Wednesday, May 20th

Mike went to the office, the kids and I did laundry, got our hair done and made sure we were ready for the final pack out on Thursday.

Having Bre ready and willing made life much easier.

The ongoing debate is....who is taller...Arielle or BreAnne? Bre has been reminding them all SHE is number one, the first born, primo....and they've been pointing out to her that even number six is now taller than she and soon number seven will catch her. ::snort::









Even laundry rooms can be fun if you're with the ones you love.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

A very Full Day

OMW - If I go to the front of the van and STAND up, I can get 4 bars and maybe post and maybe get email...maybe. I've tried to email Heather and Bobbie Jo for the past hour. Ladies....I've not forgotten. Heather - I'll call you after lunch...we need to take photos, why did we say goodbye last night? I should have saved my tears. ::snifft:: (snorting and sniffing)

Yesterday - we made a great banner out of purple duct tape, a garbage bag and a sharpie....see the packers did leave something. LOL We took Arielle to Mr. Gattis. I LOVED having to move 4 tables together again....and having every seat in the van full as we headed for graduation.

Graduation was sweet....and hard. I have photos...a few...the flash wasn't working and the kids used the little Cannon power shot....We're so very proud of Jamin.

Standing on that platform it came home for all of us...we're leaving....and four kids will be Stateside when we leave....Denial came to a screeching halt. Ah...pray for us. Thanks for all in the SACHSA family who have promised to be there should the boys need anything.

I woke up at 5 a.m. today with leaking eyes....but this is fairly common when a child leaves home around here....and this is graduation, leaving home and saying goodbye to many dear friends.

Today is a chapel farewell. Heather is going to take some family photos for us. Bre flies out tomorrow afternoon. I'll upload photos when I can get a strong enough connection to make it to Photobucket.

Choosing Joy! Yep - even in goodbyes.
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Happy Birthday Arielle!

Twelve years ago today, our long held dream came true and we were blessed with another little girl after a run of 3 spectacular boys.

Arielle is a princess, in the good sense of the word. We named her after her great grandmother and grandmothers... Mabel Wilda didn't appeal to us but we discovered the name Arielle means lioness of God; and THAT describes Mabel Wilda. JaNae is a form of Jean/Janice (her grandmothers names).

Arielle has been a joy to raise. She loves to read and is a huge help with the youngers. Arielle is sandwiched between five brothers and provides a sweet counter balance in our now testosterone laden family. ::snort::

Happy Birthday, sweetie. We love you.

{I'll post a graduation thought or two AFTER the graduation because I'll know what we said then. ::snort:: }

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Quick update

Truck loaded and gone. Oh my, I have stories. ::snort::

Grad rehearsal.

Shopping.

Krista picked up at 11 p.m.

Put banner on trailer....put yard sign at Cy's apartment for graduation.

Shopped early this a.m. for a diploma frame (diploma was packed despite best precautions....though Mike thinks it may still show up some where. Thanks to the Waldrons who volunteered to print up a diploma for Jamin last night!)

Met carpet layer at house for measuring - he was an hour late.

Krista sorted through her things to see which can go to charity instead of OR.

Making birthday banner from what we find in the house...garbage bag, duct tape and sharpie....

Josiah is off work until we leave town.

Surprise birthday lunch for Arielle at 11:30 a.m.

Back at church for grad at 4 p.m.

Pray for Mike, please. He's had a sore throat for 4 days now.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Tuesday

We spent Tuesday working.

Bre addressed the rest of Jamin's graduation announcements.





Bre, Arielle and I redid this for Jamin.

In the evening we had an installation and farewell at PWOC. I'm going to miss these sisters.

Farewell for Mandy, Betsy and I. Betsy was our Prayer Chair for 2008/09.....she wore out her knee. ::snort::

The reality of this all hit late Tuesday. Betsy, you asked if I'm going to make it through this graduation.....Did I miss the opt out option? I want to sign up. ::snort:: I've had trouble with leaking eyes since saying goodbye to PWOC on Tuesday night. I've been thinking that the pain of saying goodbye is a testament to 4 years of loving well...this is all good.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Header

That header is for tomorrow...but as you can probably tell I'm having trouble getting reliable wifi connections. ::snort::

I'm currently sitting on a wheat bucket, nestled up against the neighbors fence. I plan to see how much I can post, emails I can answer before I lose connection...and BTW those who work in communications tell me it is NOT stealing to connect to an unsecure network...if they didn't want me to connect they'd set up a firewall and make it secure - at least give it a password. LOL

So....the truck is being loaded. We aren't 100% at peace with the weight they are telling us, but we shall see. I now have my very own packer story. ::snort::

Bre has all but Zander at the lake. Zander is shadowing the loaders.

Krista flies in tonight. I'll write more if I can get photos and such loaded and still have a connection.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

"Bump Beds", projects and such....

We worked most the day.

Mike at the office.

The rest of us at the house....








Jared organized his room and mowed the neighbor's yard.

Nolan mowed our yard.

Arielle was a trooper and did all that was asked.

We took ANOTHER load to Goodwill.

We emptied our pantry - mostly. ::snort::

I attended Mom's Night Out.

We picked BRE up at the airport.

Josiah and Jamin met us at the airport when they got off work. They took Jared to their apartment for the night.

Krista send a present for Zander with Bre....



I was informed that if I needed something up high, I should ask for Zander's help and NOT step on it. ::snort::

Notice the stool in the background.

Thanks, Krista.

Stacia is crying tonight...she wants to "go home" and does not want to sleep in a bump bed. Zander has decided he now loves this house and doesn't want to move...normal moving emotions. Thanks for the prayers for understanding and wisdom and comfort in the midst of our busy-ness. We need to remember to minister to the hearts of our children.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...