Hallo Pat and Ron Had a quick read and glad you enjoy most of it. I think you may need a holiday after this. It seemed full on. We all good thanks to the Grace of Jesus. Almost time for you to return home. Pray for safe journey and courage to say good-bye.
Love, Ina
Life continues on Last week we had a thunderstorm with two very close, large rumbles of thunder. Fiona found out that lightning had struck a power line close to your house causing a power cut and frying some of the underground electrical cables. Power is back on. John has checked out your house and all is well, but the power company are in the process of digging up the old cables and laying new ones.
Nicole has done an excellent job on both her science and maths fair projects. Science fair is next week. Ryan had to play rugby for the school yesterday again, which meant he missed out on a chess tournament. He was quite disappointed about that - both teams lost so perhaps he was at the wrong one.
Love to you both.
Peter
Fall Had a wonderful week in Auckland but the day after I got home as I was bringing in the washing I over balanced and hit my head on the wall in the carport. Ended in hospital for 4 days Still not feeling quite right but it has made me think through what I can and can not do now.Love Joy
we miss you ... Hi Mum, Hi Ron, So good to hear that the second day in Toronto is better than the first. We are pretty lonely here at home, missing you both terribly. Russell has been pretty quiet reflecting on the special times we spent together. And, I am glad you had a chance to read my latest blog entry, a very emotional one for me to write. Thank-you for your continuous support and prayers. Sending you lots of love and light xx M&R
Toronto Arrival I agree, parting was hard this morning. Miss you both. It was great to see you holding hands as you walked away from us. I'm so thankful that Ron is in your life.
I had a similar feeling to my arrival in Flagstaff after being in a loving environment at the Monroe Institute. There were people drinking, lots of yelling and I think I heard some vomiting. I went to bed in the dark in a room with 3 strangers and with a feeling of foreboding. The next day was better and after that everything was great again. It just seemed like a big transition from one environment to another.
I'm sure everything will be much brighter for you in the morning.
Love,
Tim
Happy Here Hi there, we have been trying to keep warm over here, at least the sun has been out for the last few days and there hasn't been too much rain to follow the snow. Nicole has been getting up early for the last 3 mornings and we have driven her around the streets to do a rubbish survey for her Maths Fair project. She is trying to find out whether people with green wheelie bins recycle as much as those who just put out black rubbish bags. There has been a bit in the paper lately about where New Plymouth will go as far as increasing recycling and reducing the amount that ends up at the tip. Her results look interesting. Ryan is becoming more and more keen on in-line. I had a thought, Mum, that a great present for him would be a calgary flames shirt, if you had the time to get one, and the room in your bags. We would pay you back of course. It would be best to get one a little big. They are baggy to fit over their pads anyway. There may not be any being summer over there anyway.
We had dinner with John and Catherine out at their place last night. They are starting to get things sorted. Their bedroom, bathroom and the lounge/kitchen are mainly free of boxes now, but the garage and two spare rooms are still full. Lots of sorting out to be done yet.
Only the weekend left of our holidays, then back into action again.
Great to hear you are making the most of your time there.
Love to you all, Peter
BRRRR!! It sure is cold HERE!!!! Big freeze over the whole country. Hi folks, while you roast we freeze so which do you think is worse???
We were due to fly to CH CH this morning to meet our son David, his wife Kim and their youngest H annah (15) who arrived in Auckland from Toronto at 5.30 am and were also continuing on to CH CH but sadly CH CH airport is snowbound so all flights are cancelled today.. Oh the joys of air travel. God willing we will all be able to make it tommorrow . We will have our comfy home bed to sleep in tonight and it looks as though they will have to spend the night in a Motel close to the Auckland airport. We are feeling quite sorry for them cause they have allready been about 36 hrs with very little shut eye ( you know what it's like trying to sleep on an aircraft) So urgent prayers for us please that the Lord will open the doors tommorrow. Sounds as though you are having a wonderfull time over in Canada so continue to enjoy every moment of your trip. God Bless. Love Bob & Shirley
looking good Hi there Ron and Mum, We are doing well here. Nicole and Ryan are just about over their coughs. The start of the holidays have been great, with plenty of sunshine and almost warm low to mid teen temperatures. John has enjoyed catching the 9.05 bus directly out front of your house, down town, a walk along the waterfront and then catching the next bus back, all for free thanks to the gold card. John and Catherine are preparing to move into their house this weekend, which is very exciting. The truck arrives on Saturday, with the predicted rain unfortunately. They have both been kept busy this week looking after Ryan and Nicole while Fiona and I are at the Elijah House school of prayer course. It has been very revealing and a blessing for both of us. There has certainly been some good learning going on and we are pleased we are there. As you probably saw on Russell's email, Ryan and I had a great trip up the Pouakais on Saturday and Sunday. He has an inline hockey tournament this weekend and training camp next week, Monday to Wednesday. Nicole has lots of work to do on Science fair and Maths fair projects. Love to you all.
Hi Mum and Ron. Great to hear you are having a fantastic time and getting bargains along the way..... We have had a week of sickness in our home. Both kids have been unwell- Ryan had an episode of croop early Monday morning and he has only gone to school today (Thurs). Nicole has also been off all week with the flu, high fevers achy body and a good dose of coughing. But they will get better.
It has been pretty cold throughout NZ as a storm that has lasted a week has moved over us. Lots of snow in the south and on the mtn ranges, thunderstorms and strong winds. We have faired ok just keeping out of it. We are all looking forward to the school holidays. Next week Peter and I start on the Elijah House A course, Mum and Dad will look after the kids.
Hello to everyone. Has the DVD we made arrived at Russ and Mini's?
This blog is great - thanks for keeping us in the loop.
Love Fiona
Hi to you both Good to keep up with your trip and your photographs so far. Had our film afternoon and showed Fried Green Tomatoes. Nine sat down for afternoon tea. Hope yor travels continue to be all you are expecting
Catching up Hi Ron & Pat,
Looks as though you are having a wonderful time there in Canada. We will be following your travels with interest, and in the process will recall special occasions of our many trips through that beautiful country . God bless and keep you and give you safe travel. Enjoy His marvelous creation as you experience new things each day. Love Bob & Shirley
TO LET YOU KNOW Tom Clow died today of a massive heart attack at Mokau. He had been helping a friend move a boat the day before. Has left many in shock. Nothing you can do except hold us all in your prayers. Have a GREAT trip. Kim
Hatchet Hi Mum and Ron, Good to hear more of your adventures. Talking of animals reminds me of the book Ryan and I are reading called Hatchet. It's about a 13 year old boy who is in a small plane that crashes in the middle of a Canadian forest on the edge of a lake. He has already met a black bear and a porcupine. The bear left him alone but the porcupine left him with a few spines. I hope your train ride was good and the bandits didn't take too much of the royal jewelery. Love Peter.
Glad to know that you made out okay with your rental car, and escaped from Vancouver unscathed.
I went to a place called the Devil's Arch in Arizona. It didn't seem evil either. It was a beautiful natural arch formed out of red rock.
Russell, Meena and I went down to Prince's Island Park for Canada day. It was good to hear some of the quieter bands play their music. The loud ones were a bit much for a sunny afternoon.
Fresh snow on Mount Taranaki! Must be great to have Tim with you. Say hi from us. After all the rain at the end of last week it was great to get out the raft on Saturday morning with Phil and Ryan. We paddled from Meeting of the Waters to the main road bridge in about 1 1/2 hours. A quick but fun trip. The water had dropped significantly, but still high enough for a great paddle. Nicole had another win with her netball team. Fiona's dad had is 75th birthday yesterday, although he was born in England so his real birthday here is probably today?!?! We had John and Catherine over for afternoon tea.
Have a great week. Love to you all.
Peter
Raining here! Sounds awesome. We have had lots of rain here. I drove out to meeting of the waters where the water was over the path and still rising! Nicole and Ryan brought home their reports the other day - they are both doing well. Fiona was a little concerned about Ryan's report, but he explained that "the standards I am assessed against are for where I should be at the end of the year, so I am doing fine".
Thanks for keeping us up to date on your excursions. Love Peter
Ina Strydom
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Hallo Pat and Ron
Had a quick read and glad you enjoy most of it. I think you may need a holiday after this. It seemed full on. We all good thanks to the Grace of Jesus. Almost time for you to return home. Pray for safe journey and courage to say good-bye. Love, Ina