Camping trip of the summer!

Well with all of Chad's flight training and new job we were not able to do a lot this summer, but we did finally get away for a weekend to camp.  Labor day weekend we packed up, took the ferry and camped on Orcas Island.  I have lived in WA state my whole life and have never been to the San Juan islands.  WOW gorgeous! 
This is the first year we actually camped with our own equipment.  We got a tent and all the other necessities.  You can tell we are out of practice cause we forgot so many things.  Even important things like a flashlight and camping chairs.  Oh well there was a little town where we got both.  Bummer cause we already owned everything just forgot to put them in the car.  Needless to say we have one more flashlight for our collections and now a total of 4 camping chairs.  We are set!

The first day we explored the island a bit, set up camp and cooked our first meal, hamburgers and corn on the cob cooked on the fire.  Mmm mmm good!!  Sunday we took the ferry over to Friday Harbor and did an ALL DAY kayak trip around the west side of San Juan island!  We were hoping to see the Orcas but missed one pod by an hour and the rest were over by Canada for the day.  Oh well we saw other fun things and just enjoyed being outside.  By the end of the 6 hours I was so sore and tired I could barely think.  But we came back cooked dinner over the fire again and hit the hay by 9:30 I think which is unheard of for us.

Monday morning we woke up when it was barely light, in the pouring rain and wind and got the boat we rented and went out to the lake to fish.  There were tons of trout out there.  But with me not having the right rain gear, and us not being the best of fishermen we only lasted 2 hours.  But by the end we were soaked, cold and sick of the weather.  So we packed up camp and tried to come home.  I guess we weren't the only ones sick of the rain because the first ferry was full and we had to wait 3.5 hrs for the next one and not get out of line.  So we had some breakfast, took a little nap in the car, played some go fish in the front seat, anything to pass the time.  When it was time to go we realized UH OH the motor to the fan in the heater had broken and we couldn't defrost the windows.  After sitting the car for hours everything was fogged up.  So all the way home we had to keep rolling down the windows and wiping them to be able to see outside.  It was not the most pleasant of experiences with it being cold and wet. Oh well, that problem is fixed now :-)

For more pictures from the summer look on the album to the right!

Pictures as promised

Pictures from a weekend of celebration. The dressy pictures are from dinner at the metropolitan grill in Seattle. Wish we had a picture with Billy cause he was there with us and it was very special. Chad's mom was there too don't think we got a group picture...bummer! Then the next day with lunch with my mom and step dad and Chad's aunt and uncle. What a special weekend that was!

Our friend Ann made this cake for chad!  Awesome

Finished!! Now What??

Well our dear friends and family the time has finally come, Chad finished his commercial pilot training.  He got his certificate on the 28th!  WOOHOO!  Praise God.  God has been so amazing through the past three years.  He has paved the way for Chad this entire time, and provided for us so faithfully.  Sometimes I kick myself when I worry about things because when I reflect on the past 3 years I'm amazed.  Since getting out of the Air Force Chad has gotten his airframe and powerplant license, and has become an instrument rated commercial pilot and now works for Boeing.  WOW!  And all debt free...even more WOW! 

Well we are not exactly sure what comes next but Chad is thinking of getting his multi-engine rating next.  He was going to do CFI (certified flight instructor) first but now maybe multi-engine or both at the same time.  I need to take some bible courses and we need to start really praying about and researching which organization we want to apply to. 
So if all goes well (mainly with the house Chad owns) then we want to be applying and starting the fund raising process in a year or so. 

Lots of exciting things ahead for us and we are so excited to see where God is going to lead us.  I will post pictures tomorrow.

Chad and I finally get a weekend together to go camping, yippee for that and thank goodness no worries about studying or flying just having fun!