We arrived safely!

Our five airports journey to get to Tuatapere, New Zealand went well. Only lost one waterbottle in the transit. Girls were troopers throughout the long flights, over the period of a couple days.
We were welcomed by a gentleman from the Waiau Health Trust--which is my employer. G is a sheep farmer, so the girls made mention of their strong desire to have a lamb. Lambs are born in the New Zealand spring, so that would be September. However, they need to be bottle-fed three times a day in the beginning. (!!!)

We have a lovely three bedroom home in which we live. In NZ, the primary heat source is woodburning stove. Houses do not have double-pane windows or central heat. We are getting used to it, but we do wear extra clothes in the house, as well as outside. One night, after a long day of work, as I found myself chopping wood, for the first serious time in my life...I thought Survivor New Zealand. I am a poor fire-starter--and it takes quite awhile to get it going, but more importantly, keeping it going. Thankful for portable room heaters or we would have become frozen popsicles by now. There have been several times when we can see our breath while being inside our house.

The girls started school at Tuatapere Community College. This is a kindergarten through 12th grade or year 1-13 if you say it like New Zealanders. Mia and Beau are in the same classroom because year 5 and year 6 are together. After summer vacation, in February, they will go up a grade in theory. Meili is contending with being in an English-speaking school for the first time in her life, after Chinese pre-school and Yinghua Academy. She is doing fine. All the girls have commented on how many boys go to their school. Again different from Yinghua!

Camp Foley in Minnesota before we head to NZ!

Two weeks of fun at Camp Foley~~Horseback riding, archery,
windsurfing, swimming, rock climbing, paintball, dance, waterskiing, crafts...what a wonderful time for our three campers: Mia, Beau and Meili. Kerry, the camp nurse, worked extra hard this year--with an abundance of sick campers, besides the usual homesick kids, tick removal, blisters, etc.,.