Perfect Day in Crescent City

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day in Crescent City! No overcast, no wind and no rain. We headed over to the house bright and early to wake up Grandma. 

"U Pick" orchards in Japan are like fresh produce buffets. You pick whatever you can eat right there on the spot. We loved them. Grandma's yard felt like being at a Japanese u-pick. 

Michael spent the morning visiting with her while I went with the kids down the river. For Yuuki this meant smelling every bush, twig and rock along the path. 

 The neighbor's dog, Arrow, adopted us.  He played fetch for hours. It looked like so much fun to Yuuki at one point...SHE jumped in to get a stick....brought it back....barked around in circles and refused to do it again. ::snort::

Yuuki rolls in the sand to get the water off

Poor Yuuki was having a blast off her leash. She was racing up and down the beach...but it got to be too much for Arielle. Can't you almost hear Yuuki saying, "Ah, c'mon - put me down!"

"Ah MAN, ARIELLE, Arrow is going to see me being carried like a fru-fru dog, PUT ME DOWN!"

Plenty of room for a bit of practice. 

A view I've not tired of in 30 years. We've spent many happy afternoons diving off of "Big Rock" and laying on the sandy beach. We didn't get the row boat out today.

 Stacia asked if she could find a few rocks to take home to paint. I agreed. Arrow, however, thought the rocks were a new game and kept jumping up, knocking them out of her hands, and burying them.

Arrow through the target - way to go Zander!

We enjoyed our picnic lunch on Mom G's patio.  We spent the afternoon picking apples, moving bear scat, cutting out elm trees and starts, transplanting bushes, raking shavings, etc. 

The kids and I went off on a walk sometime in the afternoon. We were sad to be reminded we can't walk in the Stout Grove with a dog. Apparently, dogs on leashes pose serious threats to Giant Redwood trees.

Michael and the kids headed to town in the van. Mom G and I headed to town in her car - which I like!  We met up at the Grotto for dinner. We had hoped to watch the sun set from the restaurant. It turns out they close all the windows as the sun begins setting. ::snort::

We headed over to Battery Point and watched the sunset there. We also saw a raccoon! Stacia found three pieces of sea glass for me. The lighthouse was pretty. The ocean was gorgeous.

We keep looking around for the five missing children these days.....

Photo Bomb ::snort:: 

A very full day. 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Jared Update

I am sorry to leave those of you who may read the blog and are praying for Jared hanging. I forget some connect only this way and not with texts and Facebook. 

Jared is at home.  He had a bit of frustration navigating the insurance system...but is on a great course now. We are praising God for a Christian doctor whose family we know through running co-ops in TX. This doc happens to practice on the base and he was able to see Jared, refer him to the cardiologist, help Jared understand the tri-care system and he explained all that the other doc had said in a way Jared could understand. I think best of all if feeling that you are being HEARD. 

Jared is wearing a heart monitor.  He and I were expecting a watch, I guess. ::snort:: Those of you in the know - know that this involves stickers, wires and not getting wet. He's not loving it - but we're hopeful it will provided needed info. He is taking Dronedarone. All diagnosis are speculations at this point - so we'll just ask that you continue to pray for accurate clarity. 

I found it funny that Jared gave a speech in debate. Knocked it out of the park. He then received a call from the heart monitoring office asking what he was doing to elevate his heart rate. ::snort::  He is not allowed to serve at work as there is the potential of getting the monitor wet.  

He is scheduled for an echo cardiogram on Monday. 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Over the River and through the Woods....

Our goal today was to find out how many hours it would take us to pull the trailer and go to Grandma's (Mom G).  It took 8.5 hours. Not a lot of excitement to share on the day. I need to download some more Adventures in Odyssey or movies for this drive.

This raised our adrenalin for a few minutes.

If you're ever traveling on Hwy 101 stop in McKinleyville at the Chevron. They have GIGANTIC burritos - vegetarian too!

Of course the excitement was to reach Grandma's house! We spent a few hours visiting and then came back to the trailer to prepare for a few days of  G'ma Bliss.

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Week of Grandmas Part 1

My parents called to tell us they had a funeral to attend in Stockton on Thursday.  We decided they would arrive at our home Tuesday afternoon, spend Wednesday with us and then go on to the funeral on Thursday.  Michael has taken two days of leave and we are heading to Crescent City to see Mom G on Thursday. When Stacia heard the plans she said, "YES. This is going to be the week of the grandmas."

We spent Monday and Tuesday making great strides in school. The younger ones managed to do a whole week in two days. The older two did well - but will have to push next week too to get two full weeks completed.

Tuesday  afternoon we visited, had dinner and played games. Gma was a champ and played a zillion games. Tuesday night was Animal Instincts. This is a fun game (along the lines of Apples to Apples) which all the kids can play.

G'pa recuperated from the 8 hour drive by checking texts

Wednesday started with these three going on a walk. At some point we got a call from G'pa asking how to get home. I'm not quite sure what happened but it seems that Zander told them he KNEW how to get home and he took off for home. OK - we'll work on that gallantry thing a bit more...but he was right. He got  home. Arielle and Nolan went for G'pa and Stacia. We were sure we knew where they were, but it was easier to go get them than to try to give directions. We've not really gotten over the Japanese habit of not paying attention to street names.

Arielle has decided to take an extra lit credit this year. She's taking Movies as Literature.  Today all the remaining movies she needs for the year arrived. Many of them are movies G'ma remembers from her childhood.  I look forward to watching the movies with Arielle. We'll let her do the literature write ups on them. ::snort::

G'ma even played Polly Pocket with Stacia. She wasn't sure what they were, and I laughed when Stacia described them as,"Small Barbies that mom likes."

Mid-afternoon we gals had an impromptu tea party. G'pa was napping. The boys opted to take 1/2 the crumb cake off to their lair rather than joining us at the tea table.

 Dinner and more games rounded out the day. Michael got home late at night with the trailer.

It was a short visit. We fit a lot of quality family time into the day. We're looking forward to the next visit at Thanksgiving. 

 Oh, and we sat in the hot tub once too. ::wink:: 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Fun Sights at Home

What do YOU do with a stained mess dress shirt????? I like this solution. We'll cut the sleeves which are way too long and do something fun with it.

Blue Eyed Frog Hunting monster sightings continue nightly

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Game Night

I stayed close to the phone yesterday. Michael had a base event. The kids took advantage of the rain to play a rousing game - Gherkin style. 

Very unique new rules and maneuvers being called out by Nolan. 

I updated on Jared's condition  at the end of the previous post. 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Prayers for Jared

Jared - our 19 yo son - was supposed to keep me young as he was born at my OLD AGE of 30. ::snort:: I think he's giving me gray!

Please say a quick prayer or two for Jared. He is currently being seen by the ER doc. He crashed at work; couldn't breathe and was pale.  They decided it would be quicker for Jamin (son who also works at Olive Garden) to take him to the ER than to have the ambulance come get him. Doc says heart arrhythmia.....and we're standing by and praying. He had a fever a week ago. But not high and doesn't have one now. He went to Austin last week and  has felt fine...just crashed rather quickly. 

He had the same sort of symptoms last year and it was pneumonia. 

Update: Xrays are normal. He does not have pneumonia. They are running tests. He was kept over night in the hospital for observation. As of Sunday at 4:15 TX time he is still in the hospital. 

He was laughing, felt like he was going to pass out, started having trouble breathing and then his face went numb. When they checked him at the ER his heart rate was 230. 

He insists he feels fine now - but we still don't have any real new news and he's still in the hospital. 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...