Trip to Ohio - part two

 One of several semi-trucks that we saw in the ditch. This one slid all the way across this field.

 We stopped in auburn hills for lunch with Uncle Randy around 3:30. The two little girls had never been to a big boy before :) It brought back memories watching them climb all over 'Big Boy' in the entryway, like John David and I used to do when we were four and five years old.

 Meredith also informed me that he was her new boyfriend :D She got over Tinker pretty quick.

 I love the faces Kathryn is starting to make. She is too cute.

 :)

 Eating lunch. Lily-bug loves her cottage cheese.

 Hugs Goodbye. It was great to see Uncle Randy and get to visit for awhile.

 James, lol.

 The farther north we got, the windows would freeze, defrost and freeze all over again, leaving beautiful patterns in the frost. I took this picture when the sun was going down.

And now the real adventure begins.
South Saginaw, it was getting colder. We stopped for a final bathroom break, the next stop would be home.
Loaded the kids back up in the van.
Got back on the road.
A few miles ahead, the lights on the van started going dim.
Dad immediately did a U-turn in one of those cops-only places. Mom asks "What's wrong?"
Dad: "The alternator is going out."
We get back to where there's a few fast food places, gas stations and such. Dad pulls the van into a mcdonalds, under the lights. Turned off the van, got out, popped the hood.
So our alternator was about dead.
Dad's looking around at the hotel options, praying about what to do. It's not like we could just have someone come get us. We're three hours from home and it would take a caravan of at least three vehicles to get us all back. If we stayed the night in a hotel, well, we'd still have to do something about the van in the morning.
Dad is praying.
The people of the church at troy had put a can of WD-40 in the gift basket they gave us. Praise the Lord. Dad sprayed some of that in there. The van started. He wasn't real sure what to do, but said to Mom, "Let's keep going."
We got back on the freeway.
Dad dimmed the lights, turned off the heat and Mom used the battery off the GPS to search for any auto parts place. It was almost seven. Moms thinking, "I don't know if there's anything still open this late."
She finds an O'reilly store, next exit.
So we take that exit. The last exit. The next one was in cadillac, almost 2 hours away. It was zero degrees.
We gimped along for another three or four miles. we saw the sign for an advanced auto parts store. The lights were still on, so we pulled in there.
Dad went inside. They were open til nine. They had the alternator in stock, and we had the money to pay for it. He came back out the van and got his carharts he had packed for the sledding party in Ohio. He had no gloves, but the gift basket form the church had a pair of warm jersey gloves in it. Praise the Lord. Dad says to Mom, "Honey, I don't know how I'm going to fix this, I don't have any tools or anything."
Mom: "Well, maybe they'll let you use a screwdriver."
:)
So, one of the guys who worked there said to Dad, "Are you going to fix it here?"
Dad: "Well, I don't have a choice, man."
Guy-who-worked-at-the-store: "Well, we've got a tool cart here you can use."

So, Mom and all nine of us kids (minus John, who was helping Dad a lot of the time) all trooped inside and set up shop in the Advance Auto Parts Store.

 Dad and one of the guys.

 Yeah, we kinda took over the store. Mom had all the boys counting inventory :) "Okay, see how many different kinds of batteries you can find in here. Okay, now see how many different kinds of oil. Okay, now see how many kinds of steering wheel covers."

 But we were warm.
And we got the alternator fixed.
About an hour later, we were back on the road. Dad was singing praises the whole way back. I'd never seen him so excited about changing an alternator. He kept saying, "Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord."
It was amazing how God worked everything out.
An hour and a half later, It was 16 degrees below zero. If we hadn't stopped to have lunch with Uncle Randy, that's where we would have been when the alternator went out. In the middle of nowhere, with no parts place open, and nobody nearby to help.
Yes, Praise the Lord. He is good. He is a loving and merciful God. He knows what he's doing.
And we got home safe and slept in warm beds that night :)

 Here's just a few more of Kathryn I had to post. I took these from the backseat, so the view isn't that great, But she's so adorable, I had to put em on here.

She's already getting so big.
So that's our trip. Hope you all enjoyed. Maybe sometime I'll post some of the videos I took on the way home, about what happens when the boys are really hyper and they start playing with pillow pets.
Or maybe I won't.
:)

Trip To Ohio

Two Fridays ago, the 24th, our Family set out on a long journey, in hazardous conditions, complete with strong winds, heaps of snow and perilous whiteouts. By the grace of God we made it to the Beatty's house and so began a great weekend.

 As soon as we crossed the Ohio border, this amazing thing happened. The roads got better. There was less snow. The winds died down.
Around 8:30 we finally pulled up to the Beatty's house. After being in a cramped van with 10 other people for almost ten hours, it looked like the promised land. Pastor Stephen and Miss Rachel got home not long after we did with enough pizza for Jesus to feed the five thousand, cuz that was pretty much what it took.
Just kidding.
It was really good pizza though.
We stayed up late and visited and talked. Great time of fellowship as always.
Saturday morning the fun began.

 Jared and Boaz

 Notice the Ohio state and Michigan shirts.

 Youth Rally time: the guys and girls listening to mom play the piano.

 Jared, Boaz, Jackson, John and Doug singing.
Around noon we all piled into our vehicles and headed for sledding. In our van, we had 6 cook kids, doug beatty and a couple other boys. As we turned into the entrance of the lodge, Brother Stephen, who was driving in front of us, did an awesome fishtail, resulting in hoots and hollers from all the boys in our van. Dad, not to  be outdone, followed suit to Brother Stephen. This pleased Doug immensley:
"That's RIGHT Mr. Cook! That's Just what I needed!!"

 Some of the kids at the hill.

 Great Hill. Long walk back up.

 Tinker and Brittney. The people on the bottom were the ones who got sprayed in the face with the snow. Also the ones who got landed on by all the other people riding on top. Hence the girl covering her face. Hence the supportive fiance :)

 "You better not be taking a picture of me."

 Fast-forward to Sunday Night. This was Hanging out with Josh in the sound booth.

 Doug with Lily during choir practice.
Sunday night we had a full concert and Dad preached. Great time of fellowship again, and then we were leaving the next morning.

 Doug with Kathryn.

 Brother Stephen shooting people with the nerf gun.

 Boaz and James.

 The ever present Cooper.

If you look close, you might see Doug and Boaz looking out the window.
So the journey home began, but it was far from over...
Part Two to follow soon.