If there was a creative costume competition, my kids and their cousins would have won it this halloween (thanks to Maggie’s fabulous idea).
When you have seven beautiful little girl cousins, and seven beautiful colors of the rainbow, you get:
red orange yellow green blue indigo violet
Cute, huh? It was a great night.
Glo and Lils' mode of transportation. THANK YOU, Coverstones!! We missed trick-or-treating with you!
And you know what’s at the end of every rainbow, right??
SPIDERMAN!
ok, i lied. a few more photos from our trip. i just love these two!
check out all the hugs:
It was so so so special to me to see Noa with Carly and Matt’s son, Liam. He was born just before we moved away and we have missed the three of them so much. Liam and his parents are in the difficult process of raising support to come to Japan and we are praying/hoping that the Lord will bring them here very soon.
Carly and I have been best friends since we grew up here in Japan together. When we were in college (her in Australia, me in America) God, in his amazing way, led her and my cousin Matt to fall in love and get married. We then had the great joy of being newly weds together in the same town for 2 years before we moved to Japan last August. I can’t tell you the ways that the Lord has used this sweet friend to bless and encourage me, even from so long ago. I am so so so thankful that He’s made us family and He’s allowed our paths to continue to intersect at so many of life’s steps so far. Seeing our babies together and enjoying each other was just another reminder to me of God’s goodness in giving me this dear friend, and makes me hope and pray even more that our children, who are technically 2nd cousins, will always be blessed by sweet friendship too, no matter how close or far away we live from each other. 
*on another note (because this is the only scrapbook my children have and I want to remember this detail , it was super fun to see how Noa just took to Carly immediately, even though I don’t think she remembered her. People have often said that she and I look alike (I know, what a compliment to me!) and so I wonder if that’s why Noa was immediately so comfortable with her Auntie Carly. Either way, it just made me smile to see two girls that I love so much love each other so much too!
Our last two and half days in the States were spent in Virginia. It was so great to be back “home” and get to see so many wonderful and dear friends. It was a whirlwind, and of course, not long enough, but still such a joy to our hearts to be with so many who have been such a blessing in our lives. My pictures don’t do the time justice, as I am missing many faces in this post, but here are a few fun ones:
Aunt Martha and Uncle Mark were along for most of our visit, which always makes life super fun. We are so thankful for the excitement that the Lord has ahead of them… Mark beginning his first semester of college at UVA in August, and Martha becoming a wife in September!
Our visit was just in time for Liam and Phoebe’s One Year Birthday Party. It was the perfect chance to celebrate these two precious children who we love so much and have watched grow from afar. Here is Liam with his Mom and Dad and his birthday cake.
It was also a great chance to meet new friends and reconnect with old ones. Martha was happy to meet Canon Reid for the first time. Look at those two sets of blue eyes!
And Noa got to meet her almost-birthday-buddy, Jude Lookabill for the first time. Another fun friend who we can’t wait to see again. We’re praying that Jude and his parents will be here in Japan real soon, and the kiddos can be MK buddies together too! 
It was also a special time of reconnecting with old friends. Eric had fun catching up with some of our fun friends, the Reid family! In our time in Harrisonburg, we loved getting the chance to babysit these guys, or just come over to hang out.
Noa loved seeing a very handsome and grown-up Paul Tongen once again. I love this photo of them checking each other out.
We love the Tongen family and it was such a joy to see them, along with many other families from our home group while we were back. What a treat!
Here is Noa connecting with BF Kathryn Sink. We have so many pictures of these two since they were babies and it was fun to watch them play together again. Here’s a big hug!
And of course, splashing around in the pool with Liam made the time even more fun!
And finally, a Noll-Cole trio! How fun to have these three, Noa and Phoebe and Martha, all just about 9 months apart from each other, get to hang out. 
Although we wish we could have played longer, it was such a blessing to get to see her for just a bit. Phoebe and her parents will move to California in a few weeks. We are so excited for where the Lord is taking them, but sad that they won’t be in Harrisonburg anymore when we go back. We pray, though, that no matter where the Lord leads our families, he will only strengthen our friendships and let these little cuties always enjoy whatever time they get to be together.
It was such a joy to celebrate the marriage of Clayt and Laura this last weekend. We were just so thankful to have been able to be here and be a part of their wedding. It was a beautiful day and I wanted to share a few photos. I am hoping that we will have more to share later, but here are some for now:
our best out of several attempts at a family photo
loving being outside
Daddy and his girl
The Noll family
Martha and Ian were so sweet to come and take care of the girls for us while Eric and I were in the wedding. What a blessing! We loved getting the extra time to be with them too!
Family photo
Aunt Laura and Martha… both beautiful!
Eric and Grandpa
Aunt Pam, Uncle Rick, Nana, and Eric
Noa, all pooped out from the festivities, stole a quick nap at the reception
But she woke up in time to hang out with Aunt Laura before she left on her honeymoon.
Here are some of our pictures from a wonderful visit from Grandma and Grandpa Chase. We were so thankful for their sweetness in coming to stay and love on us. Noa loved getting re-acquainted with them and it was so special for them to meet Martha for the first time.
