Last night we went out to a couple's place for dinner. She is Bolivian and he is an MK from Bolivia. They have a little boy called Hugo. It was the first time we have been invited into someone's home since we arrived in Auckland and it was nice to leave the evening calling them friends.

Anyway. given that their son's name is Hugo it reminded us of the old Kentucky Fried Chicken ad that played in NZ in the 70's (yes I'm THAT old!) Nige sang it to them and then found it on You Tube. Thought you might like to have a look. It's really cute.

I have done it!!!! I have survived two big grocery shops in my new house and am so proud of myself. The second one went a lot better than the first but nevertheless we have food in the house and I am attempting to make everything here and not buy take out (our staple food for nearly a week).

The first shop was the biggest. I had to stock up my pantry with all the basics as well as make sure we had enough to get us through the week. I had been planning this shop for months, mentally going over in my mind what I had to buy and where I had to go. I arranged for Nige to be home one afternoon so I could go without the kids which was a fab idea. The whole thing took me three hours!!!!! I stopped off at the fruit and vege store and stocked up there. I bought so much but it was lovely to have summer fruits like peaches, nectarines and apricots in my house to munch on. Then I hit the big supermarket. It is HUGE!!!! As I walked around I was talking to myself and encouraging myself at evey step. Everytime I finished an aisle I would pat myself on the back and prepare myself for the next one. A couple of times I found myself just standing and staring at all the items on the shelves. It felt like I couldn't move. I was frozen on the spot and my mind was totally muddled. Would I buy the green label or the blue one? Which is bigger? Which is better value fr money? Sometimes I would just have to pick up something and buy it without all the fiddling around with prices. I don't know if I got good value for money or not sometimes but, for my own mental sanity, I needed to keep going. Only once did I feel the tears start but I pulled myself together and moved along.

Now, for those of you who have never experienced changing supermarkets from a foreign one to your home one this may all seem quite strange but I know I'm not alone. I have spoken to many missios who have struggled to know which bread to choose. When there are very limited choices overseas, coming home to a whole aisle of breads is quite overwhelming.

This last time I went it took just over an hour and I felt a whole lot better. I don't think I talked to myself once, except perhaps when I had to go into the chiller section to buy the cheese, yoghurts and butter. Perhaps next time I will find it even easier.

We're here!!! Can't believe it but we are here in Aucland, the city of sails and have installed ourselves in our new home.

The packers arrived at 8:30 and the truck came just 30 minutes later. Everything was loaded up and we had gone by 10:30 AM which was just great. We were all excited and played load music all the way to Taupo where we stopped for lunch. On the way we stopped at Mangaweka, a very small town but with a very cool tearooms....it's a plane!

We had lunch with Nigel's youngest sister and husband and the boys got to ride on the back of Darryl's Motorcross bike. They thought it was super fun even if their Dad was freaking out at the speed (he really wasn't going that fast). Then we drove the remaining 3 hours to Auckland and it was a grumpy time. Everyone had had enough of being in the car and it was sticky hot so it made for a grumpy trip. By the time we arrived at the SIM guest house we were tired and hungry. A good feed of Fish 'n Chips settled the grumps.

We went through the hosue on Sunday afternoon and all was given the go ahead for us to move in the following morning. We didn't get the keys until 2PM Monday but that gave us time to clean the outside of the house and do some gardens. We whizzed through and cleaned the rest of the house and then the following day prepared for the packers to arrive. Sadly it rained but that didn't dampen our enthusiasm. We slept our first night in our house on Tuesday night and it was nice to wake up and not have to go anywhere.

I was feeling all excited about the unpacking. I was doing really well and getting through the 70 odd boxes we had. Nige had started work on the Wednesday so I was really motivated to surprise him with a big hole in the unpacking. When he came home he brought with him our 11 suitcases that we had been storing in Auckland since our return to NZ in September. They filled the big hole that I had made and made it look like I had done nothing. I was so discouraged! It took me much of the next day to even motivate myself to do anything.

I did set the goal of having everything unpacked by Sunday evening which we have managed to do. It is nice to have a home for even little things and I am enjoying popping out to the shops to buy little things to make our home more manageable....a basket here, some cooking utensils there.

All in all the move has gone well and I am thankful to God for allowing us this time to settle before I and the boys get thrown into work and school. The beach and swimming pools are just a few metres down the road (well the beach is more like a few kilometres) but it is all so close and we are having fun popping down to the water to cool off. The weather has finally picked up and I have even been able to get my washing dry which has been so hard this past week.

The internet is on, people have my new phone number and are calling, there is food in the cupboards (another post I think) and we are living happily in Auckland. Praise God.

Tomorrow is the big day. The packers arrive at 8:30 am (guess I'll be up early) and then the truck arrives to load up all our stuff. We went through it the other day and have around 70 boxes to go which looks like a lot. It will be interesting to see what we have kept for the past 8 years. We're hoping it will all be done quickly as it is a long drive to Auckland and we want to make it in one day. It's about 8 hours including a couple of stops. Pray that we will be away well before lunch.

Last night I had a dream that I was back in Ecuador. It was a lovely time catching up with all my friends who were there. I felt safe, happy and comfortable. What a pleasureable dream that was. Unfortunately this is not my dream world and I'm off to begin a new life. But God is good. He is looking after our finances and people have been generous with their money and support of us. Makes me remember again that God really does want us here in NZ and He has all things in His hand. I'm so glad I serve a God like that. Aren't you?