Election Day

 Sarah got up earlier than 5:15 am and manually started the coffee pot. I tried to sleep in but was up by 4:45 am and finally went down at 5:15 only to find Sarah drinking a cup. The picture below was taken before sunrise from Diane's condo. 

Sarah asked if I would listen for the girls so she could go out for a run on the beach.  That is her in the picture below on the deck.

She had a good run as the sun was starting to light up the beach. She IS in the picture below.

I made waffles and sausage for the girls when they came down for breakfast. Then Sarah got them going on school work. I got the privilege of listening to Zion read. She has an exciting book about a magical tree house. Once the school work was done we headed out to the beach.

Joan's group of kids came down to join us on the beach.

Joan brought mom and Aunt Jinnie down along with the fishing gear. She also brought down a bag of food for the seagulls. Below she is explaining how to call in the gulls.

There weren't a lot of gulls around, I think they all went to Florida.

Joan set up the fishing poles and soon had a fish on. She got Joshua to start pulling that one in when William got a fish on the other pole. Below they are both reeling in their poles.

The surprise at the end was the ONE fish was attached to BOTH poles. William was so happy they both caught the same fish (their lines tangled).

A dark cloud started spitting a bit of rain at us so I took mom and Aunt Jinnie back up to the condo.

Sarah and Joan took all the kids to the pool. We are so thankful for that heated indoor/outdoor pole, two hot tubs and the children's area. When Joan came back up I left for Walmart to pick up a few items for Joan's condo and also picked up breakfast and lunch food for our condo.We ate our lunch at the pool then Sarah took the girls back to the condo to rest. They love the triple bunks in the bunk room. 

Diane also has some wooden dolls with magnetic interchangeable clothes, like the old fashioned paper cutout dolls.  Below Eden and River are playing with those. 

We headed back to the pool at 4:00 pm. Sarah brought out the diving toys  and Joshua, William and Daisy joined us. Anni was sound asleep. We swam and enjoyed the hot tub until 5:30 pm then headed up to the condo for supper. Joan grilled hamburgers out on the balcony. Those were delicious. It was served with fresh cucumbers, sliced onions, tomatoes, lettuce, ketchup, mustard and lots of cheeses to choose from. She also had cheesy broccli and 3 different kinds of chips at this meal and followed it up with berry or apple pie. After supper the kids all went crab hunting.

The moon was just a sliver in the sky but was lighting up the Gulf some.

They brought the crabs up to the condo to show us their catch.

Joan asked if the kids could come down with us to let the crabs go when we were going to go back to our condo. Joshua was carrying the bucket when he dropped it and the crabs came running out on the 10th floor hallway. We had kids yelling, running, trying to catch the crabs before they would run off the 10th floor to their death. Hopefully all those that did survived the fall and hopefully there will be no calls to the management company about a plague of crabs running around the 10th floor. It was a long day with lots of fun. The kids went straight to bed. I'm watching a bit of the election coverage but can hardly keep my eyes open so will head to bed now. 

Made It

 As I knew I needed to be at Sarah's by 2:00 pm I went to bed very early last night even before 8:00 pm but woke up first at 9:00 pm and checked the time. The next time was at 10:00 pm then I slept until 12:15 am and finally just decided I may as well get up and make the coffee. The coffee pot was started with good strong coffee and done by 12:30 pm. One mug was downed while getting the two insulated metal cups filled grabbed my pillow, purse and started out the door only to find it raining. I came back in for a rain coat. I made it to Sarah's house by 1:45 am. They had the van packed and were just bringing the girls out. Sarah told me she had gone to bed at 5:00 pm so would drive first. She drove until our first stop of breakfast at Waffle House. 

Nothing like a good hot breakfast to get going. I took over driving and drove until 12:30 pm. We stopped at a Taco Bell for lunch and filled the car with gas for the second time. The first time was at breakfast. We pulled in to Diane and Mike's condo here in Gulf Shores at 4:00 pm. Not bad, considering we had two gas/food stops. The girls were quick to change into their suits and head out to the beach.

Below is a short video:

The wind was picking up so we walked down the beach to mom's Island Royale condo and went up to visit with them before heading down to the pool with Bill and Bethany's 4 children. The lighting in the indoor pool was pretty cool sparkling off the water and the plastic curtain turning some of the water pink. 

The hot tub came in handy later.

The kiddie area was also a big hit.

We went back up to the condo at 6:00 pm to pray for our country during this election and Joan had a delicious dinner cooked for all of us. Everyone was really hungry from all the activity on the beach and in the pool

Sarah walked back to Diane's condo, got the van so the girls didn't have to walk back in wet bathing suits. They went straight upstairs to bed. I borrowed some coffee and coffee filters from Joan, programed Diane's coffee machine to go off at 5:15 pm (may as well plan on sleeping in tomorrow) and will now head to bed. I'm thankful we got here safe! Thankful to be with family and grateful for not just a bed to sleep in but a beautiful condo to stay for the next 5 days. 

Leaving Town

 We had a wonderful day in church. Mike's brother Rick was here to help move their parents into a duplex at Skylines. When we saw Rick walk in I was thrilled. Rick happens to be one of my favorite minsters (I have a lot of favorites) to listen to. He has a way of putting you RIGHT THERE in the story. He read in 2 Kings 4 and gave us lots of homework. You WILL want to listen to this message and can by clicking HERE. Kathy was Nancy's teacher today and Nancy was pretty thrilled when I picked her up from Sunday school She couldn't wait to share the story of her paper that had all kinds of frog and bugs stickers all over the page. This afternoon Another favorite minister of mine spoke, Craig, He spoke on Job 1 and 2. He tells us how if he was in charge how this would have ended the book. This message too is one you will want to listen to and can by clicking HERE. After church we dropped Nancy off at mom's and Karin was ready for her then went home to start the meal but stopped to check out the grill slabs Mark finished last week. I think they look great.

By 3:00 pm the food was taken over to the barn. Phil and Nolan were already here along with 5 of the girls. As it was raining they went right into the gym to play in the bouncy house. 

Zion showed me the bracelet she made for Iris.

Spark and Rhonda joined us for dinner tonight as we had 2 of our families missing and way to much food. After supper the volley ball players arrived and Logan brought in the kitten that had been run over last week. We were all surprised to see this kitten still alive and doing well.

Below Rhoda is checking her out.

Below the little kids were taking turns petting her.

Below 3 of David's sons were standing next to him while Logan (the one with the kitten) is by Rhoda. 

I just thought that was a cool picture of them. The volley ball started up.

The little girls were playing in the toy corner and had lined up all the animals then were in the corner playing together.

Mark helped me clean up after dinner, I left to get Nancy as Rhoda and Lee were taking her home. Now I am home and ready to pack my suitcase then hit the sack. Sarah, Zion, Eden, River and I are pulling out at 2:00 am for Gulf Shores,  Alabama. I'm asking for prayers for safe travel for us. 

Poor Peanut

Since we went to bed early yesterday we were both up before 5:00 am and had to manually start the coffee maker. Before breakfast, while Mark was walking, I ran up to the apartment to get it ready for the guests coming in today then once that was done took the golf cart over to the barn to clean up any of those Asian lady bugs. When I showed the barn to the wedding couple I noticed lots of those little beetles by the garage doors. It was crazy how many I swept up. I got back in the house before Mark got back from his walk and had breakfast ready. Right after breakfast I left for Sam's club and found lots of what they called 'door busters' but all foods (chicken broth, stuffing mix, tape and Welch's sparkling grape juice) I could use for Thanksgiving and the food for tomorrow's meal 10 pounds of ground chuck, French bread, lettuce, salad mix, apple pie and ice cream. I spent more than expected but it will save money later this month. From there I drove to the Berean office to pick up the intermediate and Michigan Bible studies then stopped at Aldi for cheese, milk, and sausage. The pie and ice cream were taken over to the barn first then when I got home half of the hamburger was browned and the other half frozen. For tomorrow's Sunday dinner I will serve spaghetti, with bowls of cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese, salad and toasted French bread. Once the food was put away and the meat browned and set to cool I started grading the Bible studies and had just finished when Gertie stopped in to print some important papers. Mark had come in to ask for my help but was willing to wait until Gerrtie was done. He was working on adding a step to the cement slab we put in front of the foaling apartment and needed my help leveling it.

Rhonda called about then offering to pick up my soup from the fellowship hall as she was going there to pick up hers. We had both ordered soup from the Skyline auction. She got 12 quarts and I got 10. On the way back from dropping the money for the soup at Rhonda's I almost ran over 2 fat squirrels that were on the drive eating the fallen hedge balls. There were hundreds of those hedge balls.

Above is just a small batch. Those two squirrels were so busy eating they weren't in a hurry to move. They finally did but not too far. Just jumped into a tree and hid on the other side waiting for me to leave but this one didn't realize his tail was still sticking out.

Speaking of squirrels did you hear about Poor Peanut?

We just heard that New York authorities confiscated poor Peanut the squirrel and KILLED him. Peanut has been an internet star for years. His mother was hit by a car and killed when he was a baby. He was rescued more than 7 years ago and has lived indoors since his rescue. His owner posted videos of him over the years and he became quite a star. They used the money raised by his videos to open an animal rescue farm. It is hard to believe that this happened in America. What gave Our government (remember BY the people FOR the people) the right to come on private property, take a pet and then kill it? 

Obviously our government is WAY to big and Obviously out of control. The outrage is real but I find it sad that the very outrage over the loss of a squirrel is so much more than the outrage of late term abortion. Why in some states if the baby is born alive during a botched abortion the doctors just let that poor baby die.  We have rain coming in so Mark wanted to put his golf cart away but it was completely dead.

I helped him push it into his garage. He will need to clean off the battery terminals and get it charged up again.  He brought his mower over to move his little tool wagon. 

Spark and Rhonda brought the soup over to the barn but I brought one quart to our house, browned half a pound of sausage and added it to the potato soup and we had that for our supper. Now I NEED to get the dishes done. The kitchen isn't the only mess in this house so if I want to have an easy day tomorrow I'd better get busy tonight.

More Straw

 We had breakfast early today as I needed to have the motor home ready to go by 8:00 am. I found a little water on the floor so it might have come in during that last rain. It was so little a piece of paper towel wiped it up.  It was only 33 degrees this morning. I should have turned the motorhome on before the people arrived because when they did, the generator didn't want to start. I started the motor up, then tried and it started right up so perhaps I needed to turn the engine on first. We put out the slide, showed them how the awning worked, turned the furnace on to start warming up the inside and showed them how to use the water pump for fresh water. Thankfully once the generator was on everything was working well. I turned the fridge on for them on automatic. They are driving to Champaign will be parked in a parking lot without electricity so for sure need the generator. After showing them how to hook up the sewer hose for emptying I think we had covered everything and they were on their way. After they left Mark needed my help to load the concrete mixer into the truck for it's return back to Bloomington. He left around 9:45 am. I went in to get ready for Malinda's funeral at church.  I was asked to wait tables at the lunch so didn't need to be there until 10:30 am. Dave Obergfel was having the funeral service. I learned so much about Malinda I never knew by listening. Click HERE to watch that. The lunch started right after the service and before they went to the cemetery. We only had 2 tables set and even with the help probably only served less than 50. After the kitchen was cleaned up I left for home.  Anni sent a text asking if I wanted the straw they used at Sister Bees as they were done with it. I offered to take the truck to load it up but Anni said Matt already had it loaded. The brought over 6 nice bales of straw. 

I'll need to get another pallet in and stack them up off the ground but didn't have time today. I was meeting a couple that had just gotten engaged and they wanted to check out the barn. This wedding isn't until next May but they not only want the barn they need the foaling apartment, Diane's cowboy cabin and Diane's waterview walkout. They are expecting about 75 guests. I really need to order more of the 8 foot long Lifetime tables. I have 2 we bought a couple months ago and still have the 12 wooden ones from church but those wooden tables are so heavy I would really like to replace them. SO if anyone needs an 8 foot heavy duty STRONG rectangle table I am glad to give you one for FREE! Perhaps someone knows of a church that could use them. Mark thought today was Saturday when he got home and changed all the clocks.. I told him that is going to confuse things tomorrow when we got to the fellowship hall to pick up the soup. Skylines is having their annual auction, it is all online now, and we ordered 10 quarts of potato soup that needs to be picked up tomorrow between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm.

Trick Or Treat

It rained during the night and we had an inch of rain in the gauge this morning. I'm not sure when it started but it was a soft much needed rain and all of it soaked in. 

Mark went over to feed the cats and dog at Joan's house when Joan called needing me to get the keys to the storage facility in Hanna City and meet a man to open his units. One of them had an extra key but the other had only one. The man took both and is going to make a copy and give the originals back to Joan. I made it home before Mark did from his walk and had breakfast waiting when he walked in. Today we needed to clean up the cement machine which meant taking it apart, giving it a good clean then putting it back together. It really did take both of us but by the time it was finished we were happy with the job. 

Mark took the boards away from the cement job and it looks good.

Mark paid deposits on 2 of the pallets and also had 12 bags of cement left over. He called the store and they were willing to take those back and give him his deposit back on the pallets. We were loading them on the truck when David arrived to pick up the hay rack.

He hooked that up while Mark was loading the left over cement.

Once the pallet was on he left. I went back in the house to finish laundry. We really went through a lot of clothes this week and don't have enough clothes to go a whole week without doing laundry. Even if we had the clothes we don't have any extra space to put them. We share a closet that is 31 inches wide. He gets the top rack and I have the bottom. David decorated that hay wagon and Rachel and David brought a lot of their family over for the usual trick or treat. The pictures below were all taken by Rachel. I took some but hers are so much better I'm using hers.

The sun came out this afternoon but the wind was fierce and the temperature dropped into the 50s. She had plenty of blankets on the wagon.

Below is a short video of them going over to see if Karin had candy.

I just made it home and was putting away the last load of laundry when someone knocked on the door. This time it was Braelyn, Taegan and Kensley.

So much fun to see how creative everyone is. The motorhome was filled with fresh water today, the renters are picking that up tomorrow morning and I wanted to go over everything that I need to tell them so spent some time searching for the electrical cords, sewer hoses, fresh water hose and the gauges so I can show them what needs to be done. Another productive day.