Christchurch Pettys in June

I have already written about our earthquakes on the 13th June, so this will be mainly family stuff for June. I will write a separate post on the life post(we hope)-earthquakes.

Knitworld opened on Queen’s Birthday weekend, and I took Jessica to get her some wool for me to knit her something. She made a very nice choice of pattern and wool and I am currently knitting a rather elegant wrap in natural wool shades. I also got some wool that had got damaged in the earthquake, which I gave to my mother for peggy squares. Knitting is very calming.

My course ended on the 10th of June and I was pretty happy about how it all went considering the circumstances. Several students commented on how much they had enjoyed it. I enjoyed being more in contact with the students than I have recently, and found ways to improve it for next semester. William and I have made a video introducing the students to the course. It isn’t our best work, but still does the trick. You can see it here.

Mark, Nick, Jessica and I have been going regularly to our Quiz Nights at Chats, and have won three weeks in a row. We even did quite well in a sport round once! We win a $50 bar tab each time, so we now have $100 so I think we will be having steaks for dinner soon.

I was asked to give a talk on Following the Saviour, and really enjoyed preparing it, and included a couple of rogaining experiences – one about following Mark, and one about sitting still at the top of a hill and taking time to look and think. The conclusion I came to is that we need to take time to be still. It is unusual at present for our talks and testimonies not to include the earthquake, as it has had such a deep and lasting effect on everyone, and my talk was no exception.

I ran two Activity Days for the 8 to 11 year olds in our Ward. On the first we went on a foot trail using map and compass to answer questions – rather like a car-rally. On the second I got Jonathan to teach them how to lead a blind person, and how to use a cane. They really enjoyed it, as did Jonathan. He loves children and was very excited to be involved. I will try to involve him some more.

I bought a slow-cooker, and have enjoyed making some yummy things in it. It is great for making stock from bones. I made a pear and chocolate dessert for a Relief Society activity where we were asked to bring something we hadn’t made before.

Jonathan's Big Party

The highlight of June would have to be Jonathan’s party. We have been planning Jonathan’s 21st birthday party for about a year now. I had the idea to invite the people who helped to make him who he is today, and to have it at a venue so that we didn’t have to do too much work.

Jonathan’s actual birthday was on 11th August but we decided to wait until William was home from his mission, so we booked it for the 26th February. Mark worked really hard at getting invitations to all the people and my brother and sister-in-law planned to be there from Brisbane.

Rosemary booked to come down, and it was all ready to go. Then the earthquake of the 22 February hit and changed our plans. We moved the date to the 18th June, and hoped all would be more-or-less normal by then. As it turned out we had two more bad quakes (5.6 and 6.3) on the 13th June. Fortunately we were able to go ahead anyway.

We had the party at Wigram Manor, which is the old officers mess from the Wigram Airforce base. About 35 people came, and we had soft-drinks and cocktail party nibbles, and a beautiful cake made and decorated by my friend Thuy Van. We had a game show, which Nick Lye hosted.

There were 5 sets of 5 questions, and after each set of 5 they went through them again and Jonathan gave the answers. He had such a great time. Then we had speeches, and quite a few people said very nice things about Jonathan and how he has affected their life.

Jonathan has touched many people’s lives. His total authenticity and ability to live in the moment is inspiring. His influence is great and hasn’t ended.

Colombo St in the CBD

The Catholic Cathedral