Finally......

Well, it’s official – I must be back in the working world because I haven’t updated this blog in months!!!
We made it safely to NZ. I am going to rewind and share our little journey up until now.
On the 19th June we said ‘so long farewell to our very, very special friends in Malaysia. My goodness was that tough!!! It was really ‘yuck’ to see the kids saying goodbye to each other!!!
We managed to fit all of us plus our luggage into our little Citroen and headed to the airport. After an hour disagreement with the check-in counter we were finally able to board the plane (without a suitcase) How weird was it to say goodbye to Evan???? I had a lady ‘helping’ me push a double stroller, carry 3 bags, a carseat & watch 2 children. When I say ‘helping’ – I mean she walked along beside me. Literally walked along beside me!!! She didn’t carry a thing!!! If you have been to the K.L airport, you know you have to walk, then catch a train, then walk again until you get to your gate (which in our case was the one the farthest away) While we were standing at the customs windows, Matthew spotted Adlai (the Ferguson’s were heading back to the US for a holiday) & he took off. He wanted to go with his friend. I had to tell a white lie and say that we would see him on the train. He kept looking for his friend (sad, very sad)
So anyway – we made it on to the plane. I strapped Trinity in, put Ben 10 on for Matthew and used my last Malaysian texts texting Evan. (Another yuck moment)
The kids both fell asleep within 30 minutes of taking off and didn’t wake up until 30 mins before we landed. Awesome, awesome kids!
We stepped onto NZ soil and at the gate we had a golf buggy and 4 people to help us! HEAVEN! What a difference it makes having help like that. It was so nice to step through the doors and see Evan’s parents waiting for us.
Sidetrack – only my brother Caine knew that we were coming home. No-one in my family knew at all, they thought we were in Vietnam (all part of the plan)
Back to Evan’s parents; I was cracking up because we had to pay a fee because we stayed in the car park too long after we had paid. Then we spent what felt like millions of years to find our motel. Then we get to the motel and it is NOT what we thought it would be. The Malaysians were FREEZING! Thanks to the Dunn’s the kids had some winter clothes, so the thermals were adorned as well as big fluffy jackets and even beanies!!!
While Gordon got the stew ready; my brother Caine has devised a devious plan to get my other brother Pearson and my sister Jeana to Auckland. They thought they were going out for dinner because Caine had something important to tell them. Can you imagine what was going through their minds? “Caine has won the lotto and he’s giving us a car, Caine is getting married etc, etc” So I waited out on the footpath (in my pj pants – the only wintery item of clothing I had at that stage) & they drove around the corner. Jeana nearly ran off the road, if only I had a video camera to capture the look on her face!!!!
On to part 2 of the plan.....Caine, Pearson and Jeana picked us up from the motel and drove us to Tauranga. We pulled into Tenaya’s house (my other sister) She did a double take from her dining room window, then literally flew out of the door. Close behind her was Jarelle. All I heard was “Haunty!!!!!!!!!!” & he came flying out to hug me (a great moment I must admit)
Part 3 of the plan – Tenaya rang Mum & Dad to say she was heading over to see them. We loaded up the cars and headed over to Papamoa. It just so happened that Mum, Dad & Aunty Christine were sitting at the front of the camping ground in the sun. So we were able to send the 3 kids walking up the driveway while we hid (we had a perfect view of them from where we were) It was so funny to watch their reactions. Mum was saying “there’s Jarelle, who are those kids with him?” Next minute Dad yelled “Mata” (Matthew’s Arabic name) Matthew went running to his koro. I must say I haven’t seen Dad move so fast! Then Mum started looking around because she was thinking “if the kids are here, the parents must be too” Then she spotted us all “Oh my God, oh my God” It was GREAT! It was really nice that we all got to be together that day too. It was classic. Once all the fun was over, it was time to eat. Fish and chips please – you beauty.
Another sidetrack – I learnt within about 2 hours of touching down in NZ that none of my eftpos cards worked. Thank goodness for Evan’s parents I must say!!!
That was our return to NZ. 3 long weeks later we got to go and pick Evan up. I loved seeing the kids run to their Dad! It was so nice & normal to be back together again.