A picture is worth a thousand words!!!!!

Hope you enjoy these photos. I have (not this time)...had it that I lose pictures if I mess around too much ...so I am just going to let you enjoy them. These are sweet kids!! Keep them in your prayers....I think the pictures speak for themselves. The photo of the things on the wall are our Bible Verses ....we cover our walls with them :-)
Love to all!!!! Gary and Barb

Our "Herd"

We wanted to share our "herd" with you.
Gary was given a cow (actually a heifer
ready to calf) for a Christmas gift -- in
thanks for the work he does on the
ranch. Gary picked a nice looking heifer
---- good and fat so that he knew she
would have a calf soon :) . Well shortly
after telling Dwight which heifer he had
picked -- Dwight told him our herd had
doubled....we had a nice little heifer calf.
WOW---- COOL!! So the picture on the
right is our little #015. She has a nice
telling mark on the right side of her face
...that brown spot that you can see. She's a
real perky little thing -- head up, checking
things out---running all over the place.

The other day Hazel and I --- Gary's sister Hazel
and her husband Paul were out for a weekend
visit as they headed home to Michigan after wintering in Arizona ----- Anyway, Hazel and I went to the pasture to find and photo #015 and her Mama. Well, we found the calf --- now where is the mother. Just like that a cow mooed and off ran #015 (no we won't be naming them) to get a milk shake. So we drove over to the pair. Something was wrong!!!! That cow had the wrong number ----this cow was 8104 ---- mama should have been 8208. What's up?!?!?! So we went off to find the real mama. Where in the world could she be?? We finally found her way across the pasture laying down in the shade.

We are still wondering about the whole thing
--- but meanwhile we have decided that we
have a smart little thing. Not only is she getting
plenty of milk --- if she's fudging off another cow
---- but she's keeping the numbers good -- you
know 8104 - 8208. We are wondering though
if a couple of little ones have gotten their mothers mixed up.

This last photo is of the real mother coming out of the building where she had found some shade.

So there you have it --- we are proud owners of TWO. Good looking stock wouldn't you say?!?!

And now on to the more important things!!!!

Release Time continues to go good. We have to finish telling the Easter Story now - after Easter is over. But it doesn't seem to bother the kids. We can tell that they are retaining the lessons and that is great --- exactly what we are hoping for. We have been doing some spring - "God makes all things new" type of crafts. One of these days I will remember our camera and get a shot of what we did with the kids. Tomorrow we will have the K-2 group and the lesson will be on Jesus' Resurrection. The last time we had this group there were a lot of groans when we had to leave Jesus in the grave. So I think they will enjoy this lesson - - finding out how happy Mary Magdalene was when Jesus said "Mary".

JDC also continues on positive notes. The group has gotten very large --- 36 kids total in the building but 31 that came to the Bible Study time. There are 3 in "max" and 2 in "booking". When a young person is in "max" they are not allowed to come.....they can have visitors (parents) on Sunday but that's all. We visited with 10 young people - one on one - Sunday. It hurts when a sweet young man tells you "I feel ugly inside".....because no family member has visited him for 5 weeks now. These kids are hurting and we feel honored that they have come to trust us enough to share their inner feelings like that. We really can't do anything more than give them our love and time and prayers. We also had the honor and privilege to pray the sinners prayer with a young man Sunday afternoon.

The Lakeview Church met there this past Sunday evening also. When numbers are this large we do lessons twice. The kids were very attentive for Pastor Tom and we had 9 in our group from Lakeview - including Hazel and Paul. Pastor Tom usually relates his messages to the Lakota people and he really does a good job. We had a good time visiting with the kids afterwords too.

Gary and Barb

Boston and a PhD

We are back from a trip to Boston. We had a fun time....Boston (Bahstan) is a nice place to visit...lots of history. It is also quite easy to get around in --- if you can figure out the trains. We had our "kids" along so we let them lead us around.

We were there for our son Ricks' PhD dissertation defense....(I think that's how you state it.) Any way you see the first photo of Rick. :-) Oh! he says suspenders are the "in" thing..... Well he also got to shed his jacket - thanks to Dr. Neville. It was a very warm day and Rick was nervous and the sweat was pouring off him like rain! The Religion building is a beautiful but old building. We
had the windows open (I repeat - it was a lovely
warm day) but the noise from the traffic made it
necessary to close the windows.......and so Dr.
Neville (he's the one with the long beard) said
"I think we can all remove our jackets". I'm sure
he was sympathetic to Ricks situation. The 2nd
picture is the reason for Ricks' nervousness. The
three on the right were the ones who would determine if he "passed" or not.

The whole two hours went way over our heads but we could tell by the smiles and heads nodding
that all was going well. At the close of the meeting we were all asked to leave the room....
including Rick. It really didn't take long and we
were invited back in.....and Dr. Neville greeted
Rick with "Congratulations Dr. Peters".....

And so ole' Mom and Dad Peters now have two Doctors in the family....Marti Peters-Sparling, MD and Richard Peters, PhD. And we also have a
farmer Michael Peters and a stay at home mama Holly Kroeze. We are proud of them ALL!!!

And we are now back in the prairies doing our thing. We had Release Time yesterday and it went great again. The older groups are SO attentive to our lessons. They are really a blessing! Our lessons have been on the Easter Story. We totally missed Easter (we were in the air all day)....and Easter is technically over. But that's what it is all about ----Jesus' willingness to suffer the rejection of His Father for us. We will finish the resurrection story in a couple of weeks but that's OK (the kids groaned when we didn't finish the story ----leaving Jesus in the grave).

I think we have some cattle work tomorrow......moving some cows to a corn circle. The corn was just picked this past week and so there is a lot of downed corn for the cows to clean up on.

I started more garden seeds today in little starter pots. Our tomato seeds have already sprouted (we started them before leaving for Boston). We are getting excited to plant our garden here. We tilled the ground last week. It was an area of sod and weeds so we know that we will need to work it a while before we plant it.

May God bless you in this springtime of the year...... God makes all things new.

Love, Gary and Barb

What a gorgeous end of the day.....

I had to hurry to get this sunset -- but it was worth it!! Our trailer is on "low ground"...... so in order to get this picture I had to hoof it to the top of the hill in the pasture to our west. I really thought I had plenty of time....but I'm glad I hurried.

Fridays are a day that we really don't have anything we HAVE to do. But I accomplished a lot today. I'm working on a quilt for a graduate and it's coming together VERY nicely. Gary is also working on a secret project and that too is looking good. It will be a while before we can share these projects with you ........ SORRY!
:) Gotta love a good secret.

Now this next picture is NOT a scene from the moon......it's our driveway out to the workshop. As you can tell we don't go that route now and probably won't be for a while yet. The steers are gone and the corrals are pretty dry so if we want to drive down to the workshop we go by way of the corrals. No way would you have done that a couple of weeks ago......the mud and steer "poo" was WAY deep.
We had Bible Study at the JDC last night. We had 20 kids and so we tried it with all the kids together once again. It's nice not to have to do the lesson twice but a smaller group is really nicer. They sing better and there isn't as much goofing around. I honestly think the kids like it better in a small group too. They always listen to the lesson good......singing is best in the small group. Next week we are going to show a video of a choir singing "He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels". The director watched it (for approval) and thought it was "awesome". So he is willing to set up all the equipment for us to let the kids enjoy it too. It's one I found on YouTube.

Hope you are enjoying spring as much as we are!!!! It's GRAND!!!

Gary and Barb

We had a fun time with our Release Time groups on Tuesday. They are a blessing to us! The above photo is the 2nd Grade class.(Sy, Wahpe, Baptiste, Kaylee, Faith and Shallon, ) Our lesson yesterday was on Jesus' crucifixion. However, this lesson ended with Jesus still in the grave. The kids were really upset that the story "is to be continued". They wanted to hear ALL of it. The photo below is of the Kindergarten and 1st graders.(Michaela, Gayle, Paul, Jowuan, Michael, and Kendall) We had a hard time getting a picture of little "Sonny" Michael (in the front) he just couldn't stand still. We had fun making the pop up card. The idea was "God gives us things to enjoy"....we put a snowman and a "flower garden" on the card. The kids really did a good job and loved the card. Some were going to give it to their mom and dad.

We just returned from a trip "home" (where is home??? - we still aren't sure) to Michigan. Our daughter-in-laws mother (Sharon Rigterink) has gone home to her heavenly father. We arrived in time to help Mike and Julie with "babysitting". We spent as much time as we could staying with the kids so Julie and Mike could be with Sharon and Loren through this very difficult time of saying good-bye. Sharon was one of the strongest person's we had the honor of knowing. She was a GRAND gramma to her 14 grandchildren and a loving mother-in-law to our son Mike. She will be missed!!! Sharon's battle with cancer started ?? 20 years ago. As I understand it she was given 6 months to live at that time. WOW -- the Lord had other ideas :) Sharon will be remembered as a person of great faith.

We came back "home" to South Dakota and found much drier roads. We could get right in to our yard with the car and the snow is departing. The sounds of spring are everywhere. Today we will help Dwight move the cows to the home place. Our "fence jumping" steers are gone - left the day we returned. We will miss looking after them......but hope they get their noses burned a little on the electric fence....teach them a much needed lesson!!!!!

Next week we will be flying out to Boston. Our son Rick will be defending his PhD dissertation on April 2. Rick says this has been a "long and sometimes lonely process". However, his "readers" (those who read his book to see what changes needed to be done before the defense) were thrilled with his work....... We will be gone from April 1 until April 4.

We praise God for his faithfulness ---- for a loving family and good friends --- for safety in travel ---- for good health and strength.

Gary and Barb

Back from Rapid City.....THANK YOU FOR PRAYERS

Well now......that's an old picture..... quite interesting really how the wind formed that drift behind our trailer..... BUT --- I put it on the blog just so you can get the "feeling" of a good old snow storm. We aren't in blizzard conditions but it's a good enough batch of snow and wind to blow the roads shut.

We did make it home from Rapid City. We started out this morning (Thursday) with a blustery, but partly sunny day in Rapid City. Gary was still feeling "funky" from the anesthetic (we figure) and so I was driving. By the time we got into the Badlands the snow was blowing across the roads and there were a lot of slushy patches ...... those spots have a tendency to "grab" the truck ---I'm sure you know what I mean. So that meant slower travel. We DID NOT take the interstate just because of the crazies on those!! I was quite content...no traffic on Hwy 44....so I could go the speed I wanted and did not feel "pushed" by anyone. About 50 miles from home the roads were totally snow covered -- but not really slippery. One mile from home and the drifts were forming enough that we knew we would have to cancel JDC because we probably wouldn't make it back in.

And so.............here we sit looking at each other :) :)

But we want to make sure that we thank you for all the many prayers that have been lifted for Gary's procedure. It went good. Quite involved really because it was in a difficult spot and so he was sedated more than we had figured on. After an hour and a half procedure....he also spent at least 1/2 hour sleeping before we left the facility. And then he slept a good portion of the afternoon away. He remembers VERY LITTLE of it......"who dressed me??" (He did it himself) He will have to go back in 3 months for another procedure.....just to make sure that they removed everything.

And now on another note.......We would ask for prayers for the Rigterink family... our daughter-in-laws family. Sharon Rigterink is losing her battle to cancer....but will be gaining a most glorious heavenly home...... Those left behind will miss her very much and so we ask for prayers for Aaron and Chanelle and their children, Ryan and Kelly and their children, and Mike and Julie and their children (our 6 grandchildren) and Loren (Sharon's husband) and of course the many other friends and family......

Your prayers are SO appreciated by us. We can't thank you enough!!!
Gary and Barb

This coming Wednesday....

We will be leaving for Rapid City tomorrow right after Release Time....which means about 2:30. We will do the whole K-2 group......which is a BIG handful ---- but we really want to be on the road as soon as possible. Gary has his procedure done on Wednesday at 11:30. We really appreciate all the prayers that have been and are being lifted concerning this. We will keep you posted on any outcome.

We also want to thank you for the prayers for the Native Pastor..... He had a bond reduction hearing this past Thursday and that went good. He is now released from jail and hopefully can get a job once again.....he was working in construction. He and his family still covet all prayers.....this will be a long hard road for all of them.

I am sitting by the computer looking out at a rainy day. It helps make the snow melt ....but it makes the roads a slippery, slimy, muddy mess!!! And that's putting it lightly!!!! I was told by a long time local that "we never say enough! to moisture" -- but give me a break!! However, the sounds of spring are everywhere in the air. The blackbirds are singing, the geese are flying over....and so we know there is a promise of something to come. :)

The kids at the Juvenile Detention Center continue to bless us with respect and attentiveness. But we also have a heavy heart for many of them. Two girls have told us that they are pregnant.....at 16 and 17 years of age and next to little support. Can you imagine how scary this is for them?! Some of the boys are looking at 2 years in Juvenile Prison for robbery. There are some bright spots in the group and we pray that God in His mercy will draw them to Himself. Some of these young people have been there for 120 days. So you can imagine that we get to know them quite well.....and really miss them when they are gone. It's actually fun (but sad!!!) when a kid comes back after a year and we remember his/her name......but we also are very disappointed that they are back. They, too, are happy when we call them by name but seem somewhat embarrassed that they are back.

We would ask that you pray for the ranchers. They are all busy with calving and that means --very little sleep. And too, this rain is very hard on the little calves. They get cold and it's hard to warm up.....

Take care!! Gary and Barb