Rexy and Dave and Wendy

Rexy arrived on Tuesday morning, just before flooding began in Rotorua. Since then, it has been a lot of good meals, tonnes of conversation, and lots of prayer time. Tonight continued along the same theme with Dave and Wendy McQuoid joining us for a coffee and desert. Dave and Wendy (YWAM Associates) are hidden gems in Tauranga and after two years of saying we would get together - tonight was the night. It was awesome to spend time with men and women of God and talk through some of the practical issues of life. Seriously, they have some wisdom.

IWT Staff is growing!

Yesterday our little IWT family at the regionally center here in Tauranga expanded. Yea! Curt, a pastor turned missionary from America, arrived in Tauranga to live long term. He is quiet amazing, as he committed to live here without ever visiting the country. Yesterday, when he touched down it was literally his first time to see his new home, New Zealand. We went to work immediately showing him around the city, and looking at two homes that he might call home. His wife and daughter will be arriving in ten days, so it will be a busy 10 days getting the basics set up before they arrive. Needless to say, we are very excited and encourage to have this family added to our midst. God is certainly bringing people to this city.

Blessed by Feijoa's

Autumn in New Zealand means that it is Feijoa (Pinneapple Guava in North America)season! Yay! Seriously they are my new favorite food. I'm even freezing some to eat in crumbles durning the winter:> For all of my faithful friends reading this blog in North America, you probably don't even know what a feijoa is. And since you probably don't know what a feijoa is, you probably have not ever had the joy of tasting a one either. To sum it up though, a Feijoa is a fruit that taste like Sweet Tart candy. How awesome is that - fruit that taste like candy!

Here in the Bay of Plenty we are truly blessed. The feijoa tree up the lane is producing huge fruit. Pictured is a normal sized feijoa and next to it, the ones off our tree. How awesome is that! I've been eating them for dessert almost every night for the past two weeks.

How to smoke fish.

Coat meat with brown sugar and salt.



Smile at the happy hungry husband.



Light the fire.



Let it burn until it goes out.



Time to eat!

Carrot Cake

This week has been pretty full of activity and it is not over yet. In just a few minutes we are headed to the youth group at our church. Josh is going to be sharing tonight...so it should be great!

That being said, I would like to take this time to share a great carrot cake recipe with you. I made it for the first time last night, after my New Zealand cousin Julia, shared it with me. It is super easy...so enjoy!

In a food processor blend the following:

2 cups carrot (about three large carrots)
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup oil
1 cups flour
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda

Bake at 180 degrees C or about 325 degrees F for approximately 30 minutes. Ice with your favorite cream cheese icing and enjoy!

It is finished.

Yesterday, I was a bit emotional and for good reason. It was my last day of work at my part time job. Working at this New Zealand interior design company has been a great experience and a real opportunity to get to know people from the broader spectrum of Tauranga. I will miss everyone a lot because they have become good friends.

So, tonight I left Josh at home with slow-cooked roast chicken dinner, and went out with all the girls from The Urban Lounge....recently renamed the Urban Interiors Group. It was the last (okay there might be one more) get together for all those who were a part of the old company. It was great to get caught up with those that had already moved on, and converse with everyone else for one last time.

All in all, it is finished.

Auckland Meetings

Josh and I got back from our YWAM National meetings, around 6pm last night. We were in Auckland for two days, and got our fill of traffic and traffic jams in that time. We did have a pretty good time, while not in traffic though. We networked with people and heard all the latest reports about what is happening in the nation of New Zealand. It was good. It was nice to leave the Bay of Plenty, and then come back to it. Sometimes all you need to appreciate where you live, is to leave it for a few days.

A New Experience

Today we admit we both super sore due to our activities yesterday. Both Josh and I had another first together as We harvested avocados for the 1st time at Josh's parents place. We had a whole crew of kids and friends around and all got into it. It was actually really hard work, climbing trees, reaching, stretching, bending, carrying, and picking up the fruit off the ground. I can see now why most people don't get that excited about the prospect of spending a day doing it. However, it was enjoyable work because at the end of the day we could see the results of our labour; 7 full bins of avocados. Now that is a lot of Guacamole....

Here are some pics to prove how agricultural I have become! Or more so that my husband can climb trees like a monkey:>

For those of you who can't just drop in to see us. Here are some pictures of our new little home. It's built into the side of a hill - like a hobit house from Lord of the Rings - go figure! Now if only I can figure out how to get the dryer to fit into the laundry room......