Our Father Has A Plan

First, Gina and I would like to thank everyone who has emailed us to make sure we were all right. We are indeed doing OK, we have just been extremely busy. We have never went five weeks without writing a blog entry but there just hasn’t been much time to get on the computer. (We have been so busy that Gina hasn't even had time to unload her rocks until yesterday.)  Our Father has been at work in our lives.  There has been some changes and we feel He is the one orchestrating those changes.  So in an effort to catch everyone up I'll just begin with our arrival back in Louisiana.

We arrived back home and our first priority was visiting Aunt Nell and getting ready for Uncle Jim’s memorial service. The service was very nice and a great tribute for a wonderful man who had tremendous impact on our lives.

James Edwin Thurston

December 5, 1932 - February 22, 2011

From there our focus was on taking care of Aunt Nell. Both she and Uncle Jim have been like Gina’s mom and dad. From the time we moved to Louisiana in 1996 they have always been there for Gina and our children. We had hoped that one day we would be able to travel with them but their age caught up with them in 2007 before that could happen. For us,  one of the highlights in our travels was in 2009 when we took both of them to Kentucky and Illinois for two weeks. The memories we created will forever live in our hearts. In memory of him we planted a fig tree in our yard because he always stated that he didn’t have any use for a plant that didn’t provide food to eat.

Fig Tree for Uncle Jim

Our focus has been on feeding and taking care of Aunt Nell while trying to help her adjust to living without her husband of 52 years. Normally that would not be too difficult. However, at 83, her dementia has really taken its toll on her these past five weeks. Gina has done a great job taking care of her.

Gina has been experiencing female issues for a about six years and the past 6 to 8 months they have really gotten worse.  Something had to change and while we were home in December she found a very good Gynecologist and tomorrow she will have surgery that will allow her to feel better. At least that’s what our prayer is. As such this has changed our travel plans for this year. In the middle of all of this I received a phone call from a very good friend about a short job offer in Houston. I was not looking for a job and really didn't want one either.  However, to make a long story very short, Gina and I prayed a lot about this and felt God's hand leading me down this path.  There's a lot more to the story and is a great testimony in how it all transpired.  I started working two weeks ago in Houston. So between Aunt Nell and me starting a new job there just hasn’t been a lot of free time for Gina or me.

Thomas, our son who deployed in February is doing good as he’s floats somewhere in the Indian Ocean. His unit at the present time is uncertain of what their mission is or will be. Ashley, his wife who is pregnant with our first grandchild has had some complications. The baby is growing and doing great so there's no concern with that.  However, Ashley’s eyesight since her pregnancy began has been deteriorating to such an extent that she'll be getting discharged on April 15th and moving back here to Louisiana until Thomas returns from his deployment in September.  On March 27th, Thomas & Ashley celebrated their one year wedding anniversary.  We planted a Willow Oak tree for them on their special day. Happy Anniversary to you two!!! We love y'all and are very proud of you both.

Thomas & Ashley's Oak tree

On March 12th, Gina and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary and my present to her was a plane ticket to Grenada so she can recover from her surgery by relaxing on the beach and spending time with Ashley & Parker, our daughter and SIL. She’ll also be flying back with our daughter on May 14th, as she’ll be finished with medical school there. After I surprised Gina with her ticket she had an idea about Nicole, our other daughter.  She ask me if she could fly down to Grenada with her. I agreed since Ashley will be in the middle of finals and Nicole would be there just in case her mom needed anything. At least that's how it was sold to me???

Since last year when mom & pop’s (aka Mike & Pat) sold their Truck and Teton and bought a motorhome we have discussed switching from a fifth wheel to a motorhome. We have gone back and forth in whether or not to sale our truck & trailer and buy a motorhome. This has not been an easy decision for us since we absolutely love our truck and trailer and have made it the perfect fulltime setup for us. However, after much discussion we made the decision. Our truck and trailer is officially for sale while we search for a motorhome. If anyone is interested you can email us at rolliethurston@yahoo.com. I will get both of them listed this week.

I know that we didn’t cover everything that has been happening in our lives. However, Gina and I are doing great and feel very blessed by Our Father. We are at a loss of words in trying to tell you all how much the emails inquiring about us have meant to us. We have always been humbled by the amount of love shown to us within the RV’ing community. We love you all and thank you for thinking about us.


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