That 'ole snake hanging on the wall.......

Well --- I always kind of liked my Bull Snake that I had mounted......skinned and dried and hung all by myself.   No one else wanted to touch it!!!!!    Some people found it interesting ---- others just cringed!!

Well, for those of you who thought it was "nasty"     (that's OK )   it is gone!!!!  And replaced - I think - with something wonderful. " Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound" in Lakota is now hanging in it's place.  I think you will like it.    And for those of you who never saw the snake ---- sorry --- it was coming off the felt and I ruined it trying to re-connect it.  So it has been tossed.

We will be heading out for Michigan on Thursday of this week.  Gary and I decided that seeing as how it's our 45th Wedding Anniversary on August 30 -- we should celebrate with our family.   Man oh man,  that really makes me feel old.  I remember celebrating my parents 35th and thinking they were getting pretty old.  YIKES!    Oh well,  we are still young at heart  :)  and that's what counts.

Gary and Barb

Choir at JDC and kayaking with some friends

OH WOW!!!  did we ever have fun singing tonight at the Detention Center.  We had 7 boys and 2 girls.  And this just happens to be a group of boys that love to sing....and were NOT shy about singing tonight.  We never take a camera in to the JDC --- it's not allowed.   However, Gary had it on his belt tonight because he had taken it along to show a gal the kayak trailer that he was fixing up for her.   It suddenly dawned on him that he could take a "movie" and catch the group singing.   So that's what he did...........

It was such a "quick" thing ---- that he didn't even focus the camera on the right song...."The Old Rugged Cross".  But it really doesn't matter..... the outcome is still pretty good.  We do think that if we had asked the officer if we could record them with our camera ---- we're pretty sure she would have let us......just keeping the camera off the kids.  I really think God was blessed by their singing!!!!!  Sometimes they seem irreverent and have to act up for their peers -- but not tonight!

If we had a "downer" with the Recovery Group.......we were BLESSED by these kids singing.  If you would pray for the Recovery Group that we minister to.  It just doesn't seem to be blessed by God and we kind of wonder if we should be going there.  But it also just seems like the kids....... the one girl was VERY responsive when she was in the Detention Center ---- but now - she just gazes off into space and we can't get much out of her.

 We were asked if we would go along with a group of teens from the Recovery Group and Aftercare on a kayaking adventure at the Parmelee Dam.  Parmelee is a community about 25 miles north of us.  The kids had never been in a kayak before and some were not so sure they wanted to get in that little thing.  But they all participated, after some coaxing....and had a good time. 

This is the trailer that Gary is converting into a kayak carrier. 

We have had rain every day this week.  So things are getting nice and green again....and we had to mow the lawn once again too.  The last time we mowed was just before PLYC. 

Have a good day!
Gary and Barb

Aunt Melva passed away --- what special memories!!!!

A special Aunt!!!  That's all I can say.  She was so many things.  My memories go way, way back to when we lived here in South Dakota.  I remember Aunt Melva bringing me some Orange Crush....just for me!!!  I had a kidney infection and had to drink and drink -- that was her way --- always giving in some way.  I also remember playing at the "Beck place"......playing dress up with Robbi --- and those red high heels - I can still see them -- I thought they were the most wonderful shoes around.   :)  And then Aunt Melva patching up my head when I got klunked by a baseball bat coming through the opening in the door (at the Beck place).  Was that you Randy?!??!

Then there's all those times that we came out here for a vacation and stayed at her place - or close by.  She always had the welcome mat out for us.  And the meals were --- amazing!!  She was some cook!!!!!   OH and then there's the time that Linda and I came out........  Linda wanted to go to Soldier Woman (a gift shop with Native "souvenirs".  So we headed out for Mission.   On the way I ran over a large snake.............  Linda found a $40 vase --- I found nothing....to much of a cheap skate I guess.  But as I was driving home I decided "that snake - if it's dead in the road  -- that will be my souvenir!!!.   It was dead in the road.   I loaded it up and took it to Aunt Melva's.   "Do you have a knife I could use".   "Well, yes." But she sure wasn't going to give me any help!!!  However,   guess what......

she just couldn't stand it --- she finally came out and grabbed ahold.....well - actually she just squirted the water.  But she was there!!!!   :)  Love Her!!!!!    Oh! --- she sent me home with that knife.... "don't want to see it in my kitchen again".

Prairie Light Youth Camp was very dear to Aunt Melva's heart.  I know she kept Prairie Light and all of it's working in her prayers until the end.  She was our cook for several years.  That's when (Gary would say) the food was "fantastic".....mashed potatoes, gravy......

The 7th and 8th grade group decorated an apron and gave them to our cooks that year.   And yes!!!  She was the Best of the Best!!!!

Aunt Melva had a stroke in 2007 at Thanksgiving time and was moved to a nursing home in Sioux Falls. Gary and I had the privilege of living in her home when we moved here in 2008.  What a beautiful place.  The location was grand ---- gorgeous sunsets almost every evening.....so much more. 

We thank and praise God for giving her to us. She will always have a special place in our hearts.

Gary and Barb

Hail storm of July 30, 2013

The weather bureau told us we had a chance for thunderstorms all this week.  And we have seen them ---- On Tuesday evening we watched the radar on AccuWeather.com -- didn't look too bad for us -- looked like it would miss us.   But then I walked outside and took a good look at the clouds that were coming.  I went back in the house and told Gary that I thought it would be a good idea to put the car and truck inside.  So I went with the car to the garage and Gary went with the truck to the barn.  Then I went to meet him by the greenhouse --- hopefully to cover that with the tarp.  Well, as I was checking in on the chickens -- I heard a bang and then another bang.  Gary was in the barn - so I figured it was him.   He says he thought it was the "dumb cats" knocking something down.  It was the hail just beginning.  Gary came out to the chicken coop and I said "let's cover the greenhouse quick."   About that time the hail started coming a little faster and they were rather large --- not something we would want to get hit in the head with.   So we waited in the dog house / chicken coop (they share it).   At times we couldn't see the barn  - it was raining so hard.  The noise from the hail in that small, tin roof building was deafening --- we plugged our ears. The winds started out coming from the north west -- but then we noticed a complete turnaround --- coming from the east.  Oh boy  - I thought ---- is the hail going to come back?!?!?!   When that wind came out of the east  - I remembered that I had the bedroom window wide open.....on the east side of the house.   So -- hail was done --- I headed for the house and Gary headed for the barn......He could see that the window in his work shop was knocked completely out.  The rest is history --- and the pictures tell the story.

 Our greenhouse is pretty much done for this year.  We will have to purchase new plastic.  The carrots and potatoes that are still in the ground will be just fine.

 All three of the windows in Grandpa's house were broken "in"..... The siding will have to be replaced.

The glass went everywhere in the house ---- And, of course the rain came in.......  We took the rugs out to the garage and cleaned up the best we could.   But after sweeping and vacuuming  -- I can still see sparkling pieces of glass in the cracks of the floor.  And can you ever get it all out of the carpet?!?!

 And then - our garden --- I had just put "apples" on my grocery list so that I could can my first ever red cabbage. My sister Linda had just given me her recipe that we think is just the best tasting cabbage.

 This used to be my pickle patch -- with dill all around the outside.....it is no more.!!  We also had 4 green cabbage plants that were just starting to make heads.

 This is our back yard as I have started the clean up process.   The trees lost a LOT of.........

twigs and leaves and such!!!

The workshop window --- 

 Some left over hail -- after all the rain fell on it .....still pretty big stuff!!

 Our spruce trees lost at least one years growth..... And our shed has holes in the side and in the top.

 The North side of our trailer ---- the outside windows were broken but not the inside pane.  Thank you Lord!!!And below is my "used to be flower garden".... what a mess!!!

 

This is the river that ran through our back yard.  Some said we had gotten 4 inches of rain  - in ???? 20 -30 minutes. 

This is a quick shot of the Rosebud Dam --- don't quite understand what happened.......There was water covering the road and they evacuated "the Valley" people.  But when we drove past ---- the water was WAY down as you can see -- but the road - the dam  - is still in tact.

Our neighbor lost hundreds and hundreds of pheasants......windows in his lodge and windows in his home.  

Another neighbor lost his brand new irrigation system that was still in the set up stage.....twisted and tossed in the wind.

But we have this: John 16:33  In this world you will have troubles, but take heart! I have overcome the world.



We give thanks to God for His faithfulness in all things!!
Gary and Barb