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Well the date was different, but it was Memorial Day, 2006 when Gary broke his neck.  To say our lives have changed, is an understatement.   When I try and explain what is different I am overwhelmed.  Other than my love for Gary and more importantly our Heavenly Father, EVERYTHING has changed.  We lived in a barn, now we live in an RV.  We played tennis, skied, roller bladed, hiked, lifted weights, chopped wood, and worked around out 18 acre property, now well, we don't do any of that.  Now don't get me wrong this is not a pitty party, and we have not lost anything, but in fact just traded up.  Yes at present we do live in an RV, but this affords us the opportunity to now travel and are in CO visiting Gary's son Kory and his family and have not been out here since before Gary broke his neck.  You don't dare travel with a C-300 Permobile wheelchair on an airplane unless you want it in pieces when you land.  No thank you!!!  But what this also affords us is the opportunity to share our testimony at different places across the US.  We shared for the first time at our NEW home church in Livingston, TX and the response was truly overwhelming and humbling at the same time.  So many people, especially the men were so touched by Gary's testimony and his willingness to be open and real.  God was truly in the house that day.  So now 7 years later I don't think we would change where we are at because we know it was designed by God and to him be all the glory.  He is a glorious God and we know his timing is always perfect and just ask daily that he grant us the patience to do what we need to do while waiting for the miracle to manifest that Gary will be walking again!!!

 
 
Well the hand of God was definitely evident today in getting my dad back to Ohio.  We left Chief Hosa a little after 8am, arriving at DIA at 9am.  To say I get a "little tense" when entering airport areas is an understatement.  So many signs and if you pass where you want to go it takes forever to get back, so I asked Gary and my Dad to please help me keep an eye out for what I was looking for which was short term parking in the deck.  So we see the sign, pull in and since there are only four floors, I head to the top thinking that will be the closest to where we have to get out to get Dad into the airport to check in.  So if I can pick a perfect spot at this point it is on the 4th level, a spot that is in the handicap parking, no space to the right of us so I can drop the ramp, have right next to that the lane that goes across traffic and into the airport.  OK so a one in a million chance for this one, but you know what I serve an awesome God and our parking space was exactly as I described above.  Then the blessings kept coming.  Because I had printed out Dad's boarding pass, we didn't have to wait in that line and the line we waited in was just for bag check in and we were through that by 9:20am.  Off to security we go.  We get there and I ask my Dad if he would mind if I asked one of the security gals if there might be someone that could help him through security, onto the trams, off the tram, and to his gate.  He agrees and off I go.  This young lady helps me to find a young couple and they are more than willing to take Dad with them.  Because they were so gracious, the security lady gives them all an upgrade to First Class Security Check In.  Whoot.  This young couple took my Dad all the way to his gate and he got home fine.  Just this small  window of less than 1 hour God was so very present and to him be all the glory. 
 
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OK, so this is probably the only picture you will see of me in all the park pictures because hey Gary can't quite operate the camera yet and well my dad never really learned in the first place, but boy what a time we had.  Our first stop was the Petrified Forest, then off to the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands and finally the Colorado National Park.  Each of these parks was so very different and yet so spectacular.   I will try to post a slideshow soon with all the different parks and views. God's beauty was so very evident everywhere we went, it was truly breathtaking.  My dad kept saying that if you don't believe there is a God after you see these parks, if you didn't before, your crazy!!  So many precious memories were made and as this was a trip of a lifetime for my dad for his 80th birthday, I hope he enjoyed it as much as Gary & I did! 

 
Well today, we left what has been our home for the last six months at Scenic Loop RV Park in Livingston, TX.  Jim Craig is the owner and caretaker and he has become so very dear to us. Tears were flowing by all, even though we will be back in 4 months.  Jim is truly an angel here on earth as he has gone out of his way for us since before we even got here.  God knew exactly where we needed to stay, for all he had planned in our first six months that we were here. 

We have arrived for the night in Wichita Falls, TX @ a Walmart for the night.  It is so awesome that most Walmart's allow overnight parking for RVs.  Tomorrow we will make our way to Tucumcari, NM.  Good night all, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!!!  HeHeHe
 
My Dad flew into TX on April 18th, in anticipation of our "National Park Tour" in May.  He has been staying with his sister Jane and her husband John.  Aunt Jane & Uncle John are my "favorite" relatives in TX and have welcome us with open arms since we arrived in November of last year!!!!  Well in anticipation of our departure on Wednesday, Dad will be moving into the RV today so we can get everything packed and settled. Although we will miss all of our friends here in TX, we are excited for this trip, which begins at the Grand Canyon and ends at Yellowstone!!! My dad has always loved to hike, so this park tour is going to be awesome.  Gary & I are excited to share it with him and see part of the country that I have never seen before.  We will be posting pictures along the way, as the internet connection allows.  LOL  Please keep us in your prayers for safe travels, thanking you in advance.  Blessings to all for a wonderful week.  Ra
 
Back when were still in Ohio, a kitten adopted us and we named him Walter.  After much prayer and fighting this decision, believe you me!  Walter has found a new home.  A precious young lady from our church, whose father has cat allergies, allowed her to adopt Walter.  Destiny, her mom Patricia, her brothers Justin and Jonathan and dad Donnie came into our lives a couple of months ago and will NEVER leave.  They have become so precious to us.  I will add more to this post at a later time, but in short, Justin was a quadriplegic in high school, but received a miracle from God and is now walking.  We love them and are so excited for Walter and his new adventures to come with Destiny!!!
 
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Sunday, November 18th, 2012 we arrived at Church on the Lake for our very first service.  Having left Mansfield First Assembly and Pastor Blair, we prayed we would find a church and Pastor that were at least comparable.   We didn't have to "find" anything, God leads!!!  After that first Sunday, we never looked again.  Pastor Ed, his lovely wife Arlene and this entire church are so welcoming, so caring and so alive with the Holy Spirit, I don't know how the roof stays on sometimes.  Pastor Ed has a gift that can only be given by God.  He brings the word to life and his fervency is like no other.  He is the definition of a "Truly Godly Man".  We will miss them all very much over the next 4 months, and are looking forward to coming "home" in late August.  If you live in or around Livingston, Texas, I recommend this church family with an A+++ rating.  Check them out, you will see God like you have never seen him before!!!