What a Damn Big Dam! (by Suki)

As some of you know, the Warrens and Steve and I take "adventures" around eastern Nebraska (with a yearly visit to Duncan, Nebraska for the Ribfest as our farthest venture). However, a few weekends ago we journeyed to Gavin's Point Dam near the South Dakota border to gawk at the flood control, have a great lunch at the marina and then cruise through Missouri Valley to see the real effects of the flooded Missouri River. The visit to the dam was extremely impressive and I just had to share it via video with everyone. (copy link in address box if you can't click on it). Of course, we drove back in our usual assigned seats with Steve and John in the back with the cooler, and Sue and I in the front with an ice cream cone to end a great day.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJQTON3dsjA



Can you see the center pivot in the middle? Wow.

Greetings from Geneva

Hello, everyone! I put these pictures on and hope that I can write my narrative in a way that makes sense. Once again, I've waited a long time to post so have lots of time to cover. This picture of Mark and Beth was taken at a surprise birthday party that Mark's girlfriend and Jake's wife gave them in March. Jake was born the same day as the twins and they shared the nursery in the Geneva hospital. Mark was very gracious to Beth because there were signs wishing the guys' happy birthdays and he added "and Beth" to them.
Fillmore County is getting a new hospital and this picture was taken at the gala held as a fund raiser for specialized equipment. It was quite an unusual event for us rural folks. Quite glamorous and we had a great time.














This was taken at Mark, Jake (and Beth's!) birthday party. We old folks didn't stay long; we were just glad to be invited.
Mark is still toiling away in the golf management program and this was taken at the ceremony when he became an official member of the PGA. It was a bit unnerving because he had to take the last round of tests the day of the ceremony. He had been taking tests for over a year and was confident he'd pass. He did, we had a nice meal at Wilderness Ridge in Lincoln and he's in the PGA.


In April, I was in Scottsbluff for a meeting with other special ed directors and after our meeting was over for the day, some of us went to Scott's Bluff. It was lovely, with snow falling softly, no wind and mild temps. That night was different, however, when a blizzard hit western Nebraska and we got snowed in for two days. Ironically, the sun was shining in Scottsbluff, the snow melted and highs were in the 60's. We were trapped because roads to the east were closed. We did drive by Miss America's house and learned that her lovely long blond hair is a wig. She actually has thin, "scraggly" (according to people knew her in high school) red hair.















Those of us who traveled to Duncan for the RibFest will recognize these pictures. Once again, the food was great (Tom's ribs being the best, of course!) We brought some friends from Geneva and they had a great time along with the cousins. It was a bonus that Joan was home and we got to see her.









































To support families with kids with disabilities, ESU 6 helps support several events through the year. These were taken at Milford's summer festival and the group inspiring such enthusiastic dancing is "The String Beans". They are two brothers from Lincoln who write their own music for children and my favorite is "Right Here in Nebraska." I'm told 4th grade teachers use it when teaching about the state; it can be found on YouTube (with some amateurish cartooning) and I learned some things from hearing it. How about you?

Theresa and Bill were here last weekend and got a full dose of Husker events: baseball (Red-White game) in the morning with Tom, Tucker and Carlie, volleyball in the afternoon with me and football at night. Victories all around (although that evening game was in doubt for too long). Glad to see all the posts--keep them coming!
Love, Nancy

Picnic brisket recipe from Janice

Here's the brisket I made for the picnic this year. First time I have tried this recipe, but I was very pleased with the results. I figured all the men would like it, since it involves large quantity of meat as well as beer.

Beer Brisket

3 - 4 lb. beef brisket

1 onion, thinly sliced

1/2 c. chili sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1 twelve oz. can of beer

Preheat oven to 350. Trim excess fat from brisket. Season with salt and pepper. Place meat in 9 X 13 pan. Cover with onion slices.

In bowl, combine chili sauce, garlic powder, brown sugar, and beer. Pour mixture over meat, cover with foil, and bake 3 1/2 hours.

Cool and refrigerate overnight.

Next day, remove meat, remove and discard any congealed fat from sauce, and slice meat thinly. Place meat back in sauce, cover with foil, and reheat 1 hour at 350.

I made this as directed, but reheated it in the crockpot for the picnic.

Today is the first day of school here. Since I have the boys 10 hours a day during the summer, I have a list of things a mile long to accomplish during the school hours. With this done, I am off to run errands, including ordering a new range and refrigerator. My oven died this summer and is not worth any repairs. My refrigerator is still running (28 years), but I would like them to match. Plus, the newer models use only about 1/3 the energy to run, so it will eventually pay its way.

Love,

Janice

Stamp Girls Take On the Big Apple (by Suki)

Hi all,
I wanted to post a few pics of a recent visit Niki and I took to visit Cassidy, who now lives in New York. We walked, ate and shopped our way through this fabulous and fast moving city and enjoyed every second of it.

Big Apple BBQ in Madison Square Park
(giant Duncan Ribfest)

Pizza at Lombardi's

Having appetizers on Michael's terrace on Park Avenue before dinner.

Belgium Waffles in West Village (Cassidy's hood)

On ferry boat to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

Top of Empire State Building (cloudy day)

Subway Cassi takes most days

Ellis Island

Oh, we love cupcake shops!