The End of this Chapter

Thank you to those who have prayed for Michael's puzzling ailments over the years. We continue to pray for strength and healing, and yet, we  hear God say His grace is all we truly need. If His power is perfected in weakness - we welcome this platform of weakness.

Today, we received a determination letter from the Department of VA and we bring this part of our story to an end.  We have shared Michael's claim was expedited. We've been told by several they'd not seen a claim handled quite like ours. We were given an "interim rating" at 6 months, this allowed Michael to begin getting medical care in the VA system. We were then sent to see Gulf War Evaluators and they found the answers to the pesky health questions that have been growing for the past ten years.  The answers didn't lead to easy fixes, as we'd prayed, but again, just maybe we are to embrace this platform of weakness.  And here - at 8 months - we've received a final VA determination. I think they've done an excellent job; our claim was handled in a timely fashion, they gave us answers we didn't even fully know to search out and they've treated us fairly.

We are still reading through the packet they've sent, we may need help sorting it all out, but we are happy to be able to end the "VA Disability Claim"  chapter of retirement.

Receiving a disability rating is  one of those bittersweet moments in life... seeing the words permanent service-connected disabled veteran  in black and white is a bitter pill to swallow - but again God knows the platform He is building for us.

We KNOW God is not done with us yet. We KNOW He has a plan for the next 20 years, we have no idea what it will look like at this point - but we KNOW it's a good plan from the loving hands of a GOOD God.

Thank you for your prayers and advice during these months.

Clearing the Lane

We moved from an unfinished corner of the yard to work on the lane leading back to Mom G's home. We noted neighbors, mailman and we, ourselves, were having trouble sharing the lane which serves as a driveway.....the trees and brush had overgrown the fence and spilled into the road.....this narrowed the available width for traffic.   I realize this is the second week we've said we are working on the lane. Lest you wonder why five fairly energetic folks are taking so long.....First, we work with the physical limitations we have. We need lots of recovery days.  Second, this is a BIG job. The brush was 4 - 5 feet into the lane. On the yard side there is 15 - 20 feet of "extraneous" brush which we are clearing to find the lawn and garden spots.  I didn't take any before shots...but here are photos of the corner we have yet to clear.

We had hoped to finish this week. Stacia and I have some urgent wedding business in OR.....Tuesday, I was hauling a "branch" to the burn pile and felt my back spasm. I've hauled thousands, hundreds, lots of branches to the pile and not had a problem.  My solution was to stretch a bit and then go lop some trees down and drag them out of the jungle. I find satisfaction in this AND I thought it would stretch  my back. I could barely walk by the time we left Mom G's that night. I spent Wednesday in bed. Today, Michael is going to drive us up to OR for wedding shopping....so this corner will have a weekend reprieve. 

In any event, clearing the lane has involved loppers, chainsaws, hedge trimmers, brush trimmers, weed whackers and pulling trees from power lines...The kids have been essential partners in this work of love. The boys do the heavy lifting, climbing, digging and chopping for Michael. Stacia helps outside and inside. She is great at assisting Mom G with her "projects."  I love how she's willing to slow down and move at Mom G's pace. The rest of us will be able to do more of that once the yard is manageable. We really want to make use of the nice days before the rains arrive. We'll have lots of time for visiting and inside projects this fall/winter.  

Boards from the bench Alex discovered on Saturday - resulting in the ER visit

Our hopes soared as we began to find the fence....see the white post....

It's not DONE,  but it will be next week.....We are starting to feel encouraged we can get the yard in shape and move in to help with the house before winter.  Two neighbors were great encouragers this week. Both stopped by to offer their expertise and knowledge of taming some of these native species. We heard one neighbor tell a visitor - "They've done so much work. The whole thing looked like that corner last week."

It may still look overgrown to you, but it's a thing of beauty to us. The hedge in the foreground was as tall as the trees and tangled in the power line....we can see a fence along the mailbox, and a gate which hasn't been seen in a long time.....there are still two trees to trim out of the power lines and that corner.....where you see the densest foliage used to be a garden spot.

But for today - we'll break and go make wedding dreams become a reality. 

Traffic on the Redwood Hwy

The drive up the Redwood Hwy from our site to Mom G's usually takes 8 - 10 minutes. We had been told 25,000 people came to town for the fourth of July. It would appear a good share of them headed home on the 5th at 0900.  It took us 28  minutes to get 4.7 miles.....

No one got car sick on the hwy today! ::snort:: I even had time to take a video clip. 

I was a bit envious of the RV's heading up the road - our time will come. For now, we are choosing to be content with our detour....and happy that most days the traffic is lighter. LOL The neighbor assures me this is NOT normal summer traffic. Shew.

Our 4th of July Celebration

Before you look any further, 10 months ago - on our first full timing travel day - I placed my camera in an overhead cupboard for safety purposes. It got thrown around. The lens is wobbly and doesn't work quite right. Michael looked at these and said we need to get my lens fixed or buy a new one.....Hmmm...but these are the photos I have - so I will share them! 

The boys survived the night on the beach. I may join them next time - I sort of like my quiet nights in the Caboose.  They showed up bright and early and we had a camping breakfast. Our tradition is "Breakfast for Dinner" on Saturday night, one was very surprised to have breakfast in the morning. Keep em guessing! 

When we have visitors we MUST walk down to Stout Grove - which we did. I was so happy. We haven't done that since we arrived to help Mom G - and it was nice to just relax in the midst of all this beautiful creation. 

Do you wonder WHAT he is doing? Using his handy-dandy flashlight to check for spiders for Arielle.

So I could take THIS photo. 

Arielle & Cory - 5 1/2 months until the wedding

 Michael is a wealth of information on Redwoods. I think we'll make a video with just Redwood facts.  It'll preach.  He was THERE shortly after many of these trees fell in a windfall 40 years ago. The kids were  an attentive audience - and I'm counting it as science and genealogy.

Alex, Cory, Arielle, Stacia, Nolan

 A helpful hiker took a photo of all of us! 

Alex, Cory, Arielle, Nolan, Stacia, De'Etta & Michael

We've been bringing Gherkins to this tree for a photo for 31 years. LOL Even though they keep growing - the tree is STILL BIG! 

Stacia, Nolan, Alex, Arielle, Cory

We finished our walk around noon. I drove back across the river to make lunch/dinner. They swam, and Michael visited with Mom G and helped her get ready.

Our youngest two - Alex and Stacia - their friendship reminds me of Josiah and Krista

 All the trimmings - grilled steak and veggie patties, melon, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, homemade biscuits, beans, salad and FAMILY.  I'm getting more confidence at pulling off meals in my tiny kitchen.  We didn't all fit around the table so us "three adults" sat off to the side. 

CoRielle left after lunch for their four hour drive back to Oregon. It was a quick visit - but it picked up our spirits. Mom G was happy to see Arielle and meet Cory too.

Visitors are welcome. You may have to sleep in a tent - but we can keep you busy while you're here...

Last, and maybe least, we started a Courageous Joy You Tube channel today.  We're trying our hand at video blogging. It's a fun way the whole family can get involved. Some days a quick video blog is more practical than editing photos and organizing thoughts. OBVIOUSLY, we don't organize our thoughts too carefully in the videos....and we have a lot to learn....BUT we are having fun and so we'll keep making them. LOL  We love to share the things we see.



The big question we have on our minds tonight is - will our sleepy park go back to normal or is THIS the kick off to the summer season? Every space is full.

Happy 4th of July

Are they not the cutest? 

CoRielle Are Here

After church, lunch, and our visit to Brother Jonathan Point...this happened. 

Repair on Mom G's car

 CoRielle arrived. They are down for the evening and day tomorrow. We enjoyed dinner and then headed over to Mom G's.  The guys decided to initiate Cory into an old family tradition - sleeping on the beach. Michael did this a lot while growing up here. We girls opted for warm and soft beds in the Caboose.

A site was selected, rocks were cleared and driftwood was gathered.  

Next up was a visit with Mom G. 

Mom, Arielle, Cory

Stacia, Cory, Arielle - Arrow and Nina

Smith River at Sunset

 Of COURSE we stayed for s'mores before heading back to the park. 

CoRielle, Nolan, Michael, Stacia, Alex

It's a blessing to have the kids make the drive for a quick visit. We'll pack in as much as we can.

Brother Jonathan Point

JaRissa have been taking quick video clips of places they are going and things they are doing in Alaska. They have been such fun for us to watch, that we decided to try our own. I had thought we'd need to wait until we have a Go Pro - but we made it work without it - once we figured out not to put the selfie-stick over the volume button. LOL

Below - a quick visit to Brother Jonathan Point in Crescent City, CA. We'll mostly share these on our Courageous Joy Facebook page.

We've been thinking of starting a YouTube channel for quite some time....It seems to do that we'd need to do more professional videos, and learn to edit, and learn how You Tube works....so we've done nothing.

A still shot that will print - though it's a bit odd. ::snort::