Catching Up - April already????

 It's time for another massive catch up post. This is what we've been up in the past 12 days....

March 28th was Krista's last day at church. A funny transitional moment happened in our minds when pastor called "Chaplain G" up to the front. Michael began to move and then realized KRISTA is the new Chaplain G. He'll always be Chap G to many, many of us, won't he? 

After church Krista requested we go to our favorite Japanese restaurant for lunch. We were happy to oblige. Nolan missed out as he was working. This was a treat. 

Grandpa and Krista - grandpa wasn't having those cups

My boyfriend and I

Alex and Stacia

March 29th and we went OUTSIDE for a spring walk!  It WAS lovely for it to warm up enough to walk.  I'll do a separate post on spring and horribly frightening spring walks. 

 

Those who follow us on Facebook know that it proceeded to snow on April 2, 4th, 8th....the temps have been back into the negatives. Millie appears to prefer her bed by the woodstove over spring walks. 

The 31st we celebrated Krista and Luke's (KrUke) engagement. Stand alone post to follow. 

Krista worked 3 days for a reserve exercise and then went active duty on April 1st. 

Krista left her dresses so Stacia and Allie could pick some for Easter. I'll do a stand alone post on Easter.

Brenda illustrated for me how nicely a French press steeps tea....I got this small one...perfect for getting the grounds out of my chai tea too. 

Allie celebrated having Levi and family over by carving a Pepper Jack. He's pretty cute. He shriveled quickly. That'll probably preach. 

Yep - our personal seasons are changing this "spring." Krista moved out. Stacia packed up dolls and shipped them off to a thrift store.  Yes, I DID snatch out the first one I remember her playing with and saved it for you know....the future. 

Barbie and dolls leave the house

When Krista moved out Stacia and Allie moved beds around and began planning for to renovate the room. I'll report as the plan unfolds. 

I grabbed moments alone in the car to prep for Gather Bible Study. 

Stacia, Alex, Grandpa and myself all had dental appointments the last week of  March. The girls continue to spend 5 hours a day churning through high school. Stacia is starting to finish up subjects. We've had lots of tears in the last 12 days at the house....school, Krista moving, happy tears, stress tears, change tears...

Will joined Josiah, Carrie and Livie. I don't know where the rest of the photos went. Maybe I already blogged this. LOL 

📷Photo by Carrie

Probably more about this later, but wedding planning began. Krista opted to wear Arielle's dress. DON'T tell me not to post photos....Krista said to. I didn't even ASK. She was trying on the dress and said, "Go ahead and post, Luke never reads the blog anyway." I believe this wedding is going to be a lot of fun....picnic style...bouncy houses, 3 legged races...the old community style wedding. I can't wait. 

Millie has been learning "dead dog." Our hope is to get to the point where we can ask her a question and she answers with dead dog. She's been doing the trick from a seated position with Stacia. NOW she does it with Michael, Allie, me and BENNY. 

Bang-bang - you're a dead dog

We've moved on to asking her questions and rewarding her if she drops to dead dog when hearing the words. "Would you rather go on a walk or be a dead dog?" and she drops to dead dog.  She actually DID IT for me this morning. 

Benny Bear - native to Alaska and VERY scarey

If you see one in the wild - RUN! 

Arielle and the boys have begun coming over weekly for respite care. The first week Michael and I grabbed lunch and then hosted a pastoral counseling session. This week we grabbed lunch, picked up Alex from work and took him home, and then went for a gorgeous drive.  Benny walked in the door and informed me, "Baachan, I'm not here to play with you. I'm going to hang out with GG." 

📷Photo by Arielle

How I needed time OUT & ALONE with this man

Bre sent this photo - so many memories. I took one of the kids like this decades ago. LOL 

📷Photo by Bre

I continue to meet weekly with Stacia to discuss our reading through the New Testament. We've moved from Romans to Luke. Good discussions. The boys have just finished their time in Daniel. Michael suggested a family outing during their study time this week. The girls were a bit tricky to dislodge from their schoolwork - but I insisted. The rule is "You don't have to be good, but you do have to be there."  We didn't make Allie bowl - she really hates it - so there isn't an awkward Allie bowling shot, but I got one of everyone else. Hmmm....what a coincident - there isn't one of me either. ::snort:: 

Allie, GG, Nolan, Michael, Stacia, Alex

I broke 20. I broke 40. I nearly broke my wrist when I tried to execute a 3 step approach and slid onto the oiled lane. It WAS fun. 

📷Photo by Stacia

After bowling, Nolan went to work. Alex opted to go home. Michael, GG and I took the girls into Anchorage. We visited Krista's new home. It's BIG and nice. I began to realize we can use her place as a stopping off point. Hmm. Michael and Grandpa went to Lowes. Us girls went to Old Navy, Kohls and Target. We're on a hunt for bridesmaids and mother of the bride dresses. No luck. We DID get a shirt for Benny (ring bearer) and some birthday clothes for Bella. 

We met up with the men at Wild Wings (I think it's called). This was my first time to go to a wings place. It's nearly my first time to have wings. Yum....but I ate too much and need to figure out a better way of doing the wing scene next time. Maybe skip the fries - though I only ate 1/2 of them.

The girls are spending the night with Krista. Us 3 drove back to the valley - lots of time to talk in the car...Grandpa was worn out with the full day. It did him GOOD to get out and about.

...and now you're caught up. 

Easter 2021

 He is risen indeed! We love to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus in this home. Nolan had to work, but we caught a photo of those currently residing in our nest before we headed off for church. 

Michael, Allie, De'Etta, Stacia, Grandpa, Alex 

These gals are sporting dresses from Krista's closet, which she left for Easter. The three of us were in children's church today but they decided to go ahead and wear the dresses anyway.  Dresses are not their normal Sunday attire. I thought they were both gorgeous. 

A girl shot - even Millie joined the excitement

Cory works on Sundays and the day gets long for Arielle and the boys. They are able to catch the early service at their church before he goes in.  We look forward to them popping in for a bit of time Sunday afternoon. Sometimes, they pop into church as they did today. It was fun to help Benny in children's church...a little extra Baachan time. 

📷by Arielle - Arielle, Benny, Danny 

Our church has an annual Easter Egg hunt. This year the eggs were hid in the snow...and it snowed on Easter. That didn't stop Benny from having fun with the hunt.  BTW, this is the field where KrUke will have their wedding...great view. 

📷by Arielle

📷by Arielle

I told everyone we'd aim for Easter dinner at 3 p.m. This gave me time to get home and get dinner cooked without stressing, it gave time to enjoy church and the hunt, and time for Cory to make it before all the food was gone! JaRissa re in Juneau, Nolan was working and Josiah is in qurantine...but the rest of us were here. 

Having a late lunch meant that Arielle and the boys were around to help with prep....and Benny does love helping in the kitchen. 

Millie is getting better with Benny all the time. We do leave the leash on her when the boys are around in case we need to do a quick rescue. 

After lunch "the box" was brought out and the girls were invited down to the basement. The guys cleaned up dinner. 

Krista is going to wear Arielle's wedding gown. It was fun to watch it come out of the box.....

Suitably impressed. 

It's going to work. The dress is safely at a shop in Anchorage for alterations. The kids were suitably impressed. 

It was a great day. I didn't take near the photos I could, or should, have....but I'm happy to have captured these.....

All Things Krista

We knew this was a very strong possibility. We saw it coming. We wondered if it would come before Krista moved to JBER and began her first assignment. And then it happened....tonight Luke and Michael had a nice, long talk of what it might look like to be an active duty Air Force spouse - and more....and then it was official on the 30th or 31st of March. 

Let me introduce you to KrUke....a new blog name...Krista + Luke - together...which means, we are pleased to announce Luke and Krista are engaged. They are planning an incredibly fun wedding for July 3rd - yes, of THIS year. We are praying NOW for good weather on the 3rd. 

We all enjoyed ooing and ahing over the ring...it's perfect. Krista wanted a simple band. She wanted nothing that could snag on a uniform or get in her way at work....Luke (with a bit of help from Arielle) found the perfect ring. It's a silver band...with recessed diamonds. It's simple and elegant. It's perfect. 

We "happened" to have KrUke over for dinner on Krista's last night at home and so we  celebrated the engagement together.  

Krista makes sure Grandpa understands what happened

Some are asking, "Who is Luke?"  We met Luke's family when we moved up here in 2017. They are dear friends in our life group (before quarantine ended that abruptly). In fact, we had met Luke a couple of times and he'd been to our home for a meal before Krista moved up here.  Krista moved up in 2019 and began working and serving at our local church, as well as serving in the AF Reserves.  When the quarantine hit Pastor divided the "church directory" and we took turns contacting people. Luke responded to Krista's text (the 2nd or 3rd time his name was on her list) by asking her if she'd like to go out for a cup of coffee. I must admit NO ONE responded to MY contacts that way...that was the start of their relationship. We all like Luke - even Millie. 

Krista got busy alerting the Gherkins to this happy occurrence in an already eventful week. The rest of us loaded her car with stuff. She moved onto base the next morning. 

When we were stationed up here I spent a happy winter (or two) at the skills center learning to pour, clean, and glaze ceramics. One thing I made was a pig....come to think of it the pig hat entered our life at the same time. I seem to have been fixated with pigs during the cold winter. ::snort::  ANYWAY - I made this pig and gave it to Michael. He took it to his office and many staff meetings, counseling sessions, and flight line visits began with the pig. LOL Tonight, he passed the pig on to the new Ch. G (who isn't going to be Ch. G for long as it turns out). 

Early on the 1st of April, Krista left our home, drove to JBER, took the Oath of Office and became an Active Duty Air Force Chaplain. 

She sent this photo....there's a new Ch. G in town and the pig is once again at home on a base. One side says "Pig out," and one side says, "Let your moderation be known..." 

Krista had been told she wouldn't qualify to get on the list for "accompanied housing" until 60 days before her wedding. She was to move into unaccompanied enlisted housing which she was happy to do as she couldn't stay at home. By the end of the first day she'd met the "Shirt," First Sgt of the Wing Staff. He had a nice discussion with housing. He explained she was essential and had to live within reporting range due to being duty chaplain. They said they simply didn't have accompanied housing...he kept asking, "What CAN you do for me today?" and they found her an accompanied senior enlisted home. She got the keys and moved in on April 2nd. 

If you are hanging around the medical facilities on base, look up the new med group chaplain, tell her her Mom sent you. She'll think it's funny. They always laugh at the places blog readers have found them. 

I was sad and excited to watch Krista drive away. Yes, I watched her until the car was gone. It's tradition. I'm happy to know Luke will be traveling with her, it makes it a bit easier for this Mom to watch this step. We have loved having Krista here for the past two years. It's been a blessing in many ways.