A Special TAG

 I left a little early for the walk so I could check out the progress on the barn. Philip had installed vents and lights to get ready for the insulation which is scheduled for the week before Christmas.  It really is getting done.

After the walk the weanlings were fed.

They were videoed so the size difference could be seen between the two. The taller filly is Valerie who is a month older than Tessa. Valerie's dam is Lily and Lily always has VERY tall impressive foals.

 At 10:00 am I went to mom's to load Aunt Jinnie's suitcase into the car. She was flying out around 11:00 am.  IT was SO hard for mom to say good bye and this was a very emotional for both of these sisters.  From the airport I left for Sam's club to pick up a chicken pot pie for supper at mom's tonight. I usually buy some fruit but was shocked at the price of the strawberries. 

I was hoping to buy some cheaper beef for the soup but all of it was just too expensive so no soup making today. When I got home instead of making soup the house was cleaned and the laundry done while listening to AC Central. I listened to two different sermons by two different ministers. These were picked randomly from years ago and both were excellent speaking truth.  David spoke in Champaigne Wednesday evening. He was given this subject: “Knowledge of God through Jesus” .That is being downloaded tonight and will be posted here in the morning. At 4:00 pm the chicken pot pie was done so I went over to mom's to drop it off and stayed there until after 5:00 pm. Joan and I left for TAG which was being held at church at 6:00 pm. That was really nice.  We made gift baskets first then had a nice meal.

Above and below are a couple of sisters working together.

Above is the assembly line for the baskets and below are the ladies making up cookie trays to go with the baskets. 

Below is the finished product, minus the cookie trays.

Below Stephanie and Kristin are getting ready to pull the stuffed mushrooms out of the oven.

The food was truly delicious.

Below is a video of some of the evening.

It was well attending and a fun project. A special thanks to Deb, Jackie, Heather, Mindy, Diane, and Stephanie for putting this on. It was nice that TAG was moved to the evening so many of us that can't come in the day could come tonight. We really enjoyed the evening. 

Just TWO Left

 Right after our walk I left for Aldi in Pekin. I had heard that inflation rate had dropped so was expecting to see that at the grocery store. What a disappointment to find almost everything we needed had gone up again and some items drastically. The news people must not shop for groceries. A head of cabbage was well over $4.00, the same box of cereal purchased a couple weeks ago had jumped from $1.69 to $1.99. My heart goes out to the elderly who are trying to make it on just social security. The new checks for that were supposed to go up by 8.5 % except when mine came they had raised our Medicare so high that I actually lost money. Thank goodness for the freezer Karin gave me.  We may just have to go back to raising our own beef and pork. I wanted to make a big pan of beef barley soup today and thought I might find some cheaper beef at Aldi but they had very little beef and what they had was high priced. Nolan sent a text this evening that there are only 2 male Cavapoo puppies left. The puppy below is wearing the blue collar. 

The only other puppy available is the male puppy wearing the green collar.

These puppies will be ready for their new homes Jan 16th, 2023. 

This evening Craig Stickling had the message at church. He opened to Esther 2. 

Christmas Program

On our walk we discussed plans for the church Christmas caroling and some of the other functions happening this month. Thinking we have it arranged only to find out later in the day our plans won't work. I quit the walk a little early to get ready for Berean and picked up mom and Aunt Jinnie at 8:15 am. The wheel chair van worked perfectly so that is what we took. Berean this morning was hard, not physically but emotionally. Bill came in and when the work was finished read to the group Psalm 46. IF you would like to read about our morning and mourning there click HERE. After the Bibles were dropped off mom relaxed in her chair while Aunt Jinnie read to her until Joan arrived for the afternoon. My hip was hurting so I didn't want to work outside today even though the weather was mild. Only when we were home and getting ready for bed did I figure out why, I had forgotten to take my pills including an Aleve. We were awake at 4:00 am and it was too early to take them then with getting everything done forgot that I hadn't taken them.  That is a good reason not to get out of bed early. Mark had an estimate in Hanna City so came home early for that then at 4:45 pm we left to meet David and Stephanie at a little park off Grandview drive to get Israel and Elisabet so David and Stephanie could go to a Christmas party and the kids could come with us to Jace and Abe's school Christmas program at Eureka college. This was for the kindergarten through 4th grade and the auditorium was packed. We were glad we arrived early enough to get seats. 

Abe's class went first then after his songs were finished he came and sat with us.

The kids all did a great job. Everyone was listening intently.

Below is the video of just Abe and Jace's classes.

After the the concert we drove to Busy Corner for supper. Of course we had to get a picture of the two boys in the program by the tree.

We really recommend that restaurant. They are kid friendly and the prices were reasonable. Even the boys were entertained by the games on the child menu. 

It was 8:00 pm by the time we finished with dinner. Israel and Elisabet were taken home and I had just gotten Elisabet settled in bed when David and Stephanie arrived. Mark and I left for that long drive home. It really is only 40 minutes but it sure seemed like hours. Mark was drifting off to sleep some of the time and since I was driving I really couldn't take a nap but we were both glad to climb into bed. 

And the Count Goes ON

 The BIG news in the Meister family is another baby is on the way.  Logan and Carli announced they are expecting.  

Their baby will be the 3rd grandchild for Rachel and David as Jessica and Clayton are also expecting. These double cousins will be just a few months apart. They are double cousins because Carli and Clayton are siblings as are Jessica and Logan. Mom was pretty thrilled but don't ask her how many great grandchildren this will make, we have lost count and no one wants to take the time to count them up.  Early this morning I mixed up a pumpkin and a pecan pie and stuck them in the oven just before leaving on the walk. They had almost finished baking by the time I got home. As soon as the pumpkin pie was cool enough that was loaded into the car and I left for the Peoria post office to get the Berean mail and from there to the Berean office to drop off the pie and the mail. Once home the hay bale for the weanlings was checked. 

I wanted to make sure the bale was still good inside. It was. Tessa and Valerie were trying to figure out why the camera was in my hand. 

The red halter is Tessa and the brown halter is Valerie. They are wearing halters that will break easily if they get caught on something. 

Tess was born May 23rd, 2022 and is out of Rosaleigh by Evan while Valerie was born April 20th and is out of Lily by Valiant.  We are keeping these two. Come spring they will be taken out to Middle Grove to grow up but meanwhile they get handling, grain and will lead, load and behave around people. That is if I can find the time to work with them. They have been a little neglected these last few months but now that winter is here I can spend more time with them. Tessa is very sweet but Valerie thinks she is the boss so needs to learn she is NOT allowed to boss people around. Typical Lily offspring. Lily is the boss of the herd so her foals come by it honestly. 

When Mark got home we out to the barn to do some work on a trailer repair. The cat met us at the side door of the barn.

I thought the picture below was kind of cool with the sun beaming blue off the metal making it seem like Mark was carrying a ray gun.

It is just to reinforce the bunk. Mike and Diane borrowed the trailer and thought this would be a good way to make the bunk sturdy, He talked to Phil and Phil brought the metal up a few weeks ago but we didn't put it on until now. 

We quit, grabbed some dinner then went to mom's for the manger scene singing.  This is the nativity that mom and dad made for us when we were young at Pleasant Home.  When we moved Joan took it for her house. Rachel served hot ham and cheese sandwiches for supper and everyone brought goodies to share for after the singing. Below are a few pictures of the evening.

Aunt Jinnie finished the needle point she had been working on for a year. This is going to be the covering for a piano bench. It would have been done at least 2 weeks earlier if the thread she ordered almost 3 weeks ago would have arrived in a timely fashion.

Aunt Jinnie leaves for home on Thursday so we were pleased she was able to finish it before she leaves.  Everyone enjoyed the evening.

Only 3 left

Karin asked Molly and Gabe if they would bring Nancy to church today so she could spend the day with the family. Both Molly and Gabe were more than happy to do so. Nancy LOVES singing the Christmas carols (not always on tune) but with gusto. Mike Rieker had the morning message and Tim Roecker had the afternoon message. Matt and Lisa provided lunch for everyone. They served the usual along with two different kinds of soup. Potato and chili. Everyone enjoyed that. After church I stopped at Dollar General to pick up more markers and coloring books. We had lots of grand daughters come for supper and only 2 grandsons, Israel and Zeke. Below are a few pictures  and a couple videos of the evening. 

Rhoda and Lee took Nancy home after volley ball. They had come in their little Prius and  since their two children have to sit in car seats there wasn't room for a 3rd person in the back seat.  Lee ended up sitting in the trunk until they dropped Nancy off. Karin was thankful as it saved her a trip to Morton and back.  Nolan and Sarah only have 3 puppies still available.  The female pupping wearing red is still available.

The male puppy wearing green is still available,

and the male puppy wearing blue is still available.

The male puppy wearing the white sold today. 

The puppies below are 5 week old Cavapoos. These are Rosie's puppies and they are all reserved and will be going to their new home in 3 weeks.

 The business of Gardner Lane Puppies really do have VERY special pups.  They come highly recommended by me and I know them all really well, they are all part of our family! Check out their website by clicking HERE.