In my opinion........

......this is the most loved bird on the prairies!!!   The Chickadee is another favorite......the Blue Jay is special to me because I remember hearing it's song whenever we went to  Beads Dam fishing......

but .....THE MEADOWLARK .......  their song is so special.  When driving past them in a vehicle.....walking along the wayside.......even sitting in the house.   God blessed them with a loud voice and what a special song it is.  This morning as I walked out to the garden --- this one was busy singing and singing. So I hurried to the house for my camera --- wishing it was hooked permanently to my body!!!! ......and went back out hoping he wasn't done singing yet.    He/she was still busy singing his praises to God.   I got a couple of shots and then tried from a different angle......finally he flew away.

Perhaps he was announcing the rain that was on it's way......it is lightly raining as I type.  Prediction is for a LOT more...so we shall see.

Oh yeah.....another happening this morning.......  I walked up to Grandpas house where Lee lives ----to bring him his mail.....   And I saw what looked like a baby calf in the alfalfa north of the house.  It could only be one of VanderWeys'     ...... so I called and told them about him.  Then I went for my walk down the driveway......  Lee (works for VanderWeys)  drove down to look for the calf........ when he came back past me with it in the back of his truck --- he told me the calf was "a newborn -  -  blind as a bat".   HHhhhhmmm  now I am wondering about that poor little thing......

Anyway ------enjoy the springtime......in whatever shape or form it comes.
Gary and Barb

Fun time with Holly, Clayton and Sawyer.....

Our daughter, Holly, and their two boys, Clayton and Sawyer came out for their "annual spring break visit".  They come via Amtrak - while daddy, Dennis, stayed home with the critters.  We think there are other people who could take care of the 5 steers!!!!!

The boys are both in Cadets and wanted to get their Hiking Badge.   So two hiking trips were planned.  Of course, they came on a WINDY week.  However......Monday was supposed to be nice and so an overnight campout and hike was planned. At 4:00 in the afternoon they started out at the "old Newenhuis" place (and I'm sure I spelled that one wrong.)   Gary had the co-ordinances on his GPS.......and so they would travel across country to the well that is straight north of Bud Pavelka.  Approximately 3 miles as the crow flies ---- but with all the "country" they found it was certainly more than that.  They jumped 2 coyotes, and 3 mule deer......

......found an old pickup  (that Uncle Dave would probably like)....also ...a question for Duke or Robbi or Dwight.   Could this possibly be out by the "old Beck place"??  That's the area they were hiking in......

...a pond out in the middle of no-where........and finally made it to the well where Holly and I met them with the rest of their camping gear.

And off they went to find their spot for the night.  The coyotes howled ....and it rained a little......and some of the breakfast got spilled on the ground......which meant Sawyer had to do the dishes......not a happy boy.....but maybe a lesson there.

Holly and I again met them -- picked up all their gear and they hiked the remaining 2 plus miles that they needed to complete the requirements for the hike.

This spot - for those of you who know this country...is 1/2 mile north of Wyonne Walkling.....which is also 1 mile approx. south of where I (Barb) went to school...up there by the  trees.

Then on Friday morning the boys went on their final hike with Grandpa.  This would be south of us in a pasture that my cousin Dwight owns.....  Another spot with some fun surprises.

 They  (actually Grandpa found it )......found a shed - an antler......

and some fun places to run and mess around in.   This was an "exploring hike" so the boys had to come back and make a map of where they had walked and what they had seen. They put on about 5 miles.......

While they were out doing all this hiking.....Holly was back at our home making curtains for their camper.  She had never sewn before so this was a fun learning time for her.   The curtains turned out great.  Somewhere on this @#$%^&  computer (excuse my language) there is a picture of her sewing.....but I can't find it and I can't get it off my camera again because it isn't "new".

We ended their vacation with a swim at the pool in McCook --- Chief Motel.  The train came in 1/2 hour late ---- 12:34 a.m.  But it DID come -- so they are now on their way back to Michigan --- and should arrive this evening at 10:30 p.m. ----- a LONG trip but one that works for a mom with 2 young boys.

A fun time was had by all !!!!!!!

Gary and Barb --- Gramma and Grampa

Release Time -- Easter Story

We had our group this week for Release Time.  We have been doing the story of King Saul and King David --- but it's Easter and what a wonderful story to tell.   Our group is the 3rd and 4th graders and we have had these kids since the 1st grade.  We have told the Easter Story each year -----so this was a story they knew well.  As Gary told the story - a hand would go up and they would have to say what they remembered --- or sometimes they went ahead in the story and Gary would say "yes !! that's coming".  It's a LONG story if you try to tell it all --- but it's all so important.......the kids did great ---- a little disruptive with all the hands going up but at least it was always about the story.

We also made a nice cross out of red cedar with the kids.  They started out with 6 pieces  - 3 long and 3 short.  They had to pick how they wanted their cross to look and then we glued them together.

The pictures show the crosses before we put a sealant on them.........that always brings out the bright color of the cedar.  We sprayed the crosses after we brought the kids back to school and then delivered them when they were dry (same day).  They will have them at home for Easter.

May your Easter be special as we all celebrate and remember what Jesus did for each one of us and that he lives and reigns forever.
Gary and Barb

AUGH!! Winter is back --- in full force.

Spring was short and summer even shorter (yes, we felt like we had a touch of them both already)..... Today, winter reared it's ugly cold head again.  We don't have a terrible lot of snow -- but the wind is fierce and schools are closed.  Stores and businesses in Valentine are closing.  One report on the radio was that at times he couldn't see the truck parked across the street from the radio station.   I am afraid that this is NOT good for the baby calves that are being born in this weather.  Hopefully, the ranchers can get them inside and out of the wet, cold, snowy weather.

Gary came into the house and said, "get your camera".   So I grabbed it and asked, "what you got"?
Well, there was a robin sitting in the cedar tree right by our garden spot.  I certainly figured it would be long gone by the time we got back out there.   But there she sat........

                                             
....looked to me like she was all puffed up trying hard to stay warm.  After I snapped a couple of pictures she ducked back into the inside of the tree.  Must have been checking so see if things were improving but decided they weren't.

When it's nice out we've had the red winged blackbirds...........

                                           

........ sitting in the tree tops singing their "song".  The only reason I like their "noise" is that they DO announce that spring is right around the corner.  So we are just thankful for the moisture that came in the form of this snow and we know that spring is still just right around the corner.

We had JDC this evening and had 2 groups ---- 10 in the first and 8 in the second.  There is a group that they call "BIA".....they are from other reservations.  The groups were all attentive and it was an enjoyable evening.  We went from 3 youth - to 18.  Tomorrow is a court date for some of them so a  few might be gone...but there are 4 in "booking".....so this number will be with us for a while. This is a wonderful time --- to talk about the great sacrifice Jesus gave by dying for us - taking our punishment and then rising again from the dead.   We will also be doing a service on Sunday (Easter) evening-----another chance to share this wonderful message.

May God bless you as we remember His Grace at this time.
Gary and Barb

A need to Praise and Thank God --- and to share it with you.

Sometimes we just flat out need some encouragement.  Tonight we got it.  That is why we need to Praise and Thank God.....and share it with you!

But we will start with last Wednesday evening.  We only had 6 or 7 boys so we made a circle of our chairs --- it seems a good way to communicate better than when they are spread out in the room, and usually it works very nicely.  But these young men (boys) seemed to have something on their minds.  And the circle didn't work very good --- for us.  They on the other hand could look at each other and do their "thing"......which caused me to ask Pastor Mark if we were witnessing some sort of "rumble".  They were nodding at each other and pointing and showing off their biceps.  They really didn't cause "trouble".....just had their own agenda....and we didn't appreciate it.    And so --- you (we) can get to questioning - what are we doing here --- are we doing any good?!?!

Then this evening - it is the second Sunday of the month and our evening for a time of worship at the Detention Center.  We found out that we would need to do two groups -- anyway it would be best that way.  There was a group of young men from North Dakota ---- they call them the B.I. A group (Bureau of Indian Affairs) - why they call them that - I don't know.....perhaps only because they are not from the Rosebud.   And boy, does it show -- every time!!

Tonight we did the  "Wordless Book" message....the complete gospel message in a wordless book --- only colored pages that represent "heaven" - gold page, "unclean hearts" - dark page, "Jesus blood" - red page, "clean hearts" - white page, and "G.R.O.W". - green page.  Well, have you ever seen someone paying real close attention to something...... their eyes are wide open and sometimes they nod their heads in agreement, they cock their head so they can see better.......  That's what we had tonight with the group from North Dakota and other Reservations (not the Rosebud).  Actually, even the 1st group was attentive --- but the second group topped it off.  These guys were willing to read the Bible passage --- not this "I can't read" stuff....and even sang the songs that they had never heard before.  We were blessed!!!

We came home feeling totally refreshed and eager to go back.  We needed that encouragement. Thank you Lord!   and  Thank you for your prayers and support.....and be sure to Thank God for His encouragement.
Gary and Barb

What a gorgeous day~!!!!!

Today was awesome ----- 77 degrees and very little wind.  We didn't have any fires that we know of  ------and we did quite a bit of "touring" today......via the Mitsubishi and the 4 wheelers.    We went out to the spot where the fire was yesterday and got a few better pictures.....and a video.  Hope the video comes out.......

That is the Gunnink ranch in the background.....

 The end of the day was perfect.......a beautiful sunset with the birds singing their mate-ing songs.

Same sunset --- just different camera settings.......   I walked out to the west of our trailer and climbed a little hill in the pasture. I took my photos and just stood and listened.........Thank you Lord for a wonderful end to a wonderful day.

Tomorrow we will have JDC in the evening.  Pastor Mark will lead.  There were only 3 boys there this past Wednesday.....things could have changed by now.  But we will go no matter what the numbers.
Videos up and running........    Good Night.
Gary and Barb

First prairie fire.........

.....hope it's a short season!!!

I was going out for a walk along the tree line just east of our place.  I saw some smoke to the north....looked like it was real close to Luxon's place.....which is 1/2 mile north of us.   But as I watched for a short time - the smoke seemed to decrease.....    So I continued on my walk.  When I got to the end of the tree line - about 1/4 of a mile long -- I saw that the smoke was BAD!.  Now I was in a hurry to get back.

We went to see what was up..... and there were a lot of others checking it out also.    Seems that there was a power line down on the ground and that was the beginning of the fire. OOPS -- Cherry Todd was at work out there -- so there were some who placed the blame with them.  The fire was 1 1/2 miles straight north of us.   It was a bit windy -- but not real bad.  The fire was headed for a wheat field - thankgoodness!!  That would stop it.....and it did.......along with the 5 fire trucks.  Fire trucks from Rosebud and Mission were out. The fire did burn for a mile - across a pasture.  The local ranchers don't have their water tanks up and running --- you don't figure on needing them in February. However,  the fire danger for tomorrow --- is "extreme".  

And so this one was a short lived fire -- thank you Lord.    But it did serve to make us aware of what can happen fast. The Linnaberry's will probably be one pasture short this summer --- for grazing.  I'm thinking there are some ranchers getting their fire fighting equipment in the ready mode!!

Gary and Barb