Tuesday, December 31, 2013

New Year Blessings and Farewell...

Hello dear friends!!  Happy New Year!!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the pictures from the rest of our trip to Germany.  I also hope that this finds you all doing well.  We are doing well here.  God is so good and life stays full.

As we prepare to enter 2014, we've been discussing goals, our family's future, etc. and we've come to an important decision that I wanted to share with you.  After some thinking and discussion, my parents and I have decided that it is time to say "goodbye" to "The Family Cochran".  We're very thankful for these years of blogging and think that they've served a good purpose too.  We also believe though that we're entering a different stage of life for our family.  As you've probably noticed, I simply don't have the time to keep up with it anymore!!

It's definitely a bittersweet decision.  I am going to miss it!  I want to thank each of you who have followed us, for the comments, and taking time to read the posts - I pray they've been a blessing to you!!

So with this, I bid you all a final farewell.  I pray those of you who read this that know our Beloved Savior will continue to grow nearer to Him every day...and for those of you who read this who may not know Him yet, I pray you'll begin to seek Him with your whole heart - He will be found by you!!

"And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:13

I also want to leave you with one of my favorite verses from this past year (actually brought to my remembrance by a dear friend - thank you!).  Such a wonderful promise from our ever faithful LORD: 

"And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8

May the Lord be with you!  
~ Savannah

Back in the States and Washington DC!!!


Back in our van we set off!

We couldn't bear to be so close to our nation's capital and not stop (none of us kids had ever been), so we did a Cochran fly by!! :)  This was definitely a highlight of our trip and I can't wait to hopefully go back someday and do it more in depth!!!





Having just come from Germany, this was funny to see. :)



Hmmm...











Scaffolding once again!!




Jet lag had set in...

We got to visit daddy's sister and her family!  It was so nice to be able to see them again.

Stasia and Isaac were born same day same year.


Germany 2013 Week 3 - At "Home"


We got to have Ms. Jennie and Ms. Ruthanne over for dinner - it was so nice to visit with them!!

We got to walk around Kottweiler - our village from last year.


I miss these church bells!!

Our favorite forest walk.


It was wonderful to see these sweet English ladies again!!  We had bought a wonderful "Home Is Where The Air Force Sends Us" sign from them the year before.  They do such a beautiful job with their work!

We also got to spend some time with the Lutz family - our neighbors from last year.  Ida has gotten so big!!!





Checking the turkey.



They cooked a delicious "thanksgiving" dinner for us!!

It was so nice to spend some time with them!



The coffee shop on base.


Our last day in town, we met Ms. Jennie and Ms. Ruthanne at the food court.

Then they took us on a little expedition.

This tower overlooks Landstuhl. As we understand it, Hitler used it some for speeches.




This fun little sign really helps to get your bearings!!


Looking down at Nanstein Castle.




The church down in the town.

We had to go back to Nanstein!



We also got to spend some time with our sweet neighbors from this year - the Stuppi family!!

Their cute little guy.



A last (at least for now!) doner outing.


Heading back to the states!




Home again!!