The Pettys

A couple of weeks ago we  were able to catch up with some of our friends from NZ-the Pettys.  It was a lot of fun for us to see them again because it was a little taste of home.  I can’t believe we have only been gone for a little over a year.  When Mark and I first arrived in NZ we went to church secretly hoping someone would invite us over to dinner.  We were lost in a new land completely on our own and overwhelmed.  It was one of the first times I recall Mark and I actually really feeling that we needed help.  As church came to a close and there still was not an invite and we were sure we were going to freeze and starve, Nicola came up and invited us to dinner.  She assured us that she did not have much food on site but she had some tuna and could make a nice casserole and she had a fire.   We were so warm in her home, the casserole was delicious, and they were more than willing to inform us of all things kiwi.  After that dinner, Nicola continued to come and sit next to me in church when she saw I was alone and sent mark and I off on a much needed date and watched our kids.  Once again, proof for the first time in my life of what it meant to serve as a visiting teacher.  I marveled at the way Nic always DID.  The Pettys really provided me with my first of many learning lessons in NZ.  SO it was great for Mark and I to have come full circle with the Pettys and to have had them come to visit us somewhat near yet another relatively new town to us one year past our leaving NZ.  The Pettys were kind enough to drive a couple of hours from their Sesame Street Debut to meet us at the wet and rainy but  beautiful Longwood Gardens.  So Pettys if you have found our blog-thanks for seeing us!  I will have to post separate garden pictures later because this is all about the Pettys.  If any of you want to know more about the Pettys you can always find several of their interviews and projects on youtube.  You can find their son Jonathon Petty  on NZ got talent on youtube as well as Nicola’s infamous P-Value video.