Fantastically NORMAL Friday

I took Zander to play with a friend on base today. At one point we saw a whole flock of turkeys fly through the yard...yep - we knew where the boys were. ::snort:: 

We managed to get two days of table school done today. 

I received a text with this photo! LOVE it...and love that Dakota told me how to get it from my phone to my computer. LOL  Arielle is enjoying her time in OR. Today she and Krista hiked to the top of Spencer's Butte. She made it...she tends to have oxygen issues...but the mountains are lower in OR than in CO or Japan.

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

SNOW in Oregon - what's next?

Shortly after my last trip to Eugene, a freak snow storm hit the area. Michael is always after updates from the Elder Gherkins and asked BreAnne to send us some photos and a story for the blog. She did. I'm just now finding the time to post it. 

View from apartment

  We were bestowed with over a foot of snow across the southern Willamette Valley from early Friday morning and throughout the day. I knew we were supposed to get snow on Friday. However, having lived through four Oregon winters by now, I was really skeptical that the snow would last more than several hours. After the blizzards of Washington and Alaska, not to mention Montana, I viewed Western Oregon snow as wussy.

BreAnne rethinks her disparaging thoughts about OR snow

 However, we did get some snow and it is rather cold. The forecast only predicted one to three inches however, Eugene received eight inches of snow and it is sticking. They are saying it will actually stick around until Tuesday. Eugene 911 got more than 250 accident reports on Friday. People here just don't know how to drive in the snow.

No worries, Mom, none of those included any of your darlings. (I'm holed up at home and Krista has been snow bound at some friends' home.)

We are supposed to get below zero degrees F tonight (Saturday night). At 9pm, the Eugene airport registered us at three degrees F. They say this is the coldest it's been in Eugene since December 11, 1972.

On December 8, 1972 it got down to minus twelve degrees F which was the coldest temperature recorded since they began tracking the temperature in Eugene in 1892. Suffice it to say, "Baby, it's cold outside!" Source: KVAL13

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

Fear and Conception

I woke this morning to the first day of reading through the New Testament. I woke late. 

Self talk - "That's o.k. Matthew 1 - you've got this. One big point for the chapter - Matthew 1 - what was the main point - "Family Matters."  It's just a long list of names. May as well read it before you journal." 

And there...nestled in the long list of names and the familiar story - God showed up! 

"...don't be afraid....because what has been conceived...is by the Holy Spirit." Matt 1:20.

There it is. Black and white. My fears, my wrestling, my heart. 

BreAnne prayed in family circle something to the effect of, "Give Mom peace as they follow God. We're all o.k. We're o.k."

And I cried.  I still cry.

Following Jesus is costly. I'm torn. I want to courageously say yes. I want to follow Him with laser focus. Yesterday was a "goodbye day".  As they left, I realized, I also want to remain close to all the Gherkins. As if my physical presence, my mama eye, is somehow essential for their well-being.

I walked. I prayed. I reached the same conclusion.

"Your will, Abba, not mine."

I will live courageously.

I will love courageously.

I will follow courageously.

And this morning, here it is, as I prepare to rush through my reading and journal that deep thought - "family matters."

Don't be afraid - Fear causes me to run from following Jesus. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear..." I Jn 4:18. I hear the Divine whisper, "Trust me. Love courageously. Follow Me. I'll watch them. They're o.k."

That which has been conceived is of the Holy Spirit. The dream planted in our heart, in the very soil of our family, is of God. It's been generated by the Holy Spirit. It will grow, it will bear fruit and it will bring forth new life in the Kingdom of God.

He met me in the sanctuary/the secret place of His word.

What about you? Has the Holy Spirit conceived something new in your life? Embrace it. Do  not be afraid...you can follow Him with courage and full trust.

Sorry about the red font....if I use white it won't show when the blog is printed. I tried to just bold but all the font is bold...so there you have it.

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

Goodbyes....Blech!

It had to happen. The house is strangely silent today...

....and I'm not enjoying it. Neither is Yuuki evidently. LOL 

Now to see if Stacia can get to sleep without Arielle in the room. 

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

Gherkins Do Kick Ball

I am eagerly looking forward to what God has in store in 2014. Walking it with a boyfriend of over three decades is priceless. 

Today was the final day to work in ye old Family Kick Ball Challenge.....I was the designated photographer and dressed accordingly. Some seem not to appreciate a photographer must be in the best positions to get the photos.....eventually I learned to stay off the field - most the time.

That's our gal - an athletic princess

Go KRISTA! 

You got it! 

She made it...

Um....looks like P90x to me

Dakota has a promising career in ballet if he desires it

So many possible captions.

Dakota scores

Izaak scores

Zander scores

Michael scores

Again? 

Ninja Kick ball player

Ninja number 2

Photographer may have been taunting the runner

Krista scores

 Run BreAnne. 

She did it! 

I ended up helping the girls - perfect clothes for kick ball

Alas, the men won - as we knew they would. True to Gherkin house rules the winner picks up...and so the men graciously cleaned up dinner before our movie. 

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

Goal Reached!

Maxim (in case one thinks I'm talking about a magazine) "a short, pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct."

Gherkin Maxims:

• Never Give Up
• Choose Joy
• Love God - Love Others
• Live Courageously
• You must read the book before you watch the movie. 

That last one has been challenged many times by many Gherkins. I, myself, begged to watch Pride and Prejudice before reading the book. ::snort::

Zander taught himself to read last year when The Hobbit was due to be released. Michael has playfully goaded him since that time about reading the Lord of the Ring series so that we could watch them together.

Zander set a goal to finish the series this year. He thought he could possibly finish The Fellowship of the Ring by his birthday in February. I encouraged him that I thought he could do it before Christmas break and we could watch it with the elder Gherkins home for Christmas.

He read in the afternoons. He read at night. He read to me during school. He spent hours on 31 Dec reading to Krista. He began to think the reading was causing him flu like symptoms.

Zander reads the last paragraph of The Fellowship of the Ring

Video won't load

Therefore, after a full day, after dinner, after a family prayer circle....we are watching The Fellowship of the Ring. When Krista arrived on 23 Dec, she began encouraging him he COULD finish and they WOULD watch it together. I'm so happy he reached this goal.

Yes, he's informed me he'd begin The Two Towers this week.

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

Happy New Year 2013

Michael went to work on base...we went to work at home preparing for tonight's New Year's celebration. 

Krista joined me in "the closet" and we prepared bags for hourly activities and matched scavenger hunt clues with bags. Michael left us clues. 

Happy New Year to Nolan - what a difference a year makes at this age! 

Everything is ready.....though I got lazy and picked up pizza instead of making Pot Pies....

Stacia reads a clue at 6 p.m. - "Time for less kelvin." 

Something to do with temperature? Wrong way honey. 

Ah - here you go - something to work on throughout the night - in the freezer. 

Arielle & Dakota build a Catapault while everyone else began work on a killer Thomas Kincaid puzzle

7:00 p.m. - Farkle and two wooden puzzles

8 p.m. finds them searching "Traditional 3 Rs took root here." THREE homeschooled kids all pointed out that writing and arithmetic do not begin with R. I pointed out this was dad's clue and they should focus on the where not the spelling. LOL  We found Funny or Die. 

9 p.m.  and they found Stacia's favorite of the night! Pop the Pig!  I find the premise disturbing....you throw hamburgers in his mouth, bop him on the head and his stomach grows.....

....and grows....

...until his arms fly up and his belt explodes. 

10 p.m. and Michael got home from work. We waited until he was home so it was a bit after 10 but we filled our time capsule for 2013, discussed this year's family vision and prayer verse and talked briefly about 2014's. More to come on all that. 

11 p.m. - nothing wakes up kids faster than a Nerf war - and this house is great for Nerf wars

BreAnne & Izaak shot each other....

Arielle holds down a defensive position 

Krista & Michael are on the stairs....Dakota in the door way, Izaak behind the curtain

Thunder from above

Dakota and Nolan ended the war in the laundry room - with the girls on the outside.....Dakota ran out and was pummelled. Nolan - bluffed his way out with a gun that makes noise (but he was out of bullets). He was out the room, through the family and up the stairs before he was shot....Valiant try guys. I'd expect no less from a son and grandson of ours.

11:55 p.m. and we're ready to get the sparklers, confetti poppers, silly string and bell....

It doesn't show well - but this girl got singed when she got a bit too close to Izaak. ::grin:: 

What better way to ring in the new year than loads of fun with family? The girls, Dakota, Michael and I thought a great way to begin 2014 would be in the backyard onsen with some sparkling lemonade. The rest played wii, made bandaloom bracelets and such.

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