Update from Living Springs

Our first 2 weeks at Living Springs have flown by, full of lots of work and adventure! We had an amazing weekend with our new friends, Pavel and Danielle. We actually met them while we were in Australia, and we met up with them this weekend as they're now touring New Zealand. We headed up to Hanmer Springs on Friday night, and spent Saturday chilling in the hot pools and squealing like kids on the water slides! Great fun! On Sunday, we headed to Akaroa to swim with the dolphins. It ended up being more "watching dolphins from the boat" than actually swimming with them, but still a great time. Dave took the record, with a total of 6 dolphins swimming by him while he was snorkelling. Sadly, I only saw one, and Danielle and Pavel, none :( Maybe we'll have to try it again sometime. Still, a terrific weekend, enjoying getting to know Pavel and Danielle better.

In terms of work, it's been a busy week at Living Springs. Dave continues to expand his skills as he takes on various building projects. Often, they just tell him what needs to be fixed and he figures out how it will be done, down to the tools and materials he will need. Often, he uses reclaimed materials and less-than-new tools, a common phenomenon at camps. While he has moments of frusturation, he knows it's excellent preparation for working at the camp in Honduras. My week has been slightly humbling, cleaning toilets and mopping floors. It has been an adjustment to go from leadership positions working at Mini-Yo-We to a less prominent job here. It has been good though, as it's brought home the "Blue Like Jazz" premise - the world isn't about me! Sometimes a hard truth for me to accept.

We hope you enjoy the new pictures we posted as well. The small house with the amazing view is where we live! Besides the renovation chaos, it has been such a blessing, and we love looking out each night to the lights of Lyttleton. You will also see pictures of donkeys, llamas, sheep, etc. from our visit this week to Living Springs' Farm Park. George let me try my hand at both milking a cow and shearing a sheep, which was a blast. Dave and I also fed the pet sheep, who tried to eat my sandal! Dave's favourite animal at the Farm Park is the gorgeous Clydesdale horse, while I'm pretty stuck on the baby donkey, who tries to nibble on anything you put near him - including your sweater! Great fun!

We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend around the camp. It is the World Busker Festival this weekend in Christchurch, so we plan to catch some of that fun. On Saturday night, we head to dinner with some other camp staff, and then to The Door for church on Sunday. We hope your week has been as wonderful as ours, though likely less full of llamas and goats!