We thought 12 was a big year....

Cole has had a banner year.... his Gateway year and ceremony, his 12-year-old trip with Dad to the Grand Canyon, coming in 6th at the Arizona State yo-yo tournament, placing as a finalist in the Midwest Regional yo-yo contest, and winning $500 for his Cotillion essay...

But then the day before he turned 13 he learned that a video he had submitted for the Victims of Communism student contest WON, with a prize of $2000!  The organization quickly bought him (and Pete) plane tickets and booked him a hotel room in DC so he could be a guest at the fancy-shmancy gala they were planning for the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

They had a fantastic time at the gala, meeting all kinds of interesting people.  The former president of Germany was the speaker and he has a pretty amazing story about living behind the Iron Curtain and hosting weekly prayer meetings for the Wall to come down.

Several people came up to Cole to tell him that they enjoyed his video, and some even wanted to have their picture taken with him.

His first week of being 13 was not too shabby!