Tomatoes are coming in fast and furious all of a sudden so I made some (no meat) vegetable soup....Gary's favorite. With no meat in the jars it doesn't take nearly as long to process -- so the meat will be added as needed. I'm sure it will be enjoyed this coming winter!!!
If you remember our "little peeps" --- 2 little tiny heads sticking out from under the wings of their "adoptive mother".....Well this big old brown boy is one of them and he has a sister. I couldn't catch "mama" for a photo moment -- she was on the run. But she is about half the size of her "children". The white ones are our "layers" -- but they are not laying yet. So we keep thinking "get busy girls!!!!"
The drought continues to be bad here as well as across a lot of the nation....but this is one of our little bright spots in front of the trailer. We continue to pray for rain. Ranchers are hurting for hay for their cattle and dry land corn had to be chopped as silage.
This is at the Corn Palace Festival. My brother Bill is out here - having flown in with his small airplane ---- so he and Gary went to the Madison, SD Steam Engine Thrashing Bee on Saturday. This stop in Mitchell was a side trip. Don't you wish you were young again like these kids. I sure do wonder how they get in these bubbles. Gary and Bill both agreed that it was definitely "for the young"...and NOT just the "young at heart".
This old truck was "a beauty". Lots and lots of old tractors...steam engines.....I decided it was a "man's place" so I stayed home and enjoyed "me time". :) :)..and I DID enjoy it!!
I'm not sure what's going on here --- and Gary just walked out the door........ today is a day he is helping out neighbors who are having plumbing problems....... My guess on the above photo is that it's an old time baler. Anyway it was a fun time away for Gary and Bill ---- a person needs those kinds of breaks once in a while and I"m glad that Bill was here to enjoy it with Gary. Kim Markus was there too -- making his way around on a golf cart :) .
I was given a "nudge" by a dear friend who said she knew our life was more exciting than that "old tent on the last update"...... We always think that no one is interested in our blog - so it's nice to hear comments and grumbles of "get a new update on there PLEASE". So - I don't know if ours is such an "exciting" life -- but we sure are enjoying it. God is good and we always feel so blessed.
We will be starting Religion Release Time in a few weeks. School attendance in Lakeview does seem to be down in numbers -- so I suppose that might mean that our numbers will be down also. But we will continue to give out God's Good News. We are having help this year. LaCosta Jackson and Pastor Steve and Lynn will be doing the 2 older groups (5-6 and 7-8). Their lesson material is "Do What's Right". We will have the little ones (1-2 and 3-4). Our lesson material is "Big Questions About Prayer". Then after six weeks we will switch........ It feels good (having help) - because now my brain (which is getting older and grayer)..will be able to concentrate better I think....not so spread out with different age groups and craft abilities. The permission slips were delivered -- so pray for the parents to allow their children to come....and then for those permission slips to actually make it back to school (that doesn't always happen in a timely fashion).
The Youth Group that we had hoped to get started just seemed to be at a standstill and never got started .......... So we said we would have to step away from that for now. Perhaps in the future.
The JDC continues as usual. Julie and Andrea (her niece) continue to be faithful and helpful. THANK YOU! We are always received so warmly -- by the kids and the staff. We truly enjoy going there.
Thank you for the prayers and support.
Gary and Barb
