meals with both of them. I got to share my testimony at the second church and our pastor's wife translated for me. It was a blessing to see these churches in NZ, especially how diverse their ages are. We were shocked to find out that none of the 5 churches we visited have English ministries yet so Gabe and I were a little in the dark about what was going on a good portion of the time, but it was still great to be there.

Sunday evening, the 3 of us went for a walk down the street from the church we were eating dinner at to go to the beach... and guess what we found? A Starbucks! It was actually the only one we saw in NZ too. Anyway, we enjoyed our delectible beverage while walking on the beach.


Andrew loving life.

Yup. We were there.
Monday morning, we got up early and went for a walk around our host family's home. NZ is the first country to see the sun rise in the morning. So... we saw it first!!!
Pretty, huh?
So, here are my new running shoes' first picture. They were very excited to be in NZ. These were the first miles I put on them. I have to admit that training stunk the first week there. Before we arrived I thought to myself, "Wow. I get to train in NZ. This is going to be amazing!" Then I got there, walked outside in the morning and thought, "What was I thinking? I have no idea where I am! If I turn two corners, I'm not going to be able to get back!" In fact, the first day, I didn't even think to memorize the address of the house I was staying at. Luckily, I made it back.
Monday was Pastor Wu's ordination. He's a wonderful pastor at one of the churches in NZ and actually received his seminary training in CA while attending our church so although we didn't know him, many from our group did. During the ceremony, Andrew met Ruth, one of the other NZ pastor's daughters. You'll be seeing more of this sweet girl. Here, she is teaching Andrew math.
This was our crew in the cry room. Andrew was the only one who we thought could possibly cry, but he drew a crowd.

They bought us ice cream cones one day and I thought it was great. Look how smart they are. A two-scooper comes side by side so that the ice cream doesn't fall off. Brilliant, huh? And tasty too! Mmmmmmmmmm... I think I better go see what's in our freezer. I'll write more soon.