MOM’S MEMOIRS – IRENE LOUISE (NEE KUCKKAN) MUELLER
(Continued)

Mom’s Autobiography – Chapter 57 – In Book, Page 137

At the Diamond Guest Ranch, Wyoming, Cheyenne Frontier Days Parade, Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, Worship at Good Shepherd Ev. Lutheran Church and Fellowship, At Mount Rushmore, Stone Broke Windshield of Weiland’s Vehicle, Stopped at Wilson, Dad’s Brother’s Grave, Dad’s Country School, Wilson Church, With Patsy, Beatie and Donnie at Ponderosa, Julia Playing Tennis

Everyone in our pictures have big smiles on their faces. Of course, Wanda and Dick’s Chris had to climb way up a nearby hill and proudly stand on top of it, the “king of the mountain”. We remember when we were in Florida visiting them that Chris climbed up into an open arch over a door in their home and sat in it! Our beautiful daughter, Steph, had everything organized so that everyone had a great time playing some great games, running races, etc. There is a wonderful picture of my husband, Dick, riding a “hobby horse” (a horse’s head on a stick). We ate our dinner at the ranch. We do not remember what we ate, but we do know that it was delicious. Some of our family slept in trailers, tents, etc. Sue, Jim, and family slept in a renovated horse barn. Steph and Jeff had kindly reserved a room for us in another building. It did rain that night, so those who slept in tents had quite a time of it. We remember those times from our tent and leaky motor home camping days. Never will I forget the beautiful trail ride we had. I rode “Mojo”. We rode quite a ways through the countryside, God’s creation, of Wyoming, and it was great!

Now we are BACK IN CHEYENNE JULY 23rd enjoying the hospitality of Steph, Jeff, Trav, Mitch, and Sammy. And now we are all at the Frontier Days parade! Wow! What a spectacle even though it was raining! There was a “Salute the American Indian” float, bands, men on hobby horses, First National Monument Devil’s Tower float, covered wagons pulled by horses, costumed cowboys and cowgirls on their horses, a miniature replica of a Union Pacific engine and caboose from Ault, Colorado, Cheyenne Youth Symphony Band, stagecoaches and wagons pulled by horses, Silver Crown Mines float, Hell’s Half Acre (tavern) float, military men (some on horses), more bands, an old-time sleigh on wheels pulled by a horse, a patriotic float with the sign, “In Honor of Those Who Have Served And Those Who Serve. Thank You!!” – an old-time ambulance with legs in splints hanging out the windows and a nurse waving, a hearse with a body in it, and a schoolroom on a wagon pulled by horses, complete with teacher and pupils.

There is a picture I especially love. It is of an older very sophisticated woman, beautifully dressed in a long red dress with a frilly white collar and cuffs, and a red and white hat. She is sitting on a side saddle riding a majestic brown horse with its mane intricately groomed. She is unforgettable! And there are two more pictures I especially love – our Steph dancing with a cowboy on the side of the street – unforgettable too!

Of course, there are many more cowboys and cowgirls on horses. There were also old cars (one with a family inside it, with clothes and junk hanging from it, and a sign on the side of it saying, “CHEYENNE OR BUST!”). Wow, what a parade!!!!

MORE TO COME ON JULY 24th – CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS RODEO

Dick and I had seen our first rodeo in Isabel, South Dakota, when our son-in- law, Jeff, was pastor of Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church, there, but the rodeo in Cheyenne is the “Daddy Of ‘EM All”! Wow! The grandstands were full of people, including all of us! And the ugly bulls in the corrals waiting to be ridden – huge! There was bull riding, bareback wild bronc riding, steer roping, steer wrestling, team roping, tie down roping, saddle bronc riding, barrel racing, horse racing, etc. It was all very exciting! And it was happening just below us – in the mud! Can you imagine it? There’s a picture of a big bull lying in the mud after a cowboy on his horse had roped it! It is very dangerous coming out of the chutes on a huge wild bull and riding it!

Steph and Jeff told us that a bull rider, “Lane Frost”, had been killed by a bull in 1989. The name of the bull was “Takin’ Care of Business”. He was gored by the bull twice, the second time severing an artery. The Frosts said that if people remember one thing about Lane, they want it to be that he was a kind person and knew Jesus. He was twenty-five years old at the time of his death. The bull died in 1999 of arthritis.

There Dick sits on a stool with the head of a long horned steer. And there all of our six children are standing with the Budweiser truck in the background; also a picture of them with us (both of us wearing our cowboy hats and me wearing my cowboy boots! What precious pictures and memories!

ATTENDING THE CHURCH SERVICE AT GOOD SHEPHERD EV. LUTHERAN CHURCH

What a blessing and joy it was for all of us to attend the church in Cheyenne where Jeff is the pastor – to hear him preach the Word of God in all of its truth and purity. We are very proud of him. The wonderful sign in front of the church said, “GOOD SHEPHERD EV. LUTHERAN – SUNDAY SERVICE HOURS – 10:00 – LIFE IS A PUZZLE – LOOK HERE FOR THE MISSING PEACE – LITTLE LAMBS PRESCHOOL 635-2257.”

After the service there was a delicious lunch served by the congregation. We enjoyed more fellowship with one another and the members of the congregation. After the meal Steph asked us all to gather in the church again and she showed us slides of the reunion already. We were all so impressed with the new fellowship hall which had been built. The Builders For Christ had helped build it. All glory be to God!

And then it was time for all of us to pack up and leave our loved ones in Cheyenne, Wyoming. What a happy and blessed time we all had together! We thank God from the bottom of our hearts for all of His loving kindnesses and bountiful blessings!

MOUNT RUSHMORE IN THE BLACK HILLS OF SOUTH DAKOTA

Again we hopped into the car with Sue, Jim, Christina, and Laura. We traveled to and stopped to see the very impressive Mount Rushmore National Memorial. It is a huge carving on a granite cliff which shows the faces of four American presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. Gutzon Borghum designed the memorial. It stands taller than the Great Pyramid of Egypt. We did see a huge unfinished carving of Chief Crazy Horse on a mountain, too – awesome! We also stopped at a Gander Mountain store along the highway. It contained big and little beautifully stuffed wild animals and sports equipment of every kind.

While our Sue was driving in Minnesota, a maintenance truck was parked on the road, so Sue had to go more to the left to pass it. There was a man mowing along the left side of the road, and as we passed him, the car windshield was hit by a stone and cracked it right in front of Sue. If you know Sue, she turned around and went right back and showed them what happened. They were very nice, and took down all the information she gave them. Sue and Jim were able to drive back to Wisconsin with the windshield that way, and later the state of Minnesota paid for the damage. Needless to say, it gave all of us a scare, but again our dear Lord kept us safe in His loving arms.

While we were still in Minnesota, Dick asked Sue and Jim to stop at the church in Wilson where his father had been pastor at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church for seven years, and where his baby brother is buried. We found his brother’s grave, and also walked around the church where there are also old graves (the inscriptions in German), behind the church, between it and the parsonage. Jim was especially interested in that because he can speak German. Dick also pointed out the stained glass window where a golf ball went through when he was bouncing it off the church. He was between six and thirteen years old then. There was a little country one-room schoolhouse which Dick attended about a mile from the parsonage and church. He walked to and from school, but when we wanted to show it to Sue, Tim, Christina, and Laura, it wasn’t there anymore. I was blessed to see it and climb up to look through the windows (only a blackboard was left) during a previous trip. It was sad to see it gone.

Then our loving Lord brought us safely back home. All of our flowers looked great. And the ducks are still coming from the brickyard, as it was called years ago. Now it is Victoria Lake. There the ducks are on a picture with our Julie sitting on our grass feeding them.

VISIT BY MY SISTER, BEATIE, HUSBAND, DONNIE, AND PATSY, THEIR DAUGHTER

All of us went out to eat at the Ponderosa in Watertown. Patsy had come to visit all the way from Thomasville, Georgia. We had a wonderful visit with them.

JULIA PLAYING TENNIS

We went to Luther Prep and watched Julia play tennis. As far as we can remember, she is the only one who played tennis at Luther Prep (formerly Northwestern). It was fun watching her.