HAPPY EASTER - and Grandparents!!!

Happy Easter and may we all grow in our revelation of what really took place when Jesus died on that cross and then was raised back to life - - - it blows my mind! THANK YOU JESUS, FOR THAT HUGE SACRIFICE!!!! It's been such a busy week and we just barely got everything ready in time for Rich's parents' arrival today. It sure accelerated the final stages and clean-up of our moving in and I can now say - very tired but very happy: we've got everything in its place and a place for everything!!!! Well, just about everything (most of our books are still in boxes and will be until we can buy a book shelf) Can't tell you what a relief that is for me!!! When Rich or the kids ask me where this or that is, I actually know it! And hopefull they'll soon know it, too, so they won't need to ask any more. WHEW!!! It is wonderful having Rich's parents here!!! We sure miss not having grandparents around most of the time! It was kind of funny and kind of sad at the same time having to prepare Kylie for their visit. She does not know them at all (she was a baby when we saw them 3 years ago), neither does she understand the concept of grandparents or who they are. "Why are they coming to stay at our house?" "Are they going to like me?" She was so relieved when I told her that they're going to love her and she squealed with delight. Amazing that she would even wonder about that... must be the influence of those teenagers in the house... :) I guess for her they were strangers - but that's going to change now! What I am really grateful about is that the older children do have some relationship with them! Of course it is not as close as if we lived close by, but there are many good memories of times spent together over the years. Makes me all the more glad that we went out of our way (and financial possbilities) to visit them every 3 years or so. The kind of investment that is priceless!!! Should be a fun couple of weeks with them - hopefully creating many more happy memories!

NEW BLOG

I have created a new blog, since I can't figure out the "issues" I have with this one. See ya on www.ibetts.blogspot.com

Our hero is back!

Jeremie is back from Maadi Cup 2007! Although we're all proud of him (their team came 16th), Kylie is absolutely enraptured with her hero - her big brother! She insisted that he sit next to her for lunch and then she kept looking at him with the most incredible expressions on her face - pure admiration and melting away in his presence... The rest of us had to pull ourselves together really hard not to blurt out laughing. It is too cute and a precious memory without a photo! She kept telling him with her most "cooing" voice: "I like you! I like you sooooo much!!!", all the while turning her eyes as to melt any heart. Those are the moments you just want to hold on - but can't. In a few days she'll be back to telling him how annoying he is... :)

Favorite sayings of our 3-year-old

"I'll do it!" (getting independent and making sure everybody knows that) "What about me?" (making sure she's not forgotten in the busy family) "Just do it!" (When she wants us to do something that we are hesitant about or not wanting to do)

B-Final Tomorrow

Jeremie's rowing team of 4 has qualified for the B-final, which will be happening tomorrow at 1:05p.m. and will be broadcast live on Sky-TV! Since we don't have Sky, we'll load up the car again - Nathalie will come again, too, and of course, Kylie, and we'll head to Lake Karapiro one last time for Jeremie's LAST rowing event - at least for this season!!! He said he didn't want to do rowing again in the next season - we'll see what he'll say after a few weeks of having a life again :) Anyway, we're really proud of him making it into the B-final! Even if they were to come last, they would be 16th out of all the schools in New Zealand!

This is no scaredy-cat

Kylie has just spent the better part of the last 1/2 hour outside in the back-yard - by herself - in the pitchdark (no, it's not bed-time yet, since she took a nap in the car)- in rainy-stormy weather-conditions. She was recently given a very nice rain-coat; with that and her gum-boots, she was well equipped for facing the elements - and giving our dog some attention/affection. I'm amazed at how fearless she is - darkness? rain? storm? alone? - no worries for Kylie. She had a great time! The downside of this is that she tends to take off by herself when we're in public places, and I have to chase her down. I'm working on training her to always stay close to me - at least when we're in public.

New Zealand Flax

I've just come from a visit to Leilani's school "Art Camp". She got to learn quite a few cool, new artsy-type things - New Zealand schools are really good when it comes to that! (far better than maths and spelling...) They learned how to weave the very typical "New Zealand Flax". And taught me, too! I love learning new cultural crafts - what fun! Here is a photo from my first tries. When the flax dries, it becomes brownish and makes a nice decoration. Looking forward to that!

Help anyone?

I'm sorry that my entries don't have any paragraphs any more, which makes them difficult to read. Anybody out there that can help me fix this problem? I can't figure it out...

AON Maadi Cup

The long-awaited, much prepared for national school rowing championship has started! Today, at 7:30am, Jeremie was on one of the first races, competing with rowers from more than 100 schools in New Zealand. The girls and I got up real early. Leilani was brought to friends who could later take her to school (she'll be on an Art Camp all week), Kylie was taken straight from her bed to the carseat, and off we went - at 6:00am. Nathalie took off school for the day, since she really wanted to see Jeremie race - at least once! I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the races! Rowing is a pretty graceful sport - although VERY competitive! Jeremie's teams did fine, although I'm not sure they're gonna win a gold medal, but that's fine with me :)! Here are some photos of the day. The first one was taken right after the start of the 2km race (couldn't take photos at the end, because it was too far). The second and third were after a race during debrief. You can see Jeremie with his 3 team-mates, his coach and their coxen, a light girl directing the boat, since they are rowing backwards. They are completely wiped out after every race, breathing heavily, even five minutes after the end. We brought Jeremie his favorite food in between races: some left-over Tahitian "Poisson Cru" (raw fish salad). Fish is on sale at the moment, and so I made some yesterday (very rare occurence) Anything to cheer the boy up :) I'll be back there on Wednesday for the next race and we'll see if he makes it into any finals later on in the week.

Some photos of our new home, the view and Kylie at our picnic yesterday The water you can see from our house is the view on the Bay (we live in the "Bay of Plenty"). There is a 30m steep bank from our property down to the water - hence the fence :)

Happiest Person on Earth

My life is far from perfect in every respect - and yet - today, I felt like I was the happiest person on planet earth. For the first time in a couple of weeks, I took a break from running around, unpacking, shopping and cleaning. I took the time to take Kylie and Toffee for a walk. WOW! I am SOOOO blessed!!! It was a BEAUTIFUL day. The park that is close to our house borders on the water and I was just blown away by the beauty of God's creation - once again! The stillness of the water, the quietness of the park, interrupted only by singing birds. Toffee (our dog) running around happy as can be and chasing sea gulls in the water, Kylie enjoying herself thoroughly. She asked me to go back home and get a picnic to eat at the park, which we did. It was so much fun! I was pondering just how blessed I am: Besides having God in my life and a wonderful husband (though absent at the moment), how many women have the privilege of staying home with their small children? I couldn't bear the thought of dropping Kylie off at some daycare every day. I love taking care of her and walking with her on the journey of discovery of LIFE! I get to teach her German and French, which she will need in her future life. She's my little disciple, along with the 3 other precious treasures the Lord has entrusted into my/our care. I may not have many earthly goods but I couldn't be happier if I did! My needs are met - and more. Our new house is feeling more like home every day. The view is just stunning! What a blessing!!! Nature itself ministers to my soul - so much! I see and feel God all through it! THANK YOU, GOD!!!