Bev made the walk down the stairs to the beach with us - she said the last time she did it was the last time we did it together - maybe almost 5 years ago! Thanks for the effort Nanni... it was a gorgeous day!
Our barefoot girl!!!
On our first Sunday in country, we went to Harbourside Church. Pastor Martin Steel shared a great message on being filled with the fullness of God's love. Our good friends, Brian & Anita also attend this church so we got to see them AND the bonus was that their kids came to church here on this particular Sunday so we got to see Kim & Dave and Hannah & Andrew. Hunter & Hannah are 2 months apart (Hannah being the elder of the two) and have met 2 other times - the last time we were in NZ (he was 5 months) and a couple years ago in Taipei (he was 1.3years). Somehow, they hit it off brilliantly again. As soon as Hunter saw Hannah he decided to color all of his pictures to give her. Then he sat next to her and said she was an angel - to which she argued that she was a princess - but they came to the agreement that she was some type of angelic princess. After the service I caught them running around holding hands looking for the rest of the family... how totally cute are they!?! Unfortunately the timing didn't work out for us to see these guys again - Hunter did ask about Hannah - and hopefully next time we're in Auckland we can spend some quality time together (with the new baby too!!!).
Brian & Anita planned a lovely picnic lunch for us to spend a few hours together... we started outside then wouldn't you know it, we ended up at the mall (there was an indoor playground for the kids)... thanks, Burrows', for the great afternoon - we really enjoyed spending time with you!
Thankfully they had a few toys that the kids enjoyed playing with so we rigged this one up so Helena could have a change from the stroller... she LOVED being pulled around by GranBrian.
That evening, we had our first (only) real Chinese meal with Jack, Sue & Tasman!!! What a treat...
We met Jack almost 8 years ago now... it's been great to see how God has changed his life and really how He has made Jack's dreams come true... what a great testimony!
Tasman is just one... he's a real cutie... wasn't sure what to make of Hunter & Helena, but was curious. These guys are expecting baby #2 later this year... we'll look forward to meeting the next one too!
The night before we left we took everyone to dinner at one of our favorites - Lone Star!
Hunter's always happy with Papa and Nanni... and he actually was very good at the table...
it was this tired little one who needed a whole lot more attention and distraction to keep occupied... thankfully Nanni Bev had a few new items in her bag (since my old stuff wasn't workin' for the girl).
Our last day in NZ was a Sunday, so after a great service at our old church - LIFE - the Jellie family cruised up to the North Shore with us for a fun catch up over pies!!! They've recently moved back to Auckland which means we won't get to do life with them in Wellington when we return, but all the more reason to come up north for a visit!
After our final good-byes, we headed to the airport for our 11.30pm flight. This is what every parent dreams of on a long-haul flight... sleeping children! 6 hours straight!! Praise God... and then lots of snacks, Cars, and walking up the aisle with Helena!!!
So... 12 hours later we arrived in Taipei... then an hour bus ride home, unpack, showers, walk around, short naps.... but still Hunter was truly exhausted! Have you ever seen him asleep when there's food to be eaten!?!? Well... this time it did him in (but not mei mei... she ate all her dinner)... He went back to bed at 5.30pm and slept til 6am the next morning (that's after his 3 hour nap before this photo was taken)...What a great vacation!!!!
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