Belated Blog: Rich's First Father's Day

This is so late... But we had such a wonderful father's day. We drove about 30 minutes to Pahi Beach, home of the largest fig tree in the southern hemisphere. Here are some pictures of our great day!

My friend Kayla and me hanging out in the tree

Rich and Isi way up in the tree...

So Kayla and I had to try

Perfect little family of three! 

Skydiving!!

I am finally getting around to posting pictures from Rich's skydiving trip. The Adventure DTS is so sweet and just two days before their planned trip they gifted Rich so he could come with them! What a fun blessing!   here it goes.

Rich getting all harnessed in for the jump. 

Checking out the plane. 

Getting instructions on positioning for the jump. I was more than a little nervous. 

Family picture before the jump! 

All packed in the plane and ready to go!

Takeoff!

We spot the plane in the sky... waiting to see them jump. 

Up in the clouds. 

"Yay his parachute opened"

(commence normal breathing :) 

Love this one! 

Getting close!

LAND! 

Special thanks to Joceline and Hanne for taking awesome pictures! 

Possum Hunting

Here is New Zealand possum hunting is a big thing! It is halarious and I am still shocked when I here gunfire in the night. Possums here don't look like ones back home. They look more like a squirrel here because they have fluffy tails. Possums are a huge pest to the farming areas so around here it is a  big deal. Don't worry they don't eat them!

A few weekends ago Rich got to go with some students. They were all so proud. All seven of them shot a possum! Here is a pic of Rich....

Heartache to Hope...

This month has been incredibly stretching and difficult. Through a series of miscommunications and sad situations Rich is no longer working at the Portland Rescue Mission. It has caused us such pain and brought us once again to our knees. We find ourselves asking that familiar question of why? We are so glad we have had family and close friends around that have encouraged and affirmed who we are in Christ. This month we have had times of sorrow and times of laughter. We are determined to stay strong and not let the enemy win, though we have those days were we just want to curl up in a corner. Benjamin continues to bring light into even the darkest days. It never fails that right when i am at my wits end he will start cooing and give me his trademark huge smile! Through this time we are learning so much about forgiveness and the process of healing.

We have felt incredibly blessed as God continues to provide for us above and beyond our expectations. We have been given so much. We have been able to nanny a bit, which is helping to meet our needs as Rich looks for work. Despite the lack of a consistent job, we were able to go to the beach for his birthday weekend.

All of this has made us look forward and think about the timing of things. New Zealand has never left our hearts and YWAM Oakridge still welcomes us to come on as staff. We have emailed back and forth to find that they are still eager and ready for us to come. After weeks of praying we are moving forward on a new and epic journey. We have started working on visa paperwork and we are constantly praying for wisdom and guidance through every step of the process! We definitely could use your love and support through this whole exciting process.

We will be sharing more details as they come together, but for now we are trusting and moving forward toward a dream He placed in us over a year ago.

A new journey begins!

Dreadhead No More

Haircut!