Thomas Is Promoted

Congratulations Thomas!!!

Yesterday we got a phone call from Thomas, our son who is a Marine. He called to tell us he got promoted to Lance Corporal. To say that made our day is an understatement. We were thrilled to hear about his promotion. It feels our heart with joy to see our children succeed. We are so proud of him. He just got back from spending a month in the field in Northern California and was happy to be back at Camp Pendleton. His Battalion is preparing to deploy to Afghanistan in February. As much as it scares us that he’s deploying we are still proud of him and his service to our Great Country.

We had a relaxing morning by sleeping in until 6:30. We didn’t have any plans for today since the drywall contractor didn’t show up on Thursday. He did show up today and finally around four o’clock he finished spraying the texture. It looks fantastic. Now we just need to let it dry and Gina can begin her painting magic. Here are some pictures of the finished look.

Looking into the Kitchen


Looking into the Living room


Looking into the Bedroom

Being that it was our social hour time we all grabbed our chairs and sat outside enjoying the beautiful weather. There were storm clouds moving in over the horizon. That’s a daily occurrence around here at four o’clock everyday. We have just come to expect it. Some days it rains and some days it passes on by us. However, today it rained on us for about an hour. I can handle all of the rain it’s the hail that I don’t like. We finally called it a night and watched a movie.

Now for a very important item. I need to ask a favor from anyone who is in Houston or might be near there. As you all know Mom and Pop’s are downsizing and are looking to move from a fifth wheel to a motorhome. Well, they found one at the PPL consignment lot located on the southwest side of Houston. Specifically, it’s on the corner of Hwy 59 and the Beltway. They called them yesterday and the salesman wasn’t very helpful in providing information. So my favor, can anyone go by there today or early next week to take some pictures and provide a little more specific information. It would be greatly appreciated and thank you. Please email us at rolliethurston@yahoo.com and I'll provide you with the specific details they would like to know.


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

Pop Gets His Workshop Back

Thursday morning found me up early and on the road driving to Rapid City at five o’clock. It was a beautiful morning and I arrived at Lowe's at six only to find out they didn’t open until seven. That was all right. However, I still had an hour to kill so I went to Wal-mart and picked up a few items. I was back at Lowe’s at seven and bought all of the items needed to complete the electrical installation.

Got Back on the road at 8:30 and let me tell you I have never seen so many motorcycles in my life. Mom & Pop’s told us that there would be a lot but I figured most of them would be up around Sturgis. I was wrong they are all over the place. Occasionally, I would see two or three riding together but mostly there were groups of ten to twenty bikes and some even larger groups. They do not ride very fast so my trip back took me over an hour and a half. The other thing that I noticed on my drive home was all of the vendor booths along the highway and the towns including Custer have closed off roads to allow for motorcycle parking and vendor booths. This is a major boost for the economy around here and they appear to appreciate the business it brings.

Once I arrived back home Mom and Gina were in the shed cleaning it out. The idea is to clean out the shed and move items inside the barn on top of the cabin. They are just about finished. Pop’s is really liking it. He commented that he now has his workshop back again.

Pop is happy to have his workshop back


Gina even managed to do a little decorating above the door

Well, we were all hoping the drywall would be finished today. However, the contractor called and said he wouldn’t be working today. This is really slowing us down, but it is what it is or something like that. We all stopped at four o’clock as usual for our social hour. We both look forward to four o’clock everyday because it’s our time to relax and enjoy good conversation. Of course dinner always occurs right after it. Today Gina was making a pot of taco soup. Here’s an open invitation to anyone that may be near us to stop by at four o’clock and enjoy our social hour with us. The weather up here is unbelievable when you look at the national picture. We are enjoying the cool temperatures. Wish we could pack it up and send it to all of you that are enduring those 100 plus degree temperatures. Stay safe and drink plenty of water or you could just come up to the Black Hills and visit us. The high yesterday was only 76 and the low was 49 degrees with clear skies. We couldn't ask for better weather.


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

An Easy Day Enjoying the Beautiful Weather

Gina and I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to read our blog and for sharing your thoughts by posting comments. We really appreciate hearing from you.

Two of the comments yesterday asked us how we knew the age of the buffalo. Well, we really didn’t know. However, we got a lesson from Mom & Pop’s about how the park brands the buffalo. They worked here at Custer State Park for nine years. Each year in September, the park conducts a buffalo roundup. They gather all of the buffaloes up for vaccinations. However, the new calves get branded with the last digit of the year they were born. So if you check out the pictures below you will see the brand on the rear hindquarter.

Notice the zero, this bull was born in 2000


This buffalo was born last year in 2009


Rocky & Sheri loaded up and heading out

After Rocky and Sheri departed this morning we headed out to the barn. Our goal today was to help Mom & Pop’s move a lot of items in their new storage area above their cabin. After we got most items moved from the barn floor Gina and Mom moved out to their shed. We finished up right at four o’clock. While we were enjoying our social hour I decided to boil a few pounds of shrimp, potatoes, onions, and sausage. We had to eat quickly because Mom and I had a softball game. Well, the game didn’t go so well considering we had won our last three games. Regardless of whether we win or lose we have a lot of fun. We do not have a game next week since the giant motorcycle rally held in Sturgis is next week. This is the 70th anniversary for the rally.

I am off to Rapid City this morning to buy light switches and receptacles. We are hoping real hard that the drywall will be finished today. If that happens you will find Gina in her painting clothes doing her second best hobby right behind searching for rocks.


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