We were in South Dakota from October 28th to November 5th. Sam enjoys being back on the farm working with Brent; and, of course, we like being with Brent and Tauna's family.
Sam combining corn.
In addition to being with family and seeing friends while we were in South Dakota, I
worked on my life story, read some good books, and enjoyed going on daily walks and taking farm pictures.
On my walk to the calving shed
Although we serve in the Payson Temple on Tuesdays, it was closed on the 28th; so we drove to Denver where we stayed overnight with Scott and Kristine's family. The next day, we had lunch and a nice visit with Bill and Karen in Scottsbluff before going on to Martin.
Sam with Karen (Sam's sister) and Bill Hicks
It was fun to be in South Dakota for one of Rachel's volleyball games, and we appreciate her wanting to have a picture taken with us.
Grampa Sam, Rachel, and Gramma Narene
after Rachel's volleyball game.
Maple Road leads to our former home on the farm.
Where we used to live is now Brent and Tauna's home
and is straight ahead hidden behind the trees.
We now stay in their former home
(seen at the right).
The sign by the cattle guard.
Brent and Tauna's house at the left,
the shop at the right, and
the day's work being discussed
with Roy (in the middle) and hired men.
One morning I rode in the combine with Sam
and took this photo through the front window
showing the ears of corn being harvested.
Sam dumping the combined corn from the combine
into the grain cart (driven by Steve Strain).
Sam finishing up harvesting corn in this field.
Sometimes the grain is stored in plastic bags
instead of in the grain bins.
These bags are full, so remaining corn is trucked
to grain bins on the farm for selling later.
The auger is used to move the grain
from the truck into grain bins.
The outer edges of this cornfield have been combined.
Grain bins are near this field, but normally
the fields are much farther from the storage bins.
Where to next?
(Sam, Brent, and Steve Strain)
Some of the corn is made into silage
and kept in a large dug-out pit
covered with a plastic tarp.
The tires are used to keep the tarp in place.
There are two silage pits here;
one covered with white tarp at the right,
and one at the back (left) covered with black plastic.
Golden wheat stubble in the distance
and hay bales in the foreground.
A 60-ft. air seeder for planting small grains.
It can handle bulk quantities of seed and fertilizer
and plants large acreages efficiently.
Cows in a pasture south of the home place.
Coming up to get his picture taken.
Taken on my walk west of the barn area.
The pasture north of the corrals.
Pine trees along the road in front of the home place.
Sunset at the farm.
Barbie and Roy (Sam's brother)
They live at the farm part of the year
and the other months in Arizona.
We visited Sam's Aunt Curly at her home in Martin.
She is doing very well at 90 years.
Our dear friend, Patti Busch, came to the
farm for an afternoon of visiting. We have
been friends for many years and have
served in Primary and Relief Society together.
farm for an afternoon of visiting. We have
been friends for many years and have
served in Primary and Relief Society together.
Weston showing his Grampa Sam
something on his cell phone.
On our way home to Spanish Fork
across Nebraska and Wyoming.
October 24, three days before we left for South Dakota,
we went to a BYU football game and had
these good seats along with Joshua and Ethan,
our grandsons. It was a nice day for a game,
but the game wasn't very exciting.
BYU won 70-6 over Wagner (New York).
(Narene, Sam, Joshua, and Ethan hoping
his game garb will get him on the stadium video cam.)
A memorable and fun time in October was having a visit from our dear friends, Greg and Chris Shepard, from Dallas, Texas. They stayed with us and spent part of their week here traveling back and forth to Salt Lake City to be with their new granddaughter, Zuzu, born to Ben and Elspeth.
We love the Shepards!
(Chris and Narene - October 20th)
