Monday in Branson

Breakfast was a little slow and that was becasue the big burner on the stove wasn't working correctly. I didn't discover that until after about 10 minutes waiting for the bacon to cook. After everyone had suffiecent the group left for Silver Dollar City. Below are a few pictures. 

The lines weren't long as it was a very hot day here in Branson reaching 100 degrees. They were glad for the air conditioned shows. By 1:30 pm they were starting to drag. They came home for a late lunch, rested a bit played games inside then all of left for the Tyler Reed magic show and dinner. The tickets were $20.00 each and included the dinner. The dinner wasn't great but the show was really fun. We had a group of 18 so got front row seats and almost all of our kids got to be part of the show. 

Above we were playing a game while finishing up eating and below Zion was called up to the stage for a preview of the show to come.

Below are a few videos of our evening. The first was Zion helping with the pre-show,

The second is the conclusion of the Pepsi trick.

Because there was such a big group of us we were seated together in the first and second rows. This meant that most of our kids were called on to help in the magic tricks. The video below is as we were waiting for the show to start.

Below Tyler is reading Braelyn's mind.

Below Mark was given a pack of cards and asked to pick one.

Below the kids were asked to name the cups of colored water (you guessed it, they said the first looked like pee) Then came the funny stuff. At the end of this trick, Nolan was asked to take a drink. Did he? Was he brave enough?

Stephanie was asked to pick a number.

Can Eden FLY?

Does Zeke get wet?

The kids were called up to learn the egg and scarf trick.

Tyler asked for a hundred dollar bill and Lee offered one of his. With this trick Jace ended up leaving the show with a dollar bill and half of a lemon. Did Lee get his original hundred dollar bill back.

There was much more to the show and we didn't get home until after 10:00 pm. I could hardly wait to climb into bed. A really fun day for everyone.

Sunday In Branson

Even though we went to bed late we were up by 5:00 am. This house has 2 coffee makers but one I never could get to work. At least I got one pot going. We went into the city to attend a church that started at 8:15 am. The music went on and on and was very loud but when the speaker spoke his message was on James 4 vs 1 and 2. Conflict and how to resolve it. 

Below was how to resolve the conflict.

Interesting and I felt I was supposed to be there. After church we dropped Braelyn and Israel off at the house and had the car drive to a charger which just happened to be next to a super Walmart. We went there next and bought enough fruit, bread, cereal and milk to last a few days. This afternoon I pulled up Peoria on AC Central and watched Dave Beutel give a message on our statement of faith. This was quite a sermon and the truth was spoken. I'll try to post that here once I get home from vacation. It reached 100 degrees today here in Branson.  Rachel took Nancy home from church and Nancy got to feed Faline, the fawn.

When we got home most of the family had already gone to Silver Dollar City. They came back hot and tired. Next were games at the big table and the floor.

We ordered Indian food for our dinner and had Mark's car take us to the restaurant to pick it up. I had to take a picture of the octopus that was across the street from the restaurant.

There was a tent in Israel's room so he brought that up for the girls to play with.

That was the girls fort, the boys made their own fort.

This evening a bunch went back to Silver Dollar City to watch the fireworks and ride the rides. Mark, Sarah, Stephanie and I stayed back with Iris, Zeke, River and Elisabet. Someone knocked on our door and when we opened it were surprised to see Connie and Dave along with 2 of their grandsons and one son in law. 

Turned out they were staying in a house 2 houses down from us. We had a nice visit then they walked home. The house they are staying in has 9 bedrooms as their basement is finished. Ours is just dirt. Jack, Jace and Israel walk around to check ours and found a place to crawl inside. Jack came back and told us it was dirt and really smelled. I told him that's because that is where they bury the bodies.

We got to watch the fireworks from Silver Dollar City off our balcony tonight.

Branson

 We left today for our Sceggel family vacation at Branson, MO but not until our guest at the farm house left around 10:00 am. The bedding needed to be changed and sheets and towels washed. While I was cleaning Mark replaced most of the grills on the floor. The upstairs bathroom lights and fan wouldn't turnt  on. At first I thought it must be a breaker but all were working, Mark got his tools, carried them upstairs to find it was just a gfi that needed to be reset. While I was waiting for our guest to leave I got all the frozen food into the cooler along with the fresh food and got that huge cooler in the car Nolan was going to take down. I filled that car with supplies. The laundry and dishes were done here and by the time our house was cleaned it was time to head over to the farm house. Our guest never used the stove or oven, I think they were visiting family for most of their meals. They never even opened the new coffee I left them nor the fancy creamer in the fridge. It was an easy clean. I could tell they enjoyed the whirlpool tub and the shower. We left at noon for Branson and had an easy trips arriving here around 7:45 pm. Some of the kids had gone out to eat, some had just arrived before we did. We ate then all of us played games until bedtime. Everyone is now in bed but Mark and me. He is probably sleeping on the couch so I'm going to go wake him and tell him it's time to go to bed. 

Harli's Colt

 I went over to the barn at 6:30 am to finish up anything needed, then over to the apartment and made sure that was ready for guests. Braelyn had cleaned it last and it was still spotless, needing nothing. The lights were turned on and the air turned down. Mark came over at 7:45 am to help load Tessa and her filly. That went exactly as planned and with Mark to shut the door it took not even a minute. I made it to Hoerr Vet clinic just before 8:00 am and had to stop to take a picture of the very colorful goats waiting that were there waiting. 

I went in to give Emma a check for today's visit when Dr. Pallen came in and was ready. Tessa walked quietly into the stocks the the filly followed so all was well. The bandage had slipped down during the night last night.

Dr. Pallen had a helper today, Molly who just happens to be our neighbors in Hanna City. She bought Paula and Barry's place. Molly not only helped with today's bandaging but she also offered to come with Dr. Pallen next week to help here at the farm. Below is the video of the new bandage being applied.

We worked it out that they will stay in the paddock unless rain is predicted then I will see if either Berlica or Mike will put them back in the stall. Thankfully there really isn't rain in the forecast. I'll talk to Berlica tomorrow. The truck needed gas and Caseys on Plank road is a convenient station but when I put the card in I had to go inside before the pump would turn on. All of their pumps were acting up and there was a huge line by the time I finally prepaid. I thought it would take about $125.00 but it was full at $117.10. The  gas station attendent said the rest would be refund.

When I got back to the farm Sarah was here with Zion and River. I needed a board replaced and found one that would work. Mark came over to take the old one off and put up the new one. The horses were very curious about what he was doing but as soon as he turned the saw on they left him alone.

When that was finished I was taking the golf cart over to the arena to watch River and Zion riding Penny when Mike called. Harli had a colt by her side. I was very glad I had filled the truck with gas. I took the trailer with me.

She wasn't due until the middle of August and this colt was obviously not born today. He was rearing up on his mother and trying to bully his big sister Izzy. We figured out he must have been born on the 20th making him 4 days old today. His umbilical cord was dry as could be and Harli is just starting to come into her foal heat. She went right over to Oliver and let him check her out. She isn't ready yet but soon. The only white the colt has a very unique star, it looks like a candle flame.

He will be registered in the Gypsian book of the Friesian Heritage Horse registry once he is named. He is also for sale. He will have the mega hair and is already thick and stocky. He looks and acts like a month old colt but we know he wasn't born on the 19th so his birthday is officially July 20th, 2026. We left them out at Middle Grove as I am leaving tomorrow for vacation. When I got back I posted the pictures of him on the website. I took a few other pictures too. Cookie is doing fantastic. Her hair has all grown back, her breathing is much better and she has gained weight.

The first thing we do when we get there is halter Oliver and tie him up. He gets a carrot then and also when he is let loose.

The Thoroughbred mares all look pregnant. Below is Curlin. We saw her in season and was left out with Oliver. She is due April 26th, 2027

Below is Bulu's colt by Valiant. He is 13 months old and is now a gelding. He is very tall and very friendly.

Below is another picture of Curlin.

Below is Aiken. We never saw her come into season so sometime will have to take her to Dr. Hoerr for an estimate when she is due. 

Left to right is Holly, Curlin and Aiken. All have nice round bellies. They sure don't look like they did when they came to our place off the track. Now they look like content brood mares. Sure hope each has a foal in 2027.

We checked over the horses, Mike fly sprayed them then left. They had both trucks surrounded but we got through.

Sarah sent the video of Zion and River on Penny today.

She really is the perfect pony for them. The rest of today was spent packing and cleaning. This evening I watered mom's flowers. Rhonda will check them during the week. To water the front I had to throw the hose over the hole then drag the hose to the front of the house.

I tried first to go around the excavator but the hose wasn't long enough.

We will have an early night as there is much to do before we leave tomorrow for vacation.

Perfect Penny

 I knew today would be very busy and it was. The stalls were done early, the horses fed, Tessa's filly's leg checked all before 8:00 am. Breakfast was served, 2 loads of laundry done and by 9:00 am I was on the way to Sam's club to buy food for our family vacation. Checking out I couldn't find my Sam's credit card and had to use the Discover card which meant I could only get 2% instead of the usual 5% off and today was a big one. Just under $300.00. From Sam's I drove to Aldi to buy 14 pounds of bacon but I could only buy 13 as I emptied the box and the other box wouldn't slide down. I told the check out lady I really wanted 14 but could only get 13. She offered to send someone but it wasn't that important. I also bought 8 pounds of sausage and 7 pounds of hamburger along with jam, peanut butter and a few other items I was a little surprised when the bill came to $157.00 but didn't look at the receipt until after the groceries were put away and then found the check out lady had charged me for 18 pounds of bacon, not 13. I drove back to Aldi to get a refund of just over $20.00. I wasn't happy about losing the 40 minutes of my time. As soon as I got back the hamburger was browned and made into taco meat then once that was cool frozen with the rest of the meat. I also deboned 2 rotisserie chickens from Sam's and made a big batch of chicken salad for our lunches. Anna came at noon to put the volleyball net up as the guests coming in tomorrow asked for that. She wasn't able to tighten the net as the battery was missing from the drill. Mark knew where that was so figured out how to use the drill to tighten the net. I really needed a pat on the back for that.

First time for me, the poles and net are too heavy for me to do myself but not for Anna.

Sarah arrived with River on Penny, they were going to do the trails. Penny was awesome today. Five year old River asked her to mount the pedastal, then rode her in the big arena, walked over the jump in both directions then trotted all by herself in the round pen. They finished their fun with Sarah driving the golf cart while Penny followed. 

We decided Penny's name is now Perfect Penny! 

I started on the barn cleaning bathrooms and floors. When I got upstairs I realized the pitching machine was all tangled in the batting cage netting. Israel helped me get that untangled. I made sure it was working well before finishing the upstairs. Israel and his friend helped organize the balls. David and Stephanie brought friends over so I quit working and went home to fold towels and put away laundry. Israel and Elisabet stayed for supper while David and Stephanie went out to dinner. Braelyn arrived with some clean towels they had washed at their house for the barn. She joined us for supper. After supper we all went to feed the horses. Mike took the stock trailer to Middle Grove so Braelyn helped me hook up the 2 horse trailer as I need to leave by 7:30 am tomorrow morning with Tessa and her filly for the filly's vet appointment to get her bandage changed. 

Once that was hooked up, it was backed between the two buildings for easy loading.

Elisabet then showed me her vaulting moves she learned last week. The flag and the stand.

We have so many girls interested in vaulting, the team is going to be a big one this year. We went back to the house and started cleaning out Mark's Meister car. Every time I think I am done unloading and putting things away I find I am not. That car was LOADED with stuff from the Farm House. I was thankful Braelyn, Israel and Elisabet were here to help unload it. Now everything is sitting on the kitchen table and floor. More work for tomorrow! We spent the next half hour just telling stories of my grandfather, their great great grand father and how his family lived in a sod house and what that meant. Funny how we visited a lot of his old stomping grounds WITH him and he showed us one. It wasn't the one he grew up in but was just like it. After David and Stephanie took the kids home both Mark and I are ready to crash and will go straight to bed now that the blog is finished. I found the missing credit card in Mark's wallet. 

Mowing Day

 I sat down to read this morning, I'm in 1st Chronicles and sometimes Chronicles is hard. Chapter 22 was today's reading. but even before I opened the Bible I was praying that I would find exactly what I need out of today's reading even asking God, "I know the Word is a living Word, open my eyes to what YOU would want me to read. Chapter 22 is where David is laying up all the supplies for his son to build the temple. The commentary on this chapter was eye opening. 

It was SO clear So perfectly timely as we are leaving Saturday for our Sceggel vacation. I pray for my children and grandchildren but after reading this I should also tell them that not only do I pray for them but what I pray for them. Maybe on this trip I will have the opportunity to be with each one.

Ruth didn't walk this morning, she has been busy caring for sick grandchildren. When we reached Diane's house we needed to admire the Kubota she and Mike drove to pick up yesterday.

It is actually 32 years old but only has something like 400 hours on it. The owner was a barn lady, her husband was the one who would drive it to scoop poop, put it in the manure pile a maybe move snow each winter.  The owners were moving and also gave Mike about $500.00 worth of used tack, halters, bridles and other fun things. We can't wait to see all of that. We got to Joan's house, I was looking at the 2005 motorhome floor, turned and saw what I thought was a loose horse. Nope, it was only Penny, Berlica had her tied to the trampoline while she went to get something from the house. 

She was riding her bareback today.

Today was mowing day around here. Mackenson took the push mower over to the farm house and started mowing there, Berlica took the diesel grass hopper and started mowing the barn yards, Joan took the gas grass hopper and mowed the playground and all around here. When Berlica finished the barn area and the farm house yards I took that mower and mowed both pastures finishing around 4:00 pm. No pictures, I left the phone at home so it wouldn't fall out of my pocket and get run over.  The diesel mower was then given to Joan to finish up all the yards going down to the lake. My next job was to move bales in. Ribbon's old paddock (now Rosaleigh and her colt's) got a bale and Evan's paddock got a bale. It sounds like an easy job but first Evan needed to be moved into the pasture behind his paddock then locked out of his paddock so the gate to the shelter could be left open. Once that bale was in and the gate shut, Evan was called back in with grain and the gate between his paddock and pasture was locked. Next Rosaleigh and her colt were enticed into their pasture by some grain in a bucket so they could be locked out of their paddock. The gate to that paddock was left open and the tractor brought in first to move the old hay off of the feeder so the new bale could be placed on the feeder. Once the bale was in the back gate going to the pasture was opened up and both Rosaleigh and her colt came running back in. it was 5:00 pm by the time all of that was done. Just enough time to get showers and ready for church. Tonight church was held at the fellowship hall. The group that went to Jamaica all came in their trip T Shirts. They each talked about the highlights, sang us a couple songs, one completely in sign language,  then showed us a slide presentation. We didn't leave there until 8:30 pm and went straight home. Today was a good day!

A Good Tired

 I left the house at 6:30 am to take care of Tessa and her filly. They do not like being stalled. They spent the night in the stall across the aisle so moved them over to the stall I prepared for them last night. Tessa was given her grain but the filly went right over to the feeder to try to scratch an itch. She would love to get that bandage off. 

Once the other stall was cleaned and the manure dumped I went down to the farm house to check the rain gauge. We got 3/10ths of an inch. A little bit of a drink for the fields. Just as we were ready to walk the Farm House booked for TODAY. A couple are coming into town to visit family and wanted to stay for 4 nights. They leave Saturday morning and we leave for our Sceggel vacation on Saturday morning but now will need to leave once the farm house is clean and ready for the next guests coming in on Wednesday next week. I went right home and blocked off Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday so I don't have to worry about someone booking it until after the next guests who have booked until August 2nd. Mark was shocked. I needed to leave for Berean but told him I would leave early from there to get back to finish the cleaning before the 3:00 pm check in. We had a good amount of mail today at Berean. We were missing Shirley and Ray. Shirley sent a message that she fell and knocked Ray down, both were sore but Ray broke a bone in his arm. Today is his 97th birthday. What an awful way to celebrate that birthday! At our prayer time Kathy read a letter to us.

Below are a few pictures from this morning at the Berean office.

Rhoda sent a Marco Polo explaining she was coming to work on landscaping and I told her about the guests coming today. She must have called Sarah in a panic as both Rhoda and Sarah arrived and did a deep clean on everything. Rhoda was trying to trim the bushes when she disturbed a wasp nest and got stung. I borrowed Joan's bee suit and that worked. Rhoda put that on was surrounded with angry wasps but no more stings. She was able to find and destroy the nests. Sarah used the hose and a bleach mixture to clean the outside of the house. The outside of the windows were also sprayed. By the time I arrived (about 11:00 pm) everyone was working hard. They stayed until 2:00 pm, Mark and I worked until after 3:00 pm but when we left we looked around and were amazed at how much those girls got done. This farm house would not have looked so nice without our daughters. We were both SO thankful. Our guests pulled up in a Tesla Cyber Truck. This was the first time I've ever seen one up close. The owner showed me how the back opens. The grand kids would love to see it. I asked if I could take pictures and a video of it. Pretty impressive.

They were thrilled that we had a Tesla charger and will use it for the next 4 days. I told Mark and he decided to leave the charger and just order a new one for mom's garage. I will update the ad on Airbnb to include a Tesla Charger. Meanwhile our car was down to 15 % charge and we won't be going anywhere tomorrow with that car is charged so Mark parked it over at the barn and hooked it up. We don't have a charger there but Spark put in an outlet that works for the car, just not as fast as the Tesla one. Good thing we have all evening and all night to charge it. Braelyn arrived to clean the apartment. Braelyn will be going with us to Branson on Saturday. She was told about the farm house renting and is willing to help me clean it Saturday morning. I'm thankful for hard working daughters AND hard working grand daughters. Couldn't do all of this without them. I drove back this evening to care for Tessa and the filly then checked on the outdoor arena. The ladies painting the outdoor arena were finished. There are still a couple boards and posts but they need to be replaced. Mike had the girls paint the extra boards and will get the rotted ones replaced later.

The black makes the arena look much nicer.

We are going to sleep well tonight, both of us are tired but it is a good tired.