Perfect Day

Rachel and David's purebred Pug gave birth to purebred Pug Puppies on June 19th. If you have ever wanted a purebred CKC registered Pug now is your chance. There are 4 left, 3 males and 1 female and they will be ready to leave for their new home by Aug 14th. 

You would need to contact Rachel (rsauder71@gmail.com) or give her a call 309-360-4340 if interested in a new adorable addition to your family. 

It was cooler this morning. When I went out to feed the horses Madiera was grazing by herself.

Jury is still acting in but I just didn't want to get her covered.

Instead I decided to talk to Diane about hauling her out to Middle Grove.

On the walk Diane and I made the decision to take Jury out to Middle Grove, we will bring her in early spring in 2026. When we talked to Mike he also wanted to take Sheena and her filly Shadow along with Bulu and her colt so those 4 horses were loaded this morning. 

He decided to skip the ultrasounds and come back for a second load this afternoon and take Valerie, Tessa and Jury out. We have had so much rain it is muddy here and those mares would love to be back out to those cool green pleasant pastures. Sarah brought out Zion, Eden and River for pony rides on Cookie.

Stephanie brought out Israel and Elisabet, Rebekah brought out her 5, Jordan, Riley, Blair, Walter and Mica and Kari brought out her 3 boys, Trip, Aiden and Theo. The kids caught a bunny and were playing with it. They decided to build a playground for the bunny.

That rabbit hopped right out and started running, those girls were diving trying to catch it again and finally did. They brought it over to show us.

The playground was full of happy children and the trampoline was a very popular.

When they got tired of jumping the boys took the green golf cart and the girls took the blue golf cart and gave golf cart rides.

Even mom came out to visit with us ladies while the kids played.

Spark and Rhonda came by and gave all the grandchildren rides on their machine then walked over and joined us at the playground. It was a perfect day! The weather was sunny but refreshingly cool. Mark worked on brightening up the headlights on my 2007 Prius car. They are sparkling now and it should be much easier to drive home in the dark with brighter headlights.

Diane called asking if I could come into her office to do bank recons. We got all 3 done and if the 4th would have been her we could have that one too as all of July is now entered. It only took about 33 minutes. Mike got back and after lunch we loaded up Valerie, Tess and Jury. Mike and Diane left with the horses and are going to spend the night out there. They sent back a couple videos. I saw them on my phone but when I tried to load them from the computer only an error code shows up. The horses all look good. 

Just Fat?

 

The clouds were strange looking this morning. Shaped a little like a tent with some spirals coming down.

It was very still no wind at least near the ground so what was causing those spirals must have been upper winds.

On our walk today I almost stepped on the feather pictured below.

I picked it up and carried it into mom's once the walk was finished. I'm sure it came from a gold finch. The surprise lily buds had bloomed in mom's flower arrangement on the table.

After the walk I went home and made breakfast. The avocados had ripened perfectly, the eggs were fresh from the neighbor, I picked a tomato for my plate but Mark wanted some strawberries instead.

The rain was supposed to start up at 10:00 am so right after breakfast I went out to tease and found Jury who is supposed to be pregnant and due Aug 14th was showing.

She is SO fat I thought she had to be pregnant. I didn't get her covered and I'm not really convinced she is in season. Sometimes when a mare is heavy in foal their hormones make then act like they are but they will not accept a stallion. If she is still showing tomorrow I'll try to get her covered.  No one else was showing but I didn't get to the cabin to try Bulu. The storms came and brought a half of an inch of rain.  Diane was shopping at Sam's and found they had Sketchers on sale and called to ask if I wanted a pair. There were only 2 size 9s left so she bought them both, one for her and one for me. These will be saved for our Africa trip. She was dropping mine off when an Amazon truck arrived with the 2 pack of headlights I purchased for the trip so we opened the package and she took one of those. They are very bright and also have rechargeable batteries and each came with a USB cord. The last thing I need to order is a money belt which is recommended to keep our passport and cash safe while in Tanzania. We now have 10 people coming on the trip and either needed another driver or a bigger van. Thankfully Rebekah and Brian will be lending us their 13 passenger van for the Berean Branson trip to the Sight and Sound Theater to see David. 

We left for church a little after 6:00 pm. Mike Kaisner had the message today on Psalm 4 and Matthew 22. Click HERE if you would like to watch that. We went to Culvers after church for a late supper then took Mackenson and Berlica home. Diane stayed with mom and they watched on line so Joan could come to church. 

Want to Go?

Dan sent the video below. He took this with his phone in slow motion. I think it is fantastic and wanted to share it here. 

He was in the right place at the right time to capture that lightning strike. Ruth didn't make the walk this morning but Diane, Joan and I did. As today is Tuesday I left right after the walk to get ready for Berean and picked up mom at 8:15 am. We had a busy morning at that office.

Below is a short video.

We stopped at the Hanna City post office to drop off 2 tubs of Bibles and studies going out today. One of the items we discussed this morning was the David play at the Sight and Sound Theater in Branson. It turned out that most of the volunteers there had not seen that play and would like to so after going home today I did some research, found a hotel about a mile away from the theater with good reviews, a good hot breakfast and a free dessert and coffee bar in the evening.  We were able to book 4 rooms for Aug 14th and 15th and then got tickets for the 3:30 pm showing of David on Aug 1th. Right now there are 8 of us going but if anyone else would like to join us click HERE for the link of the hotel we booked. The video below is actually on that link but I'm posting it here also.

They have plenty of rooms yet and there is also still room to book your ticket to the David play at that 3:30 pm showing on Aug 15th. Click HERE if interesting in booking a ticket and coming with us.

Mike sent back the picture of some of the horses at Middle Grove. The leader of the herd is still Lily.

She always finds the best grazing places and the herd follows her. She is the horse far right in the picture above. She is 23 years old and such an amazing mare.

More Rain

 We got another half inch of rain last night or early this morning. It was thundering when we got up but the rain had stopped by walking time. We picked wild flowers for mom on our walk this morning then took them in and put them in a vase as soon as we were done. 

Mom loves flowers on her table and if there are flowers growing she loves to enjoy them inside as well as outside. Right after the walk Evan was taken to the outdoor arena to graze.

I expected him to take off running and bucking but the grass was more inviting. He did a little bit of a fun, then rolled, took a big bite of grass then got up to do some serious grazing.

Valiant was moved over into the stallion pasture. That meant Valerie and Tessa had to be locked off of the mare pasture as we never have a stallion pastured next to a mare unless there are secure electric fencing. I went in then to make Mark breakfast. Right after breakfast he left for Lincoln, IL to pick up the mower part. The grass grew a LOT while we were gone last week and the grasshopper mower needed to be fixed quickly. I went out to move bales. The middle paddock got a bale. Valerie and Tessa got a new bale and the bale in Valiant's paddock wrap was removed. That bale is good but needs to be finished without the wrap.  After this bale is gone I'll put a really good bale in and move Valiant back in his own paddock. Evan was then brought back from the outdoor and put in Valiant's paddock to finish the bale I opened. I barely had time to clean up before heading in to the Bartonville Diner where we were taking Karin and Jackie for their bon voyage luncheon. Those 2 are leaving us for a year moving to Florida in a few days. Ruth brought mom, Berlica and Faith. Joan, Rachel and I all needed to drive separate as we had errands while in town. We had fun waitress who sat down for the picture.

The meals were all good and filling.

The waitress brought each one of us a pudding cup.

Skip was sent a text asking if I should pick up the mail but he replied pretty quickly that he would be at Berean tomorrow and pick up the mail. When I got home I made a peanut dessert for tomorrow. I asked Mark to try it as I didn't have a recipe. He liked it so I will serve it. The evening was spent finishing some of those 50 cent books I bought at the thrift store. I didn't like the ending so won't recommend it. 

Good To Be Home

 As we were not having a family supper tonight we had a real easy morning. I spent at least an hour reading and listening to hymns. Such a wonderful way to start a Sunday morning. We stopped at mom's before leaving for church as we found Berlica's veil under the driver's seat of Mark's car. We were trying to get the car keys as they had fallen between the seat and the console. We pulled in at church at exactly the same time as Joan. Rachel and Dave were serving lunch today so all of us went into the dining room to check out her progress. Her lunch was not just delicious it was also beautiful. 

They were just getting the fruit on the serving tables when we arrived.

Not pictured were the hot ham and cheese sandwiches. Kathy and Randy brought Nancy. She evidently wasn't very cooperative this morning and did not come dressed for church but Kathy and Randy got her in a good mood and she laughed almost all the way to church. Tim Roecker had the morning message on Psalm 19 and Hebrews 9. Click HERE to listen to that. At lunch Pam told me she had Rizzy as Monica and Sandy left for a trip out West with the horses. I offered to pick her up after church as we enjoy Rizzy here. She keeps the rabbits away from the garden. Gregg Rumbold had the afternoon message on Colossians 1 click HERE to watch that message.  After church we stopped at Aldi to pick up a gallon of milk and a few fruits and vegetables. As soon as we got home I took River's medicine out of the fridge, packaged that with some freezer packs and left for Sarah and Nolan's house to deliver that. From there I set the gps to Pam's house but when I arrived I was pretty sure I was at the wrong destination. I called Pam and had put in the correct address, the gps just took me to the wrong house 5 miles from her house. Rizzy was very glad to see me, ran out and jumped in the back of the car which I had opened earlier to put all of her supplies in. I made home by 4:00 pm and was glad to cook Mark dinner. We had Korean BBQ and both of us thought it was delicious! I had stir fried the vegetables before adding the noodles and meats. After supper I read one of the books I picked up at the thrift store. It is good and is keeping my attention plus I am learning a lot about America's founding fathers and their faith in God. At 6:30 I was driving Nancy home when my apartment renter sent a text asking for some aluminum foil. I explained I would be home in an hour and bring her some. We had a good visit. She loves horses and wanted to meet each one. We took a tour around the neighborhood and I introduced her to mom and a few others. She is here until Aug 14th. The sun was just starting to set so we went out back to get some sunset pictures. God really does paint the clouds!

I loved how the clouds were glowing in the picture below.

I stayed until it started to fade but had to take one more picture.

Mark is ready for bed and I will be heading to bed in a few minutes. It is good to be home.

Home

I got up at 4:00 am to get the coffee maker going. This sounds like such an easy job but it took over and hour to get just one pot made. I finally got smart and just started heating water in the microwave and then pouring that over the grounds to have the second pot made in time. Breakfast was left over pancakes, left over bacon, sausage links, sausage patties, left over cantaloupe, scrambled eggs and biscuits. Sarah was the first to pull out with the girls. Rhoda and Lee helped with getting the fridges emptied and the car loaded before they left. Ben got Abe and Jace ready, packed up his stuff and pulled out. Phil and Anna got the bathrooms and bedrooms in the basement cleaned up before leaving. Mark and I stayed behind to make sure everything looked good before we left at 8:00 am. The management company was sent a text that we were out of the house before we pulled away. The trip was mostly easy. Just as we were entering the St. Louis area and downpour of rain came so quick and hard the cars and trucks ahead of us slammed on their brakes. We ended up crawling along and found a few minutes later there was an accident between a truck and a car. We saw one person running down the highway toward the wreck but it didn't look bad so pretty sure no one got hurt. We stopped at a Walley's for gas and a quick lunch. We made it home a little after 3:30 pm. All of the kids made it home safely. Mark helped with the unloading all by 5:00 pm it was done. We walked over to mom's house. Ruth was camping there with her grandchildren and they were all enjoying the lake. 

Joan, Diane and I helped with mom's bath then Faith took over and fed everyone there supper. We left for Marvin and Gale's house for supper.  She and Marvin were hosting Viola and her husband Kent.

They are our tour guides for our Africa trip and it was good to meet her. Amy and Ken drove over from Tremont. Ann came from Peoria, Mike, Diane, Joan, Mark and I all drove together from the lake to their house. Sarah came from her apartment. Gail served a delicious supper. Amy brought the vegetables, Joan brought potatoes, Diane brought salad and Ann brought the dessert. After supper we sat and asked questions, Gale and Viola were glad to answer questions. Answers on what to wear, what to pack, how many shirts, shoes and socks. It turned out we will not have laundry facilities. We can hand wash but the clothes will not dry in time. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening and as we were getting ready to leave Gail brought out gifts for all of us. Sweet corn just picked and vine ripened tomatoes from their garden. We will enjoy those tomorrow.  I'm typing this after getting home from our amazing meal and falling asleep each time I blink my eyes. The fingers keep hit the wrong key and it is so tempting to go to bed and that is what I'm going to do. 

Last Day

Today breakfast was ready by 7:00 am and was put out as a buffet line so those leaving early could eat early. David and Stephanie's family were the first to leave. They were heading to the Regier family vacation. This family have gone from one vacation to another all summer. The next to leave were Taunya, Addyson and Jack.Both of them have early morning practices they needed to be at tomorrow. Ben will take Abe and Jace home tomorrow morning. Nolan left last night right after the King David play as they have puppies leaving today.  Mark, Rhoda, Iris, Zeke and Abe.went fotr a hike right after breakfast trying to beat the heat.  Mark came back hot and exhausted. I was heading to the pool with River when he passed us. 

 

Zeke was pretty excited this morning. He and Abe dressed alike.

The pool had only our kids in it for quite a while. They had a blast on the water slide making up all kinds of fun ways to break the rules.

According to the kids the reason this pool is so much fun is there are NO life guards. After pool time the group left for Moonshine beach. It is just down the road from us making it a convenient place to cool down. They all arrived back in time to eat an early dinner then. Phil and Anna's family along with Ben, Jace and Abe left for Silver Dollar City and are staying there until closing to watch the fireworks and drone show. Rhoda and Lee's family went to the Dixie Stampede for dinner tonight. Sarah and the girls had a relaxing afternoon here at the house. Mark and I went out shopping. I was out of reading material and wanted to visit thrift stores for used books. The first place the gps took us was a bust. Just junk.  The second place we hit the jackpot. It is called Elevate and they had books for 50 cents each. I bought 6 of them. We got back to the house at suppertime and heated up leftovers. The rest of the evening I have been reading. Rhoda has been packing up. Sarah put her girls to bed early and joined them. They are all tired from so much water fun! We all leave tomorrow for home. This really has been a wonderful vacation. 

King David

 It was predicted to be 98 degrees here in Branson today but actually reached 100. Breakfast was served a little earlier than normal so those that were going on the hike could hike in the cool of the morning. It was ONLY in the upper 80s. Today grandpa hiked with them and they hiked to a cave. The trail was interesting, only a couple miles but up and down hills with steep cliffs.

Phil and Anna's family and Ben and Taunya's family didn't go on the hike as they had tickets to Silver 

Dollar City and wanted to be there at the opening. 

Phil sent back a few pictures.

The hikers got back, packed a lunch and left for Moonshine Beach.

Everyone made it back in time to clean up and get ready for our trip to Sight and Sound Theater to watch King David. Some of us had front row seats but David and Stephanie were a little too late with ordering theirs and ended up in the nosebleed section. David sent the two pictures below.

Mark and I, Rhoda and Lee's family, Ben and Taunya's family and Phil and Anna's family all had front row seats.

Sarah and Nolan's family were just a couple rows back from Phil and Anna's.

Each time we go to Sight and Sound we are amazed but this one was the best yet! I HIGHLY recommend going to see this true story of the shepherd boy who became the king but even more, the man who was a man after God's OWN Heart. Make the time to go, take your children and your grandchildren.