Friends & A Very Special Gift

First and foremost, from the bottom of our hearts Gina and I want to say thank you to everyone for keeping Thomas and us in your prayers. We have been humbled by all the lovely comments and thanks to Thomas for his service and condolences for Uncle Jim. We feel truly blessed by God that he has placed so many wonderful friends in our lives.

After receiving the news of Uncle Jim’s death and praying for our family we decided we needed to head to our house in Louisiana. Nicole, our daughter is driving home from New York and Ashley our other daughter is flying in from Grenada. After telling Ashley, our daughter in law bye we departed Victorville, California Thursday morning and arrived back in the desert near Bouse, Arizona where our good friends Jim & Ellie, Mike & Janna, and Rod & Deb are parked. On our arrival we were greeted with lots of hugs from everyone and were treated to a wonderful travel day meal at Jim & Ellie’s. After a heartfelt and much needed prayer from Ellie we enjoyed an excellent meal consisting of grilled pork steaks by Jim, mac & cheese casserole by Deb and roasted brussel sprouts, carrots and onions by Janna.

After dinner we walked over to Mike & Janna’s where she gave Gina and I a special gift. While we were gone to California she sewed a Service Flag for us. Immediate family of service men and women can fly the Service Flag during times of war. The blue star represents each service member, the gold star imposed over the blue star signifies a family member who has died as a result of conflict or has died while in service. The lower blue star is for Thomas, the upper blue/gold star is for our son Rollie who died while serving in the Navy. Janna, this flag will be displayed with pride and will always be a reminder to us of the love that was sewn in each stitch.  Thanks Janna & Mike for such kind and touching words in your blog entry yesterday.  I encourage everyone to read her blog (www.tinteepeelogcabin.blogspot.com).

Our Precious Gift

After we all finished crying and wiping our eyes we decided it was time to go home. We made it back around 9:30 and with both of us tired we just went to bed thanking Our Heavenly Father for such caring and loving friends we have been blessed with.

I do not seem to have words that can adequately describe the feelings and emotions Gina and I have for all the wonderful people God has placed in our lives. We call them friends but in reality they’re like family and like family they are always there when you need them and right now Gina and I need them. We love you all and thank you for being there for us.

We are now heading for North Ranch, which is in Congress, Arizona to visit with Mom & Pop's for a little while before we continue our drive to Louisiana.

Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.