Beale Chapel Block Party

Three Reasons to Choose Joy  ~ Day Nine

1. We had a fantastic first week in our new facility - and numbers were even up by 30 - 40 people.
2. GREAT time eating and playing as a Protestant and Catholic parish after church services.
3. These kids serve the kingdom well - and that makes me smile.

Remember the stands Michael was working on last night? We had to take two cars to base today because both stands wouldn't fit in the van - with the seats out. ::snort::

 

This isn't blowing over....

 

 

Today was our first worship celebration in the new facility!  It was great. We even had 30 - 40 new folks.....and live worship thanks to Aaron and Karina.

 

THIS is what happens when you tell a worship leader to "look holy" ::snort::



 Ron always makes me smile.

 

Lee had a question about a passage he'd read. He asked Michael because he "knows everything about the Bible." Um....I caught the questionable moment on "film."

 

These two ladies give the BEST hugs....and are the girlfriends of Lee and Ron

 

 

After service the Catholic Parish came over the Campus and we had a joint block party. This was to celebrate the start of a new year of ministry for both parishes....and to enjoy our unity. This sort of cooperation and unity between churches is something I will  miss when we retire.

 

Sweet Friends

 

More sweet friends

 

And more...

 

Arielle on bouncy house duty

 

Love this little man!

 

 

Her First Egg Race

 

I was so happy when Cheri motivated some men to move this to the library. We are ready for potlucks, PWOC/CWOC, et al

 

 

As "we" were moving the fridge Stacia raced up to ask Michael to dance with her in a dance off. He was preoccupied and a bit leery. She really wanted to dance...so I went and started with her and Michael came and danced with her too.

 



 

Look at that face! Certainly worthy missing a bit of work

 

 

Shortly after this we put our noses to the grindstone and finished clean up so we could all go home. Nolan, Stacia and I went to the commissary. Michael, Arielle and Zander got gas and then had some stick shift practice...eventually we pulled up behind Arielle and the rest stopped on a hill. Eventually, we went around them. ::snort::

 

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Sprinting Through Saturday

I finished challenge on Facebook and decided the focus is a good one for me in this season.
Three Reasons to Choose Joy- Day 8

1. Josiah's flight was NOT held up for 4 hours today
2. Good friends with which to work hard
3. A good friend who KNEW I didn't want to cook for potlucks the next two days and took care of it for me! Thank you, Samaritan!
4. Time alone to do the ugly cry and a few wails and snorts - on the way to Lowes. LOL

We left for the airport bright and early.

A few hours later we roused the Gherkins to go to Far West Campus and do all the "final" jobs before tomorrow's service.  It was a good day, working hard with good friends.

Filled the van (seats OUT) with recycling and trash twice. 

Filled it to the BRIM once with things from Valley Chapel - I will long cherish the memory of Angel (Sgt L), Rob (Col K),  Michael (Ch G), and Nolan directing me as I backed this loaded van up the sidewalk and to the gym. I couldn't see a thing out the back but the van was ringed with helpful men...and they all had different signs which sort of fascinated me. LOL

Stephanie patiently let Stacia work with her for hours - Steph said she felt like one of the family when I said I needed to take a photo! LOL

Michael treated to LARGE Oreo Shakes at Burger King  on our way home. The work day was scheduled to end at noon and we ended at 3 p.m. LOL  We dropped the kids at home and Michael and I went to Lowes.  He and the boys are making banner stands for PWOC and the chapel. Go Chap!!!

Somewhere in here I ran back to Lowes for more supplies while they kept working. It's 10 p.m. and they are STILL working and we left the house at 0420 this a.m.

THIS is an old library that will become PWOC/CWOC's central meeting place, host monthly fellowships, MTOC (our AF approved version of MOPS) and our adult Sunday School.  I had hoped the chapel would cover the shelves so they could be used for storage, to keep kids out of them, to make it pretty - so far no go! LOL I priced curtains tonight to see if I could donate them...but the whole room is lined with these.....What to do....

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Friday in Old Sacramento

We were up early (0345) to take Josiah to the airport. I can't get back to sleep so I will blog. I WILL blog our trip to San Francisco but need time to process the hundreds of photos.

Friday morning - our last day with Josiah. I had strict orders NOT to come help with the Far West move on Thursday or Friday.  Michael was back at work and we needed something fun to do. We headed to Old Sacramento.

Loves sampling

Stacia the schoolmarm

Fun rules from 1850's

"Hey, Mom! We have this book."

Our next stop was the base. Nolan got a hair cut.

We picked up a bouncy house for Sunday's block party/Grand Opening of Far West Campus of Beale AFB chapel. 

 Michael, Josiah and I visited Papa Murphy's. We watched Muppets. We called it a night as tomorrow early we take Josiah back to the airport - "Where he came from."

We love visits from the adult Gherkins!

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Put Em to Work

I fell down on my blogging duties and did NOT take photos of Stacia at the dentist or of her blood splattered face. Yep, she survived her first tooth extraction. I suspect we're headed for another one in a few months. Listening to her tell the story is quite amusing...saws, drills... ::snort::

We also spent quite a bit of the day helping to move things from Valley Chapel to Far West Campus.

 

Yep - visit us and we put you to work. LOL

 

I nearly ended up  having to pull this trailer and I was not looking forward to learning this trick. In the end our hitch didn't match the trailers and they got a truck from vehicles.

Arielle and Cynthia began this job. Josiah finished it....and I'm excited to see it. It gives me hope that we may get the rest of the facility ready for Sunday services. LOL 

I put a turkey in the slow cooker before we headed out today so we had a turkey dinner waiting when we got home from our day of work. Well - Stacia had popsicles.

We enjoyed talking and games...and Arielle  felt the day had been quite long enough.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Airport Days

Airport days  have proven to be either fantastic or challenging...saying goodbye to school friends, family, deployments, mission assignments...saying hello to school friends, family, Michael....today was a GREAT airport day.

It's always an exceptional day when an adult Gherkin comes home for a bit of a stay. Michael cracked us up with his vigilant watching and pacing.....

This is as FAR as you can go without a ticket...and they checked each train which arrived for nearly an hour.....

It turns out the plane was delayed at DFW for four hours. I am thankful they discovered the cracked hydraulic line before they left DFW.....Meanwhile we watched and waited....

We met Maria coming home from TX....from DFW....and on the next train....

Josiah

I may have crossed the red line to hug him after taking his photo....but really no one messes with a Mama hugging a Gherkin after months apart. LOL Michael seems convinced the waiting was worth it.

We've talked, enjoyed a yummy dinner courtesy of the organic cow in the freezer, talked some more, had dessert and finally these are playing and I'm blogging....a good day.

Um - note to Arielle if you have to ASK, "Is that a blond joke," it most likely is or will become one. ::snort::

Another random fact - our neighbor sings opera in the shower.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...