Sometimes Trusting is HARD To Do...

...and right now is one of those times.

And, if you have read my most recent post under

Ali's Thoughts & Ramblings

you can imagine my first thought

was to get something to eat

so I grabbed a

and enjoyed it!!!

As Ron was driving into Branson this morning

for my appointment with Dr. Steve the 

decided to stop,

just STOP!!!

The good thing it happened right in front of the 

auto repair shop.

So Ron got the Jeep into the parking lot.

Talked to a mechanic, who thankfully

gave Ron a ride into Branson to meet me at the clinic.

At that time, the mechanic thought it might be moisture in the gas.

If that was what was wrong it would be between $300 & $500 to repair it.

So Ron joined me at the clinic,

then dropped me back off at Norma's

(by the way she is doing okay, gets tired very easily

and is a great patient)

Ron made a few stops before returning to the auto repair shop

to find out the engine is 

TOAST!

Yep, dead in the water!

And all I wanted to do was 

but when you are sitting in a friends living room

it is just not becoming to throw a temper tantrum.

The good thing is

we have a car which was a gift from some sweet friends last October.

And it is running good, even while having over 350,000 + miles

and for that we give thanks.

Now we have to decide what to do?

Is a 1990 Jeep Wrangler worth putting in 

a $2500 + engine and repairs

and who knows what we will find

Or do we junk it?

And who wants a Jeep that doesn't run?

So I ate my banana, 

said a few little prayers to the Lord,

talked to Ron,

he is going to do some checking on the price of a new engine,

talk to a friend who might be interested in it,

we may just tow it back out to GUMI 

and just take care of the things we need to take care of

such as work meetings, 

making work phone calls,

planning to go see the eye doctor on Wednesday

and give us time to pray

and see if the Lord leads us to a decision

or leads someone to us with a suggestion.

So if you think about me tonight,

I would appreciate a prayer

that I don't go on a binge eating frenzy

and instead just enjoy

my evening with Norma.

It's Been Mighty Cold!!!

Over the past week we have had cold, very cold

temperatures...yesterday morning we woke to 5'

Here are some pictures of the last few days

Valentine's Weekend found us in Branson

We stayed at the Branson Hilton Convention Center

(won a free night stay last December at the Branson Chamber event 

held at Silver Dollar City)

and had dinner at Level 2 Steak House.  

Probably the fanciest restaurant we have ever eaten in.

The food was good. But very EXPENSIVE.

We had a $100 gift card and we thought that would be plenty for the two of us to have dinner,

Never eaten at a fancy restaurant before where every item is separately priced.

And the prices are way more than we would ever pay to go out to eat.

But we were there, we had the $100 so we ordered.

 Pictured below is my crab salad. $9.95 to the left and their picture to the right.  

Mine was quite a bit smaller, at least the amount of crab.

 

Below is the Petit Filet Mignon for me...it sure looked pretty lonely all by itself on the plate.

$28

And Ron had the rib eye for $36, didn't get a picture of his.

And for $18.95 he got a three sides dish with asparagus, garlic mashed potatoes and egg noodles with cheese sauce.

And we both had water to drink.

As they say there is a first time for everything.  

We were quite shocked that you had to pay extra for a side, 

you would think that a steak would come with a baked potato.

The meal was good, glad we went but we know we won't be back...way too pricey for us.

And then we went to see

which is always a lot of fun.

The best part of the evening was hearing/seeing New South

singing How Great Thou Art

and they had a standing ovation!!!  

Can't wait till we can go and see their Gospel Show!!!

Sunday we went to Chateau on the Lake

for the Home Show

made a lot of connections for projects 

out here at GUMI Camp USA

And then we came back home to get ready for the snow storm

This is what we woke up to 

Monday morning

    

Made a big pot of ham, rice & beans for dinner 

and Tuesday morning

  

So for lunch I made

Aunt Joan's Pancake

(a Dutch pancake made in the oven in a cast iron skillet)

It is a little brown on top because of the cinnamon I sprinkled on it before baking) 

And we were running out of water

to do the most basic things

...you know like flushing the toilet  

So Ron got to work

and gathered some ice,

and we had lots of it

And so pieces from the 5 gallon bucket got heated on the stove.

And then the water went back into the bucket

And so we keep 

plugging along

and through it all

we got this great picture

of our son,

Jamie.

Thanks Jamie for wearing the GUMI Camp USA

t-shirt.

Doesn't he look smashing!

Can't wait to see him in May

at the Grand Opening of 

GUMI Camp USA

Have a great day!!!

And pray we get some sunshine and warmer temps!!!

Moved and Settled Once Again

Yesterday morning I left and headed into Branson

for the day and to spend the night 

with a friend

and hoping and praying that Ron could get the

leaning motor home moved and leveled.

Ran all my errands,

went to 

 and had a great meeting,

lots of sharing and time spent in prayer.

Then ran some errands,

made reservations for the 

for Saturday,

Valentine's Day 

and then went to a 

friends' home for our

Ladies Fun Night

and to do some laundry.

After a fun evening and great food

called it a night and went to bed.

Woke up to beautiful sunshine

streaming in thru the upper windows

sort of like this one

the sun streamed in through the half circle 

part of the window...the rectangle part had shades.

And after a stop at Wal-mart I headed out to

GUMI Camp USA

and see my hubby.

And this is what I found

Our home on wheels had a new home.

The motor home had been right here yesterday, 

the back of the rig towards the

A-Frame and between the 

port-a-potty and the cabin.

And I felt sort of closed in

with the row of trees

along the side of the motor home.

And here is our home on wheels again.

I love the openness

and it is level.

No more leaning to the left.

Thank you Ron for moving

and getting our home all set up.

and making it level!!!

Now time to get ready 

to get busy with 

GUMI Camp USA!!!

Our Home on Wheels

We love our home on wheels

and feel so blessed how it came to be ours

and that we enjoy living in it.

One of the best things about our home on wheels

is that we can move it when we want

(well most of the time)

and where we want

(well most of the time)

This morning as I was getting ready for church

I mentioned to Ron that we need to see 

about getting it leveled a bit more.

Since we parked it on 1.13.15

it has sort of settled in and is leaning a bit to the left.

Not quite as bad as this one is...but you get the point.

Once we were home from church 

I noticed Ron walking around outside and pondering.

I called him inside for lunch

and he said he was checking things out

and he thinks we could move the motor home 

around and facing up this way

Facing North towards Mo-Ark Road

But after walking and stopping,

looking and thinking

and realizing we would have a difference of

12 1/2" between the front and back of the rig

It was time to walk around 

and do some more thinking.

And we realized

this general area is probably the most level area

within reach of the power to plug 

our rig in

After much walking, talking, 

thinking, plotting

the decision has been made to move 

our home on wheels

over to the area where the back four wheels 

and our bedroom is in this picture

angled toward the drive-way (loosely spoken)

goes toward the main entrance

And so tomorrow

when Ali is off running errands,

going to Forever Friends,

doing some much needed laundry

(can't wait till the laundry room is built and finished)

and then enjoying our FF Ladies Fun Night

This great guy

will move our home on wheels!!!

Stay tuned for pictures of our new location

(actually only about 40 feet from where we are now)

to show up sometime on Tuesday!!

Hope y'all have a great day!!!

Just Flying By!

JUST

and to let you know that I will be working on my blog

and changing things up a bit.

I will be adding Pages 

for 

Specific Things

Here are a few of them:

Home ~ What's going on with us at any given moment in time!

Us ~ Who we are

Places We Have Worked ~ snippets about the many jobs we have had and where they have been!

Crafts by Ali ~ check it out and if you see something you like, give me a shout and let's see if we can make a deal!

Ali's Thoughts ~ posts about things I have been reading, studying, learning

GUMI Camp USA ~ where we are currently at and what's going on there!

And who knows what else...you will just have to stay tuned to see what's up!

And like I say, a post should never go without a picture

and preferably one of our grands...

...this one is more of what Treyson was doing!!

This baby doll is one that Ron bought for me many years ago when we were 

in Leavenworth, WA...I always wanted a black baby and he got me one :)

I ended up giving this baby to Brandon and his family

and the other evening

Treyson, age 3, decided she needed to be covered up

and protected!!!

If you look in the mirror you get a small glimpse of Brandon!!!