catching up . . .

It's been a while since I blogged, so tonight will be a brief catch-up of friends who have come and stayed with us recently.  All of whom have been a joy to have stay and catch up with!  Here we go . . .

Karen and Beatrice Major came to visit on March 12th.  Karen came from New Zealand to visit Bea at The Master's College the week of Spring Break.  They stayed one night and the next day us three girls went off to Disneyland for the day.  It was so lovely to see Karen again!  A real treat that she would come down to Murrieta to see us :)

A few days later David and Shona Lamont from the South Island in New Zealand, came to stay a night and visit Faith Bible Church.  David and Shona had come for Shepherds' Conference, so we met  with them up there also.  It was a flying visit but lovely to spend some time with them over dinner, then church the next morning, and squeeze in some shopping for them in the afternoon before flying back to NZ that night.  Sadly, I forgot to get a picture of them while they were with us.

Mark and Lori Britten, from LA were our next guests at the end of March.  They have shown us SO much hospitality over the years on all our visits to LA, and even when we lived there, so it was lovely to show them some hospitality.  They, too, were keen to visit Faith Bible Church, and so we enjoyed the morning worshipping the Lord together and learning from His Word as it was taught.

Our next visitors (in mid-April) were Philip and Michelle Hanson, and two of their daughters, Lucy and Rachel, from Rotorua.  Nige and Philip were in seminary together, and we usually catch up with the Hanson family on our way to, or during, our annual camping trip in January.  Obviously we missed that event this year, so it was lovely to see them for a couple days here in Murrieta.

Bea came back to visit Easter weekend.  A Kiwi friend here at Faith Bible Church had shared some of her NZ goodies with us, and so we were able to share a yummy NZ marshmallow Easter egg with Bea too. It was lovely having Bea hang out with us for the weekend.

Our next guests (mid-May) were Grant and Kirsty Watson, their five children, and Grant's mother who was visiting from NZ for his graduation from The Master's Seminary.  It's times like this we're so thankful for the large home we're currently living in, to be able to share it with friends.  It was a lovely week together.  The kids still had some schooling to do, and we got out and saw a little bit of the Murrieta/Temecula.  All in all, it was fairly relaxed, and VERY enjoyable.

 Lots of shoes at the door!  :)

 Four of the kids sleeping 'marae style' in the loft.

Scott and Benjamin exploring the hill in our backyard.

Grant and Caleb discussing the architecture in Old Town Temecula.

Walking to the park down the road from us.

Nige and Grant jumped on the bikes and went for a tiki tour around the neighborhood, before meeting us at the park.

The number of shoes at the door grew as the week went on - LOL 😊

One night after the Watsons left, friends from LA came to stay - Jon and Natalie Rehurek, with their boys Josiah and Nathan.  Again, I forgot to take a picture of all us, so this one is from a visit earlier this year.  It was so nice to catch up with more friends who we went to church with in LA.

The visitors seem to come in waves, and then there is a lull, and then another wave comes, but such a joy to have friends come visit, and talk about the Lord, ministry, and our lives.  It's always such an encouragement for us, and we trust for them also.