Parachute Festival

This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to go to Parachute Festival! I have always wanted to attend this festival so it was amazing to finally get to go!

 

 

 

As many of you know I have helped with and volunteered at more festivals and conferences than I can count, so it was really fun to be able to attend a festival that I had no part in planning! For those that have been to Creation Fest in England it’s similar to that but way bigger and you have to pay to go. Parachute is the biggest music festival in the southern hemisphere. There were over 17,500 people there!!

The Crowd for Hillsong United and getting ready for Newsboys

I didn’t think I was going to be able to go as I had no one to lead worship for the church while I was there. Thursday evening Hannah from our church said her mom could lead worship for Sunday so I quickly bought my ticket and threw some clothes in a bag. We left at 4am on Friday morning. Talk about last minute planning. I love that the Lord provided for me to go last minute. It was such a cool time for me just surrendering it to the Lord. I have always wanted to attend Parachute but I knew that if the Lord didn’t want me to go I had to surrender it to Him knowing that He has a better plan. So after struggling and surrendering and finally being ok with the fact that I was not going to be able to go, the Lord opened the door and allowed me to go! I love how the Lord does that sometimes.

 The Lead Singer for Rapture Ruckus in a Zorb singing on top of the crowd!

I shared a tent with my friend Ellen (thanks Ellen). It was really hot during the days and really cold at night.  (As I packed last minute I was not ready for the cold.) We saw so many bands, many of whom I have worked with at different festivals and conferences before and also many from the US which was fun! The Lord worked in amazing ways and I am so happy He allowed me to go and experience this part of Kiwi culture!

Leeland and Parachute Band

A big thank you to the Anderton family for saving me seats and letting me hangout with them so I didn’t have to be by myself at all the concerts and stuff!! They are truly the sweetest family, even giving me food! Also the Pyle boys were awesome getting us up front in for the bands and protecting all of the girls from the guys that were dancing a little crazy!!

Kiwi's bring couches camping with them and carry them to the concerts to sit in!

All in all it was amazing weekend and I am so glad I got the chance to go! Also I am very happy to be home and take a real shower and wash my feet!

Bought a Kiwi burger for lunch on the way back (not impressed)

We Moved!!

Alright so I have officially moved 6 times in 4 months between 3 different houses and I think I can safely say that I have moved for the last time! After living out of suitcases for the last four months I am officially unpacked and out of the suitcases and settled in my own room! I can’t tell you how amazing that feels!

 Before

 After

So this weekend I helped the family that I am living with move to a new house. It is amazing to see how the Lord provided this house for us to all move into and I am so thankful for their hospitality for allowing me to live with them and move with them. I love my room even though it is really hot at night and in the afternoon sun.

Roasting marshmallows the last day in our house


The sheep in our backyard came to visit the last day in our old house

 

 

We are all so thankful for all of the amazing men and people that helped us move and made our lives a lot easier. It is amazing to see how faithful the Lord is in providing help when we need it. It has been a very tiring week of moving, lifting, unpacking, and organizing but so awesome to be able to help this family and to be a part of it all.

I am looking forward to the next month or so settling in this house and enjoying the amazing views and scenery! I will post a video tour of the house once all the boxes are unpacked and out of the way till then here are some pictures!

Giant wood pigeons in our new backyard (they are the size of chickens!)



We cut back the monster of a vine and found out we have a huge deck!!
The vines reminded me of a movie where they come out and wrap around your leg and suck you in!


Backyard


view from the deck



Dinning room



Tv Room


Drive way and front view of the house

 

I put the few Christmas cards that I got on my wall so that I can remember to pray for each of them every day! If you want to send me a picture of yourself I would love to cover my wall with pictures of friends and family!!

 

I started reading this book to the kids and we love it!! They are constantly bugging me to read more! They would even rather have me read than watch a movie!! 

Anri and I found a work out video from the 80s in the move! So we decided we needed to workout to it!! so much fun! I feel like we should have dressed up! next time!

Moving week

This week is moving week!! Please be praying as we pack up and move and clean! Pray that we are able to get everything moved easily and with lots of patience and understanding!! Pray for no rain on Saturday so we are able to move everything in trailers without it getting wet! Thanks!!

I will post a blog with all the moving photos and other random stuff after the move!

Skydiving!!!

Oh the Adventure you end up doing when you are serving the Lord!!

Last Monday I went skydiving!! It was amazing! I found a deal for 40% off a tandem skydive so I made my friend Ellen buy one with me and we went last Monday!!

We jumped from 16,500 feet in the air! That is the highest jump in New Zealand! I expected to be nervous or scared but I was neither I was just excited!! We even had to have oxygen in the plane on the way up as it was so high in altitude without cabin pressure!! We had a great time and views from the plane were amazing!!!

It was also an amazing time of fellowship with Ellen and Ryrie!

We are next!!!

 

 

Getting all geared up and ready!

 

Ellen and I all ready to go!

 

 

The top little blue dot is me and the yellow lower one is Ellen!

 

 

Landing (not so fun)

 

 

 

I just jumped from 16,500 ft with this guy Cookie!

Kiwi Term 101

A few of the lovely high school girls here made this little video to help people learn some of the normal Kiwi words here. So I thought you all would enjoy the video

Boxing Day, New Years, and learning survival skills

These last few weeks have been quite eventful!!

 

The day after Christmas in most countries is called Boxing Day and it is also a holiday! Most people have it off of work and go to the beach or shopping here. Pretty much every day between Christmas and New Years we went to the beach! It was so nice to get to spend time at the beach and in the sun! The sun is very hot here so you have to wear extra sunscreen and stay out of the sun! The burn time is about 9 minutes.

 

 

 

 

I saw a dead penguin on the beach! My first penguin in the wild and it's dead :(

 

At the video store they have a whole wall of American candy and sweets!! It was amazing but soooo... expensive! $5 for a box of Dots :(

 

For Boxing Day I was invited over to our friend’s house to learn how to dock sheep and kill chickens.  A couple from our church, Richard and Christine, have a farm with a lot of sheep and chickens and food (well a lot of them have farms). I had told Richard early on in my NZ time that I would love to learn how to do all the farm type stuff. So he kept promising to bring me over and let me help kill a sheep. Finally on Boxing Day he called and had some chickens to kill and some sheep to dock. I went over at around 10am and got started. First we had to move the momma sheep and lambs from one paddock to the far paddock. So we got running and finally got them in the docks. Then I had to catch and pick up each lamb so we could spray them for ticks, and chop their tails. It was very exhausting work but so fun!

After we finished with the sheep, Richard informed me that they had two chickens that needed to be killed as they were not lying. So we went and caught the chickens and he taught me how to pluck and gut a chicken. This whole process is down without gloves so my hands were completely covered in chicken insides by the end.

 

Between Christmas and New Year’s we spent a lot of time at the beach. Between beach trips, I painted my room, and helped pack up the house, as well as fed the chickens and animals at the house I was house-sitting. The weeks passed as quickly as each day was a new adventure.

Best part about packing is getting to play with boxes!

This part of the view from the back yard of the house I was watching!!

Life on a farm!

One of the cute goats I was watching

The Cats brought me a dead bird one morning!

Fresh eggs from the chickens!!

New Years Eve was spent eating and watching movies. I had a great time just hanging out with my New Zealand family.  New Years day we went to the beach with the Abascal family. The Abascals are such an awesome family and everyone here will miss them so much. I especially love Claudia and am going to miss getting to talk with her. Please keep their family in prayer as they finish packing and getting ready to head back to America on the 18^th.

 

Last Friday I went back over to Richard and Christine’s and learned and helped kill, skin and gut a sheep. It was so crazy to learn how to do it. I literally had my arm shoulder deep inside a sheep J I brought my friend Amy along with me. It is amazing to have the opportunities to learn how to do all of this stuff. I really want to learn as much as I can about everything because I don’t know where the Lord has me in the future and I never know what skills I am going to need to survive where He leads me.

 

Sunday was Miguel’s last sermon in New Zealand. It was amazing to see how the people responded and how much everyone is going to miss this family. I am excited for what the Lord is going to do through this transition and what His plans are for all these people. After church Anri and Zander (the kids I live with) were baptized and Waipu cove. It was exciting to see them make a commitment to the Lord and to get to experience it. That night their dad Henri served them communion for the first time. It was such a sweet moment to get to be a part of.

Everyone gathered at the beach for the baptism!

Family picture after the kids were dunked!

On the way home we found this little hedgehog blocking our driveway! Anri picked it up with her sandels so we could drive up the driveway!

 

I learned how to make Pavlova and ate my first kiwi pav!! mmmm...