Symon and I had a quick road trip to Auckland this last weekend.  

We left the 2 girls with my parents (thanks so much Mum & Dad) and left the 2 boys at home to fend for themselves. With leaving the boys at home alone, my main concerns weren't parties or girls or anything like that, more along the lines of not leaving lights on, remembering to lock doors and please, oh please put the bath mat up after your showers.  I also gave stern warnings about wiping down the kitchen bench.  I'm a bit strange aye - but I'm sure there are a few other mum's out there who understand.

So we headed off for a night away without the kids, which is a real treat indeed.  Usually I like to make the most of time away like this and drag Symon to all the coffee shops, dress boutiques, second hand stores and such that I can think of, but Symon's knee is still healing after his op, so I only made him endure a walk up Queen Street to satisfy my Bubble Tea obsession.  He took this sneaky pic himself (I think he wanted to remind himself where the shop is for next time he's in Auckland and wants to stock up)...

I love Bubble Tea!  Coconut is my favourite - Symon could't quite work out where all the bubbles were until I educated him on the 'pearls' of flavour and tapioca at the bottom of the 'tea'.  So yum - he begged to differ.

The main reason we headed down was Symon spoke at The River Christian Church on Sunday morning (fabulous church full of such great people - check them out here), and then we got to hang with the Pastors and great friends Peter & Annika and their daughter Annalia for lunch afterwards.

We went to Basalt for lunch, a gorgeous restaurant with the coolest brick wall art I've seen in ages!

The food was delicious, and being the crazy guy Symon is, he had to try the grilled Kangaroo dish. It actually tasted delicious, especially the feijoa jelly on the side.  I had the salt & pepper squid with carrot ribbons - so good!

Thanks Peter & Annika for such an awesome time!  Annika has just started her own blog where she is sharing her insights and crafty makings etc.  Check it out here: Grace & Providence.

Heading home to good old Whangarei and our family, I was filled with a grateful heart.  So many precious people I know are going through tough things at the moment, and it is so easy to be overwhelmed by it all, but as we drove home I started to thank God for the precious people in my life, all the blessings and really cultivated thankfulness. As you cultivate thankfulness, good things will grow, like joy, peace and hope. No matter what your circumstances, there is hope.

Hold on to hope.

We arrived home to our awesome kids, kitchen benches wiped, dishes done and even the bath mat was hanging up.  Miracles do happen people.