Real vs FAKE

THIS is Ramen

This is NOT!

Loving the good life in Misawa, Japan. 

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

Another Haircut

Zander is our spectrum/sensory integration child.....and his hair grows FAST. He likes things even. He doesn't like things touching him.  You may remember a few months ago his hair was bugging him and he took the scissors to it.  I had noticed he was getting preoccupied with his hair again this week and knew the scissors couldn't be far off. 


One of his friends came over with a buzz. I seized the moment! 


"Zander, would you like a hair cut too?" 


"Yes." 


Off we went. I quickly snipped the hair to a level the clippers would better handle.  This is the child I worried would never learn to communicate and interact with us....the child who was content in his own world and didn't seem to need us. 


"Try to do it without touching me any more."


I began to buzz.....


"AGH you are ripping my hair out by roots like a flower!"


 "It sounds like a bulldozer!!!" 


"It's going to bust my ear hearing"


He went to the  couch  and  laid out spread-eagle....I tried to find an emergency soda in the house, but there hasn't been any since before the end of deployment. ::snort:: 


He came through at one point and sang to me, "Why'd you grab your clipping shears and shave my head like Brittany Spears, now I'm standing here in total shame, you're to blame, ..."


He's still rubbing his head and says it's "thorny," but he likes it. LOL 


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

Krista's Update

It had been well over a week since we'd heard anything from Krista...to include her blog, email, FB, Skype....and we were all ready to hear. 

As we sat around playing games yesterday afternoon Skype went off....and there she was! BLOND and TAN...very much healthy and well. 

This was the first time we'd been able to talk about her lifestyle, the things she is doing and witnessing and whether this may be a lifestyle she embraces permanently. It was good to talk and process with her.  She has an opportunity to extend her time in country. She's praying that through. I told her she could come HERE and do the same thing and we'd be sure she had all the time she wanted interacting with host nationals. ::snort:: 

She's been busy with camps....there will be two more upcoming camps and then a week of possible travel around Europe and then she'll be flying back to OR.  I snagged some photos from Facebook. Pray Krista finds her camera. 

Krista is basing her adventures here at Paul's Place in Antalya, Turkey. 

Shots from Olive Grove - a camp for TCKs.  (Third Culture Kids) Krista, of course, being a TCK and the daughter of a TCK, relates well with this group. 

One of her jobs was to spend 4 hours a day teaching kids to snorkel and kayak....she's the blond.

Tressa (2nd from left) is Krista's (3rd from left) roommate

We had so hoped we could bring Krista to Japan for a few weeks to hear all her stories first hand....but she needs to get back to OR, find an apartment and job and start saving for the next phase of her life. 

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

ACK - Combat Shopping

When the BOYS needed to buy souvenirs and things for people back home it took 20 minutes - maybe 30 max. 


Tuesday we all collapsed after Bible Study......Bre suggested we go shopping for souvenirs on one of our "half days"......I told her we'd take her to the Y100 and she'd find all she needed. Not to worry. She suggested this several times....so Wednesday afternoon we went shopping......Arielle, Breanne and I....oy vey.....4 or 5 hours later we were finally done. Here's a quick glimpse....she selected china, put it all back when she saw the next aisle..... ::snort:: Love ya, Bre.  We visited several stores...she found a darling Engrish shirt.  She got things for Sunday School students and fellow workers, friends....all good......


I was squatting in an aisle begging God for mercy when Arielle came by.... "Is she done yet?" 


"No, I don't think so." 


"Argh. I can't get up." 


I was crawling down an aisle trying to find tulle when Arielle showed up again. 


"Is she finished yet?" 


"No - you've got to do something." 


We threw ourselves on her neck begging for mercy. 


I did manage to find the dart board below and the bags for Thursday's board meeting........ 

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

Adventures on the 4th of July

We have been fascinated by the story of the Mayor Kotaku Wamura of Fudai. We went exploring down the coast on the 4th of July. We had a few purposes...we wanted to visit Fudai, help Bre see the results of a tsunami, explore the area's campgrounds, and visit the Kuji Amber museum.

We discovered the campgrounds in this part of our area will not be opened this year. DUH. We should have known that, we weren't thinking. Many of the towns up and down the coast are devastated. It was a joy to see Fudai and I'll write more about that later.  We had too many adventures to make it back to Kuji in time to visit the Amber Museum.

We did find some great spots.

Kitayamazaki Promontory is spectacular - there are 3 or 4 trails to observation decks

And a nice spot for a picnic lunch. It is obvious this National Park is usually a bustling tourist attraction with stores and restaurants etc. Not so this year.  It's a great spot to explore. I'll post directions when I get the geo-coordinates out of the Garmin. 

I simply hoped THIS attraction would stay in the grass if we obeyed the signs and stayed on the path.

We drove on over to Kurosake Cape too. 

40th parallel

We got home in time to run out to the base to watch the fireworks...but they'd been cancelled again. We didn't have time to check FB - and were on the NORTH OGAWARAKO - in others words in Tohoku City and didn't KNOW the fireworks were cancelled....Michael, Stacia, Nolan and myself enjoyed a peaceful dock at night.....while we waited.

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

Family Worship Funnies!

Bre to Stacia, "Don't you want to sit by Dad so you can see the pictures?"

Stacia, "No, Bre THIS is the kinda Bible you READ."

And then as we played Bible Trivia the question was, "In Biblical times were all who were baptized filled with the Holy Spirit?"

Zander, "I've taken a MILLION baths and I've never felt the spirit!"

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

Sunday.....

This Sunday got off to a strange twist. I took Stacia to the UCC. Michael went in to make sure things were ready for service. I dropped the rest of the kids off and headed for the Urgent Care Clinic. I'd thought I'd be done before the service was over. I headed over there 40 minutes BEFORE the service started. I got back as they finished communion. 


She had an ear ache - and we typically let those run their course. This time she had no symptoms other than pain.....and then last night got a fever. She has a bacterial ear infection. She's in quite a bit of pain tonight...but they say in a few days she'll be better. I'm still praying she's better by tomorrow. 


She wasn't very impressed at having got all dressed up for church and having to spend it in the doctor's listening to Mom answer questions about HOMESCHOOLING! ::snort:: Dr. is moving to Korea and family will not be command sponsored, so they will homeschool. Hmm....more possibilities for staying in Asia.

 They got all the drainage out of her ear and we have nifty drops......I also have more of these little wicks. 

We hung around home, took walks, played games...brainstormed about our "must see" trip tomorrow. I think we're going to try to find the grave of the mayor of Fudai who insisted they build a TALL sea wall; this saved their town when all around were destroyed in the tsunami.....


This is Bre's first 4th of July without Krista.....we miss her. 


Fireworks were cancelled again due to fog. This is not stopping the neighbors from lighting things off around the cars...we could have a big fire display before this is over.  I have left over stuff from New Years and I'm dying to go join them...but we're purists....we'll wait for July 4th or Labor Day. ::snort:: 


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