And They Lived "Happily" Ever After

It was yesterday, I tell you, yesterday.  This drop-dead gorgeous, stunningly wonderful woman said, "I do!"   So, what has it been?  A year?  Two years?  Maybe ten years? No, it has been 32 years.  I remember it well. It was a typical rainy February day in Oregon except that it was Valentine's Day and, more importantly, our wedding day.  We had planned on a Christmas wedding, but there were, um, complications.  So, we decided to get married on Valentine's Day 1984 instead.  De'Etta and her mom made the wedding come to life with only 7 weeks notice.  We sent out a boatload of invitations, bought, wrapped, prepared, planned and, well, truth be told, De'Etta and her mom really did handle the lion's share of all of this.  Add into the mix, De'Etta had surgery in early January.  We toyed with moving the date, but there was a determination to make it happen.  When the day arrived, it was rather unbelievable to us.  There were nearly 300 people who came out to share in this day of joy with us on Valentine's Day.  It was yesterday that I saw her in that beautiful white dress.  It was yesterday when we met at the front of Calvary Temple (later Calvary Open Bible).  It was yesterday when we pledged ourselves to each other and to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It was yesterday we heard those words - "I now pronounce you husband and wife."  But yesterday was 32 years ago.  Where does the time go?

So, how do we characterize 32 years of marriage?  Certainly, we have had our share of ups and downs.  We have had a chance to minister to people from Montana to Texas to Alaska back to Texas to Japan to California.  We have been blessed with nine of the most amazing children the world has ever known (modestly speaking, that is).  Now we are adding to this family - a son, soon a daughter and, even sooner, a grand daughter.   Who knew this was going to be such an amazing journey. 

That was then....

Feb 14, 1984

This is now.....

Feb 13, 

With surprises like this who wouldn't want to travel full time?


Written by Michael Goecker

Valentine's Day Kites

This is not an anniversary post (Michael is writing that one), but it is a post sharing part of our Valentine's Day.  Things are always SO crowded on Valentine's Day that we often celebrate our anniversary with dinner on a different day. 

Today, we enjoyed a great morning at church....came back to the trailer and grilled lunch and flew kites..... 

We love the "Beale Blackbirds RC club" air strip out here by fam camp. It's a wide open spot suited for flying Nolan's RC plane, and kites too. 

My Tie Dye kite from Florence - thank you again, Michael - it makes me smile

Spectacular Dragon Kite....takes way longer to assemble

Oops

Yuukie is more concerned with guarding this hole than the kites

Bi-plane Kite

Too much wind for the typical "stick" kites - the legs and tie dye are like wind socks....

These great tables are wonderful places to repair kites

The  "legs," a kite given us by my cousin, Launny, is the BEST kite of all.  It literally flies out of the bag...no assembly needed....it flies in little wind and in gusts of wind.....we need to find more like it. I enjoy watching others when they see a pair of legs in the sky. LOL  The others are awfully pretty, but they sure are challenging to keep in the air.

Couple Time

We decided to have a "no Parkinson/Arthritis allowed" day. The kids weren't interested in doing anything. This suited us well as we love couple time.  Michael has been suggesting for some time we ride over to the housing area parks....and I've been saying it's too far, with too many hills..... 

We took off for a ride to the "golf course" and before I knew it we were on the back side of the base looking down at an inviting bridge/river below.....I'll admit I was a pain...but once I caught my breath....we sat at the top, enjoyed the view and being together and I apologized for my attitude. 

I suggested we head down to the bridge. Michael reminded me this would take us to the "other side" of base and would  involve a ride back UP.....but as I said, I'd adjusted my attitude. Michael told me how to adjust the bike gears for the best climbing gear and that made a world of difference. ::snort::  We headed down to the bridge. 

It was a beautiful day so we continued on to the park and walked up the nature trail. By this point I was in search of a BATHROOM. ::snort::  It was a fun walk....up and back.....and I did find an outhouse that I'm quite sure I wasn't supposed to use....  :::shhhhhhh::::

We saw a few young friends on a local playground....and then it was time to retrieve our bikes and start the ride back to fam camp......up, up, up a very long hill and then down, down, down a lot of smallish hills.....it was a lot more fun going down the hills than it was going up them on the way to other side of base.

The main base is nearly deserted on the weekend; we had a lovely ride home and got back just as the sun was starting to set.

It was a wonderful afternoon. Sometimes one just has to "do it," even when you know you'll pay a price for it later.  I love Michael for many reasons - today, I'm impressed he was willing to "push" when he knew he'd pay for it tomorrow. I also love that he forced me to push further than I was comfortable. I'm a timid rider. I tend to fall. ::snort::

* Yes, we did take a selfie, but we'll use it in our anniversary post. LOL 

She Said Yes

Jared introduced us to Larissa on 12 Dec 2013. We loved her from the start. 

Two years went quickly.....

2 year anniversary Nov 2015

 And suddenly Jared was asking for advice on jewelry shopping and photographers....and sent us this photo.

Us Traveling Gherkins did well! We didn't even talk about this with siblings who called on birthdays....or with Larissa.  ::snort::

Larissa flew out to visit Indiana....and Jared asked her to consider being his wife at 1200 EST  - 0900 PST. And....She Said Yes.

We are over the  moon excited. At one point last week Jared couldn't find a photographer and asked if he should call it off because it wouldn't be perfect.  We came up with a huge scheme involving photo booths - but the photographer had mercy on him and hid in the park!

Well done, Jared. I love that she was so surprised!  I love that we are gaining a lovely new daughter.

Alex is 14

Fourteen years old - amazing....we spent some time remembering the bumps along the way for our alphabet child....we are thankful to be in this phase.

This young man BLESSES us. His unique perspective enhances our lives. It's always fun to get his take on things - from traveling sites, new campground neighbors or churches. LOL  I can guarantee you will get nothing but the unvarnished truth if you ask him his opinion.

Today was BEAUTIFUL and Zander wanted to go geo-caching. We decided to call school after lunch and revisit this cache. It turns out it is a three part cache. We found one, the general area of two and came back and read that scuba gear is helpful to find the third. We have a month before we leave the area. We are determined.

Zander with the 1st find - coordinates to the second inside

 When it became apparent we weren't going to find the remainder of the bridge cache, we drove up the road to see if we could find this one. Michael had thought about it and thought he knew where number one of this multi-cache must be....he was right. It was inside the pipe a ways.

While everyone was searching for the little box in the pipe - I found THESE. Why? Always me! I was sure they were supposed to be sleeping this time of year!

De'Etta's find - I KNOW they are harmless - I don't want to see them anyway! 

We all found the second part of this multi-cache! For all this work, we get to count one find. 

We also found a squirrel's cache

 The boys and Michael looked for one more....

Seriously looked - that's a flashlight

 They found where it SHOULD be  - and some glass beads - but it wasn't there. Mugglers! 

Stacia and Alex spent the next hour or so playing "The Game," while I fixed his birthday dinner. He chose Veggie Pot Pie.  He enjoyed the texts and calls from older siblings, the cards and gifts.

Wipeout Wii Game

 What a great sport to blow out his "pretend candles!" Michael made another wonderful ice cream cake! I can't believe a loaf pan is big enough for us now. LOL 

 

Zander told us he was quite sure David took a nap after conquering Goliath. ::snort::  A bit too much activity for the day.....he was ready to carry on after his brief respite. 

Settling down to play Wipeout! 

*Note Our birthday boy's name is Alexander. For the first years of his life he was Zander. He then asked to be Alex. To Krista and I he will always be Zander. He's a good sport about it.  

**Pretty sure it's time to make a new family shirt....the numbers have come off the boys' shirts....

You Thought I'd Forget!

I'm pretty sure with all the birthdays and such going on this week, you all thought I'd forget.

I didn't. 

Here's the Bella update! BreAnne is 31 weeks. She's moving on to appointments every two weeks. Everything looks great.  AND we are going to be snuggling Baby Bella in less than 11 weeks. 

Krista's News

Last spring/summer I wrote a series of Mommy Posts about the older Gherkins. I skipped Krista. I did this, not because she is less loved or we are less proud of her,  but because her plans were in a state of flux. I wanted to wait until I could announce what she was doing.  Those plans didn't materialize and she continued to be in a state of flux as to what her future plans would be.

This we do know!!!! Krista is an amazing young woman and crams a whole lot of living into each day. She is a one on one aide for a middle school gal in the Springfield school district.  She also works with kids/youth in the park system and at her church.  It is not uncommon when out and about in Eugene or Springfield with her, to hear "Miss Krista...."  She is loved.

She spearheads mission trips - fundraisers to boots on the ground and home again.

She's played on several intramural sports teams - and often is the organizing force behind them.

She is part of a truly wonderful "tribe" which has built during her years in Eugene.

She's a Renaissance gal.....comfortable hiking a mountain, running through the mud or at a formal occasion. We always have a blast when we spend time with Krista and her tribe. She's a lovely woman of God.

I know being able to live with Krista, as she transitioned to college life, is a God-send for Arielle.

Krista and Arielle

Krista loves her job, but has been feeling a tug to do something different. She had trained and prepared for missions. Her first thought was to get a Master's in Education so she could teach overseas.

Over the past few months she's run into several closed doors as she pursued that plan. She called us a couple of weeks ago and told us she simply couldn't get the Air Force out of her mind. She loved growing up as an Air Force brat, we've always called the military culture a mission field....she asked us to pray with her about going into the Air Force.

And she began to knock on a new door.

She's well within the height and weight requirements . She thinks (and we know) she can meet the other physical requirements.

In a study long, long ago (Misawa Air Base) a point was made that we should be prepared to be the answer of the prayers we pray.  It struck me, as we had been praying for missionaries to come to Japan at the time. We felt called to be the answer to that prayer - we'll see how it works out.  For years, I have prayed for passionate, whole-hearted, followers of Jesus to answer the call to the military chaplaincy. I felt we WERE the answer to that prayer - and I've  seen several others who I believe are answers to that prayer.....but in an odd twist....Krista is now pursuing being an Air Force Chaplain.

In the past week and a half, she has applied to begin an MDIV program, talked with our denomination's past endorser, her pastor, our current endorser and...... :::drum roll:::

Today she has been notified she is accepted into the Master of Divinity Military Chaplaincy Degree program at Liberty University.  She's got a long road ahead of her - she'll have to be ordained, complete the Mdiv, serve 2 years of Air Force reserve time and have 2 years of post-ordination ministry experience. She's been a Children's Pastor and now an Associate Pastor at her church in Eugene; so she'll have that covered.  This door seems to be opening rather smoothly.

She's off - chasing down a dream...and we're a bit bumfuddled, but awfully proud of her! She DOES love Jesus passionately and with her whole heart. She'll be a great chaplain. Why wouldn't the Air Force want someone THIS FUN (below) in the chaplaincy????

Alex, Izaak, Bre, Arielle, Stacia, Krista, Nolan

Go get em Baby Girl!