Friends of Grace

As a family we were hugely privileged to travel to Christchurch for Grace Baptist's Sunday service, in which the Rolleston church plant was officially commissioned.  How exciting to witness the birth of a new church, born of a need for a church ministry in one of NZ's fastest growing suburbs.  Joe Fleener, who was the speaker at our church camp last year, has been called and set apart as the pastor of this new work.  We were amazed to see the large number of people they are starting up with already - a few families from Grace Baptist Church are moving over.  We pray that the Lord grows and blesses this work and draws many to Himself through this means!

Memory Walk

Timaru Christian School was invited to participate in a local Memory Walk to launch an Alzheimer's Awareness campaign. Students had to turn up in their school uniform, march up the main street of town holding helium balloons, then let them go after the speeches.

The walk was well attended and heralded by the local Pipe Band - always treat.

A couple of stray balloons found their way heavenward before the appointed time; some balloons weren't liberated at all, but rather deflated and their contents merrily inhaled.  The pair of gazers below were guilty of the latter.

Up they go!  I did hear several questions about what happens to the balloons eventually.  Anyone with an answer is welcome to comment!

After the formalities we were entertained with a live little band and a sausage sizzle. 

Smile (but not too much)

Here's a pretty awesome way to spend a Saturday morning - in the company of the very talented Vivienne Laursen, being treated to a 40th Birthday photo shoot!  We laughed our way through much of it but Viv is so good at keeping the right tone.  Thanks Viv!

While the boys were still in bed...

Anyone wandering through our back yard this morning would have been highly amused to see a pyjama-clad woman in a dressing gown, snow boots, a macintosh, and gloves, lying on the muddy, frozen grass with a camera.  Admittedly I felt silly starting intently at the ground, but to find frosty subjects for macro pics is a game of patience and careful study of a very small area of ground!  

How to make a Yellow Coat

Find a regular 100% wool blanket (preferably not off your own bed...TradeMe is a better option!)

Track down a sari for the lining - again, you can find just about anything and everything on TradeMe...

Cut them up and sew them together and voila!  For the gloomy grey days in winter, this is my own bit of sunshine :)

Deserting desserts

It's been a while since we've had a ladies evening of sorts - birthdays have run out! Bronwyn organized and gathered a group of ladies from church to meet at Ginger & Garlic for dessert - I left early because Nick had arrived home from his week away at the annual School of Theology in Palmerston North.  It was certainly winding up to be a fun evening though!

Day 1: Holiday Visits

No prizes for guessing today's destination! Sharon and the kids and the boys and I met up with Betta at this lovely destination for a browse and coffee and chat and a laugh. We let the kidlets amuse themselves outside in the sunshine. Awesome start to our July holidays!

Picturesque woodlands

Viv invited me to come along to Genevieve's birthday party to photograph it - no pressure, as Viv is a professional photographer.  It's not always ideal to be behind the camera though at such an event - you really do want to look like you were present at key moments in your children's lives!  She knew I would have fun though as she had such a lot of prettiness going on, and I definitely did. The Lord mercifully blessed us with another glorious day in Timaru...the plans for a Botanical Garden woodlandsy party would have been severely dampened if rain had been pouring down.

The sun does a really small arc in the sky at this time of year, so shadows are long and highly contrasted.  You just have to work with the light and effects instead of working around it...opportunities for contre-jour photography abound.

Viv's creative genius at work - what a great cake!

Hmm, Marc is ever the stirrer - this time with a knife.  Graham thought the cake was pretty good too.

The golden piñata...I left before the girls managed to smash it open, which apparently took a mammoth effort - that's one tough pinecone!

The one above is called "Graham and the Big Tree"...

Thanks for a great afternoon, Viv and co!  (A note about the photos - Viv uploaded an album to her facebook page with pics of the girls; I have chosen to use less 'face' pictures on this post.)

Flyin' with the birds

I must remind myself in future, when it gets to around April and I'm anticipating winter with dread, that it's not all gloom and rain and cold...we do sometimes get to sit outside and enjoy lunch in the sun! Liz and Graham kindly had us around to lunch along with Simon and Monique and the girls, who we are getting to know and appreciate more and more. 

Mmm, tucking in to a bacon and egg burger!

Caleb bought one of Callum Upfold's handmade whips (this is a spot of free advertising for Callum - get in touch with him if you would like one!).  Caleb is learning some of the different techniques for cracking it and is getting pretty good at simulating a gunshot!  Had to make sure first that the animals weren't bothered by it before letting it fly in the paddock.