EXCITING times! There have been many celebrations since our last blog post. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with the Wachter’s then there was a little holiday gathering at our house with our North Carolina Family. Our septic system is upgraded and we can flush with confidence! Babe and Old Glory have their North Carolina License plates and Mark and I have our North Carolina Real ID Drivers Licenses. As official North Carolinians we feel like we should get better acquainted with our area. We have found a couple of hiking trails/ fishing holes but there are still a lot of places on our local bucket list to check out.
Then, Christmas 2020 and New Year 2021 were spent with the Maryland Ballards as we all awaited the arrival of the newest little Ballard. She kept us all on pins and needles while staying put past her “due date” of January 6. Obviously she hadn’t marked her calendar or maybe she was just feeling a little shy. At any rate, she finally joined the party. Welcome to our world Leilalyn Hope!
We puppy-sat while they were at the hospital and we were able to stay a few days to meet and get to know our new granddaughter after they arrived back at home.
After Tim, Dear and Leila came home we drove up to Syracuse for a quick visit with Dad and Mom Ballard. It’s about a 300 mile trek from Tim’s to the Syracuse Ballards. We drove up and just stayed overnight then back to Maryland we went for more Leila time.
Uncle Grant and Aunt CK came to Maryland for a quick visit to meet Leila.
Dear cooked Hot Pot and we tried a new recipe for French toast casserole.
We took the pups for some fresh air as we all went for a walk around the neighborhood.
Expect to see lots more pictures of Leilalynn on this blog. RVing will remain a part of our life and next winter there are plans for an extended RV trip to Florida. We are in the process of preparing the best place for the fifth wheel (Old Glory) on our property. We will need to trim a few branches, cut down a tree, have some grading done and hopefully then we can bring Old Glory to our property. In the meantime, we have found a great storage site for her.
This year there will be yardwork, gardening and some basic home improvement projects going on. Gardening, possibly some canning and of course Leilalynn will be some of the blog topics in the coming months. We pray you are all healthy and happy in this beginning of a new year. Look around and spread some love, be a friend, make someone’s day brighter and just be the reason someone finds hope in 2021!
Hey. Congratulations from the Rickels on everything.
The Lord is definitely blessing your growing family.
Praying for a safe and successful year for you all.
Keep letting His light shine.
Blessings to all.
Thanks Bob! Hope you are well! How did your surgery go? Say hey to Bonnie for us ????
Surgery went well, they removed 15 inches of Colon. Thwy did however find that my Kidney was enlarged 3 times normal and was encroaching into my Abdominal Cavity. This is the Kidney that has had 38 stones and 4 surgeries and has a growing tumor on top of the Adrenal gland
on top of it. The surgeon said the Kidney needs to come out. I got a CAT scan to prepare for it that same afternoon of the doctors visit.
I get the results the next day and not only is the Kidney normal size again but the tumor tumor that has been growing for 4 years is gone. The doctors said there us no Earthly explanation for it. They are right. Total healing from God. He did the same thing for me 20 years ago when I had my heart attack.. They had all the tests and pictures showing 2 blockages and damage and when they went to do the Angioplasty and Stents they couldn’t find anything. They also used the phrase “no Earthly explanation”.
I don’t understand how or why I am so blessed but I am sure not going to question His Wisdom in this case.
Starting to eat again but lost 125 lbs total and it has been so long since I ate solid food that I don’t have much of an appetite. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers and I have been sharing your blog with Bonnie who also says hi.
After much thought and prayer and with my impending health and other family related issues facing us I brought the RV back to Florida and sold it and gave up our spot @ Moonshine Creek.
It was the only debt we had and it sold in less than a week to the first person who came for only $10k less than we bought it for 4 years ago. Definitely confirmation from God that it was the right thing to do. Sold a number of my extra vehicles too since we aren’t going to have the 2nd home.
Hope you can make your trip to Florida next Winter. We would love to catch up with you all and visit.
I know put you in that new community to be His Light and a blessing to all those around you as you were to those of us at the campground. We will be praying for you to connect with strong believers to provide a strong local support system
and fellowship for you there.
Stay warm and we look forward to your next blog.
Blessings, Bob and Bonnie
Blessings
Wow! God is good and we are in awe and praising Him for your miraculous recovery!! We appreciate your prayers – ya’ll enjoy that Florida sunshine ????