Stacia Stories

You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the girl.

From 2010-01-14

Tonight, sensing I needed some loving, she gave me a hug and said, "Mommy, you are wonderful. You're a lovely mother kids' parent."

Mike had a snow shovel and was flinging snow at the girls. Stacia grabbed a snow ball, advanced on Mike and said, "Don't throw it at me, I'm your DAUGHTER!"

From 2010-01-15

JOSIAH & JAMIN ARE FLYING HOME!
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.

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

Winter Fun

Shots from the past few days.....

The snowplow put all the snow from our street beside our house. We used it well to make the snow walls and igloo....and by today the mountains of snows are slides and sledding hills. ::snort::

From 2010-01-14

From 2010-01-15

From 2010-01-15

From 2010-01-14

From 2010-01-14

From 2010-01-14

Inside the Igloo - it's quite roomy now.

From 2010-01-14

We walked over to feed the ponies, but couldn't reach the farmer to ask. They obviously know what carrots are.

From 2010-01-14

From 2010-01-14

Careful where you step, Zander.

From 2010-01-14

From 2010-01-14

The kids were trying to come up with good teams for them and the Stephey girls to have a snow fight. Mike and Jared were playing a game inside. Nolan wasn't happy with the boy (he and Zander) girl (3 12+ yo girls and Stacia)....I went inside and said the boys needed a bit of help evening up the teams. I believe Arielle suggested I see if Jared would come and play on the boys team. Welll......

From 2010-01-15

From 2010-01-15

From 2010-01-15

I did not participate at all - there are times when being the impartial photographer serves well.

From 2010-01-15

From 2010-01-15

It's been a blast to have Mike home the past few days. I think the plan is a bit more leave in February before his trip.

JOSIAH & JAMIN ARE FLYING TO TX!
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.

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

Parting is NOT SWEET - WHAT DO THEY MEAN BY THAT LINE???? SWEET SORROW MY FOOT!

This boy inherited my need to travel with books and a laptop. ::snort::

From 2010-01-15

From 2010-01-15

From 2010-01-15

From 2010-01-15

From 2010-01-15

From 2010-01-15

The Face of Motherhood - and it ain't pretty. ::sniff:: BUT I'm wrapped in a warm, fuzzy hug from the Armstrong Family.

From 2010-01-15

We are blessed. We have a blast together. We filled each of the girls' six days with memories, love and fun. We had longer with the boys. I'm allowing myself today to feel the pain and feel it deeply....this afternoon....

I believe this is hitting me so hard because for the first time we don't have a set time to look forward to when we'll ALL be together again. Life is getting uncertain. I suspect we'll all be at the Girls' graduation from College; that's not until May 2011. No one seems to be planning a wedding. ::snort:: Japan seems awfully far away from Oregon and Texas today....yet, it's really only a keyboard away....and we ARE so blessed to have young adults who are chasing God wholeheartedly. I rest in that. Routines when the older ones are home are familiar and comfortable...we've had decades to establish them. Routines with only five children at home are still being established...and about the time they are comfortable, we'll have four at home....and so it goes.

I will not wallow in pity.... I do Choose Joy....today is Dad Earl's 92nd birthday! Thanks for all the prayers for him last Feb. Mike has been able to Skype with him.

JOSIAH & JAMIN ARE FLYING TO TEXAS!
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.

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

Ballet at the G's

Well....it had to happen eventually....late yesterday, Stacia decided she must do BALLET with her boys. They've got the South Koreans beat....they can be Winter Warriors OR Ballet Dancers....

From 2010-01-15

From 2010-01-15

From 2010-01-15

We do have a lot of fun together. We are blessed.

JOSIAH & JAMIN FLYING to TEXAS!
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.

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

Road Trip Maps

Since our first ill-fated road trip, we've learned to stop and take signs of bill boards with road maps. Then we, refer to the camera for the rest of the trip. ::snort:: Here are a couple of maps we've used recently.

From 2010-01-09

From 2010-01-09

We've packed all we can into our time with the children. Now it's time to get back to our "real life".
JOSIAH & JAMIN ARE FLYING TODAY!
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.

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

Winter Warriors

The Power of the Media

From 2010-01-14

This was Sunday's front page photo.

It was only a matter of time until THIS materialized.

Because....if the South Korean Army can do it, certainly an Air Force Chaplain and his dependents can do it! ::snort::

JOSIAH & JAMIN ARE HOME!
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.

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

More.....

More snow photos, because we've waited a long time for a real snow....4 1/2 years to be exact. ::snort::

From 2010-01-13

From 2010-01-13

While the family built a snow village, I risked frostbit fingers to get a few photos.

From 2010-01-13

From 2010-01-13

From 2010-01-13

Yep, I'll have to edit out the power lines in this photo. This is the tree that used to have vending machines under it while the subdivision was being built.

From 2010-01-13

JOSIAH & JAMIN ARE HOME!
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.

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