Jackson Hole Retreat with Good ol' Friends

Our dear friend Ann Lynch has been living in Chicago for the past 10 or 11 years. The last we saw her was when she came to Utah during the 2002 Olympics. She & her husband were visiting their son Eric in Jackson Wyoming. Carrie Williams, Chris Dedrickson, Cathy Whiting & I drove up there to visit her on Friday, Feb. 8th and we came home on Sunday after Sac. Mtg. in Jackson. We kidnapped her from her family for 24 hours and had the greatest time. We cross country skied with the backdrop of the Tetons in the Colter Bay area. It was sunny, warm and spectacular. The sky was blue and the snow was sparkling and still powdery dry. Chris taught us about hoar snow and was a great tour guide. We ate everything from healthy snap peas to decadent Marie Calendar Pie and Moose Munch etc. The best was just talking and being with the dearest of pals. Miles are not a bearier with friends like these. Annie, we love you like a sister and will look forward to fulfilling a bucket list item in 2010. Make sure you see the pictures on the link to the right.

Was It A Dream?

Bob wrote right away after we got back. It has been harder for me. I have been heartsick to leave New Zealand. I know that I will probably never get back there or to the wonderful islands that we visited. I will miss many many things but mostly people. I had a friend tell me recently that she wished she had a quarter for every time I spoke of it. I guess it was just like we were gone for a little bit to our friends and family. Maybe I need to let it go. It feels like a glorious dream now and I don't want to let it go. What a tremendous blessing it was for Bob and I to have that opportunity. I am so very grateful to our Heavenly Father. Wow, there is so much I never want to forget. The glorious diverse world that God created for all of us. But most importantly the people all over were so incredible. The wonderful openness and love of the cultures. We will never forget these amazing people and hope these relationships will never change. How our Heavenly Father blesses all of His children and how much very many of them appreciate it. How grateful I was to serve as a Church Service Missionary for the Auckland New Zealand Mission. Wow, that opportunity was so precious to me. Antony being baptized before we left. Serving in the Nursery. Bob's and my special togetherness and unique lifestyle there. Was it only a magical dream?

Leaving New Zealand.....

Our assignment to work in New Zealand for the past 15 months has come to an end. It has been an experience of a lifetime. Over that time we have met many wonderful people and experienced life in the Pacific Islands. We visited Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Fiji, Kiribati, Japan, Honk Kong, Australia, Korea and Roratonga. Even though those islands are very cool and its neat to say we were there the greatest experiences we had and the experiences that will burn the brightest in our memory will be the wonderful people we met and associated with.

Often times we met people that had what appeared to be very little (our standards), but those people seemed to be the most content. They are happy with life, they love their families, and are quick to express love and acceptance of strangers. What was demonstrated to us over and over was that all of these people on all of these islands have one thing in common with us and people back in America. They love the Gospel and being members of the Church. It becomes the link that binds us to each other around the globe. Their testimony of the Restoration, the Book of Mormon, a living Prophet, blessings of the temple and their desire to serve their fellow man makes them all unified. We came to love them like family and will miss them deeply.

Back in New Zealand we worked daily with many employees in the Area Office and the Mission office. We had wonderful activities with the FHE group. They all became our family away from home. Its difficult not to long for the island of the Long White Cloud.

On the other hand its great to be home. Customs greeted us with a smile and NO luggage inspection. Even though one piece of luggage decided to remain in California for an extra day we are all now reunited and are happy. We left summer and were welcomed to Utah with a great Christmas storm that left a new foot of the white stuff in our yard and on the roads. As of today we have avoided any accidents, have only driven on the wrong side of the road twice and have used my windshield wiper as a blinker about a hundred times!

We loved it and love being home. We know we will never forget the experiences we had in the Land Down Under. (New Zealand, not Australia) Check out the PICS...in Albums.

Bob's Greenie

Bob's replacement is a member of our Stake Presidency. Garrick Parr is a tall, gray hair, distinguished looking kiwi who is about 5 yrs younger than Bob. They have traveled together to Samoa and Tonga. Bob has the luxary of having 5 weeks to train him. He has not really been in HR but will be a great asset to the church in many many ways. They have come back with fun companion stories. They have both had major flashbacks of their missionary days. They dress like missionaries and are together always. They stayed in houses on campus so felt like they were flatting again. They get up and walk early for exercise. They have companionship prayer. They eat a half a box of cereal while they study their scriptures and discuss them together. Then it is off to work. They hit a roadside stand to get their chicken hot dogs, frozen veggies and chips for dinner after they did a temple session. Then companionship prayer before going to their rooms for bed. They were thrilled to get home to their "real" companions even though they loved the 30 year flashback and their time together.

The Greatest Walk In The World!

Well if not the greatest it certainly is the wettest. But you get blessings when you walk the Milford Trek in the rain. WATERFALLS! Hundreds and hundreds of temporary waterfalls gushing down the canyon walls.

During our stay in New Zealand we had hoped to do the famed Milford Trek. Well we took the plunge and signed up for the guided walk. You walk in the rain during the day but enjoy hot showers, cooked meals(we gained weight), and soft beds at night. We had four young, friendly guides taking care of us and keeping us on schedule. Forty five of us enjoyed the 4 night 5 day tramp through some of the most incredibly beautiful country you have ever seen. And yes we took WAY to many pictures. (Miriam had the camera). But we really blame our children for giving us a waterproof camera and we put it through the paces!

Wee waterfalls, big waterfalls, granite cliffs, incredible vegetation, heaps of swing bridges, wonderful lodges, new friends and memories to last a life time. Of the 49 people walking only one person claimed to have dry feet and our guide said she was lying. But walking in the rain isn't so bad. We weren't cold and had the facilities to dry out at night. We started each day with dry clothes and high spirits.

We finished the trip with an extra day in Queenstown. To honor a promise made in Auckland I selected the LEDGE on top of Bob's Peak as the Bungy Jump of choice. Both Miriam and I took the plunge. (I jumped and she did the sky swing). ENJOY THE PICS..DONT OVERDOSE!

Thanksgiving in New Zealand?

OK when you are away from home and you are not around your loved ones you could have a tendency to be depressed. Some people are known to eat and eat and eat if they are in that state of mind. Well we are not saying that we were depressed or anything like that. We did miss everyone very much but we did enjoy the company of other Americans also separated from their families. In fact we enjoyed 2 thanksgivings! One on Thursday and one on Friday.

Thanksgiving #1
We were invited to the Mission Presidents home for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. While the food was being prepared we all sat down to a friendly competition of candy turkey making, using little jelly candies and toothpicks. The teenagers won, the adults struggled with their creativity.
We enjoyed a wonderful meal (no yams!). We took a survey and no one really likes yams, everyone just serves them because their mother did. We topped off the meal with yummy pie for dessert.
Following dinner we sat down for a great game of Apples to Apples.

Thanksgiving #2
We planned another thanksgiving dinner with other American expats that had no family to celebrate with. We had a wonderful meal and just enjoyed each other’s company away from work.
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on all the blessings we have individually and as a family. Since the family reads this blog I will use it to tell them all that we love you very much, are thankful that you are all happy and doing well, and we look forward to Christmas when we will be able to see you in person.
Love Mom and Dad

KeriKeri Half Marathon

2,500 runners, 13 miles, going potty in the bushes, walking more than running, getting dehydrated, eating snapper, driving a very very long way and playing card games. All in all it was a fun and exciting weekend. We worked our way up to the half marathon by walking about 10 miles for a couple of weekends before the big race. So Miriam and I were kind of ready for the main event. It was a fun atmosphere and we all felt pretty good about our accomplishment. I got bit by a mystery bug at the Bay of Islands and my forearm is swollen and itchy. The Area Doctor is taking care of me and watching it closely. I have something called cellulitis. The medicine is working well. I just finished a quick trip to Samoa where I had a flashback experience to my own mission over 30 years ago. My replacement went with me. They put us up in a small house, we finished each night and started each day with companion prayer, wore white shirts and read the Book of Mormon each morning as we each consumed half a box of cold cereal. We have another trip to Tonga coming up. Then its vacation time in the South Island and home to Utah, just in time to shovel snow and enjoy a white Christmas.

Service Center Manager Seminar

We had a seminar in the Bay of Islands for all of the Service Center Managers in the Pacific Area. It was held North of Auckland about 4 hours. We had Managers from the Area Office and Managers from Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, Australia, Papa New Guinea, Kiribati, and New Zealand. We also had Elder Hilbig in attendance. It was a great opportunity to build relationships, establish goals together and say goodbye to Clint as he is retiring at the end of the year. We also found the time to tour the Treaty Grounds, go on a cruise on a catamaran, paddle with the dolphins and enjoy the beautiful country. We got to know the managers much better and learned about their challenges and responsibilities on the islands. They and their wife's are all wonderful people with strong testimonies of the gospel.

A Week of Wandering (when we aren't at work)

After a busy week at work getting caught up on things, we found ourselves wandering up north. We finally made it to the Farmer's market & pottery shops. The best part of the day was finding the Tawharanui Regional Park. It is an open Sanctuary (pest free)for all existing native species and to reintroduce some others that have been lost. Make sure you find our pictures to the right. Monday was our Labour(yes, it is spelled correct) Day here in NZ. Our friends the Marshalls invited us to join them to Tiritiri Island. We took a twenty min. ferry from Shakespere. This island is a bird refuge. Many endangered species have been protected here. We saw tons of birds with the help of our enthusiastic bird guide. My personal favorite was the Takahe which is the Pukeko's closest relative. They are both colorful goofy looking things with large feet and big heads. Neither really flies. Both of these places had Kiwi on them. If we had stayed the night and went out with a torch (flashlight) we could see a Kiwi. They are very nocturnal. It was a beautiful place and fun to be introduced to the birding world. (It won't happen real often--our real love is to power walk the great trails but it was good for a change.)

Later in the week we had a senior missionary Halloween party. In NZ Halloween has not really taken hold yet. On Halloween we did not get any trick or treaters (except the President's son in our office). On Saturday I walked the coast to coast again with Wiki and Pauline Achee and Allyson Gurney. Bob hurt his back so he was home washing the car and doing laudry. (Miriam is a task master, isn't she)(Please check out the pictures to the right)

SatMap of Kiribati

There is surprising quality on this island, so zoom on in and check it out.

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