A Retreat for the High Schoolers!

A few weekends ago, the seven of us held a retreat for the St. Labre high school students at the buffalo ranch. James had the original idea for the retreat back in the fall, and all of us were on board immediately as we thought it would be a different way to get to know some of the high schoolers. It also gave us an excuse to go back to the ranch for the weekend!
After many late nights planning and re-working our talks, we headed out on the St. Labre mini bus on Friday afternoon with 6 students in tow. We wanted to keep the weekend pretty relaxing, so we combined some of our activities with time spent outdoors exploring the ranch property. Some of our favorite moments from the weekend happened while we were riding in the back of pick-up trucks enjoying the warm weather and beautiful views. We concluded the day with a bonfire and smore's, and by the end of the weekend it seemed everyone had enjoyed themselves!

Eggcelent Easter Eggstravaganza!!

Our Easter activities began the Saturday before Easter with a community-wide egg hunt in Ashland. In order to prepare for this big event, Annie, Cori, Peggy, and Sarah individually stuffed 1,000 plastic eggs with candy and then hid them the morning of the hunt with the help of Jess, James, and Harry. The egg hunt drew crowds of kids eager to get the most candy and win an Easter basket to take home. The boys grilled close to two hundred hot dogs and hamburgers, while the rest of us served up tater salad and beans.


On Good Friday, all 7 of us traveled up to Hays to join Missoula and Billings for the Eggcelent Easter Eggstravaganza! Saturday was our big Easter dinner featuring commodity ham and other assorted dishes, and then we joined the rest of the Hays community for the Easter Vigil Mass. Although the mass was a tad long (three hours), it was filled with many funny moments, thanks to the dynamic duo of Father Joseph and Sister Laura. Sunday began with an egg hunt sponsored by the Hays JVs, in which we were split up into communities to see which house could retrieve the most eggs from the house/yard. Hays ended up winning (home field advantage)! Afterward, we took a drive through Mission Canyon, and we all came out unscathed despite a minor mishap involving James, Annie, Kelly, and a large falling boulder.
Sunday evening, we did what all JVs do when they gather in large groups...made prank phone calls. After Sarah's second batch of fudge was almost wiped out and a few of us were overcome by a rare condition called "the fudgies," it was time to hit the hay. We headed out early Monday morning, and as soon as we were out of cell phone range, we got a flat tire. Jess, James, and Harry took care of everything, and we were back on the road to Ashland in no time.