1st Annual

Son Valley Youth Ranch Fall Festival

& Grand Opening

October 8th, 2011

Starts at 2 p.m.

Rescued horses helping children and families in the Tri-State community.

Wayland, Kahoka, Keokuk, Hamilton, Canton, Quincy

Come celebrate with us and see how Jesus is blessing our community.

Silent Auction, Live Music, Hayrides, Games, Face painting, Free meal (5-6p.m.), Campfire,

& Meet the Horses; Velvet, Bambi, Neko, Rusty, Smokey, Shadow, Dancer, and Mercy.

Auction winners announced at 6p.m.!

SVYR is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Free will donation are welcomed.

Summer Happenings

Introducing our newest horse;DANCER! She was found on the side of the road lost and scared. It took us a week to find the owner. She had broken out of their fence. The owner has decided to let SVYR keep this old girl. She has become a lovely lady. We just took her on a camping trip, trail riding a Winneberg. She loved every minute.

We have had children visiting us every week all summer.

This is what peace and joy looks like for the children that spend time at SVYR.

SVYR's 1st Annual Camp-Out for Girls

This past weekend SVYR had our 1st camp. There were 22 girls between the ages of 9-12 and 4 leaders. We all had a great time! God had is hand over our camp as it all came together and went so smoothly. We couldn't of done it without the support of so many people in our community. Thank you to our church family (Evangelical Free Church in Keokuk) for contributing food and tents. Thank you to our ranch volunteers for your hard work at
preparing the ranch and setting up the camping necessities Jeff, John, Gabe, Samantha, and Shannon. Thank you to the leaders and helpers to make the camp a success; Dona, Mandy, Mary, Morgan, Myranda, Hannah, and Amanda. And thank you to the parents for allowing your children to enjoy our camp-out.

We started on Saturday at 1pm. Every girl got a SVYR tee shirt and a picture with a horse. First we had water play with water toy wars and the pond. Second we went on a nature scavenger hunt hike. Then we ate our casserole dinner. Next was horse sessions for half of the girls. The other girls had good old fashsion fun and games to play but some of them went back to water play. Some skinny stray dogs showed up and got a lot of love from a few of the girls. Then we ate and ate and ate smores. Next we had campfire songs with Hannah. Then we did a barn dance. It was dark by now so the girls played flashlight tag. We sent them to their tents for the night at 10:30pm and they talked until ????

On Sunday Destiny was our early bird. She and some other early risers did the morning ranch chores with me. During our chores we found an injured baby bunny. We brought it back to the barn and I am still nursing it back to health. Then we all slowly woke up and had a simple breakfast. Next horse sessions for the other half of the girls. The rest of the girls either played or went for a dip in the pond. Then we had our children's church service telling the kids how much each of them is loved and valued by God. Next we did crafts, like painting the real horses and making picture frames for their keepsake photo with a horse. We finished our camp with wiener roast lunch. Feeding over 45 people which included some parents as they joined us to pick up their children. We can't wait until the next one.

1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us. This is why SVYR does all of this. We have the love of Jesus and want to share that love and joy with others. Amen.

Garage Sale Success!

Our Garage Sale Fundraiser was a Huge success. We exceeded our goal and raised over $1500. A big thank you to all who donated or bought items. We couldn't have raised any $$ without the support of our E-Free church family and community. Also thank you Mandy for her time and taking over her house. I have some awesome teenage volunteers that helped out too, thanks Gabe, Natalie, and Dwan.

June Events

JUNE 3rd & 4th We are having a huge yard sale at Mandy Humphry's 1 Marre Court Hamilton, Il. Come and support the ranch by getting something you could use, plus enjoy a glass of lemonade, yes the kids are looking forward to there little stand to work at.

JUNE 11th & 12th 9-12 girls campout. We have a great weekend planned for them. A full day of hiking, horseback riding, around the campfire worship at night and morning worship. We will post pictures for this and update on their fun.

We have new summer hours so call to schedule your time
God is so good, I'm in awe of every ones help and the new people he's putting in our life
Call 660-754-1509 or e-mail sonvalley@mchsi.com or post
Have a great summer

catching you up to date

I have trouble getting things posted. I've been having fun with the horses and children, scheduling events,normal chores, PICKING STRAWBERRIES. Yes we have strawberry's, you can pick or just purchase already for you. So here we go, in MAY the 7th we had a bake sale in Canton Mo. Helping hands were Colby Jo and Lexis brought in $ 102. Thanks to everyone that baked for it with out you there would be no bake sale. We also met a wonderful young man Matt. He's been a blessing to the ranch, he's had some back ground in training horses so he's working with Black Jack and Shadow.

MAY 21st At the RUSTIC CAR REVIVAL in Wayland, M0. we did a lemonade stand, did $139.60
Thanks to everyone that helped there were many GOD LOVE YOU.

May has been a blessing, all the children that are coming are being impact in a very positive way through the horses, chores, just getting to be a part of GODS wonderful plan here

Call to schedule a time to visit or a session 660-754-1509 Jesus loves you

The Ranch is Open

We been having fun this April in are updated riding arena. Six new girls & one boy have been added to the Ranch. THIS IS A LITTLE TASTE OF WHAT GO'S ON AT THE RANCH. When you arrive you are greeted by four wonderful loving dogs and me, sign in, pick out a horse that we use, learn safety, love & groom the horse, we get the horse ready to ride, after or before we do some chores. Any one interested in coming down to join us call for a time to ride or just come check us out. We'd be happy to hear from you!!

We've also been putting up new fence to better control the horses eating and holding pen so the kids can go in with a leader to lead there own horse out. Thanks to Gabe Martin helping me with all this, couldn't done it with out him. My son in law John is making signs for the ranch to put out at the road so you can find us easier. There are handful of people behind the scenes that do so much for the ranch, I want to thank you all, you known who you are. GOD BLESS

Bake Sale

Fundraiser; Saturday March 26th from 8-noon at Wal-Mart in Keokuk, IA

The bake sale was a success, we brought in a total of $316. I want to thank the kids & Amanda, my friends from up north that stood out in the cold with me. Thanks to everyone that made the delicious bake goods or donated money. The money was greatly needed for the care of the horses

Thank you for your support of this ministry.

Grand Opening coming soon.

crazy winter

I,m so excited for spring, it's been a long winter so far. We were snowed in for five days WOW!! We finally got a break in the weather, the snow is all melted. It was a great opportunity
to get things cleaned up. I have to admit I was little over whelmed with all the manure that needed cleaned up after the blizzard we had here. God is so good, I was praying for help and a lady { Kim} called just when the weather broke. She had got in some trouble and had to do community service, so she had heard about the ranch and they approved her to come help.
She was a God sent she know's horses and how to do all the chores that go along with it, plus
getting the ground ready for a nice arena. Things are starting to happen I have more people stepping up, wanting to help. We have a lot of exciting things to accomplish before spring, best of all kids and adults wanting to come out to help, ride and love on the horses.
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which GOD has called me heavenward in
Christ Jesus : Philippians 3:14 we ask for pray that we can get monthly sponsors
to help meet are needs for the horses and accomplish are building projects
GOD BLESS

A New Arrival At The Ranch

It's been a great adventure in 2010. We took in a total of five new horses, what a blessing for the ranch. The horses each have their own personalities. The children, plus adults have their favorite. Now we have been blessed in 2011 with a paint named Smokey, she was donated to the ranch through the Trail busters. Their a great group of ladies that ride the trails all over ILIL, IA, and MO. We meet every December for a yearly Christmas party to reflect on the trails we have rode and where we are going to ride next year. At this past party, Tabby was trying to find a good home for her 21 year old paint mare. Cindy makes a deal with Tabby secretly and next thing I know the ranch has a new arrival for 2011. SMOKEY!! Cindy, Mary Lee, and Tabby traveled 2 hours and arrived here safely with her. Smokey has settled in very well today at her new home, I think she's very happy . Smokeys' going to be a great addition to the ranch, what a sweet and beautiful horse. In closing I just want to thank GOD for all he's doing. The Heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork. [Psalm 19:1]