Thanksgiving

Saturday, November 22, 2014 was a busy day for us.  It was also the anniversary of our arrival in New Zealand.  We have already been here over 2 months.  When you look at it that way, it makes you wonder if we can accomplish all that we have come here to do.  We now have less than 15 1/2 months to do it in.

In the afternoon we went to the Area Office where we joined 44 others for a Thanksgiving dinner.  They don't celebrate Thanksgiving in New Zealand.  But most of the couples are from America, so we did it up big time.  

Susan was on the committee to help decorate, and with a little help from "Pinterest, Martha (Stewart) Egan" and our daughters things turned out pretty well.  Everyone brought their own plates and utensils, so it was more like a "homestyle dinner" rather than a paper plate and plastic utensil affair.  We had 8 tables in which different sisters volunteered to create the centerpieces.  

We had real turkeys.  Elder Haleck's wife brought cranberry jelly and pumpkin pie filling and some cute plates for the pie from the USA when she went home for General Conference.  She also brought back some fall leaf pattern napkins.  Because New Zealand is just going into summer, there were no fall leaves to use for decorations.  There was however tons of greenery, some of which we put to use.  We each paid some money for the turkeys as they are quite pricey here - Nearly $200.00 NZD for a 7 kg (15 lbs) fowl. We had three of those wonderful birds and then each couple also brought an additional dish (Sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, salad) or they made a pie.  There was plenty to eat.

Thankful Tree

 
Elder and Sister Broberg (Family History) are going home the first week of December.  Four of their five children came to pick up their Mom and Dad.  The children's spouses volunteered to stay home with their children while they came to pick up their parents.  They had just arrived Saturday morning, the day of our Thanksgiving Day dinner.  Monday morning they had an extensive travel itinerary which included the Temple in Hamilton, Hobbitton, and the Coromandel - all terrific New Zealand holiday sites.

We also had some activites.  One of the couples had received some muscial chimes.  Each person was given a chime and shown how to play it.  We sang a few Thanksgiving songs.  A great time was had by all.  

"Come to God's own temple, come; Raise the song of harvest home."