F E A S T I N G Yesterday was Rich's and my 19th wedding anniversary - - - WOW! It was funny - the night before we were talking about it and I was just about to say, "It seems like it was yesterday", when Rich said, "It all seems like a big blurr." We had a good laugh at our different ways of remembering our special day! I think it's probably a pretty typical male/female difference :) Besides making a nice dinner and giving me some beautiful flowers, he is blessing me with the most wonderful gift this week: A prayer-retreat at the House of Prayer! Since the hours of continuous prayer were upped to 8 per day, it has become possible for us to make a way where I can spend 3-4 hours before the Lord every day this week. I can't tell you HOW MUCH this means to me!!! I am getting unraveled/melting away in his sweet, tender presence. Just Him, my Bible and me - undisturbed!!! - in an atmosphere of worship. It is the best thing EVER!!! The last season of my life where I could have this kind of deep and loooong communion with my lover Jesus was before I got married - it's been a looooooooong time! I soooooo long for Him - - - am soooooo hungry for him - - - sooooo desperate just to BE with him!!! BE - not do! It is just amazingly WONDERFUL - because HE IS!!! He is ravishing me with his beauty, washing over me with his presence. I could go on and on. Wish this could last more than a week! The phrase that Jesus said to Martha comes to mind: "...Only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42) For the last 19 years I've been mostly a Martha. Sitting at Jesus' feet and just BEING with him, LISTENING to him without any agenda or time restraint, was a rare occasion in the midst of the busy-ness of raising a family on the mission-field amidst constant change and with tremendous pressures and stresses. Yes, I tried to carve out half an hour or an hour whenever I could, but I was just scratching the surface of communion with him. I'm sure this is the case for the majority of us mothers - - - and that's ok. Our wiping noses, changing diapers and cleaning the toilet, or being taxi for our kids etc are all a beautiful service to him and very worthwhile. BUT - oh - do I ever enjoy this special time with him!!! He is showing me so many things, ministering his amazing love and comfort. I better go now and get breakfast ready for the troops before leaving the house for the day. "My soul will be SATISFIED as with the richest of foods, with singing lips my mouth will praise you. I STAY CLOSE TO YOU; your right hand upholds me." from Ps.63

Highlight of the day Although I must say that church was pretty cool this morning (I actually got to stay in the service instead of doing childrens ministry), the highlight of my day was - - - GUESS ??? Well??? Catching my first waves EVER on a buggy board this afternoon! It was soooooooo much fun! I can't believe I've waited this long for this experience! Somebody looked at me like I was crazy when I told her this week that I have only gone into the ocean ONCE in the two years that we've lived here. "Why did you come to New Zealand if you don't like swimming in the ocean?", she said. Why we came to New Zealand is a whole story in itself. One thing is for sure: it was NOT for the waves and the beach - although they are a fun family activity on a beautiful summer day like today! We got together with two families from Germany that are here at the moment. I even got to hold hands with Nathalie one time as we "rode" a wave right next to each other - mother/daughter bonding at a whole new level :) YAY!

A bit more about our new House The best thing about our new house is that Nathalie's and Jeremie's stops for school-bus are in walking distance!!! Leilani will still have to be driven to and from school until the end of the year, but that'll only be 10min. max one way. There's even a government-run kindi (pre-school) in walking distance for Kylie that I've heard good things about and a park close by! It is an older home with a bit of character and big enough for our family. Leilani and Kylie will still have to share rooms (to Leilani's dismay...), but they'll be fine. A great plus is that it has almost new carpets which is great for our allergy prone family and tiles in the kitchen/dining area - just what we need for lots of playdough and painting done by our little princess! It has a wood-burner for the winter PLUS a winter's worth of fire wood!!! Three other great things about it are the nice little garden, the view - across the bay - photos to follow - and the fact that they accepted our dog Toffee to come along (outside only)! We had already been prepared to give her away, since dogs are not allowed in 90% of rentals and we're so happy that they'll give her a try. She's the best dog you could wish for - quiet, doesn't bark much, doesn't destroy or dig anything up. We'll have to sell our couch set since the colours don't match at all and get another (used) one - plus a few other things. Overall we are very grateful and excited about moving in soon and sooooo happy that we can FINALLY stop looking for homes!!! THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH IF YOU HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR US!!!!

Found a new rental home!!! Today, we found our new home. Actually, I found it last week, but it was snatched away from me/us. Here's the story: I had an appointment to look at it last Thursday at 12h30pm. I had a "play date" for Kylie with Julia, one of her new friends from the camp at Orama. When I got there I found out that it was her Mom's birthday. So I offered to take care of Julia for a couple of hours while her Mom went out to lunch with some friends. I pushed the appointment to look at the house to 3:00pm. When I got there, a man ran out of his car into the house, just as I was going in and said to the owner (very fervently, I must add) "I'm taking the house!" (He had just looked at the house before I had arrived and called his wife from the car.) He kind of apologized for his behaviour saying that the same thing had happened to him a few times... I had a quick look through anyway and figured that it just wasn't meant to be, although it looked like it could work for us. The day before yesterday, I was driving in town and was just about cut off by a car. As I yielded, the driver looked over to me to thank me for yielding and recognized me. He then followed me to the parking lot of the supermarket where I was heading so he could talk to me. He was the same man who had taken the house last week. I guess his wife didn't like the decor of the house and so they didn't want it anymore. He let me know that it was available again... Now isn't that amazing?! We signed the contract today and will move in in 2 weeks. HORRAY!!! We are very excited that we will soon be able to settle again

Full life It's been another long silence on this blog - - - life has been very busy with hardly any time at all on the computer and internet. Kylie and I pretty much spent most of last week in the car, driving the kids to and from school, sports, youth group etc. - and visiting with friends in town in the in-between times. It started with taking Jeremie to rowing practice just after 5:00am, coming back home an hour later, making breakfast, getting the girls to school, staying in town until Leilani had to be picked up at 2:30om, Nathalie at 3:30pm and Jeremie around 4:45pm (after another rowing practice after school - are they going to the Olympics or what?!). With traffic, I got home about 6:00pm, just in time to do the breakfast dishes, cook dinner, do laundry, take the dog for a walk, get Kylie to bed etc etc etc. It was EXHAUSTING and I was so glad when Rich came back from Fiji on Sunday to help with the driving. I begged him to take care of Kylie two mornings this week so that I could go to the prayer room http://thop.co.nz/ This has been absolutely WONDERFUL!!!! What a blessing to SOAK in the presence of God and spend a few uninterrupted hours with him!!!! I just love him and am THRILLED when I get time just to BE WITH HIM!!! Love it - love it - love it!!!!!!!!! It has become clear to us that it won't be possible for us to buy a house at this time. So we've been spending a lot of time looking for a long-term rental. This hasn't been easy. There is a shortage of rentals in Tauranga and when a good one comes up, there are many who want it and it gets snatched away right away. We can't keep living for much longer where we are right now. The house is for sale and we regularly have to show it (spotless, of course). It is just too far out and too much driving. We are confident that something will open up VERY SOON!!!

Doing well Just wanted to thank you for your prayers!!! We really feel them!!! After a couple of days of discouragement and stress, we are now happily "settled" in our new home. Our hearts are doing tremendously well. We have complete PEACE about our situation, even though we don't understand and don't have a solution. The only reason we pursued the purchase of the home was because we felt God telling us to do it. Now that it hasn't worked out, we can relax and know that we have done our part and obeyed. The rest is up to him - his responsibility! Our hearts were never set on that house anyways. All we wanted to do was follow what we thought was His leading. The cry of our hearts remains - that God would provide a STABLE home for our family - could be a long-term rental OR a home that we buy. Thank you for your continued prayers! School is starting in a couple of days and Rich will leave for Fiji this week-end.

Found a temporary home! Yeah! We found a home we can move into today!!! It is small and quite far away from all the places we need to go to, but it will do for a little while. It is for sale and only available short term. The good thing is that it is furnished and we will be able to bring our dog, Toffee, who has stayed with the owners of our former rental home. This is exceptional for ANY rental!We all missed her during the last 6 weeks and will be happy to have her with us again! The other good thing is that it is close to the beaches (only 5-10min. by car) and very close to the mall. No complaints in that department :)! I am absolutely exhausted - but thankful that we found this solution for the time being. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS! THANK YOU, JESUS!!!

NEVERTHELESS... The financing of the home didn't come through. The "baby" has been stillborn - or so it feels... We don't understand. We are disappointed. We are stressed, since we have to be out of our present housing in 2 days. NEVERTHELESS - we trust in God's sovereignty and what we know about his character."The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness."(Ex.34,9) He is righteous and just in ALL his ways! We have looked at all available rentals and there is none that suit our needs. We are now looking for another temporary housing. There is the possibility that we could buy another, cheaper home with the financing that has come through. But it all takes time. School is starting in less than a week and Rich has to leave for Fiji in a couple of weeks. So much for today. Please pray for us - for God to open up the right solution - and for our sanity:) and strength in the midst of all this and very busy schedules.

Back from Orama The girls and I got back from Great Barrier Island late Saturday night. I was completely exhausted from a full-on week and long trip back. The ocean was gorgeous once again and the smooth boat trip brought some inner healing to some nasty boat experiences in the past... :) It was a fabulous camp - an amazing bunch of the most beautiful people you could wish to hang out with! 200 people of ALL ages and coming from many countries, including Singapore, China, HongKong, South Africa, Germany, France and Russia! The majority of them having been or currently in full-time ministry. What a richness!!! God did some DEEP work in people's lives. As I was taking care of the children, I only got a tiny taste of what was happening at the meetings. But that was ok, since I knew it beforehand and I'd really only come for that. Great kids, too! We were teaching the kids to hear the voice of God and had an amazing experience one afternoon. Some children were out on the beach with a mother and as they asked God if he wanted to tell them anything, they started seeing a school of fish making up letters and words!!! Now have you EVER heard of anything like this???!!! (I sure haven't!!!) I've read that God can speak through a donkey and likes to have all kinds of other playful fun with his children, but having fish form letters for little 7-year-olds that just barely know how to read...?! Some of the words that were spelled were: FUN - LUV (interesting spelling!) - HE IS COMING - QUICKLY Hmmmmm.... we were blown away by this experience when we heard it. Too bad I wasn't there when it happened. But the Mother and kids were over the moon! Now this is encouraging for us, too. Is there ANYTHING too hard for God??? We are supposed to have the financing for our home lined up by today or tomorrow, so that we can do the down-payment and move in this week-end (we have to be out of the student housing we're in, since new students are arriving). Still no word about a sufficient security in Germany - nor any other breakthrough. I've got to admit that I am struggling - we all are... We feel to wait another couple of days for a breakthrough. The pressure is at its peak - Thanks for your prayers!!!

News from Great Barrier Island Believe it or not - we have the possibility to go on the internet in this hidden island-place called Orama on Great Barrier Island (where YWAM began!). And I've even got a few minutes to write to you. I just want let all of you, who have been praying, know things are going. Everything went just amazingly smoothly on our trip here! Got out of the house without stress (!), the 4-hour trip by car went great - and the best part - the ocean was as calm as it could have been!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I was so thrilled and thankful to God. It was a great trip and nobody got sick!!! The only interesting happening was when we arrived at Orama. Because the tide was too low, the skipper of the boat didn't want to go all the way onto the quai (is this the right english word?) to have us all go on land. At first they told us we'd have to wait in the boat for hours until the tide was high enough. Then they started bringing small boats out to where we were and were going to take us to land in small groups.After that they changed plans 'cause they figured it would take hours to get all of us on land (there were 150 of us). So we got to go another few minutes on that lovely boat to another port where we got picked up little by little with vans and cars and taken to Orama. It was quite adventurous and I didn't mind it one bit. The scenery is just beautiful and reminds me of some of the outer islands of Tahiti. The only down-side of it was that in all this confusion a bag of Kylie's got lost - with her only warm clothes, hat, sunscreen and our camera - NOT good! Kylie was so excited when we told her in the car that we were going to go on a boat. First she thought it was one of those small fishing boats that you see a lot these days (pulled by cars). When we told her that it was a big boat, she pondered for a second and then exclaimed: "Ooooohhh, we're gonna be with all the animals!!!!" (guess what Bible story she thought we're going to be part of?) LOL It is such a blessing how easy-going Kylie is. She is very social and already found several Dad-replacements and friends.When I tried to put her to sleep in her sleeping bag on the first evening in a prayer room close to the meeting room, she walked around the room and just LOVED it. Oh this - and oh that (a very small, simple room)."And there is the cross of Jesus (a big wooden cross) - and he died there - oh, this is AMAZING!" she said, and easily went to sleep there. We had just arrived less than 2 hours before but she was right at home. One of the first things she said when we arrived was, "This is my house now". No wonder Jesus told us to become like children! I love it! Yesterday she asked me: "What are all these people doing at my house?" :) I also love taking care of the kids here! We've already had a lot of fun so far and are expecting the children to be touched deeply by Jesus - along with all the adults. Thank you Jesus!!!Thanks for your prayers!

Almost off to Great Barrier Island I probably won't be blogging for the next 10 days or so, cause I'm taking off to http://www.malachi-4-6.com with the girls to take care of the children at the camp. I am very excited about it - despite the exhaustion of all the preparations! Felt in my heart when I heard about "The Gathering" a year ago that God was going to "show up" and I wanted to be there - and help in whatever area of need. When I committed myself to work with the children some months ago, I had no idea what situation we were gonna find ourselves in right now, but that's alright. I have found that the most significant things that have happened in ministry (at least in our lives) have been at the most unlikely times when we were stretched to the max and thought we weren't going to make it. I guess it's when we're weak that God can show himself strong - he's probably just waiting for that moment :) What I am not looking forward is the 4hour drive and 2 1/2hour boat ride to Great Barrier Island. I don't usually do too well in boat trips - and driving across Auckland isn't my favorite passtime either. So PLEASE pray with me for a good trip and that the ocean would be CALM AS CAN BE!!! Concerning our house purchase, we've had another breakthrough: There is a bank in Germany that is willing to give us a loan (quite amazing, really!!!) - under the condition that we find a guarantor. So - down to 8 days and one more miracle necessary! Lord, please find a person in Germany that would be willing to co-sign with us!!!! (nobody in sight as of today)

Happiness is a journey... ...not a destination. Don't you love it when you see a statement like that somewhere and it just sticks with you?! I've read this a while ago and it just keeps on popping into my thoughts as we are going through this very fascinating process of buying a home. And I am reminding myself daily to ENJOY the journey we are on. We can be as happy NOW as on the day that we find out that God has done the miracle and we can buy the house - even though we have no guarantee whatsoever that this is going to work out.! We HAVE TO be out of the dormitory by the end of January at the latest, school starts on Feb.7th, I am very busy with the preparations for the childrens ministry at the camp - just 3 days left, and there is no plan B. The financing of the home has to come through quickly! WE TRUST IN YOU, GOD! It has been great to get many encouraging responses from all over the world. We have even received a few financial gifts towards the home. The neat thing is that they have come from the US, Germany, Tahiti and yesterday, a NZ pastor called up from Auckland letting us know that their church will send us a gift, too (that was about an hour after he had received our newsletter!). We are really encouraged! Of course, our need is far more, but every little bit counts! I had a dream last week where our family was standing on the beach and all of a sudden, fish of all sizes started jumping out of the water left and right. It was very exciting and I remember thinking, "WOW, that's God's provision!" So, while we all continue to pray, let's praise God for the first fish that have started to jump out and ask HIM for the full release of the financing!

A little news - better than no news! It's hard to believe that it's been one month since my last entry. I feel sorry for those of you that keep hitting the same old entry every time you hope to find some new news. Well, not this time - yay! This last month has been crazy and good, all at the same time. It would take way too long to tell you all that has happened. Some of you would have just received our newsletter, but alas, not everyone that normally gets it, BECAUSE - the hard drive of our computer crashed this week - without warning - of course (why do they do that to us?). Most of our addresses are in Microsoft Outlook and that's the part we now don't have anymore. There should be a back-up SOMEWHERE in a box in storage, but there's NO WAY we can get that out real soon. So, if you'd like me to send you our newsletter, just email me on my richardgbetts@hotmail.com email address (yes, it is mine, too - we share :)) No need for a long email, just put newsletter in the subject line and I'll know. Ok, I could just call it a night right here. It's late, I'm tired and I've been sitting at a friend's house using her computer for over 1 1/2 hours (thank God for friends!) So you can just ask me for the newsletter and that says it all, at least the most important bits. How 'bout that? I think it's a good idea. That way, I'll also know if anyone is even still reading this blog :) And I can make my way home and - hopefully into bed - soon. Just a hint - we made an offer on Monday for the home that we are hoping to buy - - with the exact amount that Rich felt in prayer - - and the owners accepted it! So now we just need a BIG miracle for the financing to come through and it'll all be sweet, as they say here in NZ! Wanna know more? Email me :) Love ya, all you wonderful people! More some other time (besides the computer breaking down, we haven't had easy access to internet since our move, since the student dormitory where we're staying at the moment doesn't have internet access) Just to let you know there IS a reason for my silence :)!

S - T - R - E - T - C - H - I - N - G I'm not sure what the Lord still has in mind for us with the training he's giving us these days. All I know is that it is just a faith- and flexibility-stretching exercise. As much as Jeremie has ever increasing training for his rowing, having to get up just about every morning at 4:45am PLUS more after school work-outs (and all of this to win regattas!), why should we escape rigorous training to win a prize far more valuable?! I have a feeling He's training us for greater challenges - maybe having to do with what he wants us to do for orphaned babies and children in Africa...???!!! Don't know. Anyways, we have 3 more days before our big move and are still not sure where we'll be moving to! We still feel quite strongly to pursue the purchase of the said home and could even move into that home IF we paid a 10% deposit and made an unconditional purchase agreement for the end of February. With the help of family, we could actually make the deposit (which is a miracle in itself!), but we would have no idea how the rest of the house would get financed. All we would need is a loan with 5% interest and we would end up paying as much in mortage repayments as we are spending in rent right now. Not bad, eh? The only challenge is to find this loan, since in NZ interest rates are 8%. We could do it, too, if somebody was to partner with us in the purchase of the home - with that part then belonging to them, including the capital gain etc. Enough said for that. Our alternative is to live at the "House of Prayer" student dormitory for some time and/or go camping. We have to bear in mind, too, that we are having long-awaited guests from Tahiti with us for Christmas... We may be crazy, but we turned down a rental opportunity last week because of the strong sense that the Lord wants to give us that home - somehow. It is stretching, to say the least., but the faith in our hearts for that home is so real that we can't imagine going into another (long-term) rental. Lord, please help us, guide us, strenghten us and provide the home that YOU have promised!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!!

Update For those of you that haven't already given up on finding some news on my blog - here's a short update: We still haven't found a home that we can move into on Dec.8th. So keep up the prayers! After looking and looking for another rental and praying and praying, Rich felt strongly from God that we should pursue buying a certain home. If you don't receive our newsletters and would like to hear more details, let me know and I'll send you our recent newsletter. Anyways, yesterday we went to look at the house with the kids during an "Open Home" and happened to meet the owners (normally that doesn't happen during an "Open Home"). We found out that they actually go to our church!!! Interesting - - - The whole family loves the house - it seems perfect for all of our needs. We are now trying to work out how we could finance this purchase. Humanly speaking it is completely impossible - but with God, nothing is impossible. So we are pursuing this and praying hard! In the meantime, we are starting to pack - in the midst of very busy lives... Fascinating! I am so grateful that - after my initial grieving and sadness - I am walking in JOY and PEACE in this whole uncertain situation! Quite the supernatural work of God!!! As soon as we have some news I'll write more. Until then, we would appreciate your ongoing prayers! We need them!!! THANK YOU!!!

Picking flowers no more I may be just about to fall off the blogging-wagon. Just letting you know not to worry if you don't hear from me much in the next little while. Due to our life being turned upside down once again with an impeding move to who knows where - it's back to survival mode. Already without the move there was so much going on. We have a visitor arriving from Tahiti tomorrow after church (still got to get things ready). Next Sunday, Rich will be picking up friends from Germany in Auckland, a family of 5, that will spend the next 6 months or so in NZ. They are taking refuge here, since they are getting in trouble with the law in Germany for home schooling their oldest daughter who has some special learning challenges. It's a crazy - and long - story, but we've been helping them get ready and set up with a van, caravan and all the contents etc etc etc... The following week we were going to host a Thanksgiving dinner (cancelling that, sadly, it's just too much, since the German family will most likely still be with us) and then Nathalie's birthday. The next day (in 2 weeks), Rich is supposed to fly to Fiji again for 1-2 weeks - oh yea, can't forget Jeremie's rowing regatta the day before Nati's birthday (we all have to go and watch him - a whole long day event at a lake a bit over an hour from here - he'll have those about every other week-end from now til the end of March and training almost every day TWICE! - we get to drive him every time!!!) Then, we are having a family from Tahiti stay with us for Christmas plus a few days - - - and we were going to be involved in overseeing and planning (and helping run) the childrens program for a very significant camp in January http://www.malachi-4-6.com - we are not sure if we can still do this now - - - praying about it. Yes, life has once again become crazy - and I am going through some grief - dying to certain things I was hoping to be able to do which will have to be put on the back burner once again - like starting to work on the children's photo albums and putting some thought and effort into our family Christmas - this hasn't been possible in quite a few years now - back to bare bones. Lord, help us! Thanks for your prayers. I will write once we will have found our new home - until then - you know we're still looking :)

The Bomb I just came back from a meeting and will be heading off to bed shortly. I've just GOT TO tell you our BIG NEWS of the day: Ready? Ready or not - - - here we go: we will have to move again soon!!! We received the news today in a letter from the agency. At first it sent chills up and down my body (literally!). But not for long :) How good God is! He had already been preparing Rich and I. Although this is a fantastic house, we have never felt like it was "ours". As a matter of fact, we've never really felt that about any of the 16 homes we've rented - always had this feeling of a temporary home. But with this one, we were just recently talking that even if we could buy this home, we wouldn't want to. Not really any other reason but a feeling. Yesterday, for the first time since we moved in here 5 months ago, I looked out at our beautiful garden and thought to myself: "I have a feeling we'll be moving again from here soon." I didn't quite expect it to be soooo soon! But I'm sure glad the Lord prepared my heart!!! The owners had told us that they would for sure not be coming back for 1 year. And they really seemed to want to stay in the US and not come back at all. BUT - there goes the big "but" again - they are needing to return to NZ because of unforseen medical reasons. Normally, they only need to give us 42 days notice. We are glad that they are giving us a little more than that. We have to leave on January 15th. So we've got 2 months to find something else and move in. We are now praying to see if we should look for another rental or for something to buy. We would really like to buy a home at some point. Is the time now??? We don't know. All we know is that we have to find out very soon - either way. Rich is disappointed that a lot of the vegies he's been planting we will not be able to enjoy eating:) Bummer! Nathalie doesn't want to move, the other kids don't really mind. Wouldn't it be so nice if God led us to the right place without us having to spend endless hours looking around?! That is so tiring and time consuming - and our schedules are already packed as it is... The good thing is that all we need to give is 2 weeks notice. So if we find something we could move in within 2 weeks. We'd REALLY appreciate your prayers!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That we would know if we should look for a rental or believe God for our own home. AND - that the right home would open up!

Now, guess who gets to pick gorgeous flowers like those from their garden??? You guessed it!! Aren't we ever soooo blessed?!!

Paper-war We're in the paper-war again these days, like we say in Germany when we have to deal with lots of paper work. First, it was our taxes. Then we filled out HEAPS of papers for the renewal of our 2-year visas. Then we found out, or rather, remembered from last time, that the visas are very costly when you have them stamped into a German passport. If you use an American passport, they are free - go figure... Since 2 of our children's american passports have expired and the 2 other ones will not be valid until the end of the 2-year period (which they need to be), we need to get new passports for them. So, after having New Zealand passport photos taken for their visas, we had to go back and have new photos taken for their american passports (oh yes, they are different!) Now I better get filling out those papers before evening church service so that we're ready to leave tomorrow morning early to Auckland. The whole family HAS TO show up!!! Quite a hassle, having to take the kids out of school and using Rich's day off - plus it costs tons of money. But we've got to do it. It's better paying the $$ for getting the passports than for the visas, since we need the passports anyways, sooner or later.

No more nap?! What do you get when you try to get your 3-year-old to go from taking a nap and staying up til 9:00pm and later to no nap and going to sleep at 7:00pm? A miserable afternoon - - - or, like today:

This is common for some children, especially in Tahiti, NOT for Kylie. I don't think she's ever gone to sleep like that on the floor. I guess all the playing at the church nursery and then with our guests took it out of her :)