Home Sweet Home

We are now in our house in Karori, Wellington but we are without internet at the moment so this will be a short update. We should get phone, internet and cable on Tuesday - yee haw!

It's so good to be settled and God was gracious to us and gave us a beautiful sunny day the day we arrived, so much better than when I first saw the house on a cold, wet day. The weather has been perfect for days and it certainly lifts the spirits, and makes the living situation more pleasant as we can "live" outside as well as in. New Zealand houses in general have so many more windows than we are used to and since nobody has a/c it's a good thing! Our home has been flooded with sunshine and a cool breeze, perfect. We've inherited a lovely garden and many house plants, I hope that they survive our tenancy.

The girls are still doing well though I have to say that as we were out and about yesterday we encountered a few stares and one question as to why they aren't in school. I am still planning on checking out the schools here, probably next week, but my intention is to homeschool at least for the time we are in this house. That may change though - give me one rainy day after Sarah leaves :). Just kidding, but really that decision is still very much in the making and nothing is set yet. I've been walking with Dugald to the bus in the morning and it is so much fun to see all the children, all in uniforms, walking alone and taking the bus to school. It must be a much safer environment because I just can't imagine doing that at home. When I was walking back yesterday a little girl Meggie's age passed me on her bike on the way to school. I think I would still feel the need to walk with them, but it is nice to see the children are pretty safe.

The walking to everything has been GREAT - nice fresh air and good exercise and everything is a reasonable distance. Yesterday we walked to the library and heard a storytime, then we went to the bakery, then the girls and Sarah went to the park that is on the way home while I went to the grocery store, then we all walked home together. So fun! We have been blessed with a great location - the town of Karori is super and the location of our house is easily accessible to all we need. It's hilly here so the girls (ok, and me) are getting used to that.

This morning we cleaned house - I gave each girl a job (Ellie's was simply to keep the cat out of the pile of dirt I had swept up off the floor) and we were done in a flash. There are benefits to a smaller home. Laundry is another story - it takes some time to hang everything on the line, but I feel so green when I do it! It dries pretty quickly in the garden but we do have a dryer if we need it for rainy days. I'll have to write about the trash situation another time.

Dugald is enjoying work - as I mentioned he takes the bus in and out and then walks up the hill to the house. Things are going well for him, he's busy but that is good.

I better finish as my time on the internet is almost up - I have to go to the library to check email and then pay for my time. We love and miss you all!