Nomads2

Sometimes…

Even now, I sometimes cannot believe that I am a Dad! I can’t understand how God could entrust me with these two gifts, two miracles, a responsibility beyond my imagination. I praise the Lord everyday that He did.

Blessed…

I was blessed to have three great men in my life and now I praise God that I still have one. Happy Father’s Day, Paul.

Weird things in RV parks…

Lunch with Jerome and Melinda- WOW…

When the Taylor’s ask you to go to lunch with them, you had better be prepared to huck down some major amounts of food! Eating at Lo-Lo’s Chicken and Waffles no item on the menu was safe from us. Our small table was covered with fried chicken, chicken strips, mac and cheese, collard greens, corn bread, syrup, butter, sweet tea, lemonade, regular tea and of course 4 large waffles. It was rumored that two in our party went into a carb coma and one relaxed at a local pool.

Light Rail…

We work at the Southern Baptist Convention….

Super Leo…

This is what the new 55 looks like…

I have a friend that wears a bright red hat that say, "Where's my Senior Discount?" I am now 55 and have asked twice for my senior discount. As I was climbing this tree, only my second try at using spikes, I wondered if other guys my age do this? I hope so, even though it was plenty scary, it was also fun. Thanks to Norm for always asking about my rigging, and Chris for expert instructions, Phyllis and Linda for all their hospitality, Don and Jan, Charlie, Jack and Sandy, and Ryan and Stephan for a great time training and being with God's people.

Last Weeks Storms in Oklahoma…

These shots were taken about 20 minutes west of our kids home. The horrible storms went west and east of us, killing and destroying.

Cowboy Hall of Fame day…

“Pappy, can we go to a water park???”

"No Leo, but I can put water in this pickle bucket and it will almost be the same thing."

The Land of Oz or Ok…

You know your in Oklahoma when you see the trash cans wired to poles.

Welcome to Oklahoma…

A 'nice to see you again' thunderstorm with tornadoes passing just north and south of us.

What the…

Flying is no fun anymore…

Some where over the middle of the United States. If Piedmont or U.S. Air were still in business, we would have known where we were. The pilots used to carry a road atlas and every so often let us know what we were looking at.

Victory is so sweet…

Leo celebrates a victory with his cousins, from left, Brent, Ryan, Leo, and Zack.

Buffaloes…

The Java Press…

Thanks to my Mom, we are now the proud owners of a back country French press called the Java Press. Last year on our annual camping trip, we realized we had no way to make coffee without electricity. So, we purchased some instant and longed for something better. Last summer while wandering around aimlessly in downtown Flagstaff I discovered this low tech coffee machine, but at thirty dollars and on our way home, I thought I could hold off. After arriving home, I put the press on my amazon.com wish list and waited. The price came down and I mentioned it to my Mom. She said we just had to have good cup of joe when in the back country, so we tried it out here in Oklahoma and it tasted great and was fun to make. This year we will again be the envy of the low tech campgrounds.

Superstar Saturday…

apr 2 2011-6 — This is number 5 of five goals Leo scored at todays highly entertaining game. All told, he had the five scores, three assists and one defensive stop! Everyone from our side was yelling for him to get the ball and when he did the crowd went wild. From left to right, his proud Grammy cheering from the sidelines, the stunned referee seeing number 5, Coach Tera, and Leo, the Superstar of today.

Just a small part of the 60 second victory dance Leo performed after each of the goals he scored.

Living the RV lifestyle….

One of these days I am going to start a list of the great things about the RV lifestyle. But till than I will just write about them when they come to me. Like eating breakfast outside while sitting on your steps. Looks funny when living in a house, in an RV park, looks normal.

That’s Entertainment…

Leo (second from the left) lines up with his team mates to face their first game of the season. The weather was brutal, felt like 20 degrees with the wind blowing 20-30 mph. A small price to pay for such great entertainment! The referee had his hands full, with kids continuing to play and kick the ball well outside of the lines. He had to chase them down and take the ball. It seemed the same little boy from the other team ( he is the one with the blue hat on) sprinted at full speed dribbling the ball and when the ref took the ball, the little blue hat boy would fall on the ground and lay there till his Dad came and picked him up. He did this every time! A large part of the game was taken up with making sure the players knew which goal to kick toward. Once they had this down, it was halftime and the ref and coachs had to go over it all again. Kids were going in all directions, some were crying, some did not want to play. If you are strapped for cash and desperate for entertainment, search out a local field and take in a game, you will not be disappointed. Amid all this chaos, Leo made three assists for scores, playing only three quarters, and during the game, he managed to run to the sidelines twice, once to get a hug from Grammy and once to get a gummy bear. Yes, his team won!

Homemade is good…

We found this bread recipe on line and have made it twice now and really like it. It is called artisan bread and does not rise high or bake in a pan. The ingredients are real simple and is easy to make. The best thing is no chemicals added.

“The Look…”

Every male and every female have had these expressions at least once and probably more than once in their life times. Guys have this look as our grandson Leo has right now when you find out that you all of a sudden have a girlfriend, and of course, you have no idea how that could happen. The next time for sure you look like this is on your wedding day. By obvious contrast, Amanda has the look that says, “We will be getting married soon and have a house, a garden and two and a half kids.” She will have the same look on her wedding day. Just to seal the deal and to make sure Leo knows exactly what is going on, Amanda painted a portrait of the two of them in happy harmony. I’m sure this is true, I think.

Every RV park…

mar 18 2011-4 — I every RV park there are the have's and the have's not. Or the smart and the not so smart. Notice the headboard in front of the flowerbed.

Any one who has ever been to Oklahoma City knows that there is always one thing you count on for sure, wind.

Our new parking spot for the next few weeks. The Rockwell RV park just south of I-40 is a complete park. We have wi-fi, cable, 50 amp service, hot tub, pool complete with three large artificial palm trees that are bolted to the floor. If all of these things were not enough, the park has five buffalo's, three females and two males. For s bonus, the owner told Norm that he thinks the one girl buffalo is going to have a baby! Sometime in April, we are hoping to be here to see that.

Texas Panhandle…

Truthfully, we just picked this park out of the RV parks book we have. My what a travel park! Restaurant, RV wash, repair service (maybe the first photo was one of their training jobs?) carpet cleaning and storm shelters, a must in West Texas. One of the nice items can be seen in the second picture, a concrete pad, very level. A bit pricey at $28.00, it had everything we needed and more than we would use. The weather was windy, and the low was around 37 degrees.

Grants, New Mexico…

We are off on our first RV trip of the year. Departing ground zero in Congress Arizona, elevation 2800 feet around 0830 hours. We climbed steadily for four hours topping out 7100 feet before pointing the nose of the truck east bound. Little wind and warm temperatures were a welcome relief from the snow showers encountered in 2010. Fuel mileage was nothing to brag about, fueling in Winslow ( no we did not stand on the corner, but it is on the ‘To do’ list) showed 10 mpg. We like the truck for a lot of reasons, gas mileage is not among them. As we drove we debated about where to stop and finally decided on a favorite from the past, the Bar S, exit 81 on I-40. This is our fourth or fifth stay and they are always friendly, low price of $21.00 got us a nice spot, 50 amp service, wi-fi and cable TV. We feasted on grilled cheese and soup. The down side was that night, we paid for our warm day time weather with a cold 30 degrees the next morning. Burr!

Residents and Neighbors…

Neighbor.

Annual Disaster Relief training…

We could not believe, we got an award.

Believe it or not, these fellas are some of the hardest workers we have.

Arizona’s busiest Disaster Relief feed unit.

Behind the TRIBE time…

The TRIBE'al leader...

The TRIBE ladies…

The TRIBE men!!!

Yikes, Snow…

In the beginning….

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

Yes, it does snow in the Desert…

Photo’s by Norm…

FOUR DOLLAR’S per GALLON!!!!

My father-in-law and I watch this station which is just outside of Wickenburg with some humor. Always, it seems, when the weekend approaches, the price of fuel goes up and after Monday the price slides down. I don’t think I have ever seen a business deviate in price so much. It is a great location to make a legal (extra) buck (I guess it is legal), I think if you are not local to the area it would be the first place in a while and people just buy there. This establishment has been there for more than a few years, and I have only been in once, I bought a bag of ice. And , if I remember right, the ice was a little pricey.

Good Post from Free Range International…

Thugs, Mobs And Education

by babatim

The news this week has been dominated by the Lara Logan story. Ms. Logan was the subject of the most popular post in FRI history which can be found here. Reactions to the news that Lara was subjected to “a brutal and sustained assault and beating” have cost at least one knucklehead his job when he tweeted dismissively about what exactly those seven words mean. We don’t know what happened to Ms. Logan that day and it will be up to Lara Logan to set the record straight which is what some in the media are calling on her to do. You can read another account of a woman from the international media covering the same story on the same day at the same time here. As she points out she was lucky, and she was scared, and I doubt she will ever place herself in a similar position. Ms. Logan has my heart felt sympathy as does every human victim of mob violence. The specifics of the assault don’t interest me because there is nothing for me to learn from them. I won’t mix in a large crowd celebrating the overthrow of a repressive government under any circumstance and I’m not easily intimidated.

What gets my blood boiling was the news this morning that CBS had sat on that story for five days and only released it when other news outlets were about to do the same. The main reason I keep this poorly edited (but at times interesting) blog going is to be part of the movement which is stripping away the ability of main stream media to dictate news cycle narratives. I have no idea why CBS sat on that story but I suspect it has more to do with the report that the crowd was yelling “Jew Jew Jew” then any concerns for Ms. Logan’s privacy. CBS has an agenda and when confronted with facts running counter to that agenda it reacts like every rich, powerful, arrogant, liberal douche-bag organization in the world; it ignores the story or spins the details.

Navy Commander Martin Sepulveda with Zarmina and her sister Sharifa. Zarmina who is 12 or 13 years old is the local school teacher

Which brings us to the protests by the Wisconsin state teachers union. If you want to read some professional liberal spin on the topic here it from CBS news. If you want the truth you need to hit the blogs; Wisconsin native Ann Althouse is a good place to start and you can find her blog here. The people of Wisconsin after years of democratic fiscal insanity decided to bring the adults back to power. The new Governor, Scott Walker, has made the obvious first move introducing a bill that will dismantle the 50 year old collective bargaining for public employee unions. It is not like he has any alternatives; every majority democratic state in the union and most of the European Union has the identical problem; gold plated obligations to state employees and no money to pay for them.

I find the reaction from the teachers unions, public employee unions, and state democratic representatives to be repugnant. The crowds descending on Madison behaved like a bunch of thugs which is in stark contrast to the Tea Party movement. I’ll leave the political commentary to others but I have to point something out about the American educational system. The vast majority of state teachers union members should be fired on the spot for one reason and one reason only; they suck. Not as in “suck up billions of dollars while giving almost zero return on investment”; they just suck. I’ll let the eloquence of Mark Styen make the point becasue I can’t get past the “they suck” thing:

I think if you had to name one institution, which is probably the biggest structural defect in Western societies right now, and the one that places the biggest question mark over the future of Western civilization, if there was one institution you needed to take apart, it would be the education system.

There is no education system in Afghanistan but there are millions of kids who dream of becoming literate. So let me tell you a remarkable story about a little girl with an aptitude for languages and a desire to better herself and her community through education.

Cpl Jessica Costilla, Zarmina, Sgt Barbra Rangel, and Sharifa

The Marines have built a school in Naw Zad but there are no female teachers in the area. The local people want their daughters to receive an education so a brave little girl has stepped in to fill the gap. Every evening at 1900 hours (7:00 pm) Zarmina’s father brings her and her sister to the Marine combat outpost and drops her off with the Female Engagement Team (FET). They spend an hour or so going over a reading, writing or a math lesson and the next day Zarmina teaches that lesson to the girls in the Naw Zad school.

I asked Zarmina’s father if it was OK to put her picture and story in the blog and he was proud to grant permission. Zarmina and her family are all in. The Marines came here; drove the Taliban out and told the people they will protect them for as long as it takes to bring lasting peace. If we pull out early the fate which awaits Zarmina and those like her from the Taliban is to horrible to contemplate. It will make whatever the mob in Egypt inflicted on Lara Logan seem tame in comparison. Zarmina and her sister Afghans who are trying to obtain a modest education are risking their lives. They have bet everything on the Americans seeing this through to the bitter end. The Marines are game – they won’t quit but they don’t have a vote in how this turns out. It is politicians like those in Wisconsin who abandoned their posts to thwart the will of the people who will decide if we stay or go. Recent history regarding peoples in war torn lands who have bet their lives on us sustaining our commitment to them is not exactly positive.

If you are fond of prayer you need to send a few extra ones topside for Zarmina and the children of Afghanistan. With friends like Pelosi, Reed and Barack Obama those kids are going need all the help they can get.

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From Center for Cowboy Ethics and Leadership…

1 Live each day with courage 2 Take pride in your work 3 Always finish what you start 4 Do what has to be done 5 Be tough, but fair 6 When you make a promise, keep it 7 Ride for the brand 8 Talk less and say more 9 Remember that some things aren’t for sale 10 Know where to draw the line

Parade day…

Lots of Corvettes.

Who would have thought that they would have two huge horned bulls?

That is a real bull taking a ride!

Gold Rush Days…

Some of these dogs are real.

Awards display…

A small amount of the awards that my Mom has won over the past three decades.

Bruce cleans up…

This is an outstanding 1974 Yamaha 250 vintage racer with many custom and trick parts, some of which cannot be seen from this photo. In the first shot, all the expert racers are staging for the money race, 14 riders in all. Bruce captured 3rd place and a good chunk of the purse. Easily winning his two moto’s for the overall win in his class, it was a really fun day for us all. Thanks Bruce!

We go Racing…

Before we go racing, I had to show case one of our great sunsets.

feb 6 2011-05 — Our friend Bruce Sass from Colorado brought two of his many motorcycles to Surprise Arizona to race vintage motocross at Speed World raceway. Bruce is surrounded by a fog of two stroke exhaust as he waits his turn to practice.

Bruce carefully selected his gate position, which paid off with a first place in moto # 1.

Bruce at speed. In both his moto’s he was never challenged having the most horsepower and riding skills, no other rider could hang with Bruce. It also seemed that every racer from Colorado was riding a bike that Bruce built, many from a box of parts. He is a master mechanic (every one looks for the ‘Power by Sass’ sticker), a legend in Colorado motorsports, and a great brother in Christ.

The Ducks…

Norm is so talented in so many ways, I am very blessed to have her as my wife. She made this light for her beautician’s son, an Oregon Duck fan.

The Kettlebell Boomer…

We purchased this video to try out different routines for our kettlebell workouts. We had been using programs that I could find on the web and decided to take a leap and invest in a new video. The “Kettlebell Boomer” dvd is our fourth instructional video from Dragon Door.com. If you are new to KB’s and need detailed instruction on the exercises, this video is for you. So far we have only managed 2 weeks of consistent training, three days a week. I think we will use the program till we hit the road in March. Just as a side note, it is hard to think of ourselves as boomer’s.

Little House in the Desert…

My father-in-law built this house for his little tomato plants to live in.I am really surprised that Norm has not named each plant.

Sunday…

“I was a young man with uninformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time over everything; and to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion of them.” Charles Darwin writing about the religion of Darwinism

New Cool things…

My beautiful Norm built this cruiser for me to enjoy here in the desert.

“The Mother and Daughter”

Christmas Cookies and Outside Art Work…

Sunrise in the Desert…

"The plowshare of conviction must overturn the hardened soil of the heart." Dr. H. A. Ironside

Roofing…

After looking at this photo, I can’t believe we actually worked off this scaffold. It turned out to be a stable platform, better in use than at looks.: All these shingles have wrecked havoc on my back!

Back to Building…

A lot of people may figure how great it is to work with the Baptist Builders, you know, the fellowship and all of the latest in state of the art equipment.

Merle is trying to figure out how Norm could get so much paint on her! In the background is the trim job that her and Martin did. Yesterday the three of us installed those windows, after Merle showed us how.

This is the front of the church. Merle had to work on the entry floor before we could install the double door.

This is some of my handy work. I am not good at painting or caulking, but all of my roof work will be covered up.

Fun with Family…

Nov. 28 2010-09 — Our girls wait patiently for a ride back to Grammy Walker's.

: Leo has a great time in the desert. Here he is trying to decorate a saguaro with old oranges. He has one in mid-flight! The kid has a pretty good arm. All of our children have been here the last few days and we have been making the most of it. The weather has been great, not too warm and not too cold. We have had lots of practice shooting, racing the quads around the desert and eating great food.

Leo is one blessed little boy to be able to spend time with his great-grandfather.

Happy Thanksgiving…

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;– for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish

Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;– for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;– and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;– to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

The Boss and his Boss…

DSCN2502_edited-1 — Our "Boss," Merle, assuming the position. Standing in the shade and keeping track of everything. Merle can tell just by looking if the rafters are plumb, the exact measurement of distances and when to have lunch.

“Mrs. Boss,” Jene, Merle’s better half, is the real deal. She has us praying and singing, keeps us fed, and laughing as she picks on Merle.

Here is Norm, trying to get in with the “Boss.”

From a few days ago…

DSCN2503_edited-1 — This is "Lucky" on the left, Pastor Simon's brother-in -law (we think?). Mr Lee is to the right.

I think this is Mr. Mim, but I could be wrong. We also refer to him as the “Watermelon Man” as he always brings us some.

Martin and I work to remove the outside brace.

Martin climbed up so we could high five our success.

We took a break for lunch.

Our work up to this day.

Back to Work…

DSCN2491_edited-1 — Pastor Simon, looks like he is getting ready to hand out some cash, but I must have been busy taking pictures because I never saw any. The Pastor is the glue that keeps this project running smoothly and keeps us well fed.

Mr. Lee, has been a blast getting to know. His life story sounds like it should be in a best seller.

What a way to spend the day…

DSCN2489_edited-1 — Merle has that 'can we get back to work' look. Martin, on the ladder, is trying to set a good example to Norm and I.

Usually when I climb a rope is attached to me. Instead I have the ropes tied to our tresses.

The project so far.

Church Building…

DSCN2484_edited-1 — I think this lady might be Pastor Simon's mom-in-law. I do know she makes killer egg rolls!

My art work just turned out to be a twist of the saw that I never planned on.

Norm thought she would do some construction art work and modify the window opening.

Here is Norm giving advice to Jene on how to use chop sticks to eat with. I wondered if Norm’s instruction and technique is so good why is Norm eating her Vietnamese food with a spoon?