Louisiana Day 2 - Duck Commander

On our second full day in Louisiana we traveled from Delhi to Monroe to see the Duck Commander warehouse and then from Monroe to Springhill, Louisiana - near the Arkansas border. 

The kids were really excited to see the Duck Commander warehouse. (Ok - I was also really excited!) We are big Duck Dynasty fans and were supposed to see Phil Robertson at the homeschool Convention in 2020 when COVID hit. 

We didn't do the warehouse tour because we had more cemeteries to visit, but we did a little shopping at the gift store. 

Si is one of our favorites!

In Springhill we drove around looking for a particular cemetery. We finally had to ask a police officer that was taking to a man on the side of the road where we could find it. The officer didn't know, but it just so happened that the man used to mow the cemetery and knew just where to find it! 

The other gravesites in Springhill are located in a field on someone's property. We had no idea where to look. We went to a little Cajun place for lunch and asked the waitress. She had no idea, she asked the other customers who also had no idea. Then we went to a police station to see if they might know. 

While Nicol, Byron and Gabe went into the police station, the rest of us played at the playground across the street. 

A kind inmate at the station thought he might know what we were looking for and sent us here:

Unfortunately, it was not the gravesites we were looking for. 

We gave up and headed to the next cemetery. 

There were some interesting markers there! 

Jewell Nations was an aunt of Bettie's 

A picture of the Old Shongaloo Church that Bettie took in the early 80's.

It hasn't changed much!

Hanging in our dining room is a picture of Anderson Lloyd. He is a great, great (I'm not sure how many greats) grandparent of Byron. The kids lovingly call him Creepy AL, because his picture creeps them out. 

These are NOT relatives....I just thought their stones were, well, interesting. According to the dates on their headstones, Mary was born in 1906 and Richard was born in 1917. So she was almost 11 years older than him. The got married in October of 1929. Which would make him 12? And her 23? 

This is also not a relative, but I liked it because he was born the same year my Papaw was born and served in Korea like Papaw did. He was in the Army and Papaw was in the Air Force. 

This was our last stop of the day. It also had a lot of very old headstones. 

 We drove a lot this day, it was really hot, and we didn't find all of the plots we were looking for, but we made a lot of memories! 

Louisiana - Our Campsite

While in Louisiana we stayed at the Poverty Point Reservoir State Park.

The area is a black bear habitat and has a rich Native American history.

It rained a lot of the time that we were at the campsite, but we were able to take a hike. 

The Bayou was beautiful and reminded me of the Wilderking book series that we are reading together by Jonathan Rogers. 

Nicol and Felix brought this super fun bean bag shuffle board game. Nicol was a pro!!

It was a beautiful site! (This sky is not a filter! It's 100% real!)

 

Louisiana Day 1 - Delhi

  

Byron's mom grew up in Delhi, Louisiana and loved ancestry. When Byron was little his family did a  trip hunting all over Louisiana for the headstones of their family members. Byron and his sister, Nicol, decided they wanted to go back and do it with our kids. 

This is the high school in Delhi - we aren't 100 percent sure if this was the building that their mom went to school in, but it looks like the pictures they have in their old album. 

There are a few cemeteries in Delhi or really close that their relatives were buried in. The  Lloyds were their mom's family and the Strongs were their aunt's family.

I had given our kids a cemetery scavenger hunt sheet to work on while in the cemeteries. 

The Grahams are also part of their family. 

Guy and Bertha Lloyd are Byron's grandparents.

Byron's mom had done extensive work on their genealogy and ancestry. The work she did helped us find many of the sites we were looking for. 

Claude was Bettie's brother (Bettie is Byron's mom). He drowned in a boating incident close to Delhi. 

Cookie Crew!

 

In July our  church held it's Missions Conference where the missionaries from around the world that Denton Bible has sent out come home. They are able to get a break from their missions, reconnect with friends and family, and meet new people to raise support for their living  and ministry costs. We helped with the missions booths and one day I was able to use photography to serve. I took updated portraits that the missionaries can use in their newsletters, mailings  and to hang in the foyer of our church. 

The kids were happy to help me get my settings adjusted. 

We also had a photo opportunity ourselves! Cheryl works in the missions office and is one of our great friends - the kind of friend that is really more like family. She loves children, but has none of her own, so she has adopted a crew of kiddos as hers. Many years ago she was given the nickname "Cookie" by one of those kids that couldn't quite say Cheryl, so she loving calls "her" kids the "Cookie Crew". 

Cheryl has taken my kids under her wing as an adopted auntie. She and Faith have a uniquely special relationship. They both have joint contractures in their hands and feet making mobility and dexterity a challenge for both of them. Faith's contractures are due to arthrogryposis and Cheryl's are due to Rheumatoid Arthritis, but they present in much the same way. Cheryl talks with Faith about things that make everyday tasks easier for her and that might help Faith, too. It is such a blessing that Faith has someone that she can talk to that knows first hand what she is going through. Cheryl is a blessing to all of our family!!