Moscow Metro Bombing

Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Moscow as they mourn those who died and were injured in the bombings yesterday in the Metro.

Photo posted on the web showing the scene at
Park Kultury the day after the bombings in this
Metro station in Moscow that followed another
bombing in the Lubyanka Metro station.

We are grateful to learn that all of the young and senior missionaries in Moscow are safe, and we pray that our dear Muscovite (Moscow resident) friends are safe as well.

During the 18 months we lived in Moscow serving as humanitarian missionaries, we depended on the Metro for our transportation as do 9 million people every day. As we traveled on the Metro to church in the Yugo Zapadnaya branch, we transferred from the green line to the red line that went through the Park Kultury station. Of course, we have been in the Lubyanka station as well. Exactly one year prior to this bombing, we were riding in the Metro with Scott and Kristine who had been visiting us in Moscow and were going to the airport to return home to Denver.

It is sad that there are those in the world who do not value the life of other innocent people, and they do not even value their own life.

As we celebrate the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ this Easter, we are reminded that His gospel message is one of peace and goodwill. I pray we may continue striving to find the way to help others recognize this truth.

We love the Savior and are grateful for his Gift of the Resurrection and the Atonement. We wish all a happy and safe Easter.

Mitchell Show Choir

Friday, March 26, we drove to Mitchell to watch our two granddaughters perform with their high school show choirs at a dinner show held in the Corn Palace. Mitchell High School has a tradition of excellent show choirs, and we have enjoyed seeing Trevor and Sarah perform in other years. As a freshman, Maggie is in the high school show choir this year, and Haley was selected to be in the junior high show choir in her middle school.

Haley is in the front row, center, 7th from the right.


We were lucky to have Maggie be
the greeter who took our tickets and
led us to our seats.

On the program, in addition to the show choir numbers, were individual vocal and instrumental numbers performed while we ate our stuffed pork chop dinner. We enjoyed this part of the program and heard some very talented young performers. The high school show choir performed four different routines, but they saved their 2010 competition set to end the evening.

"Friend de Coup" (Mitchell High School Show Choir)
getting ready to perform their championship show.
Maggie is among the several girls standing behind
guys as the music begins for their opener, "Breakout."

This has been quite a year for Mitchell's high school show choir, winning the championship in all but one competition. They got off to a great start in their first competition at Lincoln, Nebraska, where they were named Grand Champion. They were also grand champions at competitions in Sioux City, Iowa and Council Bluffs, Iowa. At their final competition this year at the FAME National Show Choir competition in Orlando, Florida, they also came home with the grand championship trophy, along with awards for best choreography, best vocals, best show design, and best band.

After performing "One True Friend," the guys left
for a costume change while the girls performed "Street Songs."
Maggie is in the front row, third from the right.

Then, while the girls left to change into the costume Maggie is wearing in the photo below, the guys returned to perform "Join the Show Choir." All were on stage for the final number, "Disturbia." It was a great show, and we are happy we were able to see it.

Show choir members lined up at the
conclusion of the show to meet
family and friends.


Their 2010 trophy case including the huge trophy
awarded in Orlando (at left, about 5 foot high).

If you would like to watch the show choir's Orlando championship performance on YouTube, click here: "Breakout." You will be taken to the screen where each of the other segments of the set can be selected. (Next choose in proper sequence: "One True Friend," "Street Songs," "Join the Show Choir," and "Disturbia.") You can also click on any underlined musical title included in my blog account of this competition, which will take you to that portion of the performance.

Calving Time on the Farm

Each year when the calendar page is turned to the month of March, the heifers are brought closer to home where those showing signs of being ready to calve can be watched more closely. Brent, Sam, Roy and the hired men take turns for round-the-clock checking of the two-year-old heifers who are first-year moms. It is always hoped that during your shift any calves being born come naturally without having to be pulled or assisted. There is a calving shed nearby where the heifers that are in the process of calving can be brought inside when it's cold and snowy or if they need help.

The cows who have calved in previous years are watched, but not as closely; as they typically have their calves naturally without problems. During stormy weather, there is another larger calving building in the north pasture where large numbers can have shelter.

We are currently just over a third of the way through calving with about one hundred fifty on the ground and alive.

This newborn calf is getting the typical licking
from his mom to dry him off and get him moving.

Upon entering his new world, the little calf will make several attempts to stand up on his wobbly legs; and when he is up, his next instinct is to try to find where the milk is. It is amazing that they are able to get on their feet and find milk, usually within the 1st hour.

Brent's children get the job of feeding the "bottle calves"
when the mother cow is not able to provide the milk.
The mother may have died, or it may be that the calf
is a twin and the mom doesn't have enough milk for two.
(Rachel and Weston)

Sam is feeding a second newborn calf.


This will be a regular job for Weston
until the calf gets older.

We have been seeing more wild life this year than in former years. The deer are numerous and a real hazard for drivers. They all too frequently dart out in front of an approaching car, with the deer being killed and the car receiving several thousands of dollars of needed repairs. We also are seeing many more Canadian geese in the cornfield stubble this year.

The Lacreek Refuge is not far from our farm where geese and trumpeter swan have their habitat; but for the first time, we have started seeing trumpeter swan by the Pauly place in a new shallow lake bed resulting from all the melted snow.

Canadian geese in flight as we stopped for this
photo on our way home from church.


The trumpeter swan flying over the field near
where the photo of the Canadian geese was taken.
Deer can be seen in the distance if you look closely.


The corrals and cows west of our home.
We enjoy seeing the beautiful sunsets.

AAU Wrestling Results - Sam & Weston

The high school 2010 wrestling season concluded with the State tournament; however, the season is not finished yet for our grandson Sam and his dad, who coached the high school team and is now helping with the AAU wrestlers.

Coach Brent and dad of
wrestlers Seth, Sam, and Weston.

Sam and Weston competed last Saturday in Hill City at the AAU district tournament where Sam placed first and Weston placed 5th. Eight wrestlers from two districts went on to compete yesterday in Rapid City at the regional tournament. Sam placed first at Regions and will go on to compete in two weeks in Brookings at the State AAU tournament. We went to Rapid City yesterday to watch the boys wrestle.

Sam (100-lb. weight class)
Placed 1st at Districts and 1st at Regions
in the 13-14 age group.
Sam will be 13 next month.

Both Sam and Weston are in the bottom half for their age group. For Weston, this is quite a handicap, since his age group is for boys turning 9 or 10 in 2010; and Weston won't be 9 until next November. To make it even more challenging for Weston, his weight puts him in the same group with boys likely to be one or almost two years older than he is. Weston lost his first match and won his second match with a pin; and although he wrestled well, he lost the next match, ending his season for the year.

Weston (65-pound weight class)
Age 8, but competed in the 9-10 Division.
Placed 5th at Districts.
Will be in the same 9-10 age division next year.

Memories of Happy

Doug named our dog "Happy," and it turned out to be an appropriate name.

Happy
Part Border Collie and Australian Shepherd
Summer 1997- February 2010

We have our sister-in-law, Barbie, to thank for finding Happy when he was a puppy. She had seen he was for sale in town and knew our previous dog had died. When she called to see if we wanted this dog, we were just on our way out the door going somewhere. We agreed to buy the puppy, and it was left for Barbie to bring him home. This was the summer of 1997 between Doug's junior and senior year in high school, so he was the only one of our children home at the time and had the privilege of picking a name.

Happy was always ready to come along.
(Jeff & Doug, 1999)

Happy turned out to be a very affectionate dog and loved receiving attention; but he was good to mind when tiny children were not used to him and didn't want him close. I remember when Beth's Jared was little and was hesitant about going outside by himself to play if Happy was near, and Happy soon learned that he was not to be by Jared. Then, when I wanted to take a family picture of Beth and the children with Happy in the picture, we had to coax Happy to stay by them. In later visits, Jared came to enjoy Happy as did all of the grandchildren.

He could have been a cow dog because of his being part Border Collie and part Australian Shepherd, but no one took the time to train him. Whenever the guys were working with cattle, he would get excited and run back and forth and then lie down and watch for awhile and then repeat the process as though he wanted to help but didn't know what to do. The cattle didn't mind him being there, so he was no trouble but no help either.

Happy's only fault was his phobia about hearing loud noises. If there was a noise he didn't like, he would run back and forth furiously as long as the noise persisted instead of running away from the noise. When they were working on Brent and Tauna's house after their fire, the hammering triggered this frenzy; and he chewed the corner of the siding of their house. He would get nervous when he anticipated a noise would be starting; so when Sam would get the hammer to pound the PVC pipes down by my tomato plants in the garden (for watering the plants), Happy would begin his racing back and forth before the hammering even started.

One time, he got shut in Grampa's garage in error and Grampa didn't hear him barking to be let out, and Happy chewed up the wooden frame around the door. Other than these problems, Happy was no trouble at all.

He was a low maintenance dog. We had a self feeder for his dog food, and he got water at the tanks for the cattle. He had a dog house, but seldom if ever used it, preferring to sleep outside or in one of the farm buildings.

After Doug graduated, Happy had to get used to the occasional pats Sam and I gave him, which he always enjoyed. He also liked to lie down on his back with his feet up while he relished having his stomach scratched.

When Brent & Tauna's family moved to the farm, Happy enjoyed having more attention from their children and had companionship with their dogs. Each time we had family come for visits to the farm, Happy got welcomed affection from grandchildren.

Anywhere the grandchildren were, Happy enjoyed
being nearby; and when the little ones realized
how nice Happy was, they liked having him with them.
(Rachel, Jenna, Trent, Shannon, Seth, Weston - 2003)

Finally, Happy became a "senior citizen;" and he was definitely slowing down and showing his age. This summer when he was 13 years old (about 91 in dog years), there was a squirrel a few feet from where Happy was lying on the porch. He saw the squirrel and slowly got up and walked to the edge of the porch. When the squirrel started to scurry off, instead of giving chase as he would have done in his younger years, Happy just turned around and resumed his spot on the porch.

Although Happy had always been an outdoor dog, this winter when the temperatures got below freezing, we were concerned about his being able to withstand the coldest nights and wanted him to come inside our garage. Since he had been trained to stay outside, he wouldn't come in on his own and had to be picked up to bring inside. At Christmas time, the grandkids were concerned about Happy's shivering there in the garage and took towels to briskly rub him down to get him warm.

While we were on our cruise in the Mediterranean the end of January, Happy was lying under one of the hired men's vehicles and wasn't quick enough to get out of the way when he drove off. They kept Happy in the shop and provided food and water for him, but they didn't know if he was injured more than having his leg run over. After two days, he wanted outside and didn't come back to the shop. The next day, they found him on our porch where he had come home and left this mortal life.

Grandchildren will miss Happy when they come for visits.
(Ethan and Joshua, summer 2007)

We all miss Happy! He enjoyed people, especially children; and he liked running in the pastures and being part of nature. He was always ready to go with me when I went for a walk and would typically run ahead and then come back to be a companion. He looked forward to being petted; but after a few pats on the head or a tummy scratching, he would be satisfied when told, "that's all now." He was a smart dog and an ideal farm pet.

We have had several dogs through the years; but Ref, who moved with us from Arizona to South Dakota, and our last dog, Happy, are my favorites. Neither one had a habit of chasing cars, but both of them died from being run over by vehicles. Before they left our family, they provided a lot of pleasure and happy memories.

Weston's Award and Mounted Pheasant

Competing against the other second graders in Martin Grade School's annual spelling bee, Weston came home with a plaque and certificate for placing second.

Weston's 2nd-place spelling bee awards


This is undoubtedly Weston's prized trophy.
Galen Busch made Weston extremely happy by
transforming Weston's first pheasant into this wall
plaque using taxidermy skills.


This is a photo of Weston with his
pheasant on the day he returned from hunting.
(Posted earlier on the blog in October).