Goodbyes...

I'm Choosing Joy while feeling a bit blue, wiping tears and inhaling chocolate. Yes, today is the day that BreAnne will leave too. Their flight leaves at 2:57. It's good to get up early and take care of emotions before taking care of leave taking. ::snort::

If you want to read my past thoughts on saying goodbye to family members, you can read this, my thoughts haven't changed much since 2006.

For now - let me share photos from yesterday.

Josiah shows Mike the finer points of texting - sending Krista a text while we work on FAFSA forms.

Then we played basketball.

I looked up to see this when Zander was telling a man at the park, "...then the Police chained me up like this..."

Bre assembles a dragon kite

They kept crashing around Stacia...

I suppose it DOES look a bit scary zooming in on you


My favorite kite...

Ah....David helps Stacia

We took BreAnne and David out for dinner. Josiah got off work and joined us at 7 p.m. We spent the night playing cards, Taboo and Mafia. And yes, as reported on Facebook, I RULE as Mafia. I was straight-faced, logical, methodical, evil (Mike's assessment) and devious enough to kill each and every one of my smarty pants sons.

Now, I really must get on with THIS day and meet it face on.
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

2009 Reading List

This is my running list of books which I'm reading or hope to read in 2009. Books in red have been READ....If I've reviewed it on the blog, the title should be a different color. You can click the title to read the review.

The Holy Bible

Biographies

The Duggars: 20 and Counting! - Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar
Ten P's in a Pod - Arnold Pent III
To Fly Again - Gracia Burnham
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million - Daniel Mendelsohn
Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth - Kristen Iversen
The Romanovs - Robert K. Massie
Dawn - Elie Wiesel
Night - Elie Wiesel
The Testament - Elie Wiesel

Family
Heartfelt Discipline - Clay Clarkson

Biblical Parenting - Crystal Lutton

A Turansky Book

The Love As A Way of Life Devotional - Gary Chapman

I Do Again - Cheryl & Jeff Scruggs

Intimate Issues - Linda Dillow & Lorraine Pintus

For Couples Only - Shaunti & Jeff Feldhahn

When God Writes Your Love Story - Eric & Leslie Ludy

Health
The Maker's Diet - Rubin - Maybe. LOL
What the Bible Says About Healthy Living - Rex Russell

The Never Say Diet Personal Fitness Trainer - Chantel Hobbs

Never Say Diet - Chantel Hobbs

The 15 Minute Meal Planner - Emilie Barnes & Sue Gregg

Parenting
The Out of Sync Child - Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A.
The Joyful Home School - Mary Hood

The Out of Sync Child has Fun - Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A.

Preparing Sons to Provide for a Single-Income Family - Steven Maxwell

Christian Life

Clutter-FREE Christianity - Robert Jeffress
A Place of Quiet Rest - Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Flashpoints - Stephen Arerburn
Daring to Dance with God - Jeff Walling
A New Kind of Christian - Brian McLaren

Only Nuns Change Habits Overnight - Karen Scalf Linamen

Sparklng Gems from the Greek: 365 Greek Word Studies for Every Day of the Year.... Rick Renner

Non- Fiction - Misc

Christian Writers’ Market Guide 2009 - Sally Stuart

Fiction - pure fluff for enjoyment!!

A Prize for Princess - Rex Stout

Ransomed Dreams - Amy Wallace
Death of a Garage Sale Newbie - Sharon Dunn

Sassy Cinderella - Sharon Dunn

Desperate Pastors' Wives - Ginger Kolbaba & Christy Scannell

A Matter of Wife and Death - Ginger Kolbaba & Christy Scannell

All the Maxine & Stretch series by Sue Henry

All the Meg Langslow books by

The Blight Way - Patrick F. McManus

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

2008 in Review: First Sentence Meme

I saw on Lisa's blog. She found it at Small World. I thought this looked like a fun way to summarize 2008. 2009 begins my fourth year of blogging. In 2008 I posted 763 entries (that's down 255 entries from 2007). I've reviewed countless books, shared private thoughts, a zillion photos (not sure how to count them all) and believe I've met my goal of keeping family and friends connected with our family. These excerpts are not necessarily what I would consider the MOST IMPORTANT things I've blogged about in 2008 (M/M's don't show up even ONCE), but this exercise does give a sample of the conversation of my life in 2008.

How to Play.
1) Look back to your archives for 2008.
2) Collect the first sentence you wrote every month for the whole year. (This doesn't have to be the literal first day of the month--just the first post.)
3) Entertain us on your blog, link back here, and post a comment here with the link to your blog. (And if you're blogless, just remember the first sentence you spoke every month for the whole year and post it here. LOL)
***********
1 January
The most shocking discovery of the day was that someone had gone into my My Space and changed the photo, added photos, and changed the background to bright pink and BARBIE!!!!

1 February
Jamin is meeting with three publishers today.

3 March
Have you ever heard of Bocce?

1 April
We have a Ticket System in our home.

1 May
Mike has trained us all well. (Title - Do Your Research; entry about local gyms.)

1 June
There have been changes in the planning at the local chapel and today is the day they were implemented.

1 July
Warning - if you've got me on the pedestal, I'm about to be vulnerable again. ::snort:: (Title - Choosing Joy in Seasons of Discontent)

Later that day: Early this morning Josiah began moving boxes.

1 August
FIVE DAYS UNTIL WE SEE THEM!

2 September
I began this blog 3 years ago on Labor Day, September 5, 2005.

1 October
Our house is very quiet with Jared (14) gone for the week.

1 November
I called Deja for friend support.

1 December
This begins Nutcracker crunch week.

(Pssst....reviewing the sentences for Aug - Dec illustrates for me WHY I'm so tired lately. It's been a full fall).

This took longer than I expected so I won't write about my "Word of the Year" quite yet....and I'd like to recap the road that the word "surrender" has taken me on....but those posts require a bit more thought and quiet....and today is my last day with BreAnne and David. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

Happy New Year!

When the boys got off work, they came over. We watched movies and snacked.

We began the evening with "Lord of the Beans", moved on to "Kung Fu Panda," and rang in the year with "Remember the Titans". Sparkling Cider - folks - sparkling cider. We had a fun circle time of remembering highlights of 2008 and looking ahead to 2009.

Krista called and she has landed in WA.

Choosing Joy!©2009 D.R.G.

2 out of 3 Found

We spent the afternoon geocaching, while Josiah and Jamin slaved away at the mall and Krista winged her way to the state of WA. ::snort::

Out in the middle of ranch land, cars zipping by, we "formed up" whenever a car came by...think they noticed us? ::snort::

Cute - Briar Patch find looked like a carrot

Ingenious hide - cache was INSIDE the real skull

Someone was fed up with their computer ::snort::

Um....Mike and Jared were breaking branches as we scraped through these tight spots....don't think 15 pass vans are supposed to be on these "roads"...some day we will need to buy Mike a 4 wheel drive TRUCK. ::snort::

Choosing Joy!
©2008 D.R.G.

2008 Family Read Alouds

The Great Brain - John Fitzgerald
The Door in the Wall
Robin Hood - Howard Pyle
Nick of Time - Ted Bell
The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis
Snow Treasures
The Odyssey - Adrian Mitchell
The Corn Grows Ripe - Dorothy Rhoads
The Horse and His Boy - C.S. Lewis
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis
Prince Caspian - C.S. Lewis

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

Krista's In the Air

Krista left this afternoon at 3:00. She is currently in Denver. The plan is to reach Spokane near 11:00 p.m., ring in the New Year, and be at work tomorrow at 5 a.m. Her plan is to work as much overtime as she can, save as much as possible, and be financially secure when she enters EBC in the fall. She'll have two years of college left. She hopes, with scholarships and savings, to have her tuition nearly secure.
I'm so glad she was able to have a week off of work. It was a good visit.
















Smile and wave, Krista, smile and wave!

I really miss her already....but I'm...
Choosing Joy!
©2008 D.R.G.