Softball and Hiking

We are settling in up here at Mom & Pop’s little piece of Heaven. Tuesday after we had eaten some excellent baby back ribs it was time for Mom’s softball practice. Gina and I were just going to watch her and somehow I was asked to practice with them. Before the end I was asked to play with them. They have a game tomorrow night. The whole time we were at home Mom was trying to get Gina to play with her once she got up here and somehow it was I who got recruited not Gina. We’ll just have to see if they still want me to play after they see me play in a game. Wednesday found us up early to take a hike with Mom & Pop’s. My eyes were still really dry so Gina went with them while I worked on writing a blog entry. 1500 miles in two days took its toll on my eyes. They are extremely dry but a couple of days of eye drops should fix them. After Gina got back from hiking all I heard was how beautiful the scenery was. After breakfast Gina cut Pop's hair. He like his last haircut so much that he waited for our return for his next one.

Gina having fun cutting Pop's hair


Pop's smile must mean he likes his hair cut

Later that evening we headed out to the baseball field for a game. Mom pitched and I played first base.

Mom and I after warming up


Mom pitching while I'm playing first base


That would be a base hit (I had three of them)


Mom also got that base hit

I had a lot of fun and I must have done all right since they asked me to come back next week. Mom and Pop said that this was the closest game yet since we only lost by one run. Maybe next week we’ll be better. Mom got hit in the leg but she still continued to pitch. She said it looked worse than it felt.

By Thursday morning her leg was blue from her knee to her ankle

Thursday found us waking up at 7:30 when Mom & Pop were knocking on our door ready to go hiking. We through on our clothes and headed out for a hike in Custer State Park. We did the same hike that they took Gina on yesterday. I must agree with Gina that the scenery is beautiful.

The view overlooking Stockade Lake


Mom & Gina posing


A nice reflection on the lake

Friday found us taking another hike in Custer State Park. However, this one was through the woods and over rocks with some pretty steep inclines. Again the scenery was beautiful.

A fast moving creek


Pop's telling Gina that the rest was all down hill


This was a steep decent even though the picture doesn't show it


Gina was quite happy she made it and back down the trail


I had to include this tree growing out of a rock
(there is no dirt around this tree)

After we ate a brunch we started laying out some dimensions inside their pole barn to see if the floor plan was going to work for Mom and Pop’s. I believe we have all of the dimensions now plus or minus a few inches. Now I need to capture them on paper. I believe Gina is getting a cold so she loaded up on some medicine and hopefully she’ll feel better in the morning.

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

Our Journey To South Dakota

First things first, we made it to Mom and Pop’s little piece of Heaven in South Dakota. We drove a little over 1500 miles in two days. However, the reunion was well worth it. We have missed them so much these past five weeks. One of the first things after our hugs was to give Pop's his birthday presents. The first present is a poem titled "A Letter From Heaven" and the other present is a cross made from old barbed wire.

Happy Birthday Pop's glad we're here with you to celebrate!!

Gina has worked in her garden non stop placing all of the rocks she found in Arizona while my dad and I worked on building a rack to attach to the back of our fifth wheel that would carry our new Polaris Sportsman 500 four wheeler. Here are a few pictures of Gina's rocks displayed and me working on the four wheeler rack. If you would like to see more click on this link and it will take you to our online photo album. June photo album

Getting it ready for painting


The finished product

We departed our house in Louisiana on Friday June 25th heading for Natchez Mississippi. Our nephew, Rickey Craig was getting married at Monmouth Plantation on Saturday night. The wedding was beautiful and we wish Rickey Craig and Lacey the very best as they begin their new life together as husband and wife.

Mr. & Mrs. Rickey Craig Noland

We left the campground in Vidalia, Louisiana around noon heading for South Dakota. We stopped just north of Oklahoma City at a truck stop due to a severe thunderstorm and the rain was so heavy that I could not see. We turned on the air conditioner and called it a night. We were back moving at five o’clock Monday morning. We stopped at the Wal-mart in Chadron, Nebraska around 9:30, which put us about 87 miles from Custer, South Dakota. We woke up Tuesday morning full of excitement. We called Mom & Pop’s to let them know we were on our way. When we were about 20 miles south of Custer we tried to call Mom but didn’t have service on our cell phone. We were not too concerned since I knew about where Mom & Pop’s place was located and Gina was so excited and consumed in seeing all of the buffaloes. As we were leaving Wind Cave National Park we saw Mom & Pop’s sitting on the side of the road ready to escort us into Custer.

Gina's first buffalo sighting


After 1,500 miles it was nice to have Mom & Pop's escorting us the final few miles

Please read Mike and Pat's blog since they did such a great job capturing our arrival and reunion. It is so awesome to finally be back together. God has so richly blessed us by placing them in our lives. As Pop's said, "its a relationship made in Heaven". In closing, all the Praise and Glory goes to Our Father for Mom & Pop's and our safe journey here.


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

Enjoying Our Time in Louisiana

First, I need to apologize for my last blog entry because I did not explain what a pin box is. So for our friends that wanted to know where the wren had built her nest. I decided to add a picture of our trailer's pin box.

Inside of that black thing is where the wren built her nest

Gina is continuing to work in her garden while I have been building a rack to carry our four wheeler on the back of our trailer. We do take breaks and admire the beautiful flowers as they bloom and watching the rabbits and squirrels play.

A beautiful 'Yellow King Humbert' canna flower


One of the many Tawny Daylilies blooming


A miniture Azalea bush in full bloom


This fellow was quite entertaining


One of many rabbits eating in our yard

On Friday we decided to stay inside since the weather wasn’t cooperating with us to work outside. The weatherman said we received approximately 6.2 inches of rain. It was a lot of rain. Saturday found us waking up early and getting outside. First to enjoy our coffee and Gina wanted to get started in her garden before it started raining.

Gina playing with her special rocks

While she got started in her garden I hooked up the trailer to the truck and moved it so my dad and I could mount the frame on the trailer and he could finish up the welding. Even though it rained on and off all day we continued to work. We added two additional receivers to the back of the trailer. This will allow the new rack to have three points to connect to for more strength and stability.

Dad tack welding the pieces together before we mount the rack


Dad finishing the welding while the rack is in place


The two additional receivers in place

We woke up Sunday morning to beautiful weather. At least it was nice weather for Louisiana in June. That means waking up to hot (83 degrees), humid (91 % humidity), clear skies, and the sun shining bright. I decided to have a relaxing day sitting inside while Gina worked in her garden in the afternoon. I did occasionally go outside and see Gina’s progress. Around six o’clock Shane and Nicole came over for dinner that consisted of steak and baked potato. For dessert Nicole made a pan of brownies that we enjoyed with vanilla ice cream. Dinner was great and we enjoyed visiting with them. After they left Parker came over around nine o'clock to let me play with his dad's new IPad since he's on vacation in Palm Springs, California. He also installed the new ILife software on Gina's Macbook. I can hardly wait for my IPad to arrive. Overall we had a wonderful weekend visiting with family and we were able to get a lot accomplished. We are both ready to get out this heat and move on up to South Dakota where Mom and Pop's (aka: Mike and Pat) are reporting to us some cooler weather. I don’t know how we have endured it this Louisiana heat for so long. It reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw in Arizona. "If you can't handle the summer you don't deserve the winters"

This is my favorite place in Gina's garden

I feel so at peace watching the fish in the pond. In the background is an angel with her finger over her mouth to be quiet. Hearing the water flowing through the stream and into the pond is so relaxing and peaceful.


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