Hello friends!

We've had a great couple of weeks, filled with mountains, glaciers, beaches and BUGS!! They look innocent enough, but they are horrible little creatures, wholeft their marks all over my legs, and the bites stays itchy for weeks. Besides the sandflies though, we immensely enjoyed the West Coast. We tramped around the base of Mt. Cook, in awe of its sheer size. We also got up close and personal with 2 glaciers, which was alot of fun. They were'nt the pristine white beauties we dreamed of, more just massive sheets of ice, covered at the bottom in rocks and debris. The glacial pools and rivers were great though, the vibrant blue colour breathtaking. We stopped at many beaches along the way, with Dave sighting 3 dolphins playing in the waves at one place. Sadly, you'll have to wait a few days for pictures, as this computer is out to get me. If only we could have brought Steve with us - I'm sure you could figure it out!

While driving yesterday, we stopped to look at some cool rocks lying on top of the hill by the side of the road. After parking, we realized it was also a recreation area, where you could go caving! So, always up for the adventure, we headed underground to traverse a 300 m cave, created by a strong river cutting through limestone cliffs. It was a great experience, though nerve wracking at times. We began by stepping into a pool of waist deep water, fully clothed. We almost turned back, as our headlamp seemed so dim at first, and the cave so unbelievably dark. We decided to keep going, a step at a time, running one hand along the wall, and tightly gripping eachother with the other hand. The level of the water lowered as we walked, but we started to come across small waterfalls, which we had to climb up. Our eyes began to adjust to the darkness a bit, but being 30 metres underground, soaked to the waist, having no idea where you were going - again, it was an experience! After about an hour, we reached the end of the tunnel, where there was a beautiful 3 metre waterfall, which we climbed up using steel stairs and a chain. Our hearts were defintiely pounding at the end, but it was great to do it together. We're definitely going to look for some more caves to explore.

The past week has also been busy with decisions regarding our future. At this point, we are planning to head to Honduras in August, where I will teach in a bilingual Christian school and Dave will work at a Christian camp. We will be working with Ken and Sue Vissers, who are the couple that originally introduced us, and prayed for us at our wedding. Though it is still 8 months away, we are now in the process of working out some of the details for our move there. We really appreciate your prayers in this area, as there are lots of things to consider. Right now, we're working through where we will live, how we will be financially supported, if we will go with a missions agency, etc. We will try to keep you up-to-date as we know more, but thanks in advance for praying.

We're in Christchurch today, getting some things ready before we fly to Australia on Tuesday morning. We're really looking forward to spending time with Amy and Trev there, celebrating the arrival of Christ Jesus as a baby - such a wonderful gift. We trust you will be touched by God's grace and love this holiday, no matter where in the world you find yourself.