SURPRISE

The party was GREAT. Josiah was totally surprised. We were all very proud of pulling this off. LOL  Also very thankful to Shelby for her hard work and planning to make it happen. 


We had cake, snacks, games and visiting.....another late night.....

Deb and I

Josiah and Shelby

Steven, Michel and Josiah

Unique decoration

Real cake

Mafia

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

Sweet Sunday

Sunday morning saw the entire family occupying the same pew again - at Goodfellow AFB chapel. LOL We took advantage of the Christmas decorations to get a few shots.

Nine Gherkins ~ 6 - 26 years old

 We continued our "diversionary" tactics and gave Josiah his card and gift back in our room.

 After lunch we went bowling....

We were STILL a bit early and so I insisted I needed to go to the TLF and plug in my ipad before we went to the boys' home.....then I drove slow and "lost" my turn...giving everyone else the time to get to the house before my carload with Josiah in tow.

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

Graduation!

Jet lagged -  but HERE.  I'm so thankful that all eleven are us were able to attend Josiah's graduation. It really was a miracle. We are thankful to staff and leadership who made it possible. 


Yes, he graduated....debt free! Working 40 hours a week...and DONE. Josiah hopes to do an internship this summer in a corporate office and then begin his Masters of Business Administration in the fall. He's faithfully following  the path God laid out for him when his personality and talents were breathed into him.  Josiah does plan to be a business success...the motives of his heart are a blessing. Years ago as he wrestled with either Bible College or Business College it was confirmed to him in several ways that he would be a minister of God regardless of which route he went. I believe he chose the route right for him...from the wheeling and dealing as a toddler...to now....and I do believe he will be a success. His heart is to bless his future family, care for his aging parents (::snort::), and shine for Jesus wherever he may find himself.  He's a blessing to us all.  It was pure joy to have all of us on hand to celebrate this accomplishment. 


My only regret is I neglected to grab a photo of this year's THREE COLLEGE GRADUATES together....all for His glory. 

Debbie in white - through Jared.....way at the end

Receiving his diploma

Josiah walking towards camera

Mike, Cy, Me, Bre, Jared, Arielle, Krista, Nolan, Jamin
Stacia, Zander

Josiah and Jamin's second family

Nolan 

Josiah

Jared and Michael 

Bre & Josiah 

Arielle

Krista and Michael 

Random group shot

Zander still isn't impressed with college graduations

Stacia requested a photo hugging Shelby (Josiah's friend)

Josiah and I....and they said he had no brain stem! 

The rest of the evening was a diversion. Shelby had planned a party for Josiah's friends. We had planned on planning a party, but having her do it sure allowed us more time to focus on spending time together. The party was a surprise and was kicking off on Sunday night..... but if we did nothing we KNEW Josiah would guess there was a surprise party afoot. 

Families at the boys' church here in San Angelo had gone together and given a gift large enough to take our family to Logan's Steakhouse. We invited Shelby and the Hardings to go along.  I begged Debbie to go pick out the ugliest cake she could find and then have them write Congrats Joshua on it (his name is Josiah). My thought is we'd divert him. He'd figure - "Well - dinner with friends and a cake - shoot they didn't even spell my name right." 

Logan's was great and let us bring the cake in

Deb came through! Ugly isn't it. ::snort:: 

After dinner we headed to the boys' house. We had fun playing games....enjoying each other...celebrating...

Jamin and Bre

Krista

Face of Jet Lag

This was a fun game...I think we'll order a copy for game nights

We called it a night - LATE - as we had a full day planned for Sunday - to include the surprise party Shelby planned. 

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

Gherkins In the House

By 08:00 we had the room packed, the children showered and were heading to breakfast and to pack the car. 

Very full suitcase

We zipped over and traded a couple of boys for a couple of girls and headed to the school showing of San Angelo Broadway Academy's  "The King and I." I cried when they sang "Getting to Know You" - reminded me of Japan. ::snort:: It was fun to see so many familiar faces. 

After picking up our boys, we drove to base and tried to check in to our new rooms.  It turned into a very frustrating experience....but we are now settled. Stacia wanted her photos with this frog. 

Josiah and Jamin met us for dinner.  We were amazed at the welcome we got as we walked in Burger King. Wow - they remembered us....remembered our kids....remembered we were in Japan. It was quite fun.  There was enough time for us to run through the commissary for breakfast foods. 


At the airport we played various games and visited while we waited.....and waited. 

They began to come through security......the excitement grew....the camera wasn't quick enough to catch most of the photos.

Steve was at the airport!

What does it take to get all the Gherkins in one room?

Five space A flights from Misawa to Seattle, three rental cars, two rides to Portland, seven domestic flights, two rides to Hachinohe, four train rides, two international flights from Tokyo to San Angelo, and ONE COLLEGE GRADUATE!

9 Gherkins and a Dad at the airport

Group Hug

Poor Stacia dissolved in tears - a bit overwhelming to be the baby when all of us get together. LOL All is well now, though. We'll have to make sure we save her a seat and don't get to loud all at once. 

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