The horrible torrential threatening Hurricane Ida... oh wait...

Well, when the hurricane center comes out and says that there is a Category 2 hurricane headed your way, what happens? Well, the local governments issue a voluntary evacuation notice for anyone living on the coast, and schools close down for two days to allow for the schools to be used as shelters, and the locals stock up on batteries, water, and alcohol - you know, to get us through the vicious storm.

Or...

You go bowling with other friends who have restless kids, go to the library, and go fly kites on the beach! Because the Category 2 Hurricane that was supposed to close down the city? Disintegrated into a tropical storm (which, by the way, they PREDICTED it would!) and gave us just a few inches of rain overnight. Not even enough wind to trim the trees in the backyard, which would have been great... I'm just sayin'...

Anyway - here are some fun pictures from us bravely weathering the storm! :-) (Sadly - the photo above is Clarissa's kite, flying off to sea... had a few tears over that one...)

I actually LOVE this picture... the kids and I were playing on the beach and as the clouds broke apart, sun came streaming down and Colin said "Hey look mommy, God is smiling down on us!" A perfect way to end what had been a LONG few days!


We got a bonus - as we were playing, the Blue Angels took off and were practicing right above us!

The boys, chasing down the rogue kites

Clarissa's kite by far was the most successful at staying up in the air - apparently the cheap Barbie ones are the best!

We went bowling with a few other families from our squadron - I don't think the bowling people knew what to make of all of us as we took over the place the minute it opened! Not normally that much activity on a Monday morning!

Colin had his own version of bowling - no cheater track for him, thank you very much!

Fall Adventures

Trick-or-treating with our friends - Caleb (Darth Vader), Joe Rasmussen, Nathan Clark, Jacobline Rasmussen, Stephen Clark, Colin (Storm Trooper), Clarissa (fox), Nathan Rasmussen, and Rachel Clark

Our "foxy" little girl!

In Goldsboro, we spent the afternoon and evening with our good friends and neighbors, the Clarks. The boys had a lot of fun playing together again!

Missy Clark, me, and Jenny Cole (she and her boys also came down for the weekend from Virginia to see us)

Clarissa and her 2nd grade gap-toothed grin!

from left to right, Riley Cole, Colin, Clarissa, Caleb, and Reagan Cole

Yep, a little tight quarters sleeping in the hotel - but they handled it ok!

A few weeks ago, the kids and I drove up to NC to see Duane. The main reason we went, of course, was not only to see him, but to see his promotion ceremony to Major! What an accomplishment - we are so proud of you honey! It was a whirlwind trip - we started driving on Thursday morning, stayed the night with good friends in Charlotte, NC, then got to Goldsboro Friday afternoon. Then, we left to come home on Sunday afternoon and made it home Monday afternoon. We were exhausted! But oh, so much fun!

The sign above is from the squadron bar where Duane's promotion party was held. Too funny!

His squadron Logo - the Lancers. (We were originally in the Lancers for, oh, two weeks maybe, back when we were in the B-course in 2003 - but then a couple of back surgeries changed his training and we ended up in the Eagles)

With what do you celebrate? The good stuff, baby!

Getting the pin-on by family.

The oath - Col. Wizniewski is a good friend of ours who was our squadron commander during the B-course training when we were in the Eagles, and who also performed Duane's promotion ceremony to Captain five years ago. He and his family are also personal friends, attending the same church as us. He has since retired, but Duane asked him if he would be willing to come and promote him to major. We were honored to have him as a part of this!

On our way up to Goldsboro, we stopped and stayed with our friends the Slingluffs who are now living in Charlotte. Rick Slingluff was our pastor in Pensacola when we were here 8 years ago, and Deb and I were in Bible study together. (In fact, she was Clarissa's first babysitter!) They have since served churches in Alabama and most recently were in Kenya for 3 years. They just recently returned to the states, so I was thankful for the opportunity to stop and see them!