Our family's life in New Zealand
We had some very strange-looking people in our house this evening. First, this apparition appeared:
He wouldn’t tell us his name, but we think maybe it was Mr. Imagination. Sure sounded like his giggle, anyway! Then, a little while later, this one showed up in the kitchen:
Later, after we ate, we were treated to a sword-swallowing show. I’ll let you catch a brief glimpse of Mr. Inventor’s skills.
Mr. Inventor and Mr. Diligence found a tiny bicycle with training wheels at the dump a few months ago. They brought it home and presented it to their favorite little sister; it was just the right size for her. She was thrilled to be able to ride it. I grabbed the chance to get this video one morning when she slipped out of the house still wearing her nightgown! She moves so fast it’s hard to capture a video like this.
During the earthquake, the seafloor rose from one to two meters above the former level. This has dramatically changed some parts of the coastline; in Kaikoura, high tide now is approximately where low tide was before the quake! There are rocks visible now that no one knew about before. We went to the Peninsula last Sunday afternoon, around low tide, to see how different it was. This is how it looked just above low tide in 2010, and up until the earthquake:
This is taken from approximately the same place, now, at about the same stage of the tide:
We walked out to the distant rocks, which we were never able to reach before; there was a channel deep enough to snorkel through even at low tide before the quake. Out there, we discovered a colony of baby seals flopping around on the rocks, making a lot of noise. We saw a few of the mothers come in to feed their babies after several days fishing out at sea. It was just amazing to get to see all that—and then, when we returned to the van at the carpark, we got to see a pod of dolphins jumping offshore. I took several videos of what we were treated to, and Esther helped me put them together, so you can enjoy a tiny glimpse, too.
Here are several more pictures of the Peninsula at sea level:
Most of the family also climbed to the top of the Peninsula; I stayed in the van with the two littlest ones. Here are some pictures Esther took from up there; the first is from several years ago, and the second is the same place now.
I happened to notice some videos in a folder from October recently, and when I watched them to see what they were remembered that I had wanted to share them. So, here’s a little glimpse into the life and thoughts of Mr. Imagination! By the way, the background music is Gayle singing to Little Miss as he bathed her! He had no idea that he would end up being recorded, and said I’d have to put a disclaimer on. And, I do apologize for the way these fade out in places. Our living room isn’t very light at night, and the camera has a hard time with that.
Little Miss learned how to turn “round and round” a few weeks ago. She had great fun practicing her new skill!
I love watching Little Miss run and jump! She rarely moves slowly; this is her normal pace of life. She’s a very busy little girl!
The last Saturday of September was the annual Dead Boring Concert. As usual, a lot of talent was displayed as children from the various families played instruments, recited poetry they had written, or performed skits. Our family always sings, and this year was no exception. The first song they sang was, “My Ways Are Not Your Ways”.
Oft the way to the goal seems so weary and long,
Trials almost take away my song;
Then we sigh and we cry and we ask,
‘Father why does this life my wishes all deny?’
Chorus:
My ways, my child, are not your ways,
My thoughts are higher than thine.
Let me lead you each step of this long weary day,
Let me clasp thy trembling hand in mine.
It is my heart’s desire to do His blessed will,
And to serve my Master every day;
But when things all go wrong and the world doubts me still,
Then, oh Lord, I cannot understand.
So I’ll leave all to Him, He has promised to share
All my load and ev’ry care to bear.
There is joy in my heart and on my lips a song,
Even tho’, Lord, I don’t understand.
After singing that song, the boys recited the poem, “God Hath Not Promised”. Interestingly, a number of years ago Gayle had the children in our church memorize that poem. The next week, Esther had bad seizures which nearly took her life. Now, our children recited it in public–just before another severe trial.
God hath not promised skies always blue
Flower strewn pathways, all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptations, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain, rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labour, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing kindness, undying love.
The last song was “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”.
Oh soul are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness to see
There’s a light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free
His words shall not fail you, He promised
Believe Him and all will be well
Then go to a world that is dying
His perfect salvation to tell
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
These videos are quite special to us now; they are the last recording of Seth before he died about a week and a half after the concert. I do apologize for the shakiness. I was taking care of the two youngest and asked a friend to take the video; she didn’t have a tripod.
Are you ready for a cheerful post on this blog? I am! Little Miss has been such a bright spot in our lives, especially the past few weeks when we needed someone cheerful and funny around. She loves pretty things—pretty dresses, pretty flowers, and pretty broken pieces of crockery! She also loves transferring things from one thing to another. This afternoon, she came inside with this handful of old broken plates, bowls, and saucers. She gave them to me one by one, then took them back one by one, then gave them to me again…. For once, I had the camera handy to capture the moment. After I had to get busy with something else, she spent 15-20 minutes transferring her pretty pieces from one little gumboot to another, and back again! Right now, she’s standing on me, singing about her big brother who just drove the van up to the house after moving the camper. She is so much fun!
Little Miss is starting to talk quite a lot. She obviously hears a lot of counting, because she frequently says, “One, two, three!” Or, “Two, three, four, ten!” I went to the freezer at lunch time today to get something, and she came over, asking, “Want two-three-four!” She knows the blackberries are in that freezer, and she wanted some. I gave her a few. This afternoon, I was sitting at the computer doing something, and she started counting and then racing to the bedroom, then counting again and racing back. I was able to capture some of her game in a short video.
I spent some time sewing today. The sewing machine is on a table in the little boys’ room. I was sitting at it this afternoon, sewing, when Little Miss came in. She started climbing up to the top bunk, saying something like, “Daddy, daddy, dee dee dee, crash!” over and over. The “crash” was the clearest word, and the one she emphasized. Then, she swung herself down by one hand to reach the bottom bunk. I was able to get a video clip of the last time she did it. Enjoy!
Little Miss has some brothers that love her. She is also becoming quite a chatterbox. It’s really hard to record her talking, because when she sees the camera she quits. I did manage to get this clip from behind. Looks like Mr. Imagination wanted in on the video, as well! In the second one, we had leftover whipped cream from a special treat one evening (waffles served with cherry pie filling and whipped cream), so Mr. Diligence fed some of it to her while he cleaned out the cup.