Having Fun

Our neighbor at the park last night was a fun conversationalist. He owns an industrial coating company which makes things for Boeing, Douglass and other such companies. He was traveling with his son's family (5 children).  He gave Michael and I a tour of his Monaco Class A... They talked again this morning. I was tickled when he gave Michael some colorful advice. He says we need to get out and have fun, and we need to do it NOW. He insisted we should consider taking out a loan for a Class A, go out and live it up for a few years and then sell it or let the bank have it back.  With the admonition to, "Go out and have fun - you won't get any younger," ringing in our ears, we headed off for a day of "fun work." 

It's hard to believe this is our 6th week here at Mom G's. In some ways it feels we've made no dent....and yet we're seeing progress....so we'll keep at it, a day at a time.  

About once a week we need a burn day. One of the neighbors is gracious enough to let us haul brush to his yard - and we burn whatever he has there along with  our stuff.....so today the guys worked on burning.  Yes, we have a permit.  I preformed as the mule to take a bit more brush down to the piles. 

Can you spot Alex in the brush - he's handy with the hose, while Michael and Nolan man the fire.

There were three piles like this to take care of today

Meanwhile, back in the house....Mom G was in the mood to help sort through this corner. I'm actually not sure why - but it was nice to see progress. This corner was full....couldn't see the floor. I didn't take a photo at the end of the day. The work bench on the right is cleared, all the tools and projects from Dad G have been moved out to his shed per Mom's request. Mom wanted to make this an art corner. I've got her paints and pencils in the drawer, canvas and models on top, one shelf filled with frames and such and under it are her sewing projects. I moved a rocking chair out,  moved the little ottoman in, made a little art and Bible research library on a small sideboard which you can barely see on the left, and bagged up many blankets and such which she was ready to take to ST. Vinnie's. I also hung a Chinese checker board she wanted hung. Our final project will be to empty one of the trunks and fill it with photos. We thought this would be easy - but when we opened the trunk instead of what she expected to find, we found Israel papers, books et al. It's going to take a bit of time.....but we've almost got this corner cleared. Our goal is to get the main living area organized ...the goal is NOT to get rid of her things, but to organize it so the space is safe and livable.

We had fun discussing the discoveries....here, Mom G tells Stacia about various doll clothes we found and she sent quite a few outfits home with Stacia.

We also got laundry done and  sheets changed....a productive day inside and out. All six of us felt good about the work at the end of the day. The very best type of day possible.  

The kids enjoyed an hour to swim in the river, Michael put away hoses and such and I came home to start dinner. I actually came home, took two Alieve, turned on a heating pad or two, and laid down for a bit before starting dinner.  I was simply too sore and tired to walk down to the river. LOL 

It was an upbeat evening as we all felt good about the day's accomplishments. 

Leaving Suburbia - Again

Our day began early.   By 0745, we were sitting outside the VA with another vet - all of us hoping to score the first 0900 appointment. All appointments are walk-in.  Jim wanted to see a different VSO than us;  we DID both score the first appointment of the day.  Our VSO is very encouraging. She stressed again  she'd never seen a claim go as quickly and smoothly as ours has - God has blessed us in the  midst of the storm.  She told us to give the VA and the Department of Defense a month to work out their kinks - if they don't she'll step in and get the ball moving. Basically, we're waiting for  the massive amount of paperwork to hit the right desk.

It's never fun to have others voice the prognosis for Michael; words like permanent and static still don't sit well. We chose joy today, over anxiety about the future.  We left the VA office in fairly high spirits and picked up the kids from the girl's home. We arranged to meet Mom, Dad and Lorri for lunch before we picked up Yuuki (who was sleeping over with my parents) and headed for the border.

And here we are....dinner is done....the van is unpacked....we visited Mom G....and we're settling down for a night around the fire.  We love to visit our family in Suburbia - they all have lovely homes. We love to get back to our simple life. I think we've become minimalists at heart.  (Except, of course, for techie items...I'm dreaming of a Go Pro at this point.)

Keep On Looking

It's no secret we've been looking at various options for a new home. Our trailer is showing some wear and tear - and our van is about done pulling the thing over the mountains. The doctors say we need to find a rig I can drive. I'm not comfortable pulling the trailer with the van. The van is  still running well, and we are in no danger of it exploding; but we think it wise to begin to consider options. 

There is a man in Tucson who is convinced he "has our motor home." Maybe - but we continue to look....and you never know what you will find when you look in Eugene, OR.  I could drive it, it has 2 stories, the custom artwork on the side appeals to me....but Michael drove on by.  I guess we need to keep on looking. 

Lazy Sunday

We visited our home church. We went to the "other service," so we knew no one and it was sort of fun to see what it would be like to be an unknown visitor.  Pastor was gone - he would know us. LOL I don't know that any church feels truly like home since leaving the chapel. I am looking for more diversity than I see outside military chapels.  I'm still thinking about this thing I've noticed.

We had planned this to be an overnight trip - the kids complained they didn't have "Sunday" clothes. The girls fixed Stacia up. It's always fun to have Arielle around to do Stacia's hair.

Bella had a good day at church (Mommy is children's pastor in two services) and so BreZaak and Bella, joined CoRielle, Krista and the rest of us for lunch at the food court in the local mall. It had to be quick - BreZaak have an intensive class for their Master's program starting today and had lots of work to finish yesterday.

Michael and the boys checked out a clearance sale at Sports Authority and then spent a gift card at Barnes and Noble.  Krista and I took Stacia to Ross. All enjoyed their outings.

Back at the house we took naps, delivered lemonade to neighbors,  watched Zootopia, visited, filled out a benefits application for Arielle.

It was a good day....

Mission Critical - Colors and Dresses

I spent another day with our four daughters and one granddaughter, which makes it a practically perfect day regardless of what else happens.

On THIS day our mission was to narrow down the exact shade of elusive blue Arielle would like  her bridesmaids to wear and to see what styles may appeal to her.  

Our first stop was Joann's as we hoped to find "the color," get a sample, and then if she decides to have the girls pick their own dresses we could send each girl a color sample.  Arielle was caught by this fabric. I love Krista's expression, behind Stacia's bemused expression. We had some good laughs as we convinced Arielle dressing the wedding party in fish scales would contradict her determination NOT to have anyone in  mermaid style dresses to avoid any "Arielle/Mermaid" jokes on her big day. ::snort::

We were surprised at how hard it was to find anything in the color she loves. The one on the right is "it," but it's a textured, baby blanket material. Oh well, the color will work.

Our next stop were two  malls to hit all the stores....Bre and Bella met us. At one point we considered making sashes out of the bumpy material and draping the girls in it. LOL

There weren't many light blue options anywhere - Davids, Penneys, Kohls, Macy's, Sears, Marshalls, Ross, Maurice and numerous boutiques. There was this....but spangles on a missing midriff, one shoulder - not really Arielle's desired look.

  THIS was the only thing we found in stores that was the right color. Arielle would love yoga pants and exercise shirts....but we talked her back from that.

She was impressed with these hair style options....maybe the girls should all have the big "O" in honor of the DUCKS. LOL 

By this point in the day our worn out bride wasn't enjoying our humor. It did seem one big flower would save a lot of flower arranging time. LOL 

It was a fun day. We didn't find dresses - but Arielle found the color - we can all look online for options and she's about 70% to solution I think. LOL

Bella finished shopping about 30 minutes before the rest of us. I remember those days. We stopped off at Mom and Dad's and Arielle took a quick power nap.  Will, Sherri and Harmony stopped by. Arielle worked in the a.m., shopped all afternoon and worked from 6:45 - 11:00 p.m. that night. YIKES.  What a long day!

We are blessed to have this "unplanned" time with the girls.

#WYFF - All Things WEDDING

Today was all things wedding....a fun day for the girls, myself and my mom. We began with a meeting with Sherri, our wedding coordinator. She is also beloved Aunt and sister in law. ::grin::  It was good to begin corralling all the wedding thoughts into one big plan. Thanks, Sherri.

Our next stop was to pick Mom up from the beauty salon. We had just enough time to grab some lunch before our appointment here. Our Mission:  find a dress Arielle LOVED at a price that would comfortably fit into the wedding budget. BTW, this store gives a 10% military discount.

BreAnne and Bella joined us ....Bella loves her Aunties AND wedding dress shopping! 

Lainna, a bridesmaid, is a friend of Arielle's from New Hope

Let the serious shopping begin....I love Arielle's expression here, "What ARE you doing to me?"

THIS is what it looks like when you are a size 4 shopping for a wedding dress in America....I think the clips add a nice touch. 

Please note, this post contains no photos of Arielle in the dress she loves....and therefore, the group photos will need to wait until after 17 December. LOL  You can see more of the group in this quick video. 

#WYFF (Where's Your Feet Friday) is sponsored by Fulltime Families. View more of our Friday exploits by clicking the #WYFF tab above. 

The End of this Chapter

Thank you to those who have prayed for Michael's puzzling ailments over the years. We continue to pray for strength and healing, and yet, we  hear God say His grace is all we truly need. If His power is perfected in weakness - we welcome this platform of weakness.

Today, we received a determination letter from the Department of VA and we bring this part of our story to an end.  We have shared Michael's claim was expedited. We've been told by several they'd not seen a claim handled quite like ours. We were given an "interim rating" at 6 months, this allowed Michael to begin getting medical care in the VA system. We were then sent to see Gulf War Evaluators and they found the answers to the pesky health questions that have been growing for the past ten years.  The answers didn't lead to easy fixes, as we'd prayed, but again, just maybe we are to embrace this platform of weakness.  And here - at 8 months - we've received a final VA determination. I think they've done an excellent job; our claim was handled in a timely fashion, they gave us answers we didn't even fully know to search out and they've treated us fairly.

We are still reading through the packet they've sent, we may need help sorting it all out, but we are happy to be able to end the "VA Disability Claim"  chapter of retirement.

Receiving a disability rating is  one of those bittersweet moments in life... seeing the words permanent service-connected disabled veteran  in black and white is a bitter pill to swallow - but again God knows the platform He is building for us.

We KNOW God is not done with us yet. We KNOW He has a plan for the next 20 years, we have no idea what it will look like at this point - but we KNOW it's a good plan from the loving hands of a GOOD God.

Thank you for your prayers and advice during these months.