Hachinohe Sansha Taisai Festival

I'll share more thoughts and post a zillion photos tomorrow....but for now...let me say attending this festival with Akikosan was a blast. 

Crowds like this in America would alarm me....

But the girls were fairly easy to keep track of...the crowds honestly parted and the comments were often and loud. I could get rich if I sold photos of these two. 

Jared was easy to spot and by this point seems to be tired of keeping an eye out for his sisters. Poor guy. He does look rather fearsome doesn't he? 

I felt totally safe, but when I mentioned going to Tokyo with the kids...Akikosan said she thinks it would be a better idea to wait until Mikesan is home. She said maybe Okinawa would be a better idea than Tokyo?????

Family Portrait 

May I say a Victorian corset has nothing over a Japanese Obi

Poor Arielle couldn't eat....

Stacia had no trouble - sweet pineapple

Akiko steered us from the "ice cream" stands to a little man with a cart for "old style Japanese Icesu"....yummm....like a slushy on a cone. 

A very fun evening.....many more sights to share...tomorrow....
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Very Cool Video

We topped off our VBS week, by heading to a local church where a Youth Rally was being held. The video above is the chapel's Human Video team (summer time - small)....at a Japanese Youth Rally. Jared is the central devil tonight.....Nolan is front on the right and Arielle is front on the left. A funny aside is that Jared instructed all to remove glasses and jewelry etc before they went on. It wasn't until the middle of the thing that I began to wonder how Arielle would see to jump off the platform....she said she counted everyone else's steps...and remembered how high to jump etc from practice. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

"Chocolate MnMs"

"Can I have a chocolate MnM? "


Distracted, I agree. 


"Oh, people...lovelys....Mom said I can share chocolate MnMs?" 


What in the world is she talking about? Has she gotten in the Daddy jar - our deployment countdown? 

No.....Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds.... ::snort:: 


Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

I think Zander did o.k. at VBS today. He went to bed early on Tuesday night to be sure.

We enjoyed lunch with Renee and Ricky.

We checked at the BX for magnetic tape strip (to hang PWOC fliers in the chapel). They didn't have any.

We stopped at Y100 and bought two rolls.

Jared took a nap this afternoon.

Arielle and Nolan went to the beach with friends.

Zander, Stacia and I prepared and  delivered a meal to a brand new baby gal and  her family. Enjoyed the visit immensely.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Summer Fun

This week is full of VBS in the mornings.

We've also been working on school (reading, math, language arts).

I've been working on some local PWOC publicity...and trying to find time to work on regional PWOC projects as well.

We've found time for water fun....

The key seems to be to get YOURSELF wet. ::snort::

 Nothing like kicking back with a brother

We're still enjoying a bit of fresh produce from our garden. The strawberries are nearly played out. I pulled the romaine and broccoli. We now have some healthy watermelon plants but I'm not sure they'll produce an actual melon. We still have a red and green leaf lettuce that are supplementing our lettuce....those fresh salads lost a bit of their appeal when a slug crawled to the side of my plate one evening. ::gag:: 

I planted a pepper plant 3 - 4 weeks ago....and look at this. I think we'll roast some veggies for dinner. 

Renee B, shared a yummy lemonade recipe. I really should find time to get it into my recipe section....1/3 C fresh squeezed lemon juice, 2/3 C Agave Nectar (or Xagave) and 1 ltr Perrier Water (sparkling water of any type or tap water should work). I figure about 120 calories per 8 oz.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

God Speaks Through Bread

I've been praying for a rainy day so I could get some bread baked.

I've prayed all week, "God, give us a small break, so I can bake bread before we run out." The break hasn't come.

This morning I took out our last mini-loaf. It was a hot and humid morning. It was hot after chapel at 0900. It was HOT after Sunday brunch. It was HOT all the way home...until we crossed the Log Cabin Pachinko/Circle K intersection about a mile from our home. In the middle of the intersection there were PUDDLES and LOTS of rain....and it poured out by us. POURED....very cool.

 I did NOT feel like baking bread when God supplied a break in the weather. I had just enough time to take a much needed nap before heading back to chapel to help transform our sanctuary into a Pirate's ship in the ocean. 

 I'd been PRAYING for this all week...."Just a quick break, God, so I can bake before I run out of bread." I couldn't forget, I'd ASKED GOD FOR A BREAK in the weather. Not to take a nap or get a breather from the heat, but to BAKE BREAD.

I baked...and I pondered how often I pray for God's intervention, and am napping when He provides the answer.....

Wake me up, God....Give me a constant dose of Holy Spirit inspired No Doze.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Past Few Days

Friday a.m. - more VBS decorating. Friday afternoon is a blur. Friday night, VBS run through.

Saturday - the Kids were part of the bases Operation CODE (Children On Deployment Exercise). I'll load photos and say more about that soon.

After CODE, Jared, Arielle and Nolan had Human Video practice. The team is preparing for a youth rally at a local church.

Today we went to the 0800 service. We enjoyed the scrumptious breakfast buffet at the club....because we wanted to. Jared stayed on base to attend 1100 service too and run errands. We headed home and eventually met up with Akikosan. Akiko was going to make sure that I bought the right things for Stacia's yukata. She told me they are having trouble finding the right things for our tall boys...so the boys will have to go Western.  Akikosan surprised us with a gorgeous, brand new, yukata for Arielle. She told me that it was a "special price" and told me again, "no more special prices". ::snort:: I can't believe it and am trying to figure out what such a gift means and how we should respond.

Saturday we'll meet, drive to Hachinohe together and then enjoy the festival.....and she has offered to have us pick a spot we'd like to visit and she'll go with us on an upcoming Saturday so that I "don't need a GPS". ::snort::

After meeting with Akiko, we drove to the chapel to help finish up VBS prep.  A family walk and now our weekly Ice Cream treat....another week ending/beginning.

Zander had a ton of fun pretending he was driving a team of horses....

I warned him...run into us three times and you'll lose the buggy. He hit me twice....and others too....he lost his horse and buggy. LOL
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...