Elder Ball in the land of Oz

Elder Ball with his Mission President and wife, President and Sister Lee. Elder Ball is doing great and loving his mission so far. Rachael did an update about him on her blog too.

A Light Unto All - A Christmas Gift

Seeing is Believing?

Today's musings are a run-on theme from my last post about vision, or a lack thereof. 

This quote is from Laurel Lee. And it made me think how do I see people, things, situations? My mood, my beliefs, my experience, all colour how I see the world around me.  How often do I stop and try and see things through someone else's eyes? Would the world look better or worse? Hmmm.

I think of this time of year and how my perception of Christmas has changed over the years. As a child I saw all the excitement of decorations and presents and food! Then came the realisation that it was more fun to watch someone open a gift I had picked out for them. And then comes the time when you want the emphasis to be removed from gifts, but would rather focus on the importance of family and loved ones and reflecting on the Saviour and His life.

How do I see things now? I like to think I am an optimistic realist! I will try to look for the good in people, and see my Heavenly Father's hand in all things. 

The end.

I Was Blind But Now I See!

Well not me, but Caleb. 

I took him to the optometrist this morning for an eye exam and to check out the possibility of getting him contact lenses. He is quite short sighted  and squints when he watches TV, can't see the blackboard at school and I'm sure he misses out quite a lot when watching movies that might have sub-titles etc. 

He got glasses 18 months ago, but he never wears them. He thinks he looks stupid in them. So we thought he might do better with contacts. He is trying some for the next 2 weeks. When he put them in he was like - "Wow, I can see!" He still doesn't really need to wear them all the time, mainly for school. It might even help his football game - he will be able to see the ball!!

Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Haka and Tongan Dancing

The Monday before Jared left to go to the MTC,  our Branch President invited us over for Family Home Evening. The Branch President's wife is from Tonga, and she dressed Jared up in Tongan National dress and made him the guest of honor for the night. Later in the evening she and her kids taught Jared the Maori Haka and also some Tongan Dancing. It was very entertaining!!

A Broken Heart Full of Joy

That is how one Mom on the Missionary Mom email list described what it is like to send a son off on a mission, and I agree! We just said goodbye to Jared at the airport. I managed to hold it together right up until when they called for his flight to board, then I got teary-eyed and gave him a big hug goodbye. I'm so proud of his decision to serve a mission, I wouldn't want him to be anywhere else at this time. One of the last images I had of him, was as he was going through the boarding gate, he turned back and with a big grin on his face, did a victory punch in the air. He looked so happy and ready to conquer the world (well the Australia Melbourne West Mission to be specific). We love you Elder Ball.

New Zealand Temple

Jared went through the temple on Tuesday. It was a lovely experience.

He already looks like a missionary in his sharp suit doesn't he!

The Shweeb

This is a cool ride called The Shweeb, that Caleb and Jared went on and raced each other. 

More Downunder Stuff

Here are some more photos of some of the stuff we did on our mini vacation. See Rachael's blog for more pics and videos, if I haven't exhausted you with all of mine!

Rachael and I went on a jet boat ride.....

....and.....

a helicopter ride over the city of Rotorua. It was very fun , but also a little bit scary!!

OK so what are these two up to now?

An anti-gravity ride

 Rotorua is the main geothermal region in NZ. 

It smells like rotten eggs because of the high sulphur content in the air. It's full of....

...mudpools

and geysers

and this old geezer!

.

Swoop

Yet another high adventure activity. Hold onto your lunch and enjoy the ride!

Zorbing

Another fun activity the boys did in Rotorua. 

Who comes up with these ideas?

Lake Taupo

We stayed the weekend at a motel in Taupo, in the center of the North Island. Lake Taupo is an old  volcanic crater that has filled up with water and is quite breathtaking. This is a big tourist spot with plenty to do and see. The mountains you can see in the background are active volcanoes Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe. 

I don't really know why Pete is standing like that, but I think it was to make himself look taller!

Bungieeeeeeeee!

This past weekend our family took a fun-filled mini vacation. Jared leaves for the MTC on November 20th so we wanted to do a bunch of things before he left. On the top of Jared's to-do list was bungie jumping. We went to a place called Mokai Gravity Canyon a few hours north of where we live. This jump is from a bridge over a river and is 262 ft high. I felt dizzy from just watching.

Football Rains Supreme

I had mentioned in an earlier blog that Caleb found an American Football League to join. It's an adult league but they let him join anyway. They are called the Porirua Giants and had their first game this past Saturday. And it rained, and poured, and the wind blew and it rained some more and they were all basically drowned rats! I watched the game from the warmth and comfort of the car. Pete wanted to watch from the sidelines and ended up being recruited to hold the post thingy that says what number down it is ( I know, I am not knowledgeable when it comes to football!) So he ended up a drowned rat too. I uploaded a small clip of the game. I don't know if you can see the sheets of rain.  Caleb is number 23.  He had a blast!

Caleb the Conqueror

We went back to the rock climbing place. 

Caleb was determined to conquer the difficult wall, and he did!

It's a great feeling to be able to do something, that at first try, seemed impossible.

I'm sure down the road, it will be a good  reminder/teaching moment!!

Home Away From Home

Our Arizona boy found his home away from home, complete with a new friend. 

View From The Top

I really love this picture of Jared and Caleb sitting together overlooking Wellington Harbor.

Rock and Roll!

The boys spent some time at an indoor rock wall. They had a blast!

This wall was the trickiest of all that they tried because of the overhang.

Muggles Beware!

I took these photos at Wellington Railway Station the other day:

My Breakdancing Boys

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Wisdom Teeth are not very Wise!

I have decided that wisdom teeth are not very smart. 

You manage without them just fine for most of your youth. Then they decide to poke their way through only to find that there really isn't enough room for them in your mouth. So the usual course of events is to have them removed (at a significant cost) and  you are way past the age of benefitting from the tooth fairy. 

When I mention to people that Jared just had his wisdom teeth out, it becomes quite a bonding experience as everyone shares their own painful experience! 

Anthropologists believe wisdom teeth were the evolutionary answer to our ancestor's early diet of coarse, rough food - like leaves, roots, nuts and meats - which required more chewing power and resulted in excessive wear of the teeth. The modern diet with its softer foods, along with the marvels of modern technologies such as forks, spoons and knives, has made the need for wisdom teeth nonexistent. As a result evolutionary biologists now classify wisdom teeth as vestigial organs, or body parts that have become functionless due to evolution ( like the appendix).

And did you know that about 35% of the population don't even have wisdom teeth? Rachael is included in this statistical annomoly.  So are these people less wise, or more evolved? Hmmm.

Hare Brained Idea?

Rachael, Caleb and I spent an hour wandering around Wellington on Friday, while Jared was having his wisdom teeth removed. There in the middle of the city, on a busy sidewalk, amidst the hustle and bustle of the crowd, I saw something that made me do a double take...

The Watch House

Jared brought Caleb a couple of watches back from China and the metal straps needed adjusting. We went to a couple of jewelers and they suggested going to The Watch House. It turned out to be a little hut in this guy's front yard. Very cute huh! Inside he had all sorts of old clocks and watches and bits of time piece mechanisms. He is a certified watchmaker and pretty good at his job and fixed Caleb's watches in a jiffy.

The Marks of a Man

Jared comes back from China on Saturday and then the countdown begins in earnest as he prepares to leave on his mission. My heart is tender and full, these days as I prepare (yes I have to prepare too!)  to send my son off in the service of the Lord. I joined the Pacific Area Missionary Moms list ( Thanks Melissa) and it has been a great source of info, comfort and inspiration. Someone posted this story and it touched me and so I thought I would share it.

The Marks of a Man

by David Bryan Viser

"As I jumped on board my flight from Miami to Salt Lake City, I paused for a moment to catch my breath. Seated near the front of the plane was an excited young man, probably 19, sitting with his parents. His hair was short, his clothes new and sharp. His suit fitted perfectly; his black shoes still retained that store bought shine. His body was in good shape, his face and hands were clean. In his eyes, I could see a nervous look; his movements were that of an actor on opening night. He was obviously flying to Utah to become a missionary for the LDS church. I smiled as I walked by, and took pride in belonging to the same church where these young men and women voluntarily serve the Savior for two years. With this special feeling, I continued back to where my seat was located. As I sat down in my seat, I looked to the right and to my surprise I saw another missionary, sleeping in the window seat. His hair was also short, but that was the only similarity between the two.

This one was obviously returning home, and I could tell at a glance what type of missionary he had been. The fact that he was already asleep told me a lot. His entire body seemed to let out a big sigh. It looked as if this was the first time in two years that he had even slept, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

As I looked at his face I could see the heavy bags under his eyes, the chapped lips, the scarred and sunburned face caused by the fierce Florida sun. His suit was tattered and worn. A few of the seams were coming apart, I noticed that there were a couple of tears that had been hand sewn with a very sloppy stitch. I saw the name tag, crooked, scratched, and bearing the name of the church he represented, the engraving of which was almost all worn away. I saw the knee of his pants, worn, and white, the result of many hours of humble prayer.

A tear came to my eye as I saw the things that really told me what kind of missionary he had been. I saw the marks that made this boy a man. His feet, the two that had carried him from house to house now lay there swollen and tired. they were covered by a pair of worn out shoes. Many of the large scrapes and gouges had been filled in by countless polishing. The books lying across his lap were his scriptures - the word of God. Once new, these books which testify of Jesus Christ and his mission were now torn, bent, and ragged from use. His hands, those big, strong hands which had been used to bless and teach, were now scarred and cut from knocking on doors. Those were indeed the marks of a man.

As I looked at him, I saw the marks of another man, the Savior, as He was hanging on the cross for the sins of the world. His feet, those that had once carried him throughout the land during his ministry, were now nailed to the cross. His side, now pierced with a spear, sealing his testimony with is life. his hands, the hands that had been used to ordain his servants and to bless the sick were also scarred with the nails that were pounded to hang him on the cross. Those were the marks of a great man.

As my mind returned to the missionary, my whole body seemed to swell with pride and joy because I knew, by looking at him, that he had served his Master well. My joy was so great that I felt like running to the front of the plane, grabbing the new missionary, and bringing him back to see what he could become, what he could do. But, would he see the things I saw? Could anyone? Or, would he just see the outward appearance of that mighty elder, tired and worn out, almost dead?

As we landed, I reached over and tapped the returning missionary to wake him up. As he awoke, it seemed like new life poured into his body. his whole frame seemed to fill as he stood up, tall and proud. As he turned his face toward mine, I saw a light that I had never seen before. I looked into his eyes. Those eyes. I will never forget those eyes. They were the eyes of a prophet, a leader, a follower, a servant. They were the eyes of the Savior. No words were spoken. No words were needed. 

As we disembarked, I stepped aside to let him go first. I watched as he walked, slow but steady, tired but strong. I followed him, and found myself walking the way he did. When I came through the doors, I saw the returning missionary in the arms of his parents, and I couldn't hold it in any longer. With tears streaming down my face, I watched these loving parents greet their son, who had been away for such a long time, and I wondered if our parents in heaven would greet us in the same manner. Will they wrap their arms around us to welcome us home from our journey on earth? I believe they will. I just hope that I will be worthy enough to receive such praise, as I'm sure this missionary will.

I said a silent prayer, thanking the Lord for missionaries like this young man. I don't think I will ever forget the joy and happiness he brought to me that day.

Well done, thou good and faithful servant!"

Bits and Bobs

I don't have much to blog about right now. I guess it's been kind of a blogless week. Not that that is a bad thing. Spring has sprung, the sun is shining, the sky is blue. It's lovely after such a cold, wet winter here.

I have finally resolved to get to the gym at least once a day, sometimes twice. It's soooo hard to exercise when you haven't in ages. It's as much a mental challenge as it is a physical one. For now I plod away on a bike for 60 minutes reading a book to take my mind off how hard it is, and how tired I am, and how much I am sweating! (I know the ladylike term is "perspire", but there is nothing ladylike about the amount of sweat that comes off me!) Thank goodness it is starting to get a bit easier and more enjoyable and I feel so good afterwards. 

Caleb found an American Football league to join. It's called Grid Iron over here. His first practice was last night, he had a blast. It's actually an adult league (17 and up). They have a junior league that starts later, but they are letting him practice with the adults for now. And when I say adults, I mean BIG Maori and Pacific Island guys. He already has a nickname - they call him "Arizona!"

I am stealing some photos that Jared sent me, and posting them here seeing as he hasn't updated his blog in FOREVER! We keep bugging him to post about his travels and adventures. He told me he could never be a writer because the deadlines and pressure from publishers would be too much! Hopefully he will post soon, as it sounds like he is having a good time.

A lovely "arty" view of the Great Wall. 

It's amazing how well it is constructed and over how many miles of difficult terrain it covers. 

Terracotta Soldiers- pretty amazing. 

I know I watch way too many movies, when a picture like this 

makes me wonder if they'll all suddenly spring to life! 

A Pane in the Butt!

Whenever your son calls out in a guilty voice: "Mom....um, can you come here?" - you know it's probably not a good thing.

This happened last night. Somehow, Caleb was standing on the bed, bending over, one leg down behind the bed, trying to kick a ball out from underneath. His backside went through the window. BOYS!

This is the window today. And it's raining! 

Update: See Caleb's version of the event here.

Catching up

A few little updates....Hubby and Jared are in China right now. Check out Jared's travel blog for a fun read  here.

I got a calling in our branch. Not in Young Women's but in Old Women's! jk! I'm 1st counselor in Relief Society - education counselor. I'm excited to get to know all the sisters in our branch.

I got totally lost the other day! I volunteered to help transport kids back from a camp out Caleb had with a class from his school. They had gone about an hour away to this high ropes course. I was following a couple of vans back as this is somewhere I had never been before.  The vans went two different ways, and the one I followed was a "speedy gonzalez" and I lost him while going round  a roundabout. So I drove around in circles for about half an hour in this small town despite asking for directions twice! Have you ever been completely lost and disorientated? Grrrr, very frustrating. Again - I would be no good in the Amazing Race!

The REAL Mission Call

Today was the day! Finally, after 8 weeks of waiting. We got THE envelope, the REAL envelope.

In case you didn't catch it all - the Moscow, Russia thing was a joke! Jared has been called to serve in the Melbourne West Mission in Australia. He reports to the MTC in Hamilton, N.Z on Thursday November 20!

Burgers fit for a King

Burger King in downtown Wellington City!

Seal of Approval

Today we went to one of the bays in Wellington to see the Red Rock Seal Colony. It was about a 5 mile walk, round trip. We took a bunch of photos and as you will see, the boys love to pose in them!

I still can't get over how beautiful it is here. 

Caleb had to time this shot right so he didn't get washed away!

See rock - Must climb!

Ditto!

This particular seal colony is a bachelor colony. 

These fellows were rejected by the lady seals as potential mates, 

so they spend the winter here, 

trying to fatten up and get a better looking coat for next season.

There are some safety instructions on this sign, 

such as don't get too close to the seals - they can get aggressive!

They are very well camouflaged against the rocks.

And they just lie around, sleeping and chilling out.

A few like to pose!

Or scratch!

By the way, they smell REALLY bad!

I thought the boys got too close for comfort. The seals kept growling at Caleb!

Caleb started his own blog and has his own intrepid seal mini video documentary on it, you can check it out here.

 

False Alarm!

This morning Caleb woke me up to say Jared's mission call had been delivered by Fedex. Yipppeee! So we all rushed around like mad things, getting dressed, got a video camera ready. Jared even called Donna on Skype, so she could be part of it all.

Ok, so we are IDIOTS!!! 

I almost didn't post this as it's SO stupid, it's embarrassing!

In my defense, I have to say - Jared is our first missionary! We have been to like ONE missionary letter opening thing! 

The delivery by Fedex should have been the first clue. 

The return address on closer inspection was The Church Distribution Center, should have been the second clue. Duh!

 I had sent away for a brochure "The Family"  for Jared from the Distribution Center a week ago, so it was addressed to him.

Bummer. All that excitement for nothing. So we are still waiting and now we all feel like chumps.

Happy Birthday Jared

Jared turned 19 today! He actually got to celebrate his New Zealand birthday this year (being a day ahead and all that!) I don't have any cute photos of him as a baby  as they are all in storage. But he's cute now, so that's all that matters. No word on a mission call yet. His papers have been in about 7 weeks. Seems as though the process takes a whole lot longer when you put mission papers in from down here. Poor Jared is itching to go.

The Birthday boy

Update: Rachael has some cute pictures of our boy on her blog. She is organised and had scanned in a bunch of photos before they all went into storage.

I added a couple of pics to show that his fascination with pirates started early!

"Aargh matey" - age 3 

" 'ello poppet" - age 17 

Take A Walk With Me

I don't have anything very newsworthy to blog about, so I thought I would invite you to come for a walk with me.

Our cute little house on the hill.

Welcome to Raumati Village.  Complete with.....

The Butcher......

The Baker and .....

The Candlestick Maker! Ok, so this one is a bit of a stretch!

Our yummy local fish and chip shop. I recommend the chicken, camembert and cranberry gourmet burger

This interesting house, complete with fake seagulls on the roof,  looks like it will set sail anytime now.

Through the little park...

Past the swimming pool ...(a swimming pool on the beach? Hmmm)

Across the footbridge, over the river of questionable color...

To the beach!

People have houses all along the beach front. A lot of them are weekend/holiday homes. 

Most of them have their own private steps down to the beach from their back yard.

This next series of photos is what I'll call:

"The Best Seat in the House" (or outside the House!)

Another house with a nautical theme going on.

Maybe this is Grandma's "time out" chair.

For those that like to sit and swing at the same time. Although it also resembles a primitive catapult too.

A rustic looking seat made from driftwood.

Is it just me, or does that look like a gravestone next to that bench? Eeww!

These have to be the best front row seats, (do they come with popcorn?) as they watch...

the Main Event...

and the spectacular finale.

Thanks for keeping me company me on my walk.