LIVING in the moment....

Hmmm...if you greet the day at midnight - the day can be incredibly long.

I woke up and put a turkey in the oven.

Everyone else woke up and we decided to go see Lady Liberty. It was REALLY windy and so we didn't look for geocaches or take any leisurely hikes...but it was fun and we made memories. The sky was incredibly clear and blue. This is the "largest Statue of Liberty in Japan." I wonder if there are more? This one is 65 feet tall from the pedestal.

From 2010-01-01 New Year

From 2010-01-01 New Year

There was no ice in the water when we visited last.

From 2010-01-01 New Year

From 2010-01-01 New Year

The big kids are suitably impressed with the roller slide.

From 2010-01-01 New Year

From 2010-01-01 New Year

From 2010-01-01 New Year

We decided we need to wear snow pants for future outings. Brrr.

We stopped at Shimoda Park(Swan Park)on our "way" home. This poor Swan looks miserable to me.

From 2010-01-01 New Year

The ducks were very friendly with the advent of winter. Yes, they did eventually eat from Nolan's hand.

From 2010-01-01 New Year

These guys stopped traffic. ::snort::

From 2010-01-01 New Year

New Year's Day in Japan is a shopping and gift giving day. We gave gifts as well. These cute envelopes are used for giving monetary gifts.

From 2009 - Gifts from Mom

The girls leave tomorrow a.m. Bre on the train and Krista on the plane. Prayers for safe travel are coveted.

From 2010-01-01 New Year

EVERYONE IS HOME!
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

MAFIA!

Mafia is so much fun when we're all home!

Stacia decided to be the narrator...oh my...the Doctor was killing folks, the Mafia was saving them....

I am so confused now that there are two Mafias that I've had to come over and blog the day. LOL

EVERYONE IS HOME!
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

2010 Reading List

This is a glimpse at what's on my nightstand, bookshelves, floor....a running list of books which I'm reading or hope to read in 2010. Books in red have been READ....If I've reviewed it on the blog, the title should be a different color. You can click the title to read the review.

The Holy Bible

Biographies
Stubborn Twig - Lauren Kessler

Ten P's in a Pod - Arnold Pent III
Gift from Mikado - Elizabeth P. Fleming
Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth - Kristen Iversen
The Romanovs - Robert K. Massie
Dawn - Elie Wiesel
Night - Elie Wiesel
The Testament - Elie Wiesel

Family
Heartfelt Discipline - Clay Clarkson

Biblical Parenting - Crystal Lutton

A Turansky Book

Sacred Influence - Gary Thomas

Health
The Maker's Diet - Rubin - Maybe. LOL
What the Bible Says About Healthy Living - Rex Russell

The One Day Way - Chantel Hobbs

 Parenting
The Out of Sync Child - Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A.
The Joyful Home School - Mary Hood

The Out of Sync Child has Fun - Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A.

Christian Life

Dug Down Deep: Unearthing what I believe and why it matters - Joshua Harris

Understanding and Applying the Bible - Robertson McQuilkin

The Ever-Loving Truth - Voddi Baucham, Jr.

Un Christian - David Kinnaman

Primal - Mark Batterson

The Enemy Within - Kris Lundgaard

Watchman Prayer - Dutch Sheets

Sparklng Gems from the Greek: 365 Greek Word Studies for Every Day of the Year.... Rick Renner

A Place of Quiet Rest - Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Flashpoints - Stephen Arerburn
Daring to Dance with God - Jeff Walling
A New Kind of Christian - Brian McLaren

Non- Fiction - Misc

The White Horse King - Benjamin Merkle

Tea with Hezbollah - Ted Dekker

Fiction - pure fluff for enjoyment!!

Death of a Garage Sale Newbie - Sharon Dunn

Books I tend to read annually:
Sally Clarkson
Leading Women to the Heart of God - Lysa Terkeurst
Intimate Faith - Jan Winebrenner

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

Welcome 2010!

From 2010-01-01 New Year

Unbelievable. The past ten years have raced by. Ten years ago we had 7 children...our oldest was 14 and our youngest was a newborn. Mike was newly returned from a deployment. We lived in San Antonio, TX. Mike was a Chaplain (Capt) in the USAF. Today we have 9 children. Four of them are adults...our oldest is 24 and our youngest is 4. Mike is a Chaplain (Maj) in the USAF and prepping for a new deployment. We live in Misawa, Japan and have all nine children here to celebrate.

I look forward to the next ten years.

Filling the last hour before mid-night...

Stacia obviously had a plan when she bought this for Mike for Christmas

From 2010-01-01 New Year

From 2010-01-01 New Year

From 2010-01-01 New Year

From 2010-01-01 New Year

A NEW YEAR!!!!

From 2010-01-01 New Year

From 2010-01-01 New Year

From 2010-01-01 New Year

From 2010-01-01 New Year

From 2010-01-01 New Year

Happy New Year to you and yours!

EVERYONE IS HOME!
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Contentment

is going from this size (8 inch)

From 09 December

To this size! (huge size though it doesn't show)

From 2009-12-31

Chili

From 2009-12-31

Stacia invented a new dance....Cy stands still and she runs around him

From 2009-12-31

From 2009-12-31

From 2009-12-31

We walked to the pond - it's frozen

From 2009-12-31

EVERYONE IS HOME!
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Making the Most of the Day

Yesterday was another full day. We arrived at the photo studio at 10:00 a.m.

We left there at 12:30 and went for lunch. We were back at the photo studio at 1:30 p.m. to view proofs. They told us our photos would be ready at 2:00 p.m.

Stopping traffic in Misawa - you know I realized yesterday that my Identity is "mom of 9" and I'm used to the stares that go with that...both on base and off. I'm still adjusting to being a "mom of 5," which is my identity at this base (sorta, you KNOW what I mean don't go spiritual on me).

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

Playing at Chuo Park while we wait for photos

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

Found an elusive geocache on the train

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

Picked up photos and headed for Tonomi Clan Memorial. I CHECKED on the website to be sure of times....but they were closed when we got there. Bummer. That's it in the background.

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

We came home. Played with Zander's new pogo stick.

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

Yowzer - better think about protecting future grands...

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

Krista made a wonderful dinner. We cracked up at the sink height again.

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

We found our last two advent hides.

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

This photo led to us doing stair step photos, Liz.

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

We used to have stair steps......and we would often take photos with them lined up oldest in the back to youngest

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

...but we can't see the last two in this arrangement any longer. ::snort::

Our "stair steps" with oldest in front....note the skillet Bre got Stacia for Christmas. ::snort::

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

We decided to do a stair step photo according to height....and Arielle is welcomed in to the "taller crowd"

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

Only to have her position challenged by Krista

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

Ah, here we go. The heights look off, but Bre has more fluffed up hair. ::snort:: You can trust the arrow...which was called on several time in the arranging of this photo.

From 2009-12-30 geo, stairsteps, etc

We're not sure what we'll do today. We KNOW everything will be closed on New Years Day. The girls leave early on the 2nd. We may try to find a souveneir shop that's open...but I fear that most things will be closed today.

EVERYONE IS HOME!
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Family Photo "2010"

We were quite the object of awe at the photo studio. This was a blast! Wearing a kimono is an amazing experience. Instant posture...instant 15 lbs added. ::snort::

From family photo - 2010

The guys made quite a few jokes about their attire, but I thought they looked incredibly handsome.

Samurais of the G clan

From family photo - 2010

The ladies got a kick out of the men folk clapping and cheering for each of the finished ladies. They dressed us, did our hair....accessorized us. Note our proper Kimono stance...one leg straight, one bent, both at peculiar angles.

From family photo - 2010

We debated on spending the better part of a day on a family photo, but I'm glad we did. A few eyes were misty as we saw the girls all dressed up....Arielle and Stacia did me in....they grow so quickly. I could think of some great shots...but they seemed to have standard shots and aren't into creativity. I thought Stacia standing in front of the men with their swords would have been great.

The ladies and photographer made many nice comments about the children and ME having nine of them. ::snort:: The dressing process to wear one of these things is incredible. WOW. We felt a bit strange running around town afterwards with teased and poofy hair... ::grin:: This was the ultimate dress up party.

EVERYONE IS HOME!
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...