Life moves at warp speed when our older ones visit. Chicken Divan is in the oven, rice is steaming, a salad is made and corn will be steamed at the last minute. I have a few minutes to update. 


Sunday we had chapel, a soup and sandwich lunch, ran a couple of errands, bought more groceries (::grin::), and  watched Dawn Treader. Most of us loved it. Michael said he's a purist and wished they hadn't changed things but even he liked it fairly well. 


This morning I roughed out week 3's "prompts" for James. If I just had a bit more time to edit. 


I checked on a few loose ends from the boys' adventurous trip over. No one was sure if their return tickets to Tokyo had been cancelled. Jamin was refunded TWICE what Josiah was...but JAL here insists BOTH have return tickets to Tokyo. 


I made about a ream of copies in prep for the start of James tonight and tomorrow a.m. I hit on this idea for the cover.....filled up the stickies (which are now on the pantry door to remind us all)....took a picture.....

added "Real Faith" to the photo and wala - a cover for the notebook. We sorted and filled notebooks. Because we wanted to conserve chapel supplies, half the notebooks had other stuff in them that we removed, put in new folders and THEN filled with James. ::snort::  It was fun to have Jamin and Arielle's  help. 

The kids have searched for Wii games. No luck - but we are starting to remember WHO had them last. Or so the kids imagine.  They've played lots of games today on the wii - we do have Mario that the boys brought and the sports and sports resort that come with the Wii. LOL 

Michael should be home soon for dinner. Jared, Arielle and I will run in for Human Video, Youth Group and Bible study.  

It's been a full day. 

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

1-1-11 - New Year's Day

It's always fun to have the older kids home.  I wasn't very surprised to be the only one up at 6 a.m. I finished writing the second week of homework prompts for James.  Zander woke up - writing waits. 

We started the day with breakfast. Stacia managed to work this out well. 

The kids had great fun changing our calendar to a new month and a new year! 

Today is the 8th day of Christmas  - and the day we had decided to have a family gift exchange. We started by talking about God gifting us with family and sharing what about family caused us to be thankful. 

 I asked Mike to take a photo, as I thought I'd be absent in many photos of the day. LOL 

Twenty lbs lighter, 35 to go....Lookin Great by 48? Feelin Great by 48?

Josiah and Jamin bought Zander and Nolan very cool RC helicopters. They are SWEET. 

No Comment....

 

 Can you tell there are earbuds in the strings of the hood? She was sort of saying, "Oh, that will be interesting." I told her you just stick the ends of the strings into your ears. I told her you put your ipod in your pocket...but Arielle doesn't have an ipod.  ::snort:: Wasn't that a great way to totally surprise her. 

Coin Rack to display military coins

 Jared and Arielle got me this stain glass.

We cleaned up. We played games and played with toys. 

Josiah enjoyed teaching the boys how to fly their copters.  

We gave the kids a Wii....they were SURPRISED. It was very affordable for us as that was IT - and for 5 kids, day after Thanksgiving sale....it worked well. We were surprised when we couldn't find their other gift ANYWHERE. We had given each child a Wii game. WHERE could they be????? It was a bummer - but Josiah and Jamin had given them a game, so they are enjoying. We realized the Wii isn't going to work great with the projector - thinking of work arounds. 

I worked on go-withs to accompany the slow roasting turkey. I'm trying to use up as much as possible from our chest freezer while the big guys are here. They eat - and I love it. 

They're ending the day playing Mario games. I'm going to edit as much of I can of my writing. I'd like to make copies tomorrow at chapel. I'm working on getting our James Study together. 

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

New Year's Eve 2010

New Year's Eve and the boys weren't home....but we knew they were on the way. 


We prayed  God would provide someone who understood English and would take the time to explain the train system to them. We knew this is THE big travel week in Japan. 


The boys called to say they were getting on the train and would be arriving in Hachinohe in a few hours. We headed out to meet them. When the flight was cancelled two other guys joined up with them. All were to be on the flight to Misawa. One is new to the Air Base and the other is a contractor who knows his way around Japan. He speaks fine English and Japanese as well. ::snort:: Not only that but they traveled together to Tokyo station and on to Hachinohe. God answered better than I thought to pray. 


We got home and fed our young men who hadn't eaten in 48 hours.  Then we visited and waited to ring in the New Years.  Stacia asked if we could have ice cream to celebrate Josiah and Jamin being home. THEN she asked if we could open our Christmas Stockings. We agreed. 

Mom - he loves these and began working on them immediately. 

Some of us had a hard time staying awake until mid-night. 

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Buttermilk Biscuits (Barb E's)

These have been my favorite biscuits since I first ate them in Hardin, MT. 

Preheat oven to 450*.


Mix together: 
3 C flour
2 Tbs sugar (or rapadura)
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt


Cut in:
1/4-1/2 C shortening (butter)


Add:
1 C buttermilk
Stir quickly  until mixture forms a soft dough and leaves sides of bowl. 

On light floured surface, knead dough 10 times (don't over knead your biscuits or scones).  Pat dough into a 7 - 8 inch square. Cut into 9 squares.  Bake 12 - 15 minutes or until golden.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

How to Slow Roast the Perfect Turkey

I've used Sue Gregg's recipe for a perfect turkey for the past 3 or 4 years. I have one roasting in my Nesco at this very moment.   Wonderful, no-fuss, moist, tender turkeys...we like it.  I've been told it is dangerous, though none of us have ever been the slightest ill after eating a turkey prepared this way. BTW, I cook Turkeys more than the holidays.  An Air Force Chef told us the way they cooked turkeys for the mess hall  - you guessed - the same slow roasting technique that Sue uses.  This is great as you can start the turkey at night and not worry about it the day you need it (Thanksgiving, Sunday church etc). I've used Sue's method and temps with great results. However, this site has lots of good info.  She deals with the concerns of the method, addressing them by starting with a higher temp and using higher temps. I provide her cooking chart below.   I'm trying today's turkey this way as I didn't get the turkey roasting last night and this will be quicker. It also addresses any concern about the lower temps.

 

General Instructions: Wash Turkey. Remove giblets. Oil, butter, salt, spice as you like. I've not used this method with a stuffed turkey - it's much harder to maintain the right temp and I don't want to chance it. Some do. If you do keep the internal temp of the dressing at 165*.

Sue's Directions
Preheat oven to 300* - roast an hour (this sears turkey and kills bacteria)
Lower temp to 180 - 185* - roast 45 - 60 minutes per lb (Sue says 190* internal temp)

Sue roast breast side down - some say makes a moister breast meat - I do whatever I remember to do.

Remove lid for last 30 - 40 min to brown.

How To Cook A Thanksgiving Turkey Directions: 
Preheat oven to 475* - roast 20 min (sears and kills bacteria)
Lower temp to 250* - roast until internal temp is 185* (USDA recommends 165-185*)

Several hours before eating check internal temp in breast. If the temp is 185*, lower temp to 185* and keep warm until you're ready to eat. If the internal temp is is less than 185*, turn up the heat.

Let turkey sit for 20 min before you carve.

She provides the following chart  for slow roasting a turkey.  Her site also answers all sorts of questions and gives detailed cooking instructions. I think the chart will wrap.....

	U.S. use °F, Europe use °C
Size Turkey	Time at 475°F (246°C)	Time at 250°F (121°C)	"Resting" Time	Total Preparation Time
10 lbs.	20 minutes	3 hours 20 minutes	20 minutes	4 hours
11 lbs.	20 minutes	3 hours 40 minutes	20 minutes	4 hours 20 minutes
12 lbs.	20 minutes	4 hours	20 minutes	4 hours 40 minutes
13 lbs.	20 minutes	4 hours 20 minutes	20 minutes	5 hours
14 lbs.	20 minutes	4 hours 40 minutes	20 minutes	5 hours 20 minutes
15 lbs.	20 minutes	5 hours	20 minutes	5 hours 40 minutes
16 lbs.	20 minutes	5 hours 20 minutes	20 minutes	6 hours
17 lbs.	20 minutes	5 hours 40 minutes	20 minutes	6 hours 20 minutes
18 lbs.	20 minutes	6 hours	20 minutes	6 hours 40 minutes
19 lbs.	20 minutes	6 hours 20 minutes	20 minutes	7 hours
20 lbs.	20 minutes	6 hours 40 minutes	20 minutes	7 hours 20 minutes

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Seven of Nine Gherkins are Home

‎ Forty-eight hours after starting, 1 delayed flight, 2 missed connections, 1 cancelled flight and 1 Bullet Train ride later.....


Seven of the nine gherkins are home!

60* when they left DFW ~  33* in Misawa

Stacia teaches Jamin Kung Fu

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

They Wanted an Adventure...

They got it! We had a 7 day visit planned. We were content with a 6 day visit after the flight delays. 


Josiah reports  JAL has cancelled all flights to Misawa for "at least two days" due to the storm.  They are checking now to see if JAL will refund the price of the ticket or get them on the train as this is WEATHER DELAYED. That is supposed to be the winter ticket guarantee.  The problem is that the boys haven't been briefed for Tokyo Station and know NO Japanese...and this is the BIGGEST TRAVEL SEASON IN JAPAN. ::snort:: Everyone goes HOME for New Years.  We're hoping the trains are still running and we'll go pick them up Hachinohe. 


If the trains aren't running, we may attempt to drive to Tokyo. We do not want to have them get here on Monday and fly out on Friday. 

Yep, it's windy here.....all manner of things are stuck in our fence...nerf weapons, balls, grills, patio furniture, trash cans, garbage, coolers, and a BIKE.  Jared brought in my wind chimes. Mike put it back together after the storm last when it was blown to bits. 

AFN Misawa Misawa Weather Warning Friday 31 Dec 2010

Heavy Snow Warning 8-10 inches anticipated. Warning in effect until 7 pm

Wind Warning, Max speed of 50 knots expected. Warning in effect until 7 pm

I bake or "fix" the blog when life is chaotic and I need focus. You'll note the new blog changes....I changed the background, header, removed buttons, added a printer friendly button.... When I finished, and the boys weren't here I began baking.  I've baked cookies, made peanut butter bars and white chocolate tic tac toe mix. WHO is going to eat all this if the boys don't make it home??????

Choosing joy....just one big primal scream...but now joy....not happy but joyful. 

Ah, I love the Body of Christ. As I typed, the phone rang and friends are calling to pray. Praying for people who understand English and will be helpful, praying the boys can get train tickets, navigate Tokyo station and have the adventure they wanted on the Bullet Train. LOL 


Off to cook something more. 

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...