Christmas Jar

So two Sunday's ago Katie and I arrive at Koza (church) ready to worship and sign families up for Parents Night Out. Much to our surprise on our registration table was this beautiful jar filled with Yen and American coins (a few bills too!)  I had to do a bit of research to see what the Christmas Jar was all about, what a beautiful story. If you'd like to read about it click here ... Christmas Jar!

 

As we continue to pray and prepare for Alaska I ask that you consider sponsoring us. We are working hard at raising funds and are about 1/2 of the way to our goal. Katie and I have talked and we don't want to just cover our expenses on the trip but would also LOVE to bless the ministries in Nome with a Love Offering. With your help we can bless them abundantly.

 

If you are able to donate, please send a check or money order to:

Colleen Francis

PSC 80 Box 22186

APO, AP 96367

 

If you would like your donation to be a tax deduction please make your check out to Koza Baptist Church.

 

And as one of my favorite Pastor's once said... "You spell thousand T-H-O-U-S-A-N-D and million M-I-L-L-I-O-N!" (Pastor Rick Osborne!)

Caching Challenge

 

So Mark presented me with this challenge. To find at least 1 cache yesterday, so it could count toward our Christmas find. You see what had happened was...we went caching on Christmas (to torment our sweet kids who were dying to get home and play their new BOX!) We didn't realize you could change the time on the geocaching clock! Meaning, we found about 3 caches on December 25, but it registered as Christmas Eve. Our clock wasn't set right; who knew? Now Mark really wanted one on our file for Christmas day.

So being the obedient wife that I am (excuse me while I clear my throat), on my way to pick up Seth from swim team I thought I'd find at least one! Drove to the first one.. NOPE couldn't find the stupid thing. Went to another one... NOPE couldn't find that one either. Now I was late to pick up Seth. Frustrated I gave up!

 

Fast forward a few hours, Mark gets home from work early and we drag all the kids away from their Xbox out to find these caches! I drive straight to the first one, Mark found it in about 5 minutes! Drove to the second one from my wildly unsuccessful morning trip. Caleb got out of the car walked right up to it and put his hand on it. In less than 5 seconds that stinkin' kid found it. (He wasn't allowed to eat dinner last night!)

 

We were on a roll, so off we went. We found a total of 6 last night in less than 75 minutes. Each of us found 1, but I ...YES... I found 2! They were all fast find and it was a very successful fun evening. I didn't want to quit but someone, I won't mention any names (Mr. Sexy Pants) got hungry. And if you know him at all when he's hungry he's whiny. So home we went!

All in all a GREAT caching day, but apparently I'm only effective when my family is with me!

 
 

 
 



Christmas Day 2012

This is a picture of my 3 beautiful children on Christmas Eve opening up their traditional pajamas. I love Christmas, I love the HOLYdays! I love family time and everything Christmas. The shopping, the decorating, the baking, the wrapping, the smells of Christmas, the friends, family, trips and shows... seriously I love it all. I won't lie. This Christmas season has been different. I don't ever recall in my life a year that I was baa humbug, until this year. I miss my mom, the states, and all sorts of Christmas traditions that we can't find or do here. It's just different. I'm 41 years old and I miss my family. I'm looking forward to holidays stateside. Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Labor Day, Memorial Day, even the Marine Corps Birthday has a different feel in the states. This time next year I'll be in a different house, on a different continent, eating at a different table, with different friends and prayerfully our stateside family!

I've enjoyed my time here in Okinawa. We are blessed to have met some amazing families and developed life long friends here. We've experienced more here that I ever dreamt of, and will see and experience many more new and exciting things before we leave. There are many things I will miss about Okinawa... CoCo Curry (which was introduced to me by a favorite Buckeye Amy Krieg), Arashi (also introduced to us by amazing friends the Peters), Koza Baptist, Geo caching (something tells me it's totally different when you aren't driving on teeny tiny goat roads having to pull your mirrors in because you will knock them off as you turn the tight corners!). We will also miss curfews, crappy TV reception, so looking forward to high speed internet and cell phones that work everywhere! I will personally miss the schools within walking distance of the house and of course the kids friends.

So in my tiny rant, I just miss 'home' at Christmas. I wish I was rich and could fly my family home for the HOLYdays or even fly my family out to spend the time with us. Then I feel guilty, because this season isn't about me and my family. It's about Christ, it's HIS birthday. And as I reflect I realize I'm doing exactly what HE wants me to do, serve HIS Marines, love on the people of Okinawa, and spread HIS joy and love to others. I'm also doing it with a smile on my face and peace in my heart for I know the God I serve and I know the future I hold in him.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!

Alaska Mission Trip 2013

Alaska Mission Trip 2013

K80 & I will be going on a jet plane in March for our very first Mother/Daughter Mission Trip (March 11-23). Iditarod Outreach: Finish Line Nome Alaska. We both fell in love with Alaska in the summer of 2011. K80’s youth group leader, Gretchen, shared this trip with us, & of course we had to go! We will be ministering to the mushers of the Iditarod, caring for the race dogs, working the Bible-in-a-Bucket campaign & loving on village elders. We seriously cannot contain our excitement for this trip! K80 & I have been working very hard for the last couple of months raising money this trip. Junior has saved well over $325 from babysitting. I have almost $500 from working the Japanese students.  K80 and I have also started a Parent’s Night Out (PNO) event at our church, Koza Baptist. In November we watched over 65 kids with the help of 20+ volunteers earning approximately $980.    We have another PNO scheduled for December, January and tentatively for February. Our goal is to earn $6,000 to cover our airfare, mission fees, and a love offering to Alaska Missions.

 

We are almost a third of our way to our goal! We would like for you to join us by praying for a successful outreach in Alaska. K80 & I would also like for you to prayerfully consider supporting us financially.

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this letter and considering being part of the work God is doing in our lives as we prepare for this experience. Please contact us if you have any questions. We are extremely excited to see what all God has planned for us on the “Adventure of a Lifetime!”

 

In His Grip,

Colleen & K80 Francis

Page 1 of The Francis 5 2012 Newsletter

2012 has proven yet again if you feed your kids vegetables

and 3 squares with approximately 5 snacks a day they will

grow and grow and grow. The boys are like bean stocks and

K80 is not far behind. I’m telling you I had to get a part

time job just to keep clothes on these teenagers! Yeppers,

I said teenagers, can you believe it? Mark and I are frightfully

proud parents of teenagers, typing this makes my heart weak!

I can’t even think about high school yet, I’m still enjoying 7^th

& 8^th grade right now. As of Thanksgiving the boys are taller

than Colleen but seem to be mere millimeters away from

surpassing Mark! (that’s over 6 foot!)

 

Seth & Junior learned to surf. Caleb digs golfing. Junior loves volleyball. Seth is definitely a back-stroker like his dad. Colleen is still cancer free. Caleb hates texting. K80 & Seth text in their sleep.  Mark misses shooting. The kids think their parents are weird. Caleb & Seth are now Life Scouts. K80 is in NJHS. Colleen lives with 4 gamers. We all miss the States. Mark never answers his cell phone. We are getting a dog when we get home & we shall name him Brutus. We believe we have the best kids in the world.

I certainly do not want to rehash the last year for you.

Most info is on my blog or Facebook. So you are well

aware of the wild crazy and amazing life we lead! We are

blissfully happy and blessed by God. We just want to say

thank you. Thank you for being part of our family; thru

photos, prayers, emails and Facebook updates.

We love sharing life with you!

Thank you very much!

Dōmo arigatōgozaimashita!

どうもありがとうございました

 

 

PNO... what is that?

I know many of you have been quietly wondering what PNO is all about. You've read about it, dreamt about it and still have questions. Like... why in the world would a woman so busy as Colleen take on such a project? Or what in the world is she gonna do with all these children? My favorite one... who loves Colleen enough to volunteer for such an event?

Here are just a few answers to those great questions...
Junior and I took on this project so that we can go on a mission trip to Nome Alaska in March of 2013!  I know right someone just fell out of their chair. Nome, Alaska in March. YES YES YES. We can't wait. It's the end of the Iditarod and how could we possibly pass up this opportunity. (I'll tell you more about the trip later!) When Jr and I first talked about it, Mark said we couldn't take any money out of the family budget to do this. Someone suggested PNO, so we ran with it! So happy we did. It's a blessing to us and to parents all over the island.

What to do w/ these kids? The kids have so much fun. We've got a HUGE screen movie night, tons of games, crafts and some yummy snacks! Last month I over planned, it's what I do. There wasn't a bored moment for anyone. Lots to do, lots of fun, no sad children! Makes for one successful PNO. BTW: we had over 93 children registered and only 1/3 showed up!

Who loves me?... lots of people. They actually love Jr more though! We had over 14 adult volunteers and 12 youth. It was AWESOME! I think (maybe I am imagining things!) everyone had a great time. Time flew by, it didn't feel like 4 hours. Junior and I are richly blessed by all the help!

So how can you help... volunteer today! Our next PNO is December 14th! (the time has changed slightly so parents can go to the movies on base!)

Can't wait to see everyone at the next PNO!

P.S. If you click the photo it will enlarge it for easier viewing!

The Girl who gave up on the ball!

This is me, well I think I look like this!

I'm certain ya'll have heard my rant on FaceBook about this amazing dress that I ordered that came in so small Katie could wear it. I was too mad to think about being creative to alter the dress and I already spent money on that stupid perfect dress! I had told Mark that's it. I'm not going and if I am going I'm wearing the same stupid thing I've worn the past 5 years. He just rolled his eyes and said whatever. He don't care what I wear! (and Yes, I said it like that on purpose!)

 

So Saturday, right before the Super Typhoon was to appear I rushed to the Exchange along with the other 45,000 family members on a a payday weekend! I got what I went in there for... a few scrapbooking accessories! That's when I started seeing all these signs that talked about a 'Special Occasion Dress Sale' September 14-16! I told K80 I was scouting it out. I walked the women's section twice before I found this HUGE selection of dresses! It was 3 whomping racks of dresses! That was it, seriously a couple hundred to a thousand women will be attending a Birthday Ball within the next 90 days on the island and you only have 3 racks of dresses! What are these people thinking?

Then I saw it, it wasn't as beautiful as my dream dress, but it'll do!

 

 K80 hates the jacket! She says I look like an old lady in it. Mark said... "ummm she is old K80!" (Mark slept on the sofa that night!)

  Then I found these shoes today on Amazon for $14.99. w/ free shipping! I love a GREAT Bargain!

So everyone can now breathe easily... I've got a dress, shoes and possibly some jewelry to wear. (That I found at the Marine Gift Shop on island and paid next to nothing for!) I seriously scored this year! I wonder if I'll wear this outfit for another 5 Birthday Balls?

 

Yes, I would have loved to have worn the dream dress, but a bargain is hard to pass up! So thankful that God has bigger plans and ideas for me. Now only 73 days til the Ball!

(Yes I will practice walking in those shoes, especially since I only wear heals once per year. I wear them in to the ball, take my photo in them and kick them under the table the rest of the night! I will seriously try hard to impress my friend, Danielle, and wear them all night long!)