The Woods' Adventures in New Zealand : Moving Day

Saturday was moving day! We had been in New Zealand for almost 3 weeks and we were so excited to finally really settle in and become part of a community. Up until this point, the kids and I had busied ourselves with looking at homes to rent. I would search Trademe.com every night for potential homes and then we made as many appointments as we could each day. We looked at about 20 homes in a week! It was so hard to narrow our search. We wanted good schools for the kids, a good commute for Cody, a good community where we were either in the country or near a beach, and a good quality home in our price range. It was so tough and a ton of work. But we prayed many prayers and I know a lot of family & friends across the world did for us too. Our prayers were answered and we found a home and they accepted our application! It was a great teaching opportunity for our kids. I explained to them that faith without works is dead. We could pray all we wanted to Heavenly Father to help us find a home but if we weren't willing to do our part of the work then He wouldn't help us. I dragged them all over Auckland every day for a week straight, we got in & out of the car over and over, and they had to be well behaved in each home we viewed. It was hard work for all of us. But I knew that if we put in the research, effort, and work we would be rewarded. It was a sweet relief when we decided on the home.

Moving would be pretty simple. We just had suitcases and some other odds and ends that we had collected over the last few weeks to be moved about 25 minutes away. We planned to take 2-3 trips until it was all moved. But, on Friday night we got a call from a man in our new church (the High Priest Group Leader) that insisted on coming to help us move. What a blessing! We were able to fill our van and his and be done in one trip. Once we were unloaded, he and another man from church insisted again that they bring things to make our life in our new home more comfortable until our shipping container arrived in a month. They brought us a table & chairs to eat on, padded patio furniture for our family room, foam pads and a cot for the kids to sleep on, and a pot and baking dish to make cooking easier. What tender mercies! We were just planning on eating on the floor and making the most of this time to camp out in our home. It was such a small and simple gesture on their part but a huge help for our family. It taught us to be more giving and service oriented. I love these men and their families and their Christlike service and love.

Since we still needed a fridge and washer Cody left the unpacking and settling in to me and he and Ethan went off on a search to save the day. Appliances are especially expensive here. But, we've been told that the best time to shop for anything is during holiday sales. Lucky for us, we had Easter on our side. We had put our fridge stuff from our vacation rental in a borrowed cooler (they call them chilly bins). I was really hoping that they'd be able to find a fridge and have it delivered by that evening but our chances were very slim and every store we talked to said they wouldn't be able to deliver until the next week. But, our prayers were answered and we were able to have both a washer & fridge delivered that day! Another blessing!!

It's amazing to see God's hand in every little detail of our life. He cares. He listens. He answers. As Cody was off on his appliance mission, I was surrounded by colorful suitcases & chaos and everything but an orderly & clean home. But, I had this overwhelming sense of peace wash over me and I knew that this is where we are supposed to be. We are supposed to be in this home, in this neighborhood, in this ward for church, in these schools.

We live on the Hibiscus coast, north of Auckland. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a laundry room, family room, and nice garage. Our home is right next door to a huge gorgeous green soccer field, awesome park, and beach. We are just a 2 minute walk away from the water. Ethan can walk to school and the other boys' school is just a 3 minute drive away. Cody takes the bus to work each day. His bus stop is right across the street and it takes from 45-60 minutes each way. We are close to grocery stores and church but we still feel like we're part of a small village and outside of the city.

Although we don't have any of our furniture, here is a small tour of our home and yard. Hopefully it will look like much more of a home in a few more weeks….

This is Gavin's & Trevor's room. I have a feeling their room will always be messy...

I let them have free reign of decorating their closet. When the rest of our stuff arrives, I will have free reign of decorating their room =)

This is the kids' bathroom downstairs.

It has a separate toilet in the room next door.

This is Ethan's room. He is SO excited to have a room to himself.

This is the master bedroom & closet. It is quite bare without all of our clothes, shoes, hangers, and accessories. Cody & I have said that we don't really miss our stuff...except for our kitchen stuff and clothes...