Gina Is Recovering & Friends Visit

Another month has gone by. Whether we want time to go slow or fast it’s moving at the same consistent pace. This month has flown by. I would like to tell everyone how busy we have been but that is not the case. However, that's not to say we have not done anything. In a nutshell I have been working and Gina is recovering from her surgery.

After Gina’s surgery she was laid up in bed and taking it extremely easy as the doctor ordered. I went back to Houston for work and Nicole, our daughter was at home taking care of her. Two weeks after her surgery she went for her post surgery follow-up and was given the all clear to take her flight to Grenada. So on April 19th Rickey, our brother-in-law drove Gina and Nicole down to New Orleans for their flight to Grenada. They had a great flight and were greeted at the airport by Ashley & Parker.

Nicole & Gina's Arrival in Grenada

Right after Gina's surgery Thomas emailed us and told us he was leaving the ship for somewhere and he couldn’t tell us.  He assured his mom and I that he would be safe. This set off a lot of emotions for us. However, Our Father calmed our fears while we prayed for his safety. He surprised me on Easter with a phone call.  To say hearing his voice felt wonderful is a gross understatement. We only got to talk for a few minutes but those few minutes were fantastic. For even better news I received an email from him on Tuesday letting me know that he was back on the USS Green Bay. I immediately let his mom know and we both rejoiced and praised God for keeping him safe. He also sent us a picture and he let me know that he had been in Oman doing some training exercises with the Omanis.

Thomas in Oman

Gina on the other hand has been enjoying her stay in Grenada with our daughters, Nicole and Ashley. She is still following the doctor orders and taking it easy.  She spends her time by sitting and laying on the beach and working on her tan.

Gina looking great on the beach

Mom and daughters enjoying time together on the beach

This past Monday morning I received an email from Rod & Deb letting me know that they were passing through Louisiana and wanted to catch up with me as they knew Gina was in Grenada. I immediately emailed them back to let them know I wouldn’t be home until Thursday night since I work in Houston Monday to Thursday. They said that was fine since they wouldn’t be in the area until Friday. They were currently in Beaumont, Texas. As I was driving back to Louisiana on Thursday evening I decided to stop at the campground and visit with them.  It was so good to see them again. I made plans to bring them dinner on Friday after they got setup in the campground they were going to which was about 12 miles east of our house.

Friday afternoon I made a big pot of crawfish etouffee and rice. I drove out and had dinner with them while catching up on all their travels since we left them in the Arizona desert in February. A wonderful evening and they made plans to come by the house on Saturday.

Saturday when they arrived they surprised me with some hot salmon croquettes with a fresh homemade dill dipping sauce. Thank you Deb and they tasted great!! After that wonderful snack / lunch I took them to our local produce stand and they picked up a few items. Deb commented that she loves to find local farmer markets as they travel. They dropped me back off at the house and I told them I would meet them later in the evening for dinner. They were grilling fresh salmon tonight since Gina and I left the desert the morning before they grilled salmon for everyone that was there with us. Rod & Deb traveled through Alaska last summer and brought back a whole lot of salmon Rod had caught while in Alaska. Dinner was again great. Not only did they grill salmon but also cooked some fresh green beans she bought earlier along with some Japanese rice & Cilantro. It was so wonderful to see and visit with Rod & Deb again. Their daughter went to school at LSU and one of her friends live in the area so they have plans to visit her before they continue their travels further east.

We may not be traveling right now.  However, Gina and I always think about all our RV’ing friends and this was a great treat for me to have Rod & Deb stop and visit for a couple of days. I had a great time and thanks for the wonderful meal. I wish Gina could have been here to enjoy our little get together. Safe travels as y’all make your way toward Red Bay.

Gina is feeling better and continues to recover well. Additionally, Thomas has been kept safe and out of harm’s way. Both are answered prayers and we thank everyone for their prayers. We serve an AWESOME God and we stand amazed as He answers prayers.

One of the many Sunsets Gina is enjoying as she recovers

(I'd say that's a pretty nice setting to recover in)

Gina wanted me to pass on to Mom & Pop's out in Arizona that the little spillway made with rocks looks good!!  Gina said those rocks look like rocks she would have chosen.  She's glad to see that a little of her has rubbed off on both of you.  She only wishes that she was out there with y'all finding more special rocks.  She sends her love to y'all as I do too.

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

Surgery Is Over & Recovery Begins

Gina and I are humbled again by all the comments and emails after yesterday’s long awaited update on us. As you can tell we have been extremely busy.

Nicole, our daughter arrived last night from New York to be here with her mom today. We left for the hospital at five o’clock this morning and that is after Gina soaked in the bathtub with a solution prescribed by her doctor. The good part of getting up so early is that the hospital is only five miles down the interstate from our house. We arrived promptly at 5:15 and was pleasantly greeted by a very nice volunteer who called Gina by name. This went a long way in calming Gina's fears. At least she knew they were expecting her.

Gina's surgery was right on schedule and began at seven o’clock. She was finished and in recovery by nine o’clock. Soon after the doctor came out to let us know how her surgery went and he seemed to be very happy with everything and told us the surgery went extremely well. I want to thank everyone for lifting Gina up in prayer. All Praise and Glory goes to God. He not only helped calm Gina’s fears today but also brought her through all of this great. God takes care of his children. Now the recovery process begins and I’m sure she will be back to her self in about two months.

Gina and I really want to express our sincere gratitude and thanks for keeping us in your prayers. We have always ended every blog with this saying: “Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with”. Today we rejoice for giving us such a wonderful day and for bringing Gina through her surgery. Our Father is so Awesome!!!

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

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.