Oh Hey there!!! It feels like it's been a while since I last posted, so I figured I could update you as to what I'm doing over here!! 
As you know, we found a really great church, so that has been really exciting! The people are so friendly! We went over to dinner yesterday a couple's house, along with another couple from the church, and it was really great to meet them both! We've been able to attend a couple different bible studies, one going through Romans and another through 2 Samuel (I think). I know I have already learned a lot and have been challenged (in a good way) just by attending 2 of those studies! Pray that God will continue to bless those studies and the relationships we make. 

Happy Father's Day out there to all the Father's that read this!!!!! 
Father's are such special people ya know? I can't help but think of all the many kiddos out there that don't have a father figure to look up to, and it makes me so grateful that not only do I now have 2 earthly fathers, but also a Heavenly Father who is always near and always present. I encourage all of you without earthly fathers on this day to be thankful for a Heavenly Father that loves you and wants to help you become the best you can be! 
On this Father's Day seeing I'm not by either of my dad's (sad face) I wanted to just go back and say a bunch of Memories that I have with my dad. Let's see where to start......

Helping you mow the lawn, you teaching me how to play softball, and any other sport I wanted to learn (remember tennis in the street? I don't think you were a big fan of that one...seeing you always had to go running down the street to grab my balls...sorry), going up north and letting of fire works at ruby creek, morale mushroom hunting in the woods, watching Disney movies and getting nicknamed after so many of them (brutus, nero, penny, bell etc), RUDY, going to get pumpkins every year, Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpas, and Christmas morning at our house, All stars coach, you coming to almost everyone of my games, and concerts, and musicals, and plays (even though you had to watch some of them 4 times! and hear the same songs over and over and over...). Going running, teaching me to drive (actually...you may have left that one to mom...I don't blame ya!), being the best hair krimperer, always being around to help me or others, and teaching me to be a student of God's word. I know there are so many memories that I have with you dad, but that's all that I will write down for now!! 

I just want to say thanks to both of my dad's for being such a wonderful example to Paul and Myself. Thank you for your many hours of teaching and training us. Teaching us how to be better people, better workers, and better servants of Christ. I'm reminded of that verse from Proverbs 22:6 that says " Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Thank you, both our dad's, for teaching us the way we should go, and know that we will never turn from it. We will never stop thanking God for Both of you!! We love you!!!
Happy Father's day also to all of you out there who are first time dad's, to  Great grandparents, celebrating Father's day.I know I have so many role model Father's in my life, and I am thankful for each one of you on this day as well! What a gift you are to this world and to your children. I pray that you will never forget the impact that you can have on your children's life, and on others lives as well. I pray that you live that part of your life to the fullest, never taking any moment for granted!  HAPPY FATHER'S DAY EVERYONE!

Let's see, whats new over here...not much! I've just been hanging out in the cottage (I still don't dare to take the car into the city yet....eeeek!!!) I've been able to skype alot with family and friends so that has been a lot of fun and usually takes up the whole morning! Hey! I don't mind at all!!! I also FINALLY got our internet at our house figured out....."fingers crossed" Let's pray it stays working as it's been fussy lately!!!  Paul comes home for lunch around noon for an hour and we'll eat lunch, then he'll go back to work. Yesterday I hung up all the laundry again, and this time it definitely wasn't dry....drat, so now it's been hanging in front of my fire, just waiting to get put away!! 
On a more exciting note...next week Paul and I will probably take a trip somewhere! not sure where yet, but he has conference in Lincoln for a couple of days, and his manager told him he could have the whole week off (as they aren't very busy on the farm right now) So that is definitely something to look forward to!!!! I'll post a couple of random pictures I took here outside our house! Enjoy your week all! Miss you all sooo much! 

Today we went to a Baptist church in Ashburton and we really liked it! It's funny, it reminded us a lot of Searchlight (our church back home). I'm almost positive that this was the church God had planned for us to attend. Paul and I had been discussing some things about different spiritual gifts, dispensationalism, works of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and things like that over the past month with our family and small group, and I think the pastor today had hit on all three topics plus some!!! It was pretty crazy, me and Paul kept looking at each other and smiling, because we had just talked about some of those things! We discovered that a lot of our views were the same as what he preached, and his preaching came right from the Bible! Hallelujah! Praise God that our prayers were answered to find a great church home while we are here. 
The rest of the day was spent at Andy and Trish's for dinner with their family, some friends, and the employees on the farm. It was great day, but it kind of made me miss our sunday afternoon's with our family back home. Here is a shot of the sunset just before we came inside.(I try to put up different ones than ones from my 365 project...keeps things exciting)  Hope you all back home have a wonderful Sunday! Wish we could be there worshipping with all of you, but it's it's good to know that God people are all around the world and are singing His praises even while some sleep! Adios for now!

Today we got a new car!!!!! Yes, I'm very excited!!! Andy and Trish have let us borrow their Petrol until now, but I could never drive it due to the manual transmission. We picked it up from Christchurch today, and ended up visiting some of Paul's good friends Neil and Kate who live in Christchurch. As we were driving through the city we could see so much damage from the earthquakes. Even Neil and Kate's house had a large amount of damage to it, it was crazy to see, and made the earthquake seem so real. It's hard to imagine what it would be like sitting in a home and your house is just falling apart around you. Everyone seems to be pretty upbeat about it because they all realize that everyone around them is experiencing similar if not worse problems.  I will post a couple pictures below that we snapped from the car. We didn't go down to the cathedral in the city center, as Paul doesn't really like to drive in cities :) After Neil and Kate's we stopped to get some lunch at none other than KFC! haha! Menu and prices were very different and take a look at the tiny little pop that came with our meal....uhhhh supersize it please???? haha, you could tell we weren't in America anymore! 

On our way home we went down to Rakaia Gorge. It was really overcast and you couldn't see the tops of the mountains at all, so we will probably have to go back there again sometime for better pictures. We went through a town called Methven on the way back to Ashburton. It's a touristy town mainly full of ski-resorts. In Ashburton we stopped a a store called Warehouse (kindof like a target only less cool) and had to pick up a few things for the cottage! 
Tomorrow we are planning on looking for a church! We have checked out a few churches on line and I think tomorrow we will go to a Baptist church in Ashburton. We are praying that this will be the perfect church for us while we are here, as there are only a couple other churches in the area. I'm really excited and a little nervous at the same time! So please pray that this goes well! After church a whole bunch of us (farm employees) are going over to Andy and Trish's house for dinner!! Everyone is super excited because Trish is a really good cook! 
Well thats all for now, until the next time! ~britt

Things are going really well over here in NZ. Paul started work yesterday (?) and you check out what that involves right here --->Diary of a Dairy. So I just figured out how to put links onto my page...I know BIG step up right, but I'm finding I really like to do it. :) Let's see...whats new...Well yesterday I had a good experience doing my laundry and hanging it up outside. Not really used to doing this, but I think I'm going to like it. Although...it didn't even get dry after hanging out there all day!!! Maybe it was too cold? I don't know, so I had to bring it all in and place it on my drying rack near the fire, that worked too. Yesterday I also went over to town called Geraldine with Trish. We met up with a couple of her good friends and got coffee. It was really nice to get away, instead of sitting in the cottage all day. The drive down was BEAUTIFUL! I wish I had my camera, but I didn't so maybe I can attempt to get some shots another time. I'm sure we'll head down that way again. Today I didn't do much, just skyped with a few people, got some bank things figured out, hopefully bought a car, got our credit card reactivated (oopsies), figured out how to work our magic jack, and put together my top 11 list of where I want to go in New Zealand while we are here. They include (in no particular order) Fiordlands, Abel Tasman, Mount Cook, THE SHIRE, Queenstown, Bay of Islands, Rotorua, Kepler Track, Golden Bay, Lake Tekapo, and Coromandel. I'm sure that list will grow, but that is what I came up with today! 
Hope you are all enjoying the heat over there! Really wishing it was that warm here, but I think I got the hang of this wood fire....I may even be better at making a fire than paul....but don't tell him that ;D hehe! Until I post again! Britt

P.S. I figured out my 365project, so go here to find out more----->365project

Hello Everyone! 
I know this is a little late in coming, we don't have internet quite yet at our house but it's coming soon! Whew, what a start of a week it has been! The flight went really well, we only had one mix up in chicago. The flight had some technical difficulties so we all had to get off the plane. Thankfully there are all kinds of flights going from  O'Hare to LAX so we ended up getting on a flight soon after we were evacuated off our last one.  How was the long flight over the pacific you ask??? LONG! I thought I would have no trouble sleeping, but apparently I did! I ended up watching a couple of movies (I didn't beat you deb!) and tried sleeping in the middle of Paul and another Kiwi man. Not the best setting for a good night's sleep. However, we are still thankful that we got all our luggage, customs was a breeze (never bring beef jerky into New Zealand, the search dogs won't like you.....) and we arrived safely and on time. Many people have asked about the earthquake in Christchurch. We actually arrived an hour or so after it hit, so we were flying in the air and didn't even know if happened until after we landed. 
Trish and her daughter Lauren picked us up from the airport and we managed to fit all of our luggage (4 large suitcases, 2 carry-on's, and 2 backpacks) into her car. That was an interesting ride, but fun and nice to be on the ground! Trish had us over for lunch and dinner that first day (monday) and that was nice to not have to worry about that. I got to meet the rest of the family and the farm managers and it was a wonderful relaxing dinner! 
Our house is soooo great I love it!  It's weird to go into a cold house (I've been spoiled with free gas at our previous house) all the time, but the wood fire is excellent, and I don't think I ever live without an electric blanket again!     A-mazing... (I'll post some pictures below of our house.) Trish fixed it up so nice for us! We really only had to get a few groceries! God has placed us with such awesome people! Really, both Andy and Trish and the farm employees here have gone out of their way to help us out. 
Yesterday we were busy trying to get bank accounts all settled and searching for a car, getting groceries, (HOKEY EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!! Be thankful all you Meijer goer's) figuring out where things were around town, getting our gum boots, and getting lost! Other than that, I'm very thankful Paul is comfortable driving on the other side of the road, with a manual car. Yikes! We are still on the hunt for a car for ourselves, but we are thinking we need to go to Christchurch for that. 
Today Steph, the farm manager here at Pencarrow Farm took us around the farm and went over alot of details. Paul will start work tomorrow, and I will probably tag along just to get acquainted with the people and what goes on at a dairy farm!
Sorry if I just rambled on for a while, and I hope it all makes sense!  Thanks for all of your support through emails and prayers, we really really appreciate it!!! 
Missing you all! ~britt

Wow, what a busy week/weekend it has been, but yet it was so wonderful!!!! My roomie from College got married!!!!! The wedding was so beautiful, it was in a cute old church in Douglas, MI and the reception was in Holland. The ceremony was supposed to take place outside at her parents house, however a couple hours before the ceremony started the world's largest thunderstorm EVER decided to land, and sit directly on top of her parents house. This caused a slight change in plans, but still everything went smoothly and beautifully! There is something about going to weddings that kind of rekindles your love for your husband or wife. I think it's a little message from God reminding us of our commitments and love to each other. Anywho, Everything went so well, and the bride was stunning! The reception was a BLAST!!!!! It's so great to see a couple so in love, and finally just be able to relax after all the planning!! Congratulations Erik and Kara May God bless your marriage!!!!!!!!!!