And He's Off Again...

We've had a marvelous two weeks with Nathaniel. Catching up, looking at his pictures from Iraq, introducing him to our new home and friends. It's been mostly busy, with some relief now and then. Jim, Kate and Bekah are driving him to the Philadelphia airport as I type.

While here Nathaniel was able to experience a range of weather, mostly cold and dreary, some snow, ending with lovely warm Springtime temperatures. Right now the window next to me is open and I'm listening to the early morning birds and Isaac shooting hoops in the driveway as he waits for his bus. Not only did we have family and friend time, but Nathaniel was asked by several of the kids' teachers to come speak to their classes at school and Sunday School. He took his laptop and was able to show a slideshow of photos, some Google Earth images of where in the world he is over there, and answered lots of questions. We cooked some of his favorite foods besides doing a comprehensive survey of the local restaurants and I believe we all put on a few pounds each. There must be some Italian genes in our family somewhere, because we do a lot of eating when we're "sharing the love"!

All in all, it was a good visit. While this area isn't "home" to our eldest, he was home with us and the time spent together was precious. Now we pray for his continued safety in traveling back to the theater of operations, Philly to Atlanta, to Germany, to Kuwait, to Iraq. His job there is as safe as being in Iraq could be, but prayers for his safety and wisdom for his daily choices as well as his career decisions are most welcome. He's been fixing his helicopters, he's daily more ready to begin the process which will lead to flying them.

'Nuff said for now, on to the slideshow! (To read the captions, pass your mouse over the individual photos.)