I'm not normally this late in getting the site updated, and I sincerely apologize for not doing so before now.
I'm still dealing with minor issues pertaining to last May 9th's motorcycle accident, but for the most part, am recovered from it.
We had a well bored next to our house, at very substantial cost, yet ended up with bad water anyway. We have a very high iron content in the water, as well as high levels of natural gas. I am trying to obtain a filtration system so that we will be able to have water that we can actually drink.
Tyler completed his basic and advanced training, and was home by late June. He reported to his unit in Clinton, where he expected to be doing the job that he was trained for: being a track vehicle mechanic. Upon reporting, he was told "We don't need mechanics, we need drivers. So, you'll be obtaining your military drivers license". Shortly after that, he received orders for deployment to Iraq. He left our home on December 5th, and was at Camp Shelby, Ms. until February 7. On that day, he boarded the big bird headed for parts unknown. He is presently somewhere in Iraq, driving an MRAP vehicle on the streets of Iraq. I don't like it one bit in the fact that the recruiter sat on our living room sofa telling us a bold-faced lie. The government now owns him, and can do as they dang well please with him. The only comfort I have is that God's watching over him, and he allegedly will be returning home somewhere around September.
I bought Leisa a pretty nice F-250 diesel truck with 4 doors last year. On Jan.30, we were enroute to Camp Shelby to see Tyler before he flew out. On that particular day, we were inundated with the worst snowstorm of the season. Leisa was driving, as I was exhausted. She was crossing a bridge on I-40 when she struck a patch of black ice, causing her to lose control of the truck. It was a miracle act of God that nobody was seriously injured. It cost us a truck and 3 very valuable days with Tyler. We were ultimately able to see him, I just wish that we would have had more time with him.
In the months following the accident, I was able to sell the truck for $300 less than we paid for it. I bought a heavy-duty, strong pulling '93 Suburban, but it wasn't the "shiny penny" that I'd gotten for Leisa last year/ So, I made an inward promise that I would get her something that she could be proud to drive. To that end, I traded my Silverado truck for a 1999 GMC Suburban with 118,000 miles. I knew that it had some "minor issues" when I made the trade, but honestly figured that it wasn't anything overly serious.
It needed front rotors and brakes, a left rear axle where the previous owner hit something and bent it, and an outlet in order to charge up the a/c. It also had a very minor noise in the upper engine. Well, earlier this evening, we took the brakes and rotors over to our mechanic's in order for him to install them, when he gave us the worst possible news ever: "You're going to have to put an engine in the suburban." My heart sank deep into my stomach at that point. So, it appears as though a "too good to be true" deal is just that... I'm going to look around and see if I can't find either a good used engine, or someone who sells the rebuild parts relatively inexpensively.
The kids are doing very well. Hannah is still going to college in Morristown, studying to become an R.N. Casey, Caleb, Jacob, Elijah, and Josiah are all doing well with their home-schooling. Leisa's a good mother and an even better home educator.
Leisa has done so very well with her weight loss. Since her '08 surgery, she has lost down to the mid 140's. Our largest marital conflict now stems from the fact that she has endless amounts of energy, where I have none. I am hoping to do something, make some changes somewhere in my life, in order to regain the energy I had just a few short years ago. I so want to be able to get out and do things with the family in order to build lasting memories with the children.
We are doing alright at the moment. Not great, but alright. God has always provided for our needs before we even realized that there was a need. He's blessed me with amazing abilities to barter, trade, and sell. I am hoping to be able to continue with these skills on a larger scale and hopefully be able to continue providing for my family in the weeks, months, and years to come.
I again am really sorry that it has taken me so very long to get this update out to you. We have been busy remodeling the house. I have installed laminate flooring over most of the downstairs floors, had a coal burning furnace installed that enabled us to stay warmer this past winter than we ever have since moving into this house in 03. I am in the process now of moving the kitchen to the far end of the dining room, and turning the existing kitchen into a laundry room. I'm also going to install the laminate flooring in the downstairs bathroom, install a new (antique) sink and toilet. It's a very, very slow process, but we are finally, after all this time, finally realizing some fruits of our labor. Again, God is good.
For the Rogers' Tribe,
Scotty
