What we are missing :(

Don't know if you've met our grand kids. Just got some photo updates from the mom's and one I stole from Facebook...... So ----meet the specialest (is that a word?? - it is now) kids in the world :)

This is Oliver Allen Sparling with his daddy Tim....the day before his first birthday (December 31, 2011)....looks to me like they are already celebrating.











This is Clayton at his meanest :) Pretty cool face painting!!










Poor Sawyer --- you can't see the mud on his face very good here - maybe if you click on it to enlarge you will be able to --- According to his mom, he took a muddy golf cart ride down the lane by their house. I wonder what the golf cart looked like!!








I just can't believe that little guy. He IS quite the acrobat....think his mom and dad should take him to gymnastics!!!! He must have been saying "look at my muscles"!!!!

We are very excited ----- Holly and Clayton and Sawyer are coming out for a visit the first of April. Dennis can't come because of Electrical Classes he is taking......if he misses one they drop his grade a degree or two and if his grade is too low - the company won't pay his tuition. So we will miss Dennis!!! Holly and the boys are coming by Amtrak. We are sure the train ride will be an adventure in itself for those two...and it should be pretty easy on mom too - they are very helpful on Amtrak!!!





Clayton played t-ball this summer.....I had a chance to play a little baseball with him this fall. I pitched and he hit.....he hit just about every one of my rotten pitches.... that says a lot for him in my book. :)















And here you have the Peters family, Halle, Brennan, Colton, Sidney, Austin and Trenton ....that's from the youngest to the oldest. Fun kids to be around!! Oh and I might add --- GOOD basketball players (oldest 3)......and the boys would want us to add -- good football players too. :) :)






We miss not being around these 9 grandkids.... need I say more.

Things do continue to go good for us out here on the prairies. A mild winter isn't all bad! We have 3 banties that give us an egg every once in a while.....Toby has quit growing - thankgoodness!!! We have birds at our feeder that entertain us and neighbors that ask for help every once in a while -- gives me my "cow fix". And Release Time and JDC continue to give us a lot of joy. The kids - in both places - listen very attentively to the lessons....and they are retaining the lessons too. We are still in awe of the fact that God is using us to spread His Good News. It is an awesome place to be - doing God's work......do we fill adequate yet ?? --- NOPE! But we try to stay faithful.....and as I said --- it gives us a lot of joy!!! Last week Sunday we got a BIG hug from one of the boys at JDC -- he would be leaving in the morning for Treatment in Mobridge, SD. I think he will miss us and I know we miss him!!! Pray for Trey --- (think I asked before) --- he was searching the scriptures and seemed very interested in knowing more of what the Bible was all about.

That's it for now. God Bless you for remembering us!!!
Gary and Barb

so ugly it's cute :) :)

I told Marvanne about my "so ugly" plant stand -- and decided to post it. I looked at Walmarts website - and sure they had some nice looking ones....wasn't quite "me". So I talked Gar into going out to a wood pile north of our place and we found some tree roots and old barn boards and you can see the results. We pondered on just putting it in our pit and burning it.....but then Gar "depressed" the edges of the barn boards ....he thought it was still ugly --- but that did it for me. I fell in love with it......

Those are plants from a planter given at my mom's funeral. I think she would think it "quite different" - and wouldn't tell me that it is just plain ugly even though she thought so.

Sssooooo... if you are ever in the market for a unique corner plant stand.......just go out to a wood pile..........

Thanks for not laughing......................Barb

Gary's latest project - Don's Bird Trailer

Don Schelhaas (a neighbor) asked Gary if he would be interested in redoing an old 5th Wheel Trailer into a Bird Trailer....of course, the answer was "YES!"

So around the first of January the trailer was delivered and work began. It was an exciting project - but there was another thing pushing on "get 'r done".....it was taking up the whole barn. Nothing else would fit - even our 4 wheelers were put out......


The axles were the first item on the agenda and the bed needed to be raised 3 inches. Looks to me like he's going in the wrong direction....taking it way more apart than ever. But not to worry - he had a plan.

Once that got finished - Don arrived with a load of steel (angle iron and tubes) and boards for the bed. I failed to get pictures of Gary welding all those uprights together - but the pictures show what he was up to for days.....!!



He made 13 sets of uprights....the front and end ones are singles - the rest are doubles -- check out the photo and you will understand (I hope).

Once finished, they were all taken to Don's place (in a stock trailer) where they could be kept warm (in his bird barn) and given a coat of black paint. I even got in on the painting. It's nice too when you don't run out of paint :)





Then came the work of welding them all in place and getting that "distance apart" just right. According to Don - "we can screw up and still make it come out alright".










And here is a pretty good picture of the just about finished project. I actually think there is a fair amount more --doors?!--..... but now for a few of you who were wondering --- there you have it. Something that has kept Gar out of trouble for a good many days.

If you look close there are a couple of bird boxes in place.....they will be stacked 4 high and 3 deep.





And inbetween time Gary was even able to make me 2 picture frames --- so we have some new items in our living room.....one of a gorgeous scene from Glacier National Park and another of a picture I painted (by number) of 2 cardinals sitting on some snowshoes in front of a cabin. Yes I have taken up "paint by number". I must say if you need a "winter" pastime - they are great!!! And if you take your time - they are pretty good looking!

We are looking forward to JDC tonight. It has been so neat the last month or so.......Prayed with a gal (Taylor) to receive Christ - this past Sunday, Trey and Sergio are searching Scriptures, kids are excited about learning the memory verses....... Thanks for keeping all of us in your prayers....God is at work!!!!

Beautiful day out today....50 degrees and a little windy....total sunshine :) Good ole' South Dakota sunshine. Toby is out there basking in the sun. The other night Gary and I went for a walk but Toby wasn't invited along (coyote hunting).....so Gar told him to "stay" and we walked off - gun in hand.....Toby stayed!! What a good dog :) :) .......but no coyote.

Love you all! Gary and Barb

Another great time at JDC...February 2, 2012

It's grand being in God's service!!!! Julie had the lesson at JDC this past Thursday. We all read through John 6:25-51 together.....having whomever wanted to read - read. This passage is about "the Bread of Life". Then we broke into 3 groups (each of us had about 4 to 5 kids) and Julie had questions for us from this passage. The kids were great.....Gary said his group of girls just "dove into the questions"....searching !!! for the answers. I had a group of boys and when it came to the question "How has Jesus described himself" (in this lesson and past lessons).....the boys exceeded the asked for 1-4 answers and mentioned 7 ways that Jesus describes himself. ....... Good Shepherd, Living Water, Son of God, Bread of Life, Creator, Messiah, and Saviour. YES!!!

A lot of the kids that we have right now have been with us for quite a while and it is so wonderful to know that they are remembering the lessons that we have given in the past. Once again -- we went home "joyful"!!!!

Keep praying for these kids!!!!......God is at work!!!!

Today started out foggy but now at 2:30 it is just gorgeous out. We had a little bit of snow - maybe another inch --- there was ice in the trees and that is now shining in the sun. The cattle are basking in the sun too.

Gary had a successful day --- found a leak in the gas line (well sort of the gas line - he could explain it better).....anyway - that problem is now gone and the welder / generator will be delivered to Dwight and Rob for their farm repairs.

I've been reading a devotional (given to me by a dear friend) --- JESUS CALLING -- Enjoying Peace in His Presence by Sarah Young. I am really enjoying it!! They are short devotions with Bible passages to firm up the thought given by Sarah. To know and think and ponder on the fact that Jesus is so alive in our lives and so present in all of our circumstances....it's wonderful to think on.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!
Gary and Barb

Release Time is going great....

We only have 3 boys in our 7-8th grade group in Release Time. There were some who said they wanted to come but never got their permission slip in...... These 3 (one new this year) are very attentive, pleasant young men.....so we are enjoying them. After the lesson and verse we have been going over the Lords Prayer. We finished with the "AMEN"- so be it. We have now started on learning Psalm 23 - it went so well with the lesson for this week....I Am the Good Shepherd. So we will be working on learning Psalm 23 until the end of the year.

This past week we had Release Time on Wednesday because we had a funeral in Lakeview CRC on Tuesday. Tim Walkling was a highly respected man with wonderful Christian morals and he will be missed. We were so happy that school allowed us to have our meeting on Wed. this week.

Phillip is hard at work on his bridge. One young man :) :) just talks too much ---- we hope he gets his done in time!!!











The 5th and 6th graders are our biggest group. It is so wonderful to see everyones eye on you as you give the lesson. It was a wonderful story and one I am sure they will remember. They enjoy singing too and it's fun to hear them lift their voices !!! ------- the 3 boys did good this week too after a little encouragement with "cake for snack"...sing for your cake. :)

This is a photo of one of the puppet heads. They were busy painting and putting the hair on
this week. Next week they will have to pick out the clothes --- and the "store" is in limited supply..... (I have sewn enough of those little
things and they will have to be happy with the selection......).

This is a shot of Tyre with his puppet. He got a late start (missed one week)...but caught right up with everyone. Some kids want more help than others. Tyre got his hair and hat on without any help!!....and he was pretty happy with his job.






We still are having a mild winter. I think I would be safe to say that we haven't had even 5 inches this year. It is enjoyable in it's own way --- clear roads, clean yards, no need for boots, nice temperatures.....however, WHERE IS THE SNOW --- I would really like some. Sorry folks but I do enjoy winter.

We are having computer troubles.....computer man says "oh yes! you need more RAM." Don't have a clue what that means but after accomplishing this update, we will be taking it in for some much needed work. It is so slow right now.......

We will have JDC tonight with the Good Shepherd lesson. We are looking forward to sharing this message with the kids. Last week the singing was absolutely amazing....we shall see what this week brings.

Gary and Barb

Lighter side -

We have a dear friend who was in a nasty car accident - just before Thanksgiving. She is still in a brace and getting sick of it. But she is also in a lot of pain and discomfort. So Jean---- our hope here is that you will get a few smiles from these photos and we are also asking all of our friends out there to lift up a prayer for you for healing. :) :) :)
They ALL want to get in the picture :)
Austin and Trenton with Mike in the background. Then Colton in the back, Haedynn (I'm afraid I probably spelled that wrong - she is Linda and Dave's grand daughter), Clayton, and Brennan up front.




Two of our sweet grandchildren.....Sidney and Sawyer - cousins. They are the best! :)










On looking through photos at mom's house we found more pictures of our family members with their tongues sticking out!! Could publish a book! So -- this one was at Thanksgiving time - 2011.


Holly, Linda and Dave






Some people just refuse to have their picture taken!!! I got them good a second later --- they thought I was done - but I wasn't. :)


Holly, Gary, Dave Nysse and (young) Dave Nysse









Our Christmas photo of me and Gary this year was out in these sunflowers - lots of you received that one ---- here is one that was just rather spontaneous....... :) :)








This is a picture of the barn at our place (now Holly and Dennis' place) in Michigan. Looks like the sky is on fire --- beautiful sunrise. The picture is in rather bad shape but I scanned it into the computer --- and it's still pretty cool.

You should see that barn now......unbelievable what Dennis and Holly did remodeling it. They are ready to rent it out for wedding receptions!! :)




Found this picture in my mom's things. This is our family at Sleeping Bear Dunes in Upper Michigan. This was the spot for our summer vacations for YEARS --- Glen Lake. Great memories!!! Nice looking family :) :)








Oliver is now crawling --- actually he is almost walking --- but here - poor Yuki, the cat ....looks like he's ready to take him on!!!












This is Rick --- eating some --- YES!!!! --- deep fried worms.....next he ate some locust.......



He said that even the local Thai people that were selling these looked at him like he was crazy.

Just something he felt he had to do on his new adventure in Thailand.









Here is Toby -- a BIG dog with a BIG!!!!! stick. Better hope you aren't in his pathway when he comes running through with that thing in his mouth......although he really can't run that awful fast with it.

I think that is enough of showing off our families goofy side. Hope you had fun.

Barb and Gary

What a way to start the New Year - 2012

We had a wonderful meal at Dwight and Marvanne and their family and then we headed out to visit a few kids at the Detention Center. We visited with 6 young men and they were very positive visits. Sometimes we go away from the Center and just shake our heads - what a mess a person can make of their lives....... Well their lives are still a mess but these guys gave us hope. One that we hadn't visited with for a long time- James- had lost his Bible (he had prayed to receive Christ on July 14 when Bruce and Glenda were here with us).... so we gave him a new Bible and pointed out a couple of passages - showing him how the Bible can teach us how to live.....Colossians 3:8 and Titus 3:1,2. He says - they really say that ??? --- yes - so we showed him the same passage out of a couple of different versions. :) He asked how long Gary and I were married....almost 44 years...."for real?!". :)

(names of these young men have been changed to protect them)

Troy came in next ---- we had gotten to know Troy since before he prayed to receive Christ May 2, 2010. Sometimes he would come in to visit so down in the dumps that we would finally ask him if he just wanted to go back to his pod - "yes". Other times -- he was seeing "spirits" (little flames of fire - and we DO believe him) - "scared the begeebeeies out of me"...other times he talked about fighting people with baseball bats :( told him he could kill someone doing that..... Today was wonderful. He came in with a little New Testament in his pocket (one that we had given someone else and he found it in the back). "Want to show you something"..... he had found that the Lord's prayer was in Luke AND in Matthew. So we talked about how the Gospels have the same story but in different form. He then (and this is the best part) asked us to give him a passage to read. So I told him to read the book of Colossians (4 pages) and Gary told him to read James, and then we gave him about 6 different verses to look up....writing these down in the back of his little Bible - so he wouldn't lose them. He told us about working for a rancher for about a month this fall and "loving it". Said he was quitting the gang because all it did was get him into trouble and break him away from his family. He also talked about getting his tatoo's removed-- gang symbols. Could bring dire consequences from gang members - but we'll pray for him. He will be turning 18 on May 26, 2012 and has a long way to go to finish high school but says "I can do it!". It was an amazing visit - We gave God the praise with Troy in our prayer at the end of his visit.

And then - you gotta love Lyle :) :) He is such a talker -- and always a big smile on his face. He and his brother are hoping to get out in the custody of their Auntie. So we talked about showing her respect and obeying her when she told them to do something. "oh yeah - he says - I'm more scared of her than I am my dad or mom. :) I don't know why but I am".

Two of them -- only 16 - but with children -- and the mothers are giving them grief....like moving away and taking the baby with them. This upsets these boys but what can they do......so we try to talk with them about these situations .... And so when those questions come up like "how long you guys been married??".... We try to talk about maturing....and not making babies but waiting ---- Not what we like to talk about - but we try........ We are NOT Counselors and to come down on them hard isn't going to make them change.

With some guards - when it's 4:00 visitation time is done and we are sent on our way. But today - the guards saw that we had 2 more boys on our list. One was eating but would be done in 10 minutes or so - "would we wait"....SURE. And then - one more --- he was one the phone -did we want to wait. "Well - he has never said yes to come to visit with us - does he want to". "I'll go see". So back down the hall way. ........ "No.". Decided it was good exercise for the guard - he's a little heavy. :) So we left the Center today at 5:00.....smiling and lifted up.

Now we are having a cup of hot coffee --- it is COLD out - but no snow.

Gary heads for north of Pierre tomorrow with neighbor Don --- a trailer to be looked at - and hopefully copied. So Gary can be busy this winter.

That's all for now.

May God bless each and every one of you for the prayers you lift on the behalf of these young people and us. Thank You!!
Gary and Barb