Excitement with the Cole Clan

Here is the gang tonight at the Drop Zone -


Tonight we ventured out to see a night jump with a "heavy drop" - well the heavy was really rather light, but the night jump was lots of fun to watch. Kristen's friend called to let us know her hubby was jumping tonight and that was exactly what we had hoped to see but did not think it would happen. So after Christy called we made plans to go out and watch. The boys loved seeing soldiers standing around - the vehicles driving around - it was really little boy heaven! Did I mention Christy even brought a soccer ball? What could be better! So we watched a fly-by first, then the planes came back for the drop and the heavy drop ended up being a few boxes of something - nothing too exciting. Then the planes flew by again for a dry run and then they came back and started dropping lots of soldiers. It was lots of fun to watch and listen to stories from James, Kristen and Robert about jumping out of planes, I do not get to participate in those discussions since I am not Airborne I am Air Assault instead. Oh well.

Kristen and me with our little girls:

It was starting to get dark here - but there are lots of parachutes in the sky if you look at the right angle!

More parachutes - but a little blury - still a sight!

Daddy and his happy little princess.

Here are Kristen and Christy - we are sure thankful for her tip about tonight!!

Here are the kids getting excited about the incoming planes - waiting patiently in the stands!

Boys, Boys everywhere - with the occasional girl!

Here is my oldest boy - growing so fast - and losing teeth almost as fast! What a grin!

Here we are at dinner last night - at the new table James made - the kids love it and we love the lack of mess inside!

We are still having lots of fun! Today we met some friends (who we met last time we were here) at the park! The Johnson family also homeschools and they have 3 girls (ages 8, 6, and 2) and they are expecting a little boy! So we played at the park today and here are all the kids present (minus little Kayleigh)

We are going to head to Fort Bragg tonight to see a night jump and a heavy drop - so they are dropping a vehicle and lots of people and the boys are likely to sign up for the Army tonight after seeing all this fun stuff! Tomorrow we are heading to the Special Ops museum with Daddy, because the kids are sure they need to show him all the fun stuff there - they do not fully realize he has seen it all before and done a lot of the stuff they feature first hand! But it is sweet to see their enthusiasm to share it all with Daddy! So we are having a very "Army Strong" few days!!

Saturday we are heading to the beach for the day - can't wait to see the big sand box and sit on the beach and enjoy the water too! I hope to get some good pics - can't beat the beach as a back drop! And the kids should be happy and very entertained by all there is to do there!

Then we start packing back up for the continuation of our journey north to "God's Country" -AKA Maine! Hoping to avoid the Swine Flu on the way!

Here are a few more pics from today! The park is always fun and usually leads to good naps for tired people too - I enjoyed my nap - while Robert hit golf balls with James - and all the kids rested! Always fun!

En route!

We are en route to Maine still. We are currently in North Carolina with the Lewis bunch and are having a great time!

We had a nice day of playing in the yard and just having fun with friends, and the boys even got to go to Awana tonight with friends we met last time we were here. So we dropped off 4 kids at Awana and then Kristen and I went shopping at Good will! It seems I did not pack enough shorts for my oldest boy, but they did not have any, so we were out of luck. Kristen found a few treasures though as she was in desperate need of some news clothes.

The road trip here went amazingly well, but our kids are veterans at road trips so they usually do well. They were thrilled with our new DVD system in the van - this is a first for us! So they were allowed one movie during our 7 hour day and 2 during our 12 hour day. Not to mention all the great Adventures in Odyssey CDs that I had as well.

Robert and I listened to Sally Clarkson from 1998 I think - her Whole Hearted Mothering conference. It was great! What an encouragement as far as homeschooling and being a mom in general. I enjoyed hearing all of her encouraging advice, and I think Robert realized how big of a scope this homeschooling thing is. Anyway it was great and the kids did not even fuss!

So here we are waiting, trusting and enjoying - we are still feeling excited about this chance to get away as a family and spend some good quality time together. But we are also eager to see the path that God reveals to us and where that will be.

I hope to post some pics of the World's Largest Pinecones - well at least the biggest we have seen - and the kids are loving that!

On the Road again

Yes, we are on the road again. So far we have made it to Mississippi. We had a great evening with my aunt and uncle and a great meal too! The kids loved running in the yard and playing and simply being out of their seats!

We did have to load up in the pouring rain, and we packed much more info our vehicle than we thought we were taking or than would fit. But we finally had it all in the car, the kids too and we headed out. I was expecting a feeling of relief after driving away from the house and I did! It was great to know the house looks great, the kids will not make any more messes (at least there) and that we did not have to do anything else besides visit friends and family and savor our time off.

We are still excited and feeling a great deal of peace through all of this. We are still not sure where God is leading us but we are feeling that we have plenty of time to figure it all out. We plan to enjoy some time in NC with the Lewis family before completing out trek to Maine.

Well, we need to get some good sleep before our long day tomorrow - many thanks to all who are praying for us! We are feeling very safe and secure in the arms of our Lord!