Ward Christmas Party

 Today was a really nice day.  It felt like summer had finally arrived.  Our ward had its Christmas party at a park near Te Papa Museum.  Everyone brought their lunch and then something to share.

 The man in the blue stripped shirt and hat is our bishop.  His name is Bishop Howard.  He is an outstanding bishop.

A lot of young missionaries were there and they were playing rugby in the grassy area next to the picnic area.  You can tell that Elder Lott doesn't get out in the sun much.  Look at those white legs.

The Bishopric cooked sausages and then there was chips, fruit and juice.  It was a fun day but the sun was so hot the even with sunblock I got burnt.  Don as usual got a nice tan.  They say that down here we are closer to the sun so we have to be very careful when the sun is shining (which isn't very often)

December 10, 2011

Monthly Dinner for December

The senior couples and President and Sister Kerzarian met at the Siam Reap Restaurant in Wellington for dinner tonight.  It was a Cambodian Restaurant located just down the hill from us.  They all met at the mission office and walked down but it was easier for us to just walk down the stairs at the end of our street and meet them at the restaurant.

Afterwards we went back to the mission office and President Kezarian gave us a new temple recommend.  Ours expires in January 2012.  It was interesting that when you are on a mission the mission president interviews you and signs both as the bishop and the stake president.  It was nice to know that we have a temple recommend even though we can't go very often.  Hopefully, we will be able to go after our temple prep class is over.  We have a young couple with a small baby that plans on being sealed in January.  The Hamilton Temple is out of our mission but the mission president said he would get permission from the area president to be able to go see the sealing.  We are excited about going.

December 9, 2011

Cruise Ships

It is now summer in New Zealand so the cruise ships come in about 3 times a week.  We can see them from the tea room at the archives.  Today a very special ship came in.  It had Mary and Harry Aldrich from St. George on it.  They took a tour around Wellington and one of their stops was at the St. Paul's Church which is located right next to the archives.  So they called us from the government buildings (which are also very close to us) and said their next stop was the church.  We were excited to be able to see them  and visit with them for a few minutes.  It was nice to have a little bit of St. George here in New Zealand.

December 8, 2011

New picture from the Tongan visit to the archives

This was a picture taken of the Tongan visit to the digi lab.  It is now posted in the tea room.  It was taken by an employee of the archives.

Family Home Evening

 For Family Home Evening we made goody packages for the missionaries serving from our ward.  I think the adults outnumbered the young adults because it is summer and so a lot of the young adults are gone.  The people on the back row starting from the left is:  David Osler, Elder Overton, Mikey, Sister Overton, Chelsea, Katherine Osler, Sam (Samantha), Kree, Nic.  Front row: Mario, Ben, Sister McVey.  The Osler's are the family that invited us for Thanksgiving Dinner.

November 28, 2011

Rugby Stadium

While we were at the Home and Garden Show, Don asked a security person if we could see the rugby field.  They let us in and this is what the inside looks like.

Home and Garden Show

 We decided to go to the Home and Garden Show held at the Westpac Stadium (which is where rugby is played).

 This is a baby sheep.  They were selling insulation made from sheep wool.

 These are watering cans that are made in the shape of different animals.

 This patio table holds a lot of people and has a lazy susan in the middle for serving.  You would need a pretty big patio for this table.

This is an enclosed trampoline.  Just what everyone needs for their backyard.