Tanjobi Omedeto!

It's a bird?

 

It's a plane!

 

It's Super Gherk!

Michael turned 54 today - and we celebrated in style....Gherkin style.  ::snort:: It was actually a fairly normal day with the normal amount of work, school, drama and trauma....but we celebrated this evening.

Michael chose dinner at Dancing Tomato; we stopped to try to catch the Leonid Showers, and then it was home for gifts.

Stacia was excited to serve as, birthday elf.

Just a sampling of Michael's gifts.... a couple of books by Mark Buchannan

 

Arielle got him a superman costume - this is somewhat of a family joke as I have embarrassed Michael year after year with superman attire....but this takes the cake....and obviously he's happy to play along (witness the earlier photos). I love the kids getting in on the fun.

 

Two of Michael's vices in one compact package to enjoy for one day only - free of nagging.

Chocolate covered potato chips

 

Superman was taken...so I have moved on to snowmen....

 

Arielle made an ice cream cake yesterday....

 

We got a good laugh out of our singing....Michael said we're pathetic, but he helped us out.

 

Arielle begged him not to spit on the cake - so he didn't.

 



 Yes, a very fun birthday. We are blessed to have Michael in our lives, and it's fun to be sure he knows that - at least once a year.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Chia Seed Cookies (Nutritarian, Vegan, Daniel Fast Friendly)

I made quite a few substituions on these as I didn't have all the ingredients. I'll put my substitutions in (). I plan to make these again when I locate chia seeds. These are from the Eat to Live Cookbook by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. They are Vegan, Nutritarian and Daniel Fast friendly. They contain no dairy, no oil, no sugar, no leavening agents.  I'll be making these often - though no one else in the family has tried them. They would if I'd put chocolate chips in them - but that would defeat my purpose of a Daniel Fast Friendly snack. 

Makes 20 - 35

Ingredients
1 C currants (used craisins/raisin combo)
2 C finely ground oats (used 1 C oats and 1 C whole wheat flour - ran out of oats)
1/2 C dried, unsweetened, shredded coconut
1 T ground chia seeds (used ground flax for this and below)*
1 T whole chia seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
2 T raw almond butter
3/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 200*. I have no clue why so low and long - but I just did it.

Soak 1/2 c currants in 1/2 c of water for at least an hour (do measure the water - you use it later).

Combine ground oats, coconut, remaining currants, ground and whole chia seeds, and cinnamon in a bowl.

Place the almond butter, soaked currants and soaking water, applesauce and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth, then add to dry ingredients and mix well.

Form cookies using 2 tsp of dough per cookie.* Place on baking sheet lightly oiled or covered with parchment paper. Bake for 90 min - 2 hours.

*Notes:
Grind flax and chia seeds in a coffee grinder.
Cookies don't spread - I flattened a bit when I saw this.
I used the small pampered chef scoop and this made 35 cookies

I'm going to try a higher temp next time.

Per Cookie (based on 20): Calories 79, protein 2 g, carbs 13 g, total fat 2.8 g, saturated fat .9g, sodium 7 mg, fiber 2 g, calcium 20 mg, iron .8,  etc

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Favorite Things Party

I serve from the premise that ministry should be fun whenever possible!  I know ministry is work, I know ministry can be stressful....but it's just better if you have fun and build relationships along the way.

The highlight of my week was taking time to enjoy these women - not our full women's ministry leadership team - but 70% of us.

We've worked hard and long to plan a fall rally, Bible study sessions, find a retreat location, advertise our program, teach Bible studies, love on our ladies and each other, make announcement slide shows....

Friday night we pulled aside to simply enjoy being with each other.

We met at Jennifer's for our "My Favorite Thing" party. Everyone brought their favorite food item and a favorite item between $5 -7.  We started the evening by writing our favorite thing about each other on individual cards. We each had a packet of attaboys to take home with us. I may frame mine for those hard days. LOL  Each pink/white card has a members name and "my favorite thing about x is...."

 

We enjoyed dinner.

 

Jennifer put each of our names in a cup as we arrived. We moved on to sharing the story behind each of our favorite items and then she drew a name to give that gift to.

 

I thought the best part was the conversation, the stories and the LAUGHTER - ah the laughter. 

 

The biggest blessing of the evening is simply knowing each other a tad bit better. I didn't plan on making strong connections here....we won't be here long...but I've come to love these women - and many others not on the leadership team. The fun and laughter of this night will carry us through another couple of months of service...... It's a joy to work alongside women such as these.  I'm going to miss working alongside them when we retire. 



Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Fudgesicles (Fuhrman)

This recipe is from the Eat To Live Cookbook by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. They are totally healthy....nothing artificial and no processed sugar. I am o.k. letting the kids eat these.

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
1 C raw cashews
3 T natural, nonalkalized cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Blend all ingredients in a food process or blender until smooth.  If you don't have a vita mix (which is what Dr F uses)....Puree the bananas first, add everything else and give it a whirl. Then the cashews last. My Bosch blender will do a double recipe of this if I do it this way.

Spoon into an ice pop tray or ice cube tray and freeze for at least 2 hours.

This was supposed to make 3 but we made 4.  If it makes 3 it will be 251 Cal each; 7 g protein, 16 g fat, 3.5 g fiber, 22 mg calcium, 2.3 mg iron etc etc.

Notes - Arielle likes these. Michael likes these. I can't eat a whole one - the texture throws me a bit. The boys haven't tried them - but they are leery of any of my healthy recipes the first couple of times they show up.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Surpise at the Dentist

We zipped out of the house today to visit Doctor Doctor and Doctor Mrs - our favorite dentists. We all had cleanings. SURPRISE - I did not have a cleaning. I sat and enjoyed a cup of hot apple cider, read and watched the rain while the kids had their cleanings. Wonderful.

Some may remember our last cleaning unearthed 16 cavities. Today, Nolan had one small one - too small to fix. Of course, they were all filled 6 months ago - but we'll celebrate where we can. LOL

The kids asked for Chick Fil A. It's always been a family tradition to go to Dairy Queen for a shake after visiting the dentist. Yeah, I know.  BUT this one began when I was a child and you can't buck tradition. ::snort::  There were no Dairy Queens in Japan and so the kids adapted. Chick Fil A has much better shakes and so we've begun going there since moving here. The foundation of the tradition - ICE CREAM - is unchanging.  They all enjoyed their chicken meals. I enjoyed an Asian Salad (Chicken on the side).  AND the Chick Fil A sauce - which I need to learn how to make.

Side note - it took me two years as a vegan to realize I should order the meat and cheese on the side and let the family have the extra meat. Now I'm not so irritated to pay $8 for a salad without meat and cheese. LOL

We had planned a trip to Sprouts Farmers Market, but the hot tub was calling and we decided to come home. On the spur of the moment we exited at Lincoln and spent quite a bit of time in Target.

I was glad I'd started soup in the instant pot before we left. I had promised fresh baked bread to go with it....I asked if they wanted rolls or breadsticks and the decision was split.....

That's a whole lotta big blob of dough......

I was glad Stacia is this week's cheery kitchen helper.

 

Yuuki planted herself at the oven and guarded the baking bread...and whined the whole time.

 

 

The bread makes the Veggie Soup tolerable as a dinner. ::wink:: 

I purchased a couple of games at Target. My plan is to use them for discussion starters at dinner. The first one we tried was "Would You Rather." Some felt the choices were far too gross and random....but it did lead to lots of laughter.  Here are the choices we selected.

 

Because these were too horrendous to consider.

 

We did just one round of this and tried "Beat the Parents" next. This one has potential for starting some meaningful discussions. The one above has great potential for laughing and a high gross out factor. I admit it. ::wink::

 

We topped off the wonderful, drizzly day by soaking in the backyard onsen - all of us. Great fun.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Prayer Update - Dom

Thanks to all who have been praying for our great-nephew, Dom.  I went looking for a photo and this is the most recent one I have. It was taken two years ago when we visited CO.


Jamin, Crystal (Dom's mom - our niece), Jared, Dom, Jerome (our nephew)

We have great news! Dom has been moved from ICU and is on a new floor where rehab has begun.

He is opening his eyes, able to respond to questions, and beginning to learn to walk.  The hope is for him to be out of the hospital before Christmas.

His doctor suffered  a spinal cord injury and is a quadriplegic. He has passion and skill to aid in Dom's recovery. God is blessing in the midst of the storm. We asked for a miracle and I believe we are seeing one.

Thanks for your continued prayers for Dom. As I know many are also praying for the health of Michael and his brothers - below is a photo of the three of them from that same trip.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Retirement? I think yes.

Wow - the weeks just keep whizzing buy! 

This is our biggest news! Michael is eligible for retirement on 1 Nov 2015 and has put in his application to retire.  Yes, as a matter of fact, we'd love your prayers as we continue to seek God for His plan in the next season of our lives.

Monday Michael had a root canal and his tooth feels much better. He needs to coordinate getting the second part of the work done on base...but at least that pain is gone.

We did school on Monday - didn't realize REAL school was out. LOL  Can you believe it was 77* outside on 10 Nov? Yuuki approved. She is NOT supposed to be jumping - but she did it anyway.

Tuesday was a day off work for Michael.  We took things fairly easy....and that's o.k. I could tell Michael was feeling better - one source of pain is doable. He took care of several projects around here and he and I even went out for lunch/dinner.  Stacia began throwing up. She says she feel fine - but she's throwing up.

Today was a busy day with Bible study and PWOC Board meeting.  Alex was excited to be trusted to be the care taker today...Stacia says she feel better but she's sleeping.  We're all due at the dentist tomorrow so I'm starting to wonder how that is going to work. Praying she feels 100% tomorrow.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...