In these full on days of juggling normality alongside utter abnormality it’s been helpful to have the thought of something good, other than our move, to dwell upon. With this in mind, meet Benedict – the latest addition to our family. Currently three weeks old (the photo is him at 6 days old) and living with his family in Queenstown NZ, the thought of this wee bundle has been super helpful when I’ve started to feel a little lacklustre.

I found Benedict on the day that Jake died and this was a huge part of accepting the lifecycle and moving on. He’s named after Saint Benedict and his Rule’s which outline an attitude of hospitality, amongst other things. Hospitality is at the forefront of our minds in moving to NZ and in preparation I was reading Radical Hospitality, Benedict’s way of Love at the time of deciding his name. It’s also a harkening back to the past with our very first family dog in Australia was my brother’s dog Benny (named after Benny Elias if I’m not wrong) who was a black Labrador. I certainly hope our Benny will be a lot better behaved!

The kids don’t know about him yet and we’ll show them photos on Christmas day before we fly to NZ. Mr Incredible and I will then fly down to Queenstown to pick him up from friends who will be caring for him after the breeder’s passed him on at 10 weeks. This thought – the thought of seeing our good friends and meeting Benedict has certainly been something good, if not great.