Don't All Wild and Crazy Spring Break Trips Begin at the Temple?

We enjoyed another visit to the beautiful Hamilton New Zealand temple to kick off our long-anticipated Spring Break adventure.  I had asked some of my local church friends if they knew of anyone who had a home for rent in the temple area, and I got some great suggestions.  The first few places I called were already booked, but I was given the number to another lady, Gill (pronounced Jill), who had a home for rent that would fit us.  Hooray!

After a long but beautiful drive (about 6 hours including stops), we arrived at our destination.  Gill indeed had space for us, but I had misunderstood the arrangement...we would be staying in her home with her family, which included she and her husband, and a foreign exchange student from Saudi Arabia.  And another from Japan.  And an autistic teenage boy that she looks after 2 nights per week.  Additionally, her daughter, son-in-law, and two little granddaughters live on the property as well, and spent most of the time at the main house, too.  A little more "communal" than I am usually comfortable with, but Gill was a gracious and kind hostess, we were grateful for a comfortable and affordable place to stay, and were especially happy for the opportunity to attend the temple again.

Rachel and Julia went first to do baptisms, which Steve performed.  It was a neat experience for them all.

Meanwhile, back at the house, I had fun exploring Gill's property with the younger kids.  They were in heaven walking around the farm, especially after being cooped up in the car all day.

This rusty old "digger" was a very popular attraction on the property.  The big white home in the background is where we all stayed.

The kids camped out in the basement of the house while Steve and I attended the last temple session of the evening.  It was wonderful to be in the temple together again!  

We noticed a couple sitting in front of us before the session began, and I whispered to Steve, "Don't they look like they might be from Utah?  She has 'Utah' hair."  Ha ha.  He agreed.  After the session, the couple came up to us immediately and said, "Are you guys from Utah?"  When we said yes, the wife turned to her husband and said, "I told you!  She has Utah hair!"  We laughed at that (probably too loud for inside the temple), and chatted for several moments before continuing our conversation outside.      

Here's the really crazy thing... just that morning, during the long drive to Hamilton, I had responded to a Facebook message sent to me by my cousin LaDawn, who told me that her good friend Rachel Preston lived in New Zealand, and asked if I had met her.  I told LaDawn that I hadn't met Rachel, since we live several hours from each other, but that I would "keep an eye out" for her during our stay.  Wouldn't you know it, I would meet Rachel that very night in the temple!!  Such a fun coincidence.

Shortly after we started speaking to them, I told Jay (Rachel's husband) that he looked very familiar and asked if he had lived in Layton or gone to Layton High.  Turns out, he had lived in Layton, and I went to high school with a few of his younger siblings!  Small world indeed.  The Prestons have lived in Tauranga, a gorgeous & warm coastal city located on the Bay of Plenty, for the past two years, and it sounds like they might live here forever!  We met four of their five kids, who were waiting in the visitor center.  We were impressed by how happy and mature and kind they all were.  What a gorgeous family.  We could have talked all night, but we knew our kids were waiting back at the house, so we exchanged contact information and truly look forward to meeting up with the Preston family again sometime soon. 

One last glance at the temple on our way out:

We packed up the car the next morning, and headed out, stopping for one last visit to the temple grounds.  Steve looks pretty thrilled to be going out on the road again, right? :)  You can see the temple in the distance.

That picture of Landon kills me.  The twins loved running around the grounds and flirting with the sister missionaries.  Someone gave them little postcards with pictures of the temple on them, which they clung to for hours, occasionally blurting out, "Hey Look!  Check this out!  My temple!"  

On our way out of Hamilton, we stopped at Kmart.  We had bought a big chilly bin (cooler) a few days before in Palmy, and discovered when we arrived in Hamilton that it had been leaking all over the floor of the van.  No fun.  They returned it without any trouble, and Steve bought two smaller coolers instead.  Since it was lunch time, we busted out the sandwich fixins right there in the parking lot.

We don't necessarily mean to draw attention to ourselves, but can't seem to avoid it.  I've gotten so used to people staring at us, and our crazy big van full of our crazy big family, that I hardly notice it anymore.  Whenever I make eye contact with anyone who seems in awe of our situation, I always give them a huge smile.  This is my crazy big life, and I wouldn't change a thing!