Updateadoodle!

Hi everyone! 

I thought it was about time for an update for ya'll. :) Things have been getting busier as summer is drawing to a close and things are starting up again over here in the US. Kids are heading back to school, high school graduates are heading to college, and Josh has officially started seminary! 

The intensive languages are over - and with all his hard work he passed the Intensive Greek course really well, and also the Introduction to Hebrew. The languages will continue as the years progress, but now he has started his other courses as well. This past week we attended the Seminary Orientation Day, which was spent with the other 'freshmen' - or first year students. So we got to know them and learn a little more about them which was great. 

There is such an amazingly diverse group of people studying in Josh's class. They come from all over the world, and from very different backgrounds. There is a brief summary of each of the students that is going to be published in the seminary newsletter soon, so I will link it through for you to read - some of these guys have experienced some pretty amazing (and humbling) stuff. It is a constant reminder to us of how privileged we are to be here. 

We also met the Professors - who are of such a high calibre - again, very humbling! They look like they are going to be excellent for Josh to learn under, and have placed an awesome emphasis on exhorting the students to keep a balance between the academics of the course (which does need to be learnt so that the students can pass) but also maintaining humility, and remembering why they are there studying in the first place. It's been very encouraging.

A couple of weekends ago Josh and I had the opportunity to go and spend some time away with another couple from the seminary. They had very kindly invited us along to spend some time with them at a resort (which sounds very fancy to us Kiwi's - and it was very nice - but it is a pretty common thing over here. Much like Kiwi's would go away to a bach for a weekend, here people go away to a resort). The weekend had been donated to them, so they very generously shared their gift with us. 

It was really cool to spend time getting to know this couple better and it was really good for both of the guys to have 'time out' after the Intensive Greek course had finished. I think that Josh's brain needed a bit of a rest! 

Pretty sunsets

Illinois - very vast, and very flat (and there's lots of corn).

At the resort they had a swimming pool and mini golf course among other activities that again, you could do for free! So it was fun - they taught us how to play Shuffleboard (Josh and I weren't the best at it, haha but we had fun), we had a round of the mini-golf, and then in the evening we played 'Lord of the Rings' Risk (and we were all still friends afterwards). :D It was a lot of fun - and we were so thankful for the opportunity to get away for a couple of nights and see a little more of Illinois. 

Shuffleboard - lots of fun! 

Mini golf can be hilarious - apparently.

We played in teams and Josh & I were the baddies so we got the cave trolls - hehehehe

On Tuesday this week was the Seminary Retreat - which was a day spent at a conference centre with all the professors and students currently attending the seminary. They had a speaker who was a graduate of the Mid-America, currently pastoring a church in Canada. He spoke really well, and had some excellent advice for the students, as well as being an encouragement. Then we all got to know each other better over some good food! It was a really fun day. 

So that's pretty much brings us up to date - hopefully more soon. In the meantime I leave you with this super cool caterpillar that we discovered the other week. Josh and I were 'ooh-ing' and 'ahh-ing' over it, and I patted it - and I think that the American people who we were with thought that we were nuts. It was really cute though - don't you think? :D It's so fluffy!