Welcomed Gift

 I left at 7:50 am so I could stop at Kroger to pick up a treat for the Berean volunteers before going to the Berean office. They had just brought out pecan sticky rolls and I was able to snatch them right off the cart even before they were taken to the shelf. Shirley and Ray had arrived at the office before I got there and had unlocked the door. We had a lot of mail. A big stack of letters plus a bunch of studies had come in. We were grateful for everyone that was able to come. Marvin was working on a couple return studies and got a brand new rule.

Check out this crazy highlighted rule in the picture below.

Each week there is another reason why the jail or prison will reject the study. It is discouraging and expensive when mail gets rejected. Below Sharon is doing mom's job as she is now in Gulf Shores, Ray is applying labels and Shirley (almost pictured at the far right) is running the postage machine as Bruce and Leila are in Arizona.

Before the prayer Kathy read a very nice letter from an inmate that asked for a Bible. We had a lot of Bible requests and ended up with 5 full boxes.

Those were taken to the Bartonville post office as by the time I left the Berean office it was 12:30 pm and the Hanna City post office closes for lunch.

I stopped at Meisters to drop off studies for Crystal's mom to grade then to the post office. They had Kickapoo Creek road closed as the bridge over the creek is in the process of coming down. They let me through as I was driving my Prius that has Meister's on the door but later I found out they turned all the other workers away and made them go the long way around.

My next big job was to drive to Sam's club to pick up all the ingredients for tomorrows meal then over to the barn to drop off everything. I'll cook over at the barn and start in the morning.

Mark and Mackenson were busy hanging the coat hooks up in the coat closet. I didn't have my phone with me but tomorrow will get a picture of that. Now we need a sign on that door so guests know where to hang coats. Ruth sent the picture below of mom's meal tonight. Rachel brought it.

Ruth isn't known for her cooking and is grateful for all the family down in Gulf Shores right now helping to feed her, Fedi and mom!
Logan sent some cool pictures of a squirrel on his garage roof a couple weeks ago. I've never seen a squirrel with that kind of coat.

Mike sent a picture of one of the trail cameras from Middle Grove.

Nice to see plenty of hay out but none of the horses eating on the hay. We have 30 out there so not all the horses can be seen in the picture. It was a pleasant day with mild temperatures. I think we hit 46 degrees today. Any January day above freezing is a welcomed GIFT!

Sunset

 This morning Joan and I left for the Peoria airport at 8:30 am to buy our tickets to fly to Gulf Shores. She will drive to the Belleville airport leave her car then fly down to Gulf Shores Jan 30th and stay until Feb 9th. Ruth and Fedi will fly from Gulf Shores to Belleville on Jan 30th, take the car Joan left and drive home. I will drive to Belleville airport leave my car and fly to Gulf Shores on Feb 9th to take over for Joan. She will fly back on Feb 9th to Belleville take my car and drive home. Ruth will drive to Belleville on Feb 13th, leave a car then fly to Gulf Shores then I will fly back from Gulf Shores to Belleville on Feb 13th. and take that car home. That way we each just pay for 1 day of parking at the Belleville airport. We were both able to get our tickets after waiting in line for almost 2 hours. We arrived at the Peoria airport at 8:45am and didn't get out of there until 10:30 am but it saved us each $44.00 for the round trip tickets by buying them there direct. I got home just in time to drive to Sarah and Nolan's new house, pick up their van and drive to Zion, Eden and River's school to pick them up at noon. We drove to Sam's club and bought a rotisserie chicken for our lunch along with supplies for the barn. We drove straight to the barn to unload those supplies. Taegan and 2 of her volleyball team mates were practicing in the gym when we arrived. They were only here for a short time as they needed to leave for a game. We ate our lunch then went to work. Today we were taking down the Christmas decorations. The girls worked on the tree while I put away the manger scene. Below they are removing all of the ornaments.

When the ornaments were all off and in the box, the girls removed the lights and gave each string of lights to me to roll up and place in a bag for next year. The next job was to take down the tree. They were wonderful helpers with that and would hand each branch to me to put in the box. 

We had just finished closing up the tree box when Mark and Mackenson arrived ready to scrub the gym floor. They used the golf cart to haul the tree back over to the back garage then came back to the barn to start the floor scrubber. Once the gym floor was finished they brought the scrubber in the living area and did most of that too. The girls and I came over to the house and worked on homework. Nolan arrived just as Eden was finishing up the last of her homework so they went back to the new house to keep working. Joan came over before supper to drop off some paper work just as she was leaving I noticed the sun was turning the sky a beautiful red. I used the golf cart to drive behind the foaling apartment so I could see the sunset. 

When we were growing up and the sky was those beautiful colors mom and dad would start singing and of course we all joined in singing the song

  Sunset 

 

When shadows grow long in the evening and birds wing their way back home, I get a heavenly feeling it's sunset and I'm going home.

God paints the clouds in the evening sky, to show me the way to the palace on high, and stars mark the pathway lest my feet should roam, it's sunset and I'm going home!

The burdens I've carried were heavy, I've prayed in the garden alone, but there'll be no crosses up yonder, it's sunset and I'm going home.

God paints the clouds in the evening sky, to show me the way to the palace on high, and stars mark the pathway lest my feet should roam, it's sunset and I'm going home!

The harvest is over and gathered, the summer is ended and gone, the laborer longs for HIS coming, it's sunset and I'm going home.

God paints the clouds in the evening sky, to show me the way to the palace on high, and stars mark the pathway lest my feet should roam, it's sunset and I'm going home!

Uncontrolled

 I needed to be up early as the beef ribs needed to be prepared for dinner tonight. The membrane was pulled off, they were braised then wrapped in aluminum foal and put in the oven at 225 degrees all before 7:00 am. We were not in a hurry this morning. Ruth sent the picture below of mom enjoying the sunrise at Gulf Shores.

We pulled in to the church parking lot about the same time as Randy and Kathy. They brought Nancy to church and she was glad to see us. She went up front to sing with Joan when all of a sudden she didn't look right. I was sitting next to Joan Schick and she mentioned something was wrong with Nancy. At first I thought she was pouting because she didn't get a paper but within seconds Joan realized she was starting to faint. Jacob saw she was struggling to walk and took her other arm and between the two of them they were able to get her to the first alcove on the bench. Berlica ran to get a bottle of water for her. Hannah went to get the nurses bag to take her blood pressure. I went to sit with her so Joan could go back in as she teaches Sunday school. Nancy's blood pressure was very low and that was what was causing the problem.

Hannah also checked her oxygen level and blood sugar but those were both normal. Sarah came up to check on her, Nancy grabbed her and wouldn't let go.

She was telling her that she didn't feel well. We spent the morning service on the bench. She had to lay down a couple of times but after finishing the bottle of water she started to feel a little better. By lunch time she seemed fine and was anxious for lunch. Craig Stickling had the morning message on Luke 21. I missed most of it so will need to watch it tomorrow. If you would like to watch that message click HERE. Mike Kaisner had the afternoon message on 2 Samuel 23 and 1 Corinthians 13Click HERE to watch that. After church the phone was checked and there was the picture of all the family in Gulf Shores enjoying the sunshine at Beth's pool. Mom was being spoiled getting her feet rubbed by one of the great grands. 

After church we stopped at Aldi to pick up a few things for the supper tonight. We had a good group for supper. As Ruth is gone Rebekah and Brian's family joined us as did Kari and Brett's family. I took the picture below once most of them went through the line.

We had a few come in later and by the end of the evening pretty much all of the food was gone. We had barbeque beef short ribs, fresh green beans, mashed potatoes, salad with lots of toppings, Hawaiian  rolls with butter and cake and ice cream for dessert. When Anna arrived she told us about a fire near Joan's house. They could see the glow from 116 on their way in.

I took the golf cart over to make sure it wasn't near any houses. It was a HUGE fire stretching more than a half a mile. I took the video below following it for a good 3 minutes and never got to the end. 

There was nobody around watching it and I wasn't sure if anyone even knew it was burning so called 911 to let them know. They had already been informed and told me it was being watched. 

There was an abundance of children tonight and the game room was busy.

When the bouncy house fans were turned on the kids came running.

The volley ball games were going strong too.

I am so grateful for this barn. It really was wonderful seeing and hearing all of the cousins and second cousins playing together. So many times these words are said, "wouldn't dad just love this!"

Pretty Quiet

 Ruth sent a message to the sibling chat that mom awoke at 3:30 am chipper and ready for the day to begin. All of the siblings down in Gulf Shores were chiming in. Spark and Rhonda, Diane and Mike, Beth and Greg and Rachel and David. It made me wonder why instead of coming home I didn't just fly straight to Gulf Shores. I really am needed here. We have guests that moved in today and more coming next weekend. Ruth sent the picture below of sunrise over the Gulf from mom's balcony. 

I went over early to the barn to turn the heat up and the lights on. The water heater was also put on high demand mode. It is just one extended family staying but there were 6 car loads that came and if they all want showers that water heater needs to recover quickly. Mark worked on the middle paddock waterer. That turned out to just be the gfi popped. Why we don't know but I won't move any horses in there until we find out. 

I had a very restful day. After getting the barn ready for company I brought back some books to read. With everyone gone around here things are pretty quiet.

Website Work

 It was wonderful to sleep in our own bed last night and hard to get out of bed this morning. Vacation is now over and work awaits. I took the golf cart over to check on Evan and Valiant. Mike moved Evan back into his own paddock as that waterer did not freeze up. He also moved a new bale in for him so all was well with both. Evan was enjoying having his pastures back again even though everything is frozen. At 9:45 am I drove over to mom's house. Ruth already had Joan's van running and was getting ready to load and head for Belleville, IL to catch a flight for Gulf Shores, Alabama. She, mom and Fedi were ready to leave so I barely had time to say good-by! Below they are pulling out. Mom is in the front passenger side and she waved as they left. 

I went to the barn to get ready for the guests coming in tomorrow. I did a lot of refilling supplies.  I'll stop in tomorrow morning to turn the heat and lights on. While there I took the beef short ribs out of the freezer and brought those to the house. I decided to make those for Sunday dinner. They were put in the fridge to defrost. David sent the two pictures below. They are still in Florida staying at a place in Bonita Springs on the water so he took Israel and Elisabet fishing. They both pulled in fish.

A dolphin came by and was slapping the water with it's tail right in front of them. David got a video and sent it to us but it must be posted as private as I can't share it here. Ruth sent the picture below of mom on the plane before it took off for Gulf Shores.

She was not able to get the front seat. Ruth said it wasn't easy for the two guys that helped but they got the job done. Mom plans on staying down for 7 weeks. Her 96 year old sister, our Aunt Jinnie will be joining her then will fly back to Peoria with mom. That's the plan if the creek don't rise and the Lord agrees. This afternoon I worked on the website. Ralph and Jamie decided they did not want to sell Legacy so she was removed from the for sale page. We just have 6 on our forsale page now. I had forgotten to add Dreamer, Madiera's 2025 filly by Valiant so ended up making a new page for her. She is such a sassy filly. She thinks she is the boss. 

We will need to bring her in for weaning in February with Bulu's colt. 

She really will be a nice mare. She will be really tall as her sire is Valiant and even though she was born dark bay she looks black under that foal coat. She is just 2 months old in the pictures. 

She is registered and dna'd in the Warlander book of the Friesian Heritage Horse registry. 

We just got the update from Diane. Mom made it to Gulf Shores , the flight was 20 minutes late. Rhonda had supper ready for them when they got there a little after 6:00 pm. Mom is all settled in and got a foot rub from Diane while Ruth went to get groceries.  From Ruth:  It was a good trip and wonderful help. Rhonda and Diane fed us and unpacked everything! A welcome update! 

Home

We never heard Sarah and Nolan's family leave this morning but found out later they pulled out at 1:30 am. They had started the coffee maker so by 5:00 am we just had to heat it up in the microwave. I let our host know we would be out of the house by 8:00 am but we ended up leaving for the airport at 7:30 driving to a Waffle House near the airport and enjoyed breakfast there. We arrived at the airport the recommended 2 hours early and saw Mindy and Marie from Congerville come in after us. The seating was short as this was a completely full flight so we made room and invited them to come sit with us. 

It took a bit to get everyone seated on the plane which meant we did not take off early. This time Mark and I sat with Zeke while Iris sat with her parents. Zeke played for a while then fell asleep and didn't wake until we landed in Peoria. That is when the delay came. The passengers were up getting their bags from the compartments above when the announcement came that everyone had to put their bags away, sit back down and put on their seatbelts. The offloading ramp was not working and they couldn't get it up to the plane. The plane needed to be towed to a new place to unload. We were finally off the plane just after 1:30 pm, an hour later than when we arrived. We were not at all upset, instead of the 19 hour drive home from the time we left the Naples house until we walked into our house was 6 and a half hour, although we gained an hour coming home so travel time was really 7 and a half hours.. Mark had the house thermostat set at 55 so even before unpacking wood was brought in from the porch and a fire started. Once that was going well I took the golf cart over to visit with mom and Joan. Joan is leaving at 3:30 am to go to the Ark Encounter with her family, Ruth is moving in with mom tonight and she and mom will be leaving around 10:00 am for the Belleville airport to fly down to Gulf Shores. Mom was looking well. The bandage is now off her nose and she is more than ready to leave. I spent the evening finishing the book I started reading on the plane while enjoying the heat from the wood burner.

 Sarah and Nolan's family pulled in at 7:00 pm. We were thankful they made it home safely. Mark went to bed early. I think he just wanted to crawl in to warm up. He had the electric blanket set on high. 

The review from our host came in and it needs to be posted here so Rhoda and Sarah can read how pleased our host was with our stay: What fantastic guests! Communication was excellent, and they left our home in wonderful condition. It was truly a pleasure to host them, and we hope to welcome them back next year when they return to beautiful Naples, Florida. 

New Years Eve

 We spent the morning cleaning then swimming, sitting in the hot tub, laying around outside on the lounge chairs reading until supper time. Some of the adults went for walks, some went shopping but the kids stayed here and played in the pool and hot tub. later in the afternoon even though it was only 66 degrees outside the sun was so hot they ended up playing in the shade.

We ordered Asian barbeque for our dinner tonight. Right before Nolan went to get it we heard a crash then lots of sirens. It turned out a red pickup had rear ended a car at the stop sign. They had to bring in an ambulance, lots of police cars, and a fire truck.

The intersection was blocked for over an hour. The police arrested someone as they were handcuffed then placed in the back of one of the cars. The stretcher was used to put someone else in the ambulance. Nolan was able to go the other way to pick up the food.

We had fed the kids earlier as they didn't want to eat this kind of food but the adults thought it was delicious. the kids were given glow sticks for the pool and hot tub.

After our dinner we celebrated Rhoda's 40th birthday early as we won't be together on her real birthday. Nolan picked up a very fancy cake at that Seed to Table store.

We are all too old and with Sarah and Nolan leaving in the middle of the night we could not wait for midnight. We called all the kids outside at a minute before 9:00 pm. A couple across the street came out to walk their two dogs just as we started the countdown and when it hit 9:00 pm we started yelling, "happy New Year!" We got some strange looks. No we weren't drunk just tired! Israel brought his light up football he got from great Grandma at Christmas.

David and Israel purchased sparklers for all of the kids and they had a good time with those.

As soon as that was done all of Nolan's family were in bed. The van was all packed earlier in the day. David and Stephanie's family left and the rest of us went straight to bed. We never heard the fireworks going off at midnight around this neighborhood. Either this house is well insulated or we were really tired.

One More Day

 The deep freeze didn't quite make it here but it was for sure a bit cooler this morning. We decided to go to the Naples Zoo and made it there just before they opened at 9:00 am. We decided to do the boat ride first as we didn't want to wait in line.

We wanted to feed the giraffes and went to stand in line for that. While we were waiting we learned about a giraffe's vertebrae and saw the bones of the head and neck.

They had 4 large giraffes but none of them were interested in eating from anybody's hand. Instead they went to their usual feeding spots.

Mark thought he might have pulled a muscle and couldn't walk. I flagged down a lady driving a golf cart but she wasn't allowed to take him but she told us where there was a bench to sit and rest. We did that then slowly walked to the front of the zoo and rented a wheel chair for $16.00 for the morning. 

The zoo was a lot of fun. We left there for that big store called Seed to Table. That place was packed. We were dropped off as Mark was still having trouble with his leg so tried out one of those motorized carts. 

The store was so packed with people after trying to drive it over to check out the sea food selection he ended up taking it back and just using a regular cart. That too was in the way and we didn't plan on buying anything so went upstairs to eat some lunch. Rhoda and Lee's family had already ordered and their food looked and tasted delicious according to them. Rhoda ordered the ribeye sandwich. It was thick and medium rare. Lee ordered the Philly Cheese steak and his was also delicious. They ordered chicken fingers for the kids.

Rhoda's ribeye looked so good we ordered one to split. It didn't come and didn't come. I took a picture of the gingerbread house while waiting.

It was almost 1:00 pm when our food finally arrived and it was two thin pieces of meat charred to a crisp, tough and chewy.

While Mark was out searching for the waitress the kids found the dance floor.

I had promised to watch grandkids back at the house at 2:00 pm, there was not enough time to re-order so we ate it anyway. Worst steak ever. The waiter didn't come back to give us the check so Mark had to go find her and felt so bad for her as she was the only waitress upstairs that he gave her $5.00 tip but he at least told her the food was terrible. We made it home by 1:40 pm. The hot tub felt wonderful. The kids enjoyed the hot tub and pool. When they were done swimming Rhoda organized a jump the broom game.

Supper was spaghetti with meat sauce, fried in butter French bread, salad, chips and for dessert Israel made chocolate covered strawberries. The kids were hungry and most of the food was gone. While Israel was cleaning up from the chocolate covered strawberries he had a good idea, smeared some chocolate on some toilet paper and set up the bathroom in Rhoda's and Lee's room as if Zeke had an accident. 

When Lee walked in we told him that Zeke was in the bathroom for about 20 minutes then when we asked if we could help him, he said no. Lee walked into the bathroom and immediately called for Rhoda. We were laughing so hard that Rhoda figured out right away it was a joke. Even Lee had to laugh. Tomorrow is our last full day here. We will need to enjoy the warmth at least one more day.

Another Sunny Warm Day!

 Mark woke me at 3;45 am and as my eyes don't work so well in the morning I just assumed it was 4:45 am and got up to make the coffee. It wasn't until I had downed the first cup of the day that I realized it was only 4:00 am. It was a long wait for Sarah to wake up  so I could borrow her keys and go to Walmart for tonight's meal. Mark went with me and we bought hamburgers, sweet potato fries, more bread, some half off donuts and a 5 pound bag of potatoes. We got back in time for breakfast. Sarah and Nolan's family and David and Stephanie's family went to the beach after breakfast. Mark and I stayed home as we needed to stay out of the sun. Rhoda and Lee's family drove to the Everglades to take an airboat ride through the mangroves then the alligator farm. Below are a few pictures from the day. They are all ready for the day. 

Below the girls are playing with the blocks before leaving for the beach.

Below are Zeke and Israel ready to head out to the beach.

The girls enjoying their shades.

One of them found a mussel and thought it might be an oyster that contained a pearl. Below Nolan is trying to open it.

No pearl

Rhoda sent back some pictures of their outing today.

Below is the board walk over some of the everglades.

Zeke fell asleep on the airboat.

This airboat ride wasn't as exciting as ours was the year before.

They got to see and hold the alligators.

They went to a grocery store called Seed to Table. It had a food court in the middle. They have free babysitting for the kids with a 'real' gingerbread house while the adults shop. It really was made with ginger bread and candy.

Lee had to check out the maga beer.

The food was good and they brought home gourmet cookies.

Nolan grilled hamburgers for our dinner and we had all kinds of delicious toppings. Sarah made a jalapeno cream cheese topping. We had fried eggs, bacon, tomatoes, pickles, pepper jack cheese for those that wanted the jalapeno topping and all kinds of usual toppings. That was served with salad and sweet potato fries. I also baked 5 pounds of russet potatoes. We ate a few but most of those will be used to make appetizers for the new years eve party. We had a fun evening, the kids played in the pool and hot tub then came in later to watch a dragon movie while the adults visited. Another sunny beautifully warm day!