CHRISTMAS IN ROSELAND

I should of titled this post "Blessed is Papa" and here is part of the reason why:



Need more proof? Here is more:




and yet more:



Well now that I have bragged about how blessed I am and offered proof, I have to go for now! I have company (some of those blessing) and I am going to finish this later. So stay tuned and I will tell you all about the great time we had Friday night at Christmas in Roseland..............

ENDEAVOR VISITS

Hi Everyone. Once again I have been remiss in posting and this time there were things happening outside my everyday routine! :) Not only did I get to work with excel spreadsheets and other exciting things, but the space shuttle Endeavor came to Barksdale AFB for a rest stop on it's way back home. :) Here it is coming in for a landing (riding piggyback of course):

From SPACE SHUTTLE

Here she is again, making her way to a parking spot. I wonder if the pilot will have as hard a time finding one as we do at Walmart during Christmas shopping season? :)

From SPACE SHUTTLE

Let's zoom in for a closer look, hmmmmm... looks like she needs a wash job after the trip. Anyone know if there is a Blue Beacon Truck Wash around here? :)

From SPACE SHUTTLE

I picked up my grandson to come over and look at the space shuttle and he wanted to see it take off. He thought it would be cool to see it rise off the back of the 747 that was carrying it!! He is 7 years old, I am a little older and I was thinking the same thing! :)

Cheryl has been busy shopping in all her spare time. Noticed I didn't say Cheryl and Don.. :) Normally we are inseperable, however I do have my limits :)

That is about all the excitement I can stand in one post, so until next time:

MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND MAY GOD BLESS US EACH AND EVERYONE....

HOLIDAY SEASON

Thanksgiving has come and gone, but it is only the beginning of the holiday season. We love the holidays, especially Cheryl. She loves decorating with lights, snowmen, singing santas and all kinds of stuff. Her eyes brighten and she is like a kid in a candy store! I love watching her enjoy the season. MERRY CHRISTMAS CHERYL :)

Speaking of decorating, the grands (and Cheryl) had a ball decorating the tree on Thanksgiving day. I was a little "under the weather", so I forgot to take any pictures. The whole family was over and being with them helped me to feel better :)

Since I am having to write this a little along, it is now Monday. Woohoo I get to go to work! Up at 5:30AM, why not I wasn't sleeping very well anyway, shower, shave and off we go. What a beautiful sunrise over Shreveport this morning, pinks, purples and shades of blue. Don't ya just love Mondays........ yeah I know, I've done gone over the edge!! :)

I get here this morning to find I have to start two new declining balance spreadsheets and try to figure out why my funding is short on a service contract. Man where else can you have this much fun and get paid too?? Well I better get busy and I will try to post more later. I will also try to get some pictures included. Would you rather have pictures of the sunrise of the spreadsheets?

Remember, every Monday is a gift from God! :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

A very happy Thanksgiving to all and may God bless us each and every one. I love this time of year, the beginning of the holidays and time for family get-togethers. I love my family and I truly believe that since we all share the same heavenly father we are all family, HAPPY THANKSGIVING FAMILY! :)

I have so much to be thankful for and at the top of the list is the grace of God. Without God's grace life would be harsh, bitter and unbearable due to my weak and sinful nature. Through God's grace I am forgiven and recieve the blessings of the Father. Thank You God.

Of course also at the top of my list of blessings is my beautiful wife of nearly 39 years, Cheryl. She has stuck with me through difficult times and wonderful times alike, always there to care for me and love me. How can I not love someone who can put up with me! :)

My family, starting with my two daughters, then later in life my son, growing to two son in laws, then four grandchildren, then recently a daughter in law is truly the foundation of my life. I have the most wonderful family I can imagine and they make me feel like I am the center of their lives also. I love my family. :)

There are plenty more blessings in my life, such as my friends in the RV DREAMS FAMILY. I have met many decent and caring friends and pray that I will meet with them often in future travels. :)

To my extended family I say:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND GOD BLESS YOU EACH AND EVERY ONE

JUST ANOTHER DAY AT WORK

Well here I am again, back at work and having a ball! Now if you believe that I have some swamp land in Nevada I would like to sell You!!!



Don't you just love those "rosy" cheeks? A lot of people think I drink a lot because of my redness, but it is caused by a skin condition known as Roscasea. On the other hand, rambling a lot while posting in a blog is caused by drinking a lot ;) .....Just kidding, unless drinking a lot includes iced tea :)

I guess one good thing about not having a lot of readers is I can ramble on and write nonsensical and no one complains! Hey check out these pictures that someone emailed me.







Since I am in the picture posting mood ...... my son came over and we all decided to go into town Saturday night, here we are just before leaving........




Again, I am just kidding, it is a photo I found while browsing my photo album, we don't get dressed like that except for church, marriages, funerals, funerals related to marriages and hangings.. :)

Well before I get too silly I guess I will quit for today and get back to work.... remember every day is a gift from:

MONDAY, MONDAY

Thank you God that I am healthy enough to be able to work. I have to keep reminding myself of that gift as I go from this:

to this:

and back to work after a week of camping!! :)

I would never claim to be happy to return to work, but it is just another step in my journey to full time RVing. :) I will post more later and let you know how things went on my first day back in the salt mines. I know you all will be a lot more interested in my adventures at work than in those of Howard and Linda traveling the heartland!!

Anyways, keep remembering..... Every day in every way is a gift from God......

A WEEK IS NOT ENOUGH!

From VETERANS DAY CAMPOUT

Well tomorrow will be a week that we have been here at Rocky Point Campground and we both feel it is just not enough! We could stay another week, just doing nothing in particular besidees relaxing. It has been perfect, even the weather really. Saturday night was cool and made sitting around the campfire that much more enjoyable. Sunday was relaxing and cool also, then the rain started coming in on Monday and hung around on Tuesday. Those were the days we read, cruised the internet, napped and ended up doing some laundry. Wednesday was damp then a little sunshine and Thursday was great, although we ended up making a trip to Walmart for some supplies.

We were re-entering the campground coming from Walmart when we noticed a firetruck leaving. Our first thoughts were, "did we cut everything off?" and then as we rounded a curve we spotted it, a motorhome burned down to the chassis! There was a couple with a child sitting on the curb nearby talking with park rangers and firemen. Thank God they were not hurt, but how sad that they lost the motorhome and all on it. The host at the campground gate told us the couple had just drove in, paid to dump only and left. They didn't get far. :(

I didn't have the camera with me and it probably wouldn't have been appropriate to stop and take pictures anyway.

As we pulled into our campsite, we spotted 4 fawn at the edge of the woods, just what we needed to cheer us up a little. Again no camera handy, but maybe they will show up again before our time is up. Anyway the wind is starting to pick up a little, so I think I will go out and put the awning in, just to be on the safe side. Until we meet again, remember every day of life is a gift from God...........

From VETERANS DAY CAMPOUT

OUR ANNUAL VETERAN'S DAY CAMPOUT

We have begun a tradition about 3 years ago of camping out for Veteran's Day week. I am a veteran so that is how I reward myself. :) This time we are camping at Rocky Point COE in Texarkana, Texas. It is one of our favorite places to camp due to it being only about an hour and a half from home. We get to spend more time camping and less time traveling, even though we enjoy the traveling part too! (We loved driving to Branson for the rally).

This trip started out great on Saturday and Sunday, perfect weather, nice and cool in the evenings, then started the raining last night. There were chances of severe storms, which thank God never happened (yet). It has been raining steady so far today, but we enjoyed sleeping late, taking our time getting out of bed, drinking a pot of coffee, then breakfast. Now I am having fun blogging, thanks to my new ATT aircard. :)

Normally I would not be able to get on the internet, but now I have the card! I am mostly happy with the card, but presently it keeps connecting to a 2G network instead of a 3G network and seems slower because of that. Huh?

At any rate we are going to be here until Saturday, maybe Sunday if the weather clears. I may even get to try some fishing too. Is this a little taste of retired life and fulltiming or what? :) Everyday of life is like a gift from God.........

NOW I AM A PAINTER!!

Well I rubbed the paint down to the bare metal trying to get the black streaks off, so there was only one option, I became a painter!! I did not even use a spray gun, I just bought some premium rustoleum gloss white in spray cans and went to town on the bare areas. the paint is uneven in spots, but you can't really tell unless you get up close and look for it. Here are some pictures. What do you think?

BEFORE:

From RV PAINTING

AFTER:

From RV PAINTING

From RV PAINTING

STATE FAIR DAY

We had a great day at the Louisiana State Fair with the kids and the grand kids. I love watching the little ones having fun, smiling and laughing, it is truly a blessing. Instead of a lot of words, I will let some pictures do the talking.....

From STATE FAIR

From STATE FAIR

From STATE FAIR

From STATE FAIR

From STATE FAIR

Even "NANA" was having a blast!

From STATE FAIR

From STATE FAIR

From STATE FAIR

From STATE FAIR

From STATE FAIR

From STATE FAIR

From STATE FAIR

From STATE FAIR

Every day is really a gift from God........