Coleman Family

Leslie and Stephanie moved to California to attend Calvary Chapel Bible College. So Chad and I want them start posting on our website to keep everybody updated. I hope you girls have fun and we will miss you!

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Here is the first email Leslie sent.
Aug 27th, 2008

Hey y’all

Seeing as there are soooo many of you (and much of you too, you fatties) and only one of little old me, I’m just going to write another mass text greeting here and then I maybe might write one or two more personalized ones and then later slowly stop writing anybody altogether as I get lazy and corpulent because that’s what usually happens. So. Just a heads up there. But if any of you know me, you shouldn’t be too surprised.

Hey, so I thought I could blog on my brother’s website to update friends and family but I don’t think that will be possible. My laptop doesn’t really pick up the wireless network signal anywhere sooo I’ll be forced to grace the computer lab when I want to send messages. But I’m such a fat and lazy American that when things are not extremely easy or convenient like McDonalds or Taco Bell then I have difficulty in mustering up the determination to do it. Ah, life is so hard for me. But seriously, if you do write me guys, fear not! (or be afraid) for I shalt respond to thee! Eventually!

Excuses, I mean greetings, aside, hello everyone I love it here but I MISS beautiful Idaho already. You should all stop, gaze out your window at the endless sky, the mountains bursting with green trees, the -smell- Oh, yes especially the smells. So Murietta’s Calvary Chapel Bible College (CCBC) or Bridal College as I’ve heard it whispered (Something about a ‘ring by spring’ and I’m thinking a ‘noose to get loose’)

*crickets chirp*

You guys are all totally missing my amazingly bad and cheesy jokes, I just know it. But fear not, I will do my best to make up for them in these letters, ten fold!!!

So as I was saying, CCBC is where a hot springs resort used to be so when they bought it they fixed it up and made it a Bible College and kept the hot springs! So we’ve got hot springs everywhere. (Cool, right? Right?) But a few problems

1. It is HOT. Like seriously, all day and all night. My skin would be melted off if I even went near one of those little hot spring spots.

2. It STINKS. That’s why I was saying you should be grateful for the clean Idaho lake and mountain fresh air. Because here, it smells like a very warm fart. And don’t ask me what a cold fart is like. Just trust me. Warm fart. Muffling. Yea. Even worse than Stephanie and Chad after Mexican food night!

3. Annnnd that’s all I really had to say about that. It just looked dumb to only have two points.

So, life is good. My dorm girls are cool and I’m excited to get started! Classes start Aug 29, and the rest of this week is just a whole lotta registration, orientation, and introduction stuff. Classes are Morning worship, Intro to Bible, Genesis, Nehemiah, Intro to Hebrew (The language not the book, sweet!) and something else which I can’t recall at the moment.SAD.and then we do Chuck Tracks an hour a day which is this neat thing that takes you from Gen-Rev through the Bible in sermons by Chuck Smith. They are really wonderful and interesting! Ever read the Bible and went, Eh? This totally helps with that. I got my 8hr/week servanthood/ ministry assignment, its being a teacher’s assistant! How awesome is that! Not only is it something I enjoy but it is more flexible than the other ministry assignments so I can fit an outside job in my schedule as well. UPS Store here I come! Or wherever God puts me.

It’s pretty awesome and I feel so privileged to be here. I have been feeling such a difference in the whole spirit of the campus in this Bible College as opposed to community and secular college. I’m sure there are some ‘Parents made me go here’ kids but I’ve seen some encouraging demonstrations of personal faith and dedication to God in my roommates and other students. I know it is only Week 1 and I will withhold final judgment but I’m determined to retain my positive perspective, rain or shine. God has done His best work in my life in the hard, challenging, painful times (I love how Paul rejoices in his suffering because he knows this) and I know that no matter what happens to us in life or what we bad things we do or what good things we don’t do, God is still His loving, righteous and all-powerful self weaving His masterpiece into the threads of our lives.

Peace out my honky-tonk Idahoan family and friends,

Leslie E. Coleman

P.S. I totally took a emo self pic for you guys right out there in front of everyone. It was highly embarrassing so I hope you appreciate the humble sacrafice I take for your benefit…. >_> Heh… Right.

P.S.S. I need emails for Ryan, Bre, Jared and Anna, Chad is that email still valid? Mike, Nanny, aaannnd hmm, I think thats about it? Anyone else?

Every moment is an alter
set before the Lord.
Have you filled it up with worship
or idols of the world?
Or is your time spent in waste
And the alter is empty and bare
Until at last revealed in Judgment
Life is as if you were never there.

Here is a picture of Janie when she was Madison’s age. They are wearing the same outfit! How cute!

All my California pictures are posted and ready to view! We had a lot of fun and cant wait to go back!
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Did anyone happen to see my flickr stream lately? I just put up some awesome vids of some great game we captured on it, with pics and video! Jonas and I are excited for this season, now that we know who is visiting our hunting spot.

View the whole set »

Friday at noon, Jonas stopped in my work to drop off the memory card from his trail camera. We caught some neat photos and videos of 2 young bull elk, and a really big buck still in velvet.

He then invites me to go camping early the next morning. So I call it a day at work, and head out to get my camper in order. Registration completed, I got a new water pump so the sink will work. Sean came over and helped me get the wiring completed, so that the driving lights will work properly. Later that night, Brandon and Jessica decide to come out with us. I was gonna take Sam dog as my buddy, but he got ousted so that Brandon and Jess could ride in the truck with me.

They showed up at 9:45 the next morning. We loaded up and met the Freemans and their friends at the gas station. Then we headed up and over Fernan Saddle, and cut through the national forest to get where we were going. About a 1.5 hour drive. Twisty dirt roads, awesome mountain top views, creeks and rivers.

Upon arrival to our private spot on the river, we unloaded the gear and set up camp. I got to break in our gift from the Rhodes. A nifty canopy that easily sets up, and helps keep

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that sun off us. After helping Brandon and Jess get their tent and cots set up, we grabbed our chairs and headed to the river. We sat out in the water where it was shallow, with a cooler of beer and a Red Ryder BB gun and had a good time competing for targets we selected in the water or woods. Sat there for a couple hours, catching some sun, and enjoying the beautiful river and the peace and quiet.

Jonas spotted a crawdad, and then we found ourselves turning rocks and catching crawdads for the next couple hours with the other guys that where there. Too bad for me, I didnt bring my flip flops, so my feet are currently tore up from the river rocks. I did manage to catch a tiny garter snake. I let these 2 young boys that were camping with us have it to play with, after teaching them to be gentle with him, and to release him when they’re done.

Then we headed back to the camper, where we made some chilidogs. After our lunch, we went down river to where there was a little beach. We brought the inflatable boat, and some chairs. Then we played with the kids, caught more crawdads, and paddled the boat around till the hot sun went over the mountain top.

We headed back to camp and struck up a game of horseshoes, in which Jonas and I were head to head on. I had one more point to land to win, and Jonas had 3. He lands a ringer, and wins the game. The rest of the guys take turns playing horseshoes, while we each took turn turning the home made ice cream maker. Vanilla with hand picked wild huckleberries.

We get the fire going, and Jeremiah and Alex are making some BBQ pulled beef ribs for everyone. We had some of the best eating that night. The ice cream was awesome.

When it got late, the guys all went crawdadding again. They are active at night, so all we had to do was walk along the shore and spotlight them. Then we would send on guy out in flip flops to catch em. We caught over 100 crawdads that day. Most were too small for eating, so Jeremiah kept all the good ones, and took em home for cookin tonight.

I wish I woulda got photos from that day, but it just slipped my mind as I was having too much fun.

Next morning had a lot of cloud cover, so it was a bit chilly. We got up and cooked eggs, hash browns, coffee and all you can eat bacon with the Freemans. It was awesome. Jeremiah, Brandon and I sat in our chairs with Red Ryder BB Guns and had a competition by bullseye’s on a cardboard target we hung in the tree. Jeremiah whooped us all. (see center target).

Then Brandon, Jess and I grabbed my Ruger .22 and took a walk to shoot some critters. On the trail out we spotted a prairie dog with his head pokin up out of the ground. Brandon was unfamiliar with my rifle, so while he fumbled trying to get the safety off, the prairie dog got away. We walked down the road for a while, and I managed to blast a squirrel. We were up on a ledge over looking an awesome meadow, and having fun shooting at the river. Jess shot the rifle a couple times, then ended up picking a bunch of huckleberries. They later turned out to be Sarvisberries. Not as good as huckleberries, so she tossed them.

We headed home around 3pm Sunday afternoon, and were lucky to catch a bull moose still in velvet crossing a creek in the Teepee Creek Wetlands reserve as we passed through. I just got home to find that a small window in the camper was partially open, so a ton of road dust currently covers everything on the inside.

I’ll unpack the camper and clean it up tomorrow. My feet are still sore from walkin on the river rocks barefoot.

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Friday night we had an awesome lightening show. It was everywhere and nonstop. The rain came down later and pounded us hard. But the light show was fairly dry, so alot of opportunity to get awesome photos. Check out JJ’s handywork.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get any photos, as I was entertaining my old buddy Curtis who was visiting from SLO.

We are here in California visiting my parents with Anna, CC and all the kids. We are having too much fun relaxing and spending time at the beach! I’m ready to move back!!
Some of the pictures are not showing up on our website. The rest of the pictures are on my flickr account.
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