St John camp

Friday 14th to Sunday 16th, Rachel and Hannah headed off to the St John Youth end of year camp. It was Hannah's first time sleeping in a tent, so she was a bit nervous. Thankfully the weather was good and she didn't have to deal with high winds (that would have been a bit too much stress).

I am grateful for these photos which were shared on their fb page. Otherwise I would not have had any from the weekend. It was lovely to spot Hannah in a few of them.

Beautiful area for walks.

Some activities in the park.

And right at the ocean. So there were many activities there - including surfing. Hannah borrowed a wet-suit to try it again, but did not have as much success as when they went for the lesson. Glad she gave it a go though as one of her fears is the ocean. So a great opportunity for her to face some of her fears.

Loads of learning and fun.

3 prize givings

Sunday 9th Dec. Ruth having fun in meal prep again. Serving her guests outside this time.

Two very happy children.

They even got desert.

Monday 10th: Anastasia enjoying broccoli and pulling funny faces.

Tuesday 11th: Rachel's TeKura prize giving was in town this morning. She hasn't officially got her level 3 NCEA yet as she is still waiting for her external to be assessed. Her work through the year was still acknowledged though.

And she had the special privilege of being asked to read one of her poems from her Freedom's cost trilogy. She read "My Father's Son" and moved many people with it. Her English teacher from last year was so very pleased with her poems and so it was really special to have this opportunity to share one of them with this group today. Many people came up to Rachel afterwards and congratulated her on such an excellent and moving poem.
And this marks the end of Rachel's school career.

And another "final" was the St John Youth prize giving. Rachel ran it again this time. This will be her last prize giving as a St John Youth although she does still hope to help out in the years ahead. Moving onto St John Ambulance will be her main focus next year though (she can only start in April when she turns 18).

She was very surprised to receive the Girls 13 and over Cadet of the Year trophy. She has been helping so much with organizing that she sort of forgot that she was still a cadet. :-)

Her drill team also got acknowledged for their great results this year.

A very special evening.
And Rachel provided a huge cake for the supper afterwards (as another practice for the wedding cake next year). This was the bottom layer, so she needed an opportunity to make the normal (not GF) chocolate cake which was VERY big. Thankfully there were enough people to help polish it off. :-) It was also a great opportunity for me to learn and experiment with how to cut the cake (as I will be helping cut the wedding cake next year).

Thursday 13th: Final Assembly today where Ruth received two certificates. One MERIT for diligence in Mathematics and Technology - hard materials.
And the other was the Platinum Home Learning Challenge.

Well done Ruth.
Anastasia was due for a nap and thankfully managed to fall asleep in her buggy.

The first 3 classes give a certificate to each child. Asher got one for joining in games with peers and learning class routines.

Hezekiah got one for excellence in Mathematics, Science, Dance and Drama.

Friday 14th: Anastasia enjoying pulling funny faces again and making people laugh.
She loves watching the children outside on the trampoline (she can just see them from the lounge window). Ruth took her out for a jump today which she just loved.

Saturday 15th: Ruth helping Asher and Anastasia have some fun on the deck. It was so sweet watching Asher pushing Anastasia around. Great sharing Asher.

Assembly and Armistice

Friday 9 Nov: A certificate for Hezekiah at assembly today. Well done!
Hezekiah was also so excited about going to Youth Group for the first time this evening. It's from 7 years old - so he although he could have gone 2 weeks ago, we had other plans.
VIDEO
Anastasia having so much fun with Dad and trying to say "more" so sweetly.

Saturday 10th: One advantage of having an older sister with a license -trips to the tea room.






BELOW
Sunday 11th: A different day today with our church and many others joining together to have an Armistice service - 100 years since the end of World War 1.

So many uniformed people joining in the parade.

Rachel at the front of the St John Youth, leading the colour party.





So special to be part of this special event.

VIDEO
Just a short clip to capture the power of the canons that fired 100 times during the morning.

Flag flown at half mast.
And even a fly by.
They came past together.

And then a bit later one by one. It was a very special addition to the morning.

Then we met up with friends at a local part to have a picnic lunch.

Grand Prior and Formal

We were so pleased to be able to join Rachel today as she was officially awarded her Grand Prior Award.

Only 30 St John Cadets achieved this award this year in the whole of New Zealand. Rachel was also pleased to see that the date on her certificate was when she finished all the criteria, in March this year, while she was still 16. She had it as her goal to get it all finished while still 16 and she did it. Many Cadets only finish it by the time they are 18, and it can still be worked on till 25 years old.
We got great seats just behind all the Cadets, and noticed that out of all the under 18s Rachel was the only one with Cadet Leader (the 3rd and highest rank).
We were pleased that the ceremony was in Christchurch this year, so that we could be there with her.
It was a very special ceremony as it was the first time they combined this with the Investiture of new Members to the Order of St John. Rachel was so pleased to be able to watch the Investiture.

It was also really special to see how Christian the whole St John Order is. So many other organizations loose the Christian influence from their founders over the years (like Scouts ad Girl Guides) but Brendon pointed out that because the Queen is the head of the Order, she has been able to keep that Christian influence there.

The service was at the "Cardboard Cathedral" in Christchurch. I specifically took photos of the building so that I could show Ruth. I knew she would be fascinated with the whole design of it. The roof is like giant cardboard rolls (like when you finish your roll of foil).
Beautiful stained glass at the back.

Even the lecterns and other furniture had the "cardboard roll" theme. Very clever and effective.
They provided a lovely lunch after the service. Brendon and I even had specially packed Gluten Free plates (the rest was a help yourself service). So we didn't have to wait in line and we so impressed with the great food. What an added bonus and treat.

Rachel had a couple of hours at home, and then headed out again to the Home School Formal. I quickly got this photo before she left. Thankfully they have a photo booth at the formal, so I got a lot of other fun photos from the event. Such special memories.

So special to have a night with such special friends.

So much fun.

They can do formal too. :-)

Special memories.

I love how all these beautiful ladies show how stunning long dresses can be. All very modest but all so beautiful.