Buffalo Roundup and some sightseeing.......

Gary and I went to Rapid City for the Annual Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup.  Two of our neighbors were cowboys in the event - so we had a special reason for going.  It was a beautiful day and the crowd was huge.  We got on the Wildlife Loop road .....and for over an hour we traveled at a snails pace.  Gar said he wouldn't say anything "very often" about the decision (he says I made) to leave later (from the motel in Hot Springs) - which meant that we arrived about the same time the hundreds of other people did.  OH WELL ---the scenery was nice!!!Anyway -- here are a few photos  and I hope a couple of videos of the event.

This was about the only "wreck" that happened.....I guess one of the cowboys (a newcomer) got in the wrong place and sent some of the buffalo to the North fence.  Don says he got a chewing out.

This shows you some of the crowd - and the herd and the cowboys......and then whatever you call those guys in the pickups.

Here are our two favorite cowboys.....Don Schelhaas and Jim Shelbourn.  We spotted  Jim in the roundup but not Don. He said he must have been close by ---

We also took a trip along the Needles Highway.  BEAUTIFUL!!!  The Aspen were turning color and the yellow made a beautiful contrast with the green pine trees.  We also saw lots of dead pine - due to the beetles.  :(

And then there are the tunnels.  I think you will enjoy this video  :)  :)  - kind of makes Gary look like a crazy driver!!!!  He actually did OK --- just the sound track makes you wonder......can you hear the car speeding up just as we enter the tunnel??!!

And now --- back to "work".  We have a full load this week.....JDC, Release Time and Alcohol Recovery Program.  That means that the following week.....we have "off" - except for the Alcohol Recovery group.  Julie will continue with the Detention Center --- we sure do appreciate her!!!!  Release Time will be with the older groups that LaCosta and Pastor Steve take care of.....And the A.R. will just have to be on their own ......  We hope to head out for Michigan on this Friday.  We have a bunch of company coming in October - so we want to come back to Michigan and visit our family and friends before all of that takes place.  Also = our son Rick is back from Thailand - so we will have to chance to all be together again.

We still need rain terribly bad!  Everything is suffering!  So keep that in your prayers.  Thank you for your continued support and prayers.
Gary and Barb

Help the birds!!!!

No - I'm not trying to outdo myself on these updates......just got to watching the birds (mostly robins today) at our bird bath and I got to thinking ---- there really aren't any mud holes with water in them.  Most of the ponds have dried up.   So where DO birds get a drink.  Well a good number are coming to my little home made bird bath.  Most of them aren't taking a bath --- just getting a good drink of water.    So ---- if you are in the drought area........it might just help the little creatures (God's creatures) if you set out a shallow (!!!) pan of water for them to drink out of.  Make sure it's shallow - or you'll be drowning them  :(

Thanks!
Barb
p.s.  I had two blue jays at the bird bath this morning.   Haven't seen a blue jay for a LONG time -- years even!  I know they can be a nasty mean bird -- but I have a soft spot in my heart for them.   I always heard their call when we went to Beads Dam......good memories.

BUTTERNUT squash and MORE Butternut squash

We cleaned out our garden a couple of days ago.   Frost hit our area - and hard enough that even though we had parts of it covered.....some of the coverings weren't good enough.  Too light weight I guess.  Anyway as you can see from the photo above, we have enough butternut squash to feed a small army!!!  Count them  ---  ---    ---  35 !!!!  We've had a nice amount of watermelon.....our picking has not always produced the perfectly ripe watermelon - but we have discovered that judging when a watermelon is ripe is a HARD call!  Our muskmelon quantity has also surpassed our expectations.  But there too ----- we thought we would wait a day or two on some ---- and come to find out that a varmit has come in from the bottom and cleaned it out.  :(   

Have you ever had dehydrated watermelon??  Well, I read on the internet that it was "just about like eating candy".  So I tried it.  Gar says I did more than enough - "it's not that good".   But I kind of enjoy it for a treat...and it is sweet enough to be "like candy".

For those of you (our Lakeview fans)....that told me I was doing so good on updating........You have put the "pressure on".....so I hope I can keep up with the demands    :)   :)   :)   Forgive me when I slip up    :)  :)  And that goes for more  than just the Lakeview fans........:)

Love each and everyone of you!!!
Gary and Barb

:) :) the Verduin sisters

Well --- there are some of you out there who will enjoy this photo.  It was taken by a good friend of ours - Sue Pfnister when Linda and Ethel came out to help with Prairie Light Youth Camp --- several years ago actually.    Barb, Linda and Ethel with a beautiful South Dakota sunset behind us.

My personal thought is that it's a very NICE photo......thought I would share it.

Barb

Fun day today - late celebration of my birthday

Gary and I rented kayaks to go down the "scenic Niobrara River"..... and it was beautiful.  The day couldn't have been more perfect.  Temperatures in the 80's and a clear blue sky.  The water was clear and running at a nice pace --- a little bit of rapids yet....."watch the rocks".   The sad thing was seeing 3 dead deer in the water.....and smelling several more.  The disease (blue tongue) drives them to the water but their tongue is so swollen that they can't drink --- SAD SAD!!!!!   But that didn't spoil our enjoyment.  We were the only ones on the river so it was absolutely peaceful and relaxing.

Release Time went really good on Thursday.  We have Heather Patton helping us a bit this year and she did such a nice job......just a real sweet gal!!  Heather is a Junior and lives just down the road from us.   We have 7 boys and girls in the 1st and 2nd grade group and 6 in the 3rd and 4th grade group.  I know that one more boy from the 4th grade took (another) slip home --- so we will see if that gets remembered this time.   One little boy  - after we told him that we only had 5 minutes left - said "what!! the hour is up already?!  This was fun!!!"       Gotta love that boy  :)  :)

My sister Linda and her husband Dave came out for a real short visit --- arrived Wednesday evening and left again Friday a.m.  They took an old pickup along back and a windmill tower.   But even though it was a short visit we had a grand time.......wild plum picking and horseback riding......and lots of yakking time.  We love having company.

OK  ---- gotta keep our "readers" happy ---- so that was the latest on this home front.   Love you all!!!

Keep praying for rain!!

Gary and Barb

Labor Day and beyond.........

Well -- time for an update on what we have been up to since Labor Day Weekend.  We went for a road trip to Denver, CO to visit Jon and Sue Pfnister......Sue comes out to help with Prairie Light Youth Camp each year - but we have been friends with Jon and Sue for many years - out in Michigan when we both lived there.  Good ole' backpacking buddies  :)  :)

We arrived in Denver on Friday afternoon - so after settling in we went for a drive to the Red Rock Amphitheater - what a beautiful spot for concerts.  Turns out our daughter Marti and her husband Tim were there last year at a concert while on their big road trip.

On Saturday we  went to a Buck Brannaman Clinic --- horse clinic.  We were just spectators - but it was a fun day watching others learn how to work with their horses.  And Buck is a well known horse trainer -- so it was extra fun watching an expert at work.

On Sunday afternoon we went and climbed up to St. Mary's Glacier.  The climb made your heart pound (anyway it did mine).....climbing in the altitude is hard work for us flat landers.   The glacier is (sadly) melting away - so it was mostly dirty ice.  But the view was grand!!

Then we drove up North America's highest auto road --- up Mt. Evans 14,264 ft.  The air up there was rather thin.....we were all yawning. 

The views were so much better than our camera records :(   This is Jon waving -- he went on and braved the 46 degree (wind chill 25 degrees) weather and made it all the way to the very top.  We didn't dress for those temperatures - so we didn't get the best view that Jon got.  Lots and Lots of switchbacks...  glad Jon was a good driver.  We got to see Mt. Goats and Mt. Sheep and some of those little critters -- Pica and Marmot.  

We are so blessed to have such good friends - to share the beauty of their countryside.  Thanks again Jon and Sue.

The next item for news is not so nice.  Gary was  talking with neighbors about how the deer population seems to be disappearing --- dying off.  So around noon he decided to go have a look behind Don S. home place.  He came upon a buck that was just standing there.  "Why doesn't he run away?" Gary got within 20 yards of the buck and then left him alone.  He was just standing there with his head down.  Then Gar went back around 6:00 and the buck was dead.  Blue tongue is what they call it.  There is a "midge" (bug) that gets into their nose and whatever happens from there - I don't know - except that it kills them ...gives them a high fever and their tongue swells and they can't drink.......   SAD!!!!  I guess it's happening around the nation.  We need a hard freeze!    But really  - I'm' not ready for that either.

The farmers are busy on the north circle by our place.....harvesting edible beans.  It's a VERY dusty job and we are glad that the wind is out of the south!!

I noticed that before the harvested beans go onto the semi trailer - they are put through some sort of a screen.  It's that silver bin in between the small wagon and the semi trailer.  As I went past - it was turning round and round.  We are told that harvesting these edible beans in the way that they do it......really takes a toll on the combines. ........all that dirt......

Now for our ministry work......

We will begin Release Time this week Thursday.  I went to school today and picked up the permission slips.  We have a real nice number in each group so it should be a real good year.  We are excited and La Costa is excited.......  I think the kids are excited too (they usually are).  

We had a very nice service at the Detention Center  yesterday evening.  Many of the inmates are being sent off of the reservation to Indian School in different states.  But as they go - others come in so we stay busy.  We do have a captive audience (as someone said).  But they continue to be respectful and the officers are always glad to see us.  So we feel blessed to be able to give God's Good News to these young people. 

Please keep all the young people in your prayers.  Yesterday we visited with one of the new boys and hearing his "life story" just made us so sad.  What some of these kids go through is unbelievable!!!  They don't all share like he did - but once it stated coming he just couldn't hold it in. 

WE NEED RAIN SO BAD -- just like everyone else.  Our trees are suffering along with the crops and grasslands.  Everyone is short on hay for their cattle.  Many are weaning the calves off early because they just aren't doing very well on mama.  

We have felt God's presence so much the past few weeks.  We know that you are praying for us and God hears.  We are awed by his care and protection and guidance and love.

Gary and Barb