A Letter from Mindy

Pictures

Hello friends and family,

This is a long overdue email with some pictures of my lovely trip to New Zealand. I have had a wide variety of experiences: tramping with the Auckland Tramping Club (all of which are retired and hard-core trampers), learning to cook all sorts of meals, going with my eldest cousin Amy (14) to the beach to stay with friends, and getting to enjoy/learn about homeschooling. My four cousins Amy, Scott (12), Ariana (10), and Kent (6) have enriched my life completely. One of the pictures is a group of the homeschool kids who came over for the Lord of the Rings party. Amy and I hosted it and had an actual "middle earth" meal after the viewing of Return of the King. The kids are so into LotR--everyone is here because the movies were filmed here. Anyway, Amy made my dress and it is Arwen's dying gown (Liv Tyler the actress). She spent weeks on it and did a fabulous job.

I have loved the beautiful scenary. I leave this Sunday for the South Island..AFTER I run in the Auckland 1/2 marathon that goes across the Harbor Bridge. I am excited and have actually received coaching from Barry Magee, the Rome Olympic marathon bronze medalist. He attends the church my family goes to and offered free coaching for me..which is nice since he charges quite a bit. So I am getting to check off many things on my life dreams list.

I would love to hear from each of you. I will be gone for a couple weeks so if you don't hear back you will know why!

Love and prayers,

Mindy "the Kiwi" Brooks