51 Paremata Street

This is our new "home away from home", about 5 minutes drive from the Nelson city centre, up a hill overlooking the estuary and the boulder bank.  We were very BLESSED to find a furnished rental house with two twin beds for the boys and a spare bed for my parents when they come in February. 

 
You'll notice my father-in-law's car with roof rack in the front.  We've just bought a 1995 Mitsubishi van so that he can stop driving the motorhome to the grocery store.

The boys love eating at the island and the open space in the lounge (aka living room) for playing and schoolwork.  

We love the view!

Found a photo of the van, taken today actually while we were out for a scenic drive up a river valley.

The boys and I all love the extra wide view we get from the van . . . well, maybe not as much as an Asterix comic book.  Jack & Xavier have taken to reading in the car - it's amazing, it's stunningly peaceful and quiet driving and so far they don't show any signs of motion sickness.

I've started working at Baby City(think "Babies R Us") as a part-time sales associate, selling carseats, strollers and the general baby paraphernalia.    Good thing I had worked in a Bridal Salon for a year to use on my resume as previous sales experience.  We got the job and the house within one week of landing in the country.  Try and tell me there wasn't a helping hand involved! 

We are settling in at a church here, called Annesbrook Community Church, which is a bit larger than Niagara Orchard back home.  It was the first church we tried here and the kids loved their Sunday School programs and begged to go back.  They also were mailed a card & lollipop after their first visit.  Each week we've met someone new and have felt quite welcomed.  Dave is participating in a two night newcomers class led by the pastors to get a better handle on the place, but they are very intentional in everything they do and it seems to be a good fit.

Dave is doing well in his new role as "house husband & home schooling Daddy" etc.  shopping for groceries, cooking dinner, taking the boys to the library, hanging out the wash (YES, we do not have dryer, we have a clothes line in the back garden!).  We've also had a busy week helping Dave's sister Kim, Luke and the cousins move (shift) to their new home.

The boys are doing well with their homeschooling material and we've joined up with a local home educators network for a few events / activities.  They had some cross country races (running and biking, if you can believe it!) on Rabbit Island, only a 15 mins drive from here.  Jackson was quite excited to run and came 3rd out of 11 kids his age.  Xavier didn't run in the races, but had a fantastic time on the beach.  

 Baby thresher sharks washed up on the beach - how's that for a science lesson?    And the seashells were amazing!  I loved the sand dollars, which we have drying on our deck in the sun at the moment. 

 The boys spent about half an hour moving this pile of "logs" back and forth, by working together and using the sticks in their hands to lift and throw them!  It was a small lean-to structure to begin with . . . until my boys got at it! 

 Great view of the city of Nelson showing how it's nestled in between the ocean and the mountains . . . I love how NZ people call these "hills" as in "Oh, there's still snow up on the hills today" and we called the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton a "mountain".  Ha Ha, everything's relative!   

In case you are longing to write us an old-fashioned handwritten letter (or Christmas card - no pressure though!), we can be reached at:

The McFaddens
51 Paremata St.
Atawhai, Nelson
NEW ZEALAND
7010

We happily accept emails at anytime of day or night at djmcfadden@yahoo.com  We're also getting better at Facetime or SKYPE anytime from 3pm to midnight ONTARIO time which equals 9am - 6pm our time (the day ahead of you).  :-)    We'd love to catch up on your news!