SURPRISE

We had a few goals for this day. ENJOY our last day together to the fullest. Pull off a SURPRISE birthday party for Arielle. We knew she wouldn't suspect as her birthday is 23 May - IF we could be discreet....and with 10 of us trying to be discreet....there was a tad bit of fun. 


Krista, Stacia, Mom and I left for Newport and Walmart. I made a general announcement.... "Is Bre still asleep? C'mon Krista, you've been wanting to buy stuff for your trip - this is a great time to do it." She and I began to rush out of the house. Mom and Stacia asked to come....and we rushed out. ::snort:: We had a list of things to find  both for a birthday and for an international trip. We found it all. 


We called back to the house and found out that Michael had taken the kids to Depoe Bay to shop a bit. They headed out to pick up Grandpa (Dad) and met us at Mo's in Newport. We've all agreed we like the Lincoln City or Florence Mo's much better than the Newport. 

Ewwww.....shrimp

IRONY - we've spent many days at the Japanese beach and said, "The only thing missing is Mo's clam chowder and onion rings instead of a Ramen shop." Look at the new addition to Newport. Looks suspiciously like a Ramen shop to me. ::snort:: 

Lovely murals all around the bay front area

We'd never allowed the kids to waste .51 to get .01....but after reading Jen G's comment about .51 being the best, cheap souvenir she's let her kids get everywhere through the years....hey - GREAT idea. 

We ate. We shopped. I found a  GREAT tie-dyed hoodie. Then I decided I did NOT want to be the only person in Japan wearing one - so I bought one for Akiko San. Not sure how it will go over - but she has made several trips to the states and can probably get away with it by saying her nutty American friend bought it for her. We shall see. Josiah and Jared found great leather jackets....CHEAP..... Then Arielle mentioned she'd like to do some tie dying but all her dyes were gone. PERFECT.  I told Mike I was sure Arielle would appreciate it if they'd stop at Walmart so she could buy die as we fly tomorrow.

Josiah, Jamin and I got in Krista's car. The rest piled in the van.  As we drove, Josiah wasn't sure Michael caught the hint and had Jamin call Bre to be SURE he understood....stop at Walmart, stall, make sure Arielle is the last one in the house. Meanwhile, the older boys and I stopped and bought an ice cream cake. Then we high-tailed it to the house so we could decorate and set out presents.

Arielle was the last one in. Her look was precious - though hard to see here. She looked like a stunned dear in a headlight.

Josiah (top) has Arielle guessing if the balloon is filled with water or air. 

Krista came up with a "party animal" hat since we left the pig across the ocean. 

Stacia had picked this out and we changed out when Arielle opened it. 

Gradma got her this - which will remind her of OR and will also pull Jared's chain just a bit when she wears it. 

Dad left after the party. He had an appointment this a.m.  The rest of us did all we could to make the night last longer.....

Happy Birthday to You

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Another Great Day at the Beach

Our flying trips home NEVER give us time to reconnect with everyone whom we'd like to see. Never. I've been blessed, however, to reconnect with Becky, a childhood friend at Christmas. This trip we were able to see Uncle Oli and Jim  (see posts on graduation) and today Julia and children met us at the coast.

Michael, Dad and all of the kids had a great game of "something" resembling baseball, kickball, dodge ball....

Kalila and Arielle - who would have thought at Faith Academy we'd be sitting on a beach 29 years later while our daughters played in the waves.....

Feeding Jared to the seagulls; the moral is...

Never fall asleep on the beach....see the bread on his back? 

Feeding Jared to the Seagulls!

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Where's the Ark?

It is RAINING today. I thought a nice indoor thing we could do in the rain was go to the Oregon Coastal Aquarium. I assumed wrong....who would guess so much of an aquarium in OREGON would be outside. I'm sure it's beautiful in the summer.... ::snort:: It really was a lot of fun....but was quite spendy for all the drenching we got.   Mom and Dad called as we were finishing lunch and heading for the aquarium so we met there. 

Aquarium under you 

Aquarium above you 

Shark Whisperer

Did I say it was raining? 

We came home after dinner, made Chicken Divan and had dinner. Now the guys are playing games and we're going to watch Fiddler on the Roof. There is SIGNIFICANT more estrogen than normal in our house and we think Arielle deserves a nice "girl movie" - though I personally wouldn't classify Fiddler on the Roof as girly. 




Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Practically Perfect Day on the Coast

WOW! We were blessed with an AMAZINGLY beautiful day on the Oregon Coast. This doesn't often happen. I don't know that I've EVER had such a warm and NON-WINDY day on the coast.  We have learned that NO HOUSE in Depoe Bay - even if it IS beach front - is going to be right on the beach....CLIFFS...think sheer drops....but we drove up the road a bit and found lots of fun. 

I assume logs are a problem in OR as we've seen these all over

Of course......

A live star fish thrown back in the water....one at a time...

We decided to line up for a stair step photo as this is the first time we've had all the kids together since Dec 2009. 

First we had to check to see if Jared was moving back in the line up....

Ah...Jared, Nolan and Arielle have all moved back...Zander was upset he's still second from the front....but I predict he'll "pull a Nolan" and move back 3 or 4 in the next year or two. LOL 

It was such a nice day we were able to throw and CATCH the Frisbee.

SOMEONE had to get wet! ::snort:: 

Stacia is loving her time with Bre....here you have our 5 yo and our 25 yo in one shot...doesn't happen often. Stacia told us on the other side of all the water is "Japan - and it has the best water in the world!"

 We stopped at Mo's in Lincoln City.....love the glass floats...maybe I should do something similar at home. 

The beach in Lincoln City was so inviting we spent another few hours here....

We stopped at Thriftway on the way back home....Cooked rice, made a salad, toasted a loaf of bread and the meatballs were started before we'd left the house earlier in the day. 


Next on the agenda was CHRISTMAS in MAY....the girls didn't make it to the post office.....this was fun. 

Zander got lots of practical jokes - watch out Grandpa T. 

Michael got this really nice bound book of Narnia - entire series. We've worn several sets out. 

We stopped by the Outlet Mall today (another post for another day - or not) and Michael found THIS....The Meaningful Life"  - we grabbed our strawberry shortcake and enjoyed a family movie. 

Most the family is in bed. I figure - why bother trying to adjust to this time zone. I'll be in a new one in less than a week. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...