I Don't Want to Go Bye Bye

Poor Stacia had a meltdown as we left our home last night. She broke away from Arielle and Krista and refused to be put in the van. I was getting a tad bit irritated - it was late.

I went out to help her in the van...she was beside herself.

I grabbed her, hugged her tight, forced her head to my shoulder and began to listen.... "I don't want to go bye bye. I don't want to leave Stacia's house. I don't want to leave Stacia's house. I don't want to go bye bye anymore..." ::sniff::

I rubbed her back, held her tight and told her over and over, "It's going to be alright." She relaxed and fell asleep.

I realized later that I feel like Stacia. I want someone to hug me tight and assure me that it's going to be alright. Of course, I find this in God. The best place to find it. I also shared with Mike and he diligently tried....but the snoring sort of took away from the effect. ::snort::

As I tried to get to sleep it hit me again...cherish this time, cherish Stacia's house, the friendly town, the transition of two sons from youth to adult...but Stacia is clinging (as is to be expected for a little one who has known nothing but San Angelo and Stacia's home her entire life). I need to remember - cherish/not cling today and tomorrow, especially.

Do pray for us as we tie up loose ends so that we can depart early tomorrow. We meet the realtor this a.m. Mike is signed off base. We have our tickets to Japan.

I've welcomed each extension....but emotionally I think it's time for all of us to say the goodbye...

Glimpses of the day:

Some folks will do anything for a good connection...


Cy held his arms wide...Stacia ran to Krista....then Cy and then Jamin tried the arm thing and she complied.


Beatrix, the wonder dog, has chosen an old suitcase as her domain.


We finally brought down the stash of chocolate from the top shelf in the master bdr closet.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

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

Stacia's Observation

Stacia was heard this week telling a trusted adult, "I had a home, but now I have lots of boxes." That about sums it all up, doesn't it?

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

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

Massive Recapture of Last Week

OK - a ton of photos of the last week...I don't have time to rotate each one....sorry.

Memorial Day Mike got out the big bubbles. We laughed at the difference in Zander and Stacia's approach to popping bubbles. Stacia chases them with ONE FINGER and Zander CLAPS and SMASHES them.

















Played at the park and visited with friends - still Memorial Day.







Nolan spent a lot of time fishing this dead stick out of the lake.








All the youngers hid and SURPRISED Josiah - can you see the faces in the sleeping bags? The sad thing is that when they didn't answer he went looking for them and they waited a LONG time to surprise him. ::snort::


Old Faithful moving to it's new home.


The Infamous All Nighter at our house.


Can you see the clock? Proof of the all nighter.


Jamin joined the fun when he got off work at 10:00 p.m.











We trekked out to Foster Rd Bat Bridge...what FUN. We even met a nice policeman who had been called because a lot of people were gathering on the bridge. "I know what you are doing, but I received a call....Be careful, don't jump." ::snort::














One day we went bowling at base...











This is the night that we discovered I could blog from the dock and Cy could fish from the dock. Which we did. We then talked late into the night. Precious memory.

The chapel staff met us over here for a farewell on Thursday night. We had root beer floats and welcomed the quick storm.....it was HOT that day.

That's the week....add in a bunch of errands and such and you have an accurate picture...oh and sporadic moments of emotional release. ::snort::

I'm nearly caught up - just need to get those skydiving photos ready to post. But I really need to fold laundry and don't want to leave the laptop on the table for THAT long.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

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

Psyco Confessions - or new Mother's Ring

I have found myself the last couple of years having a real love/hate relationship with my cell phone. Stay with me here, I'm going somewhere. We don't do cell phones. Two years ago we realized that doing cell phones would make it much easier to stay in contact with our adult children. Mike bought a plan that we all have phones on as a Christmas gift. They text - I now text. And...here comes the psycho confession...on those days when I really miss the "old days" or a specific child....I pull out the cell phone...hold it, touch it and text them....I feel closer to them....I've also worn smooth a spot on the back of the phone. ::snort::

I'm going to have to leave my cell phone in a few weeks....and I won't be able to text and call the kids for a chat anytime I want....that saddens me. I AM looking into Skype and simple computer webcams/phones. BUT I know the kids won't use that option as often as they've texted. ::snort:: Not EVERYONE takes a laptop everywhere they go.

Look what the kids SURPRISED me with (STAY with ME - it will all tie together eventually). They've been saving and planning it for months. Deja knew. Mike knew. I didn't. After family photos we went to DQ, to give Heather time to download the photos she wanted from our camera, and they surprised me.

I made approrpiate laugh, snort, squealing sounds.

I sobered...

I cried...

I love this ring. Why? They thought of it all by themselves. They bought me a ring about 12 years ago. I loved it...but I've had 3 more children since then and don't wear it often. I did a healthy amount of hinting and Mike supplemented their incomes to buy that first ring.

THIS is something they thought of all on their own. They got me a ring with 12 stones in it. 3 of them are December birthstones....they seperate the repeated June/February birthdays and make for a nice look.....the Dec stones can be removed and replaced by future birthstones if needed (don't you love the thoughtfulness?). The setting is swirly - which I love. They all pitched in....even the youngers with birthday money (sniff) and such....I'm humbled and thankful. AND (tying it together)I now have something again to touch, caress and finger when I'm missing a child..... frankly...that's been a lot lately as I think of the goodbyes coming up.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

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

Chapel Farewell

Thanks to all who pitched in to make this a very special send off for our family. (Yes, it was on the 24th and YES this IS the 1st of June...AND???? ::snort::).

I had to snap this photo....it's my bio daughter Bre on the left and my adopted daughter of the faith Sarah on the right. Sarah is the recipient of a share of Zander's affection these past few months...his very first crush. We've had lots of laughs as we watched his moves....and joked on how his older brothers could learn a few things from him. Most memorable to me will be how he began sitting on the front pew. He figured out that if he sat there and looked a bit lonely during greeting time he was SURE to get hugs from Sarah and others.....and sometimes they'd even sit with him during the service. What a character. Right before I snapped this photo Bre looked at Sarah, rolled her eyes and they shared a secret smile...KNOWING I would not be able to resist pulling out the camera at such a glorious moment as having two young women I love dearly leading a congreation in worship. And Miss PAT - there you are too...Thanks so much for the book on hymns and their histories...I can't wait to use it for family circle in Japan.

We had a potluck lunch after service. A sweet time of fellowship with a family we've come to love.

Debbie read a touching letter from Steve (who is currently in Iraq) and the ladies put together this wonderful basket for me. (Before anyone tells me I won't be able to take the basket in my luggage...if it won't fit, I'll store it in the trailer!)

Thanks again Goodfellow Protestant Parish....you made this a wonderful "goodbye". Did I ever post a photo of my TEXAS quilt for my gals? I'll have to check...if not, I'll post that from Japan when it finds a spot in our new home.

When we got back to the trailer, we discovered that some of our CHILDREN had decided to play in the mud....it seems they had no key and it WAS raining....they cleaned up and we went for family photos (which have already been posted).

(I planned to post photos with bullet statements...but since I'm waiting for laundry AND photos to load, I may as well write up a few posts. LOL Krista is feeding the little ones and cleaning the table. This is a blustery day.)

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

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

We Haven't Left San Angelo ::snort::

We had planned to be on the road this morning. The office to pick up our tickets to Japan was closed on Friday. The handyman won't be done until at least today. The carpet installer begins Tuesday and the realtor couldn't meet with us until Tuesday a.m.

We made a conscious choice to play all weekend, work today, meet realtor tomorrow and leave either tomorrow afternoon or most likely really, really early (0 dark 30) on Wednesday.

Our realtor will keep keys and sign off on final repairs to the house. Josiah has all the documentation necessary to act on our behalf and sell our home.

Yesterday we went on a road trip with the Zesch family. It was actually Jamin and Annie's "Senior Trip". How cool is it that entire families get to enjoy homeschooler's Senior Trips???? Jamin couldn't dive when Josiah did in Jan.....but decided to see if any other Seniors would like to jump with him after graduation. Annie was game. Her parents agreed with one stipulation: Roy, her father, had to dive as a chaperone. LOL Josiah and Krista jumped as well. We had a great time. I'll share more about that day when I have photos to load. We didn't get back to the trailer until midnight.

THEN Mike went up to the base to call Misawa and ask some questions that the office on this end couldn't figure out. We WILL be fine to book our Shinkansen reservations when we arrive in Tokyo. The government WILL pay for it even though a TMO office isn't booking the tickets and we CAN stay overnight in Tokyo at the New Sanno as our interntationl flight arrives late.

We had a HUGE storm early this a.m. I LOVE the sound of rain and wind on a tin roof.

Mike is up at the base again this a.m. Signing the final out, copying a few discs etc....

I'm doing laundry, extending our stay at the Rec Camp (this place is GREAT!) and will begin cleaning at the house as soon as we can move the handymen out of there. LOL I'm sure there are lots of other details to take care of that will become apparent as the day goes on.

First priority - the laundry! Massive piles of laundry...how did Mt. Neverrest accompany us? I thought it was sent ahead to Japan? ::snort:: I'm also working on a post with photos from last week to quickly capture for family posterity the past week. I can do both because I figured out if I sit at the table in the second RV spot from the laundry room, plug into their outlet and turn the computer to the south - I get four bars.....five at the dock but everyone is laughing at me running back and forth every 15 minutes...though I will do that again if needed. ::snort::

BTW the manager out here is wonderful....he seems to like me since I backed into the one way sign. ::snort:: Seriously, he and the staff out here have been very helpful.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

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

Family Photo 2009

The following posts are various poses from our Family Photo Shoot on the 24th. Feel free to share which pose you like best in each category.

Info for local folks who like the settings....these are taken at the old Santa Fe Train Depot - in front of the museum. The Alley can be found by going to Twoig and S. Chadbourne....turn into the parking lot that has a wildly painted van in it.....and through that alley are some great photo props....many more than we used as it was raining and we were in a hurry.

T-Shirts - Krista had these shirts made up and surprised us all. Mike is a Winston Churchill fan. Under Team Goecker she had them write words he's shared with us all often.... "never give up, Never Give Up, NEVER GIVE UP!" Winston Churchill Dad. The girls said Winston would forgive them.... ::snort:: They think these will be great for the family scavenger hunts they envision us hosting in Japan. Yes, we DO refer to the family as Team Goecker....and we circle up and yell "Go Goeckers" each a.m. after family prayer....it's just something we do to build a sense of family.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

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