Stacia's New Goal

This is not a self-directed goal. I've dreamed of family bike rides for YEARS. There was a bit of time when we actually pulled it off....meaning all the older ones could ride bikes and we had a bike trailer and seat for the youngest 3.....We sold our trailer when we moved, thinking Stacia would be riding a bike anytime.....

Alas, Stacia does NOT like falling, or ouches of ANY sort....she feels this bike thing is highly overrated and has been happily STILL riding the faithful old Tryke.  She's had quite a growth spurt this year....and will be 6 in August....it seems time for her to learn to ride her bike...but she has been too scared to try even with training wheels.

Last night Arielle and I went out for a ride. Stacia saw merit in being able to go out with us for "girl time".  Today, Arielle and I decided she needs to be riding her bike by her birthday in August.

She was less than convinced but gave it a try....and oh what a lot of drama we had......but she did get a bit more comfortable with the training wheels...if Arielle and I run along side.....

The moment she realized neither Arielle nor I were holding on to the bike....

Here she learns how to use the brakes...a mixed blessing, that! 

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

LAUNDRY.....laundry...laundry....

Some will remember last spring/summer's laundry entries.. here for starters. We never really solved the problem of laundry flying around the neighborhood or posts and concrete blocks being blown over in the typhoon strength gusts of wind.....

When we were rationed to one load of laundry a day after the tsunami,  I pulled the posts out of storage and set it up by the garage. It didn't blow over. We slowly migrated the set up the carport.....now it's protected from the wind AND the rain....and I've been happily drying load after load. In fact, I recently doubled my capacity....a very needed splurge.

Nothing has blown over or away and we still have room for the van! It's amazing how quickly Michael finds solutions for things which perplex me for months. ::snort:: Have I said lately that it's nice to have him home this spring/summer? 

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

Countdowns!

Michael left today for a 3 week TDY (temporary duty). He will go to South Carolina for a seminar on Marriage counseling and such. He'll travel to FL and see an old friend and his wife, the best man at our wedding.  He'll also try to catch up with some friends from Goodfellow AFB who are now down in the area.   He'll top it off by attending our denomination's National Convention.

Meanwhile, back at home, we'll do school, continue some weekly ministry projects, welcome Bre, and I'll go to Korea for Asia Region's leadership training seminar.  It will be a busy few weeks....but we're all excited about it.....

Except.....I discovered Stacia thought a 3 week TDY would be the same as an 8 month deployment.  I calmed her emotions last night and promised her we'd make a Daddy Countdown this morning.

The time for the promised project arrived.

Me: "Stacia, should we make a chain or get out the Daddy candy jar to count down until Dad is home?"

Stacia: "I suspect we better make a chain. Everyone sneaks the candy." ::snort::

She cracked me up. In the end we decided on two chains.....a pink one to count down Bre's arrival and a multi-colored one to count down Michael's homecoming.

Note Zander's shirt in the above photo....it's one of Arielle's creations....creates a big A on it (A for Alexander).

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

Chagu Chagu Umako Festival & Morioka Zoo

Kyle and Erika told us about Chagu Chagu Umako Horse Festival. This festival is in honor of the draft horses and has been practiced for 200 years. This is supposed to be a reward for the horses. They are decked out and trot from Onikoshi-Sozen-jinja Shrine in Takizawa to the Morioka Hachiman-gu Shrine in Morioka City. Michael had a men's breakfast to attend Saturday a.m. so we didn't meet the caravan to Takizawa.

We set out a couple of hours later though and had a great day. It was BEAUTIFUL weather. Not to hot and not to cold....we chased the horses around the route....always seeing wheelchairs being loaded and folks packing up....never seeing a horse. Finally - in Morioka near the train station we caught up with the horses!  They were beautiful, but we did wonder WHO thought loading a horse with so much finery and making them trot 25 miles in the hot summer was a great reward. LOL

These little guys were DARLING. One little tyke was actually ASLEEP. 

Stacia is partial to the ponies. 

The Clean Up Crew

We walked back to Family Mart and bought lunch....chicken on a stick, some wonderful soft, chewy bread and fried potatoes..... Look closely at this box....right hand side of the box...see the little toothpick? They think of EVERYTHING here.

As we ate our lunch, I told Michael about the zoo. I wasn't 100% sure we could find it as we were in a totally different part of town...but really how hard could it be? He had missed our first zoo trip as he was playing with the camels in Afghanistan. He was game if I'd go try to get some directions.

I did....Arielle prepped me...in I went to the store....asking very nicely, "Morioka dobutsu wa doko desu ka?"  I thought "Morioka Animals" was fairly close to zoo....but I didn't have much luck. They kept telling me about the horses. I had to resort to my lion and monkey imitation AGAIN.  Ah....they got it but the map I bought from them didn't go up Rt 4 far enough to pin point the zoo.....A gentleman said he would show me how to get there. Um.....I told him I was sure there would be signs....He said, "They will be in Japanese and I think you may not read Japanese well?" ::snort:: I told him there should be pictures....no he and his friends wanted to show me how to get to the zoo....well....OK! I told Michael to follow the hybrid Honda. ::snort::  Wow - is that NICE??????? They took us right to the parking lot and it is good they did as we were in a totally different area of town than I thought. LOL  

We had a blast being at the zoo with Michael.  Mostly, we loved being a family  together. We had company Friday night and that coupled with Saturday's outings set us up nicely for the three weeks that Michael will be gone.

 The Big Horn Sheep and Prairie dogs were hits....made me lonesome for Montana. The younger ones enjoyed the petting zoo. 

Any guesses as to the purpose of THIS sign? 

Choosing Joy!

©2011 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~

Living all of life before the face of God...

Omiyage

The word Omiyage(お土産・pronounced oh-mee-ya-gay) means souvenir or gift . It is customary to present a souvenir to friends or co-workers upon returning from a trip or the gift that one brings when one visits another's home. In casual circumstances, omiyage may be any gift at all, but in an office environment, it's normal to observe certain protocols.

Omiyage giving is an important element in Japanese culture. Akiko San brings us something each and every week. We try to have things to give back.

When she went to NYC she brought us central park green m/ms. ::grin::

Michael (and recently I) have done this when we travel. Always trying to bring back "some little something" for the family....finding the perfect souvenir becomes part of the fun of traveling.  On our recent trip to the states we constantly kept our eyes open for the "right" gift for Akiko San.

We had talked with her about the Redwoods, and they were hard for her to comprehend. Michael and the kids took photos of the Redwoods and we knew that would be part of the gift.....but what else could we get her? We thought of kites and wind socks from the OR coast....but they seemed a bit too close to Japanese and I didn't want her to think I was hinting "American kites are better".... As a side note the wind sock I bought can't take the Northern Japanese wind. ::snort::

Finally, at a little shop in Old Town Newport, I found exactly what I wanted to buy her. I liked it so much I got myself one. I thought it would be a great touch of cheer in our long Northern winters. I also joked that I didn't want to be the only person in Japan wearing one. Michael and the kids thought it was a great gift too. We bought it......then I wondered....as really Japanese don't like to stand out. I reasoned she could tell her friends, "Look what my crazy American family gave me."

I wish I'd had the video on....she laughed and really loved it. She said it's beautiful and will be perfect for hiking - it certainly should put her grandfather's heart at rest. She'll be easy to spot if she gets lost in the snow. ::snort::  It made me happy to see her response.  And now there will be TWO of us wearing these on cold and windy days. LOL 

Choosing Joy!

©2011 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~

Living all of life before the face of God...

Pizza Picnics

It is a JOY to my heart to have Zander and Stacia BEG for school.  We raced through table school to get back to Winne the Pooh and Zoology....and READING their I See Sam books to me. I love snuggling on the couch with these two.

They did seem to be a bit more motivated than usual. Our plan was to finish school quickly so we could meet the MOPS moms and kids at the park for pizza. Many of our MOPS moms left on voluntary evac.....so this was the first time for us to be all together since March. It was great fun to see those who could make it again.

The day was bright and sunny. I thought a quick meeting with Anita and Tara would fit in well at the end of the MOPS picnic....and then I'd take the kids to the Base Beach at  Lake Ogawara for a swim. They  rushed through school, packed the park bag, and Arielle and Nolan even decided to join us. Our spirits were high!

All was going according to plan. Nolan was a hit with the pre-school boys. Arielle was reuniting with some of her MOPS kids....I was having a great time with mommies....

Tara arrived and we set about mapping out our needs for our new Children's Ministry Coordinator.  We got a lot done...but alas, it began to sprinkle. Not much....but heavier and heavier...then THUNDER and lightening. Even *I* had to admit it wouldn't be the best idea to go swimming. I love swimming in the ocean during a storm. We are going to MISS not being able to swim in our ocean this year.

A trip to the library for some rainy day movies provided a bit of consolation.

I found another granola recipe to try...and chicken soup is simmering. I'll go make the dumplings and call it dinner....Arielle's request.

Akiko san is coming over tonight. Always a fun time and we've not been able to connect since coming home from the states.

I have no clue what that photo has to do with anything - except I found it when googling for a pizza photo....can you IMAGINE? What is that? I think I need to try to make one....without the bacon, of course....

With the exception of Tuesday, I've kept to my 1 - 2 hour a day on local PWOC boundary...and I'm getting lots done everywhere...at home AND with local PWOC.  Restructuring has been a grand experiment.

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

Unexpected Blessings

Ever had a day which tried to get away from you but ended up holding several unexpected blessings?

Today was that day.

I have firm boundaries in place for time spent on PWOC....I began the day using most that time in one chunk.....I had a great workout. Everyone continues to enjoy the changes we made in school. The younger two now LOVE school and ask to read to me any time I sit down.

I had been praying about a service project I could get Zander and Stacia involved in.  Last night (or way early this a.m. - the sun rises near 4 a.m. I think), I hit on an idea and we had a grand time zipping out after most of school was done to do our deed. We also ran to buy Bre's airplane ticket. Our little blond charmer always seems to bring me luck at the airport and I got another "very special discount" for Bre to fly home from Tokyo.

We came home, did a bit more school at the children' s request - certainly a blessing. I'd forgotten about Arielle's small group so she and I rushed out. Our conversations in transit were a blessing. I had an hour to run to a friend's and visit with her as she baked bread. A treasure.

Mike had to drive to Shirika - on the Western side of Honshu as there had been an American casualty and they requested a team to conduct a memorial service. The station was right on the Sea of Japan and he brought me home three bright green pieces of sea glass. My first from the Sea of Japan - a blessing.

We decided to go for a family walk after dinner clean up - it's been a long winter and the nearly perfect weather is welcome!!!!

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