Schedules @ the Horse Fair

Today after church we drove to Princeville, IL to help Samantha pack up everything and move in with us. She is going to need a job but meanwhile is going to ICC. Samantha is also going to need a car. We had her all moved in by 4:00pm.
Dinner was a pizza and salad, then Mark and I left for the farm. Mark was kind enough to help me build a horse training pedestal. We finished around 8:30pm, rolled it into the big barn and headed home. I am so thrilled with this piece of equipment. IT still needs to be painted and tried out but we can start tomorrow working with the foals. I also want to train Jenis to use it. If all goes as planned we will take it down to Springfield for the demos.
Rhoda and Monica drove out to work Jenis and Ylse and both mares were good. Jenis is getting the rear down pat.
Once home there were some emails on people asking when the vaulters would be performing this weekend. David and Stephanie were here needing to use the computers for their taxes so I ended up calling people with the schedule.
ANY WAY, I promised to post their performance times so here goes.
Friday night during the Amazing Night of the Horse is the first performance. That starts at 7:30pm.
Saturday between 3:00 and 5:15pm is the breed and sport demos and when we get the order of go we will have a better idea of the timing.
Saturday night again at the Night of the Amazing Horse.
Sunday afternoon between 2:15 and 4:30pm again is the breed and sport demos.
The Horsemeister Friesians starring Rhoda & Jenis and Monica & Ylse along with Ciera, Valiant, Evan and Wanda will also be performing Saturday and Sunday during the breed and sport demos.
The foals will be judged on Saturday sometime before 1:00pm, again we don't know the order of go yet. Emily Ricketts is coming down to help with Ciera, Steven Marchal will help with Evan, Rhoda will help with Valiant and Monica Fritzenmeier will help with Wanda.
All of them will be judged at the FPS standard.

The Kids

Ben and Addyson came over this afternoon, and Ben was kind enough to look at our ailing computer and it was bad news. It isn't just the monitor that went bad it is also our computer. This is the computer that I use to update the website so until Philip gets home from Haiti and fixes it for us, I will not be able to update. We lost electricity during the snow storm just for a few seconds but Ben thinks it was enough to fry something.
Mark and I met David, Rhoda, Ben, Taunya, Addyson, Sarah, the Sauder kids, David, Caleb and Jessica, a friend from Indiana named Luke, along with Rebekah and Anni Davidovics for dinner at Logan Steak house. There were 13 of us and the restaurant was packed, we had them separate us into 2 tables and only had to wait about 20 minutes. After dinner the kids came over for ice cream and we watched Addyson crawl. We had to get the video camera out and tape her but the editing program is on the computer that crashed so I guess that will have to also wait until Phil gets home.

Say Goodby to Anni

Mark and I met Steven at the farm at 8:30am, gave him a hitch for his truck, then started work. Our first job was to teach Evan to lead better and pick up his back feet nicely. Mike came over with the 4 wheeler for the leading practice which went well. Then it was on to the feet. Evan gave Mike quite a work out before he was standing quietly and letting him pick up each foot. Mike is not feeling well and once Evan was picking up both back feet quietly, Mike went back to bed. The difference in Evan was amazing though when he was done. Steven decided to work with Evan on putting his front feet up on the mounting block while we loaded up Anni in her new owner's trailer. One less mouth to feed! The boy is so smart that within a few minutes he was getting the idea and within 15 minutes he was doing it himself. Evan picked it up so well, that Steven decided to also try Ciera. Once Steven finished working with the mounting block we started Evan on going over cross poles. He kept walking over them and knocking them to the ground until we raised it a little higher, then he was willing to pop over it.
By the time we quit we were pretty thrilled with both foals. It is still very cold and icy so we didn't bring out any of the other foals. They will be taught another hopefully warmer day.
Mark and I left to drive home and on Smithville road had to pull over. Someone dropped 5 pretty good size 2x12s out on the road and just left them lying there. We didn't know if there were nails in them so didn't want to run over them. Mark just loaded them in the back of the truck, just too dangerous to leave them.

Paris & Son

He really has a nice long neck. Infact we think he has about perfect conformation.

Diane fed Paris for me this morning so I was able to go out later to the farm. Izadora was grained, then moved in with the herd to open up that paddock for Paris & son. He is such a cutie! Paris loved being outside but was careful to keep between the baby and the other paddocks. I had the camera so took a few pictures. Ralph picked up square bales for us, we need 11 to take down to Springfield, IL for the fair. We actually bought 150 bales along with Ralph and Jamie but don't have them delivered yet. It is nice to have square bales available for when they are needed.
The fair contacted us that we can bring all of our horses down on Thursday night. That will give us Friday to bathe 7 horses and set up the stall decorations. I called the hotel to add Thursday night for our package and the receptionist said it was already reserved. Turns out the hotel had reserved Thursday and Friday for the vaulters instead of Friday and Saturday. It was a good thing I called, we would have not had a place to sleep. Karin was able to get it straightened out.
Mike moved in round bales for Lily's paddock and the foal paddock.
Anni leaves at 9:00am tomorrow morning, yes, one less mouth to feed!
Cant figure out why doesn't someone offer on Velvet, she is such a good buy right now, we have her listed at $2000.00 and she is due in May. Her 2008 colt was fantastic and sold at weaning for FAR more than we are asking for her. If she doesn't sell by March 15th, we will keep her, let her deliver and then just sell the foal but to me this just doesn't make sense. Some could get a very valuable BLACK Friesian sport horse, raise it the way they want, then sell Velvet once the foal is weaned.

Rebekah's Surprise Birthday Party

Ruth decided to surprise Rebekah for her 18th birthday. Karin took Rebekah scuba diving while we all showed up to help celebrate this very important birthday. As Rebekah was walking in the door she was commenting on why the lights were out, "oh thats my mom, she goes to bed at 7:30pm, wakes up at 4:30am and expects us all to get up." right about then we all started yelling "Happy Birthday" and the lights came on. Above is just as they walked in the door. It was a very good surprise.



Below are the scuba girls: Left to right is Rebekah, Anni, Karin and Sarah.

Karin took Rebekah, Anni and Sarah scuba dive training tonight to get Rebekah out of the house for the party. The girls said they had a great time scuba diving in a pool. Anni was breakdancing on the bottom of the pool, spinning upside down. Karin, Sarah and Rebekah had a good time playing underwater football.

Que Sold

Amy's Haflinger Que is now sold. He will be leaving on Sunday morning early, he is traveling to Tennessee.
I guess Amy is pretty happy, that is probably a misstatement, she is actually ecstatic! Well done Amy, Que was born on her farm and Amy has most of the training on him.

Feet Trimming Day

This morning after cleaning up the kitchen and playroom, I headed down to work to get out the individual Bibles. Over 14 boxes of them went out today. Each box contains 12 large print Bibles and each Bible must be labeled with the prisoner's name and number then 4 stamps put on each one, 3 dollar stamps and 1 17cent stamp. That means each Bible is handled about 6 times. First pulling it out of the box, then labeling it, then applying the 4 stamps, then stuffing it back in the box and once full stuffed into my car.
I still made it out to the farm a good half hour to get everyone grained before the farrier showed up. Tyler was great working with the foals. Evan was a handful and the only foal he couldn't finish the back legs. I guess we need to work on that boy. The best was actually Valiant, if I was a betting person, I would have bet Ciera would be the best but by the time Tyler finished all of them, he looks over and says "that one has the best attitude, I really like him." Of course he was pointing to Valiant. Ribbon, Ylse and Jenis were also done.
The IL Horse Fair wants Ribbon down in Springfield on Thursday for the dress rehearsal so I'm not sure how we are going to work that. Do I haul her down and leave her, come back and haul the rest of the horses and stuff down on Friday? Or just haul her, as much stuff as we can fit in the trailer and stay down there with her. Steven is the other hauler, hopefully he will have some ideas on how we are going to do this.
Paris and her colt are doing very well, I left them in the stall another day just too cold but the temperature is suppose to start climbing tomorrow. No new pictures, just too tired by the time Tyler left.

Driveway ICE

This morning the car was barely able to make it up the driveway farm. I didn't think much of the problem, too busy taking care of the new colt and once at work the phone started ringing. First was Rhonda, the carpet she ordered was delivered in a van and it slid off the driveway into the ravine, then Diane called, she was trying to pick up her grandchildren and couldn't get out because of Rhonda and the carpet van and when she tried to back up, she was stuck. Then the Pence's came along and added to the vehicle mess. Finally a tow truck came, pulled out the carpet van, and pulled Diane out to the road and the Pences made it out.
With the temperature not getting above the teens out there today, none of the ice melted. We have Tyler Joos our farrier coming around noon tomorrow so Mike was going to stay home from church and get out the heavy equipment to try to break up some of the ice and make the driveway passable.
This is one of the country living problems we have and each year it just seems to get worse. Either we need to rethink the driveway or ALL get 4Wheel drive vehicles. Sure hope Mike will feed Paris for me in the morning, I really don't want to make 2 trips out and must be there for Tyler.
Ribbon tripped twice tonight during the vaulting practice, her front feet really need to be trimmed.

Myrrhcedes Out of Paris

Ralph and Jamie Stone own Myrrhcedes and were kind enough to give me these pictures taken by Rachel Sauder of momentscapturedbyrachel. Myrrhcedes is out of Paris by Raven and is the full sister to the colt born this morning.



Jamie's filly, Myrrhcedes, was out showing off when Rachel came over with her camera and we LOVE these shots.

Paris' New Colt

Paris surprised us this morning with a beautiful baby boy. By the time Mike discovered him he was up and nursing. It is very cold this morning, when I drove to the farm the car thermometer was reading 9 degrees at 9:00am. He was probably born early morning, maybe around 4:00am but Paris is such a good mom, she had him completely dried off. Ralph and Jamie helped me move him to a stall. Paris would not let him go in the barn, she felt it was too close to the other horses, and with the wind the poor boy was shivering. I'll get better pictures later when it has warmed up. Paris is now very content to be in a stall with her new boy. The ironic part was that the mare predictor kits were here when I got home from the farm. Three new kits all just waiting for a mare close enough to test. If they would have come yesterday we would more than likely spent the night at the farm, cold, hungry (ok probably not hungry but it just seemed to fit) and tired. This way we wake up and theres the baby already born, dry, standing and nursing!


This boy has some chrome. He has a beautiful round star along with one white sock. He is going to be very flashy, the very black surrounding the very white. The pictures really don't do him justice. He actually has a very nice long neck, pretty face, long legs and compact body. He is for sale and someone is going to get a very flashy, friendly colt!
Our farrier, Tyler Joos is coming tomorrow morning to trim Ribbon and the foals that are going. I may have him look at Jenis and Ylse again as they are also going to the fair. I'll take my camera out tomorrow to try for some better pictures.
Today I am heading to a fabric store for material for the stalls, then to a hardware store for a big heavy duty stapler.

Horse Fairs

The Illinois Horse Fair is March 5th, 6th, and 7th. Our vaulters have been asked to perform during Tommy Turvey's Night of Amazing Horses on Friday AND Saturday nights in the heated coliseum. What an honor to be chosen for this. If you have never heard of Tommy Turvey, just youtube him, he is WORLD FAMOUS! His show is usually sold out so we highly recommend getting on the IL HORSE FAIR's website and ordering those tickets in advance, this is a wonderfully entertaining show and well worth the $9.00 adult ticket and $6.00 child price. We can promise this is one that won't be regretted. The vaulters are also performing during the breed and sport demonstrations on Saturday between 3:00 and 5:30pm and on Sunday between 2:00 and 4:30pm in the livestock arena.
The Midwest Horse Fair has asked if Karin would like to put on a vaulting teaching clinic but it is without using Ribbon, we had to tell them no. That fair is held in April 16th, 17th and 18th and is in Madison, WI. The vaulters are performing there Friday at 11:40am and Saturday at 12:20pm.
The sugar for the cotton candy machine is now ordered, Karin will be picking that up tomorrow in Galesburg.
The people from the Friesian Heritage Horse registry are sending me buttons and flyers to put out at our stalls for the IL Horse fair. They also asked if they found a hotel would they be able to come down and of course I told them absolutely! We can use all the help we can get. They would only be promoting the registry and we will, along with vaulting, be promoting Raven and Horsemeister but we can still work together, after all our Friesians are in that registry.
Today is a nice sunny day and even at only 31 degrees the ever present snow is melting into icy ruts all over our unplowed driveway. If it would just get and stay above freezing it wouldn't matter but it is suppose to drop to 8 degrees above zero and not above freezing until the weekend. Will we even be able to get into our driveway? By the way it isn't shoveled because both Mark and I were sick Sunday and Monday and the snowfall before that we were on the cruise and non of it melted.

Update from Joan

Day 42 Sis. Joan Reinhard Six weeks ago…. Forty two days into this catastrophic event! Six weeks ago, life in Haiti changed far beyond our comprehension then and even now. The world as we know it turned upside down. Those who were more established and would have been able to offer assistance, were some of the hardest hit. The UN and the Haitian government both suffered paralyzing losses and communication with in the country stopped. What economy there was in Port-au-Prince was turned into rubble with many stores, hotels, universities, and hospitals flattened. Over 200,000 confirmed dead. With God, all things are possible This is the news you have been hearing for over a month. This desperate situation would seem to be unrecoverable. But…..with God all things are possible. We here have been witnessing an amazing turning to the Lord from all spectrum of people including a young US doctor and his wife. People are praising and thanking God for sparing their lives even as they lay in hospital beds. God definitely is at work. All of us remain in a whirlwind of emotions However the ups and down of conditions here keep us in a constant whirlwind of emotions. Friday afternoon a patient came into the Cite Lumiere clinic who had stepped on a nail 8 days before. He had two problems. First he had a very severe case of tetanus. Second he was officially not an “earthquake victim”. To sustain a tetanus patient you need to be able to give him an antiserum which we have here at the clinic. However the patient needs to be on a ventilator during this time because his body would relax so much that he would stop breathing. No where in Haiti could we find an available ventilator. Many phone calls later, to the USS Comfort, the U of Miami Med. Center in Port, the Bahamas to try to find a portable ventilator, and any where else we could think of, the bottom line was there was nothing available for him because he was not an earthquake victim. All of Haiti are earthquake victims. What these people don’t realize is that ALL OF HAITI are earthquake victims because their already poor lives have now become destitute. There is still not enough food in the area and what little there is for sale is very expensive. Many, many of the families here are supporting friends and relatives who have escaped from Port and are staying here in the Cayes area with some vowing never to go back to Port! Without a ventilator, the man with tetanus died Saturday afternoon this man died and I went and hugged and cried with his widow who is expecting their fourth child. All I could say was that I was sorry. We tried to find the machine that could have saved his life, but we failed. The frustration of resources not available is a constant thing here, but now, with the earthquake, it just got a lot worse. Please continue to pray and help We ask that you continue to pray for this country and as you have resources available continue to donate your time, money, and stuff to further help Haiti. We don’t pretend to know God’s plan here, but we just work on serving Him and being obedient to His call one step at a time. May God bless you all for all you have done already. In Christ, Tim & Joan Reinhard

Aragon

I had a couple of people ask to see new pictures of Aragon so this morning after getting everyone grained I snapped these. We have a very wet heavy snow of about 5-6 inches deep this morning. The roads getting to the farm were semi clean but very dangerous. There would be ruts that would force the car into the on coming traffic. It took almost a half hour to get to the farm, coming back the plows had been through so it was much easier.
I moved Aragon and Izadora to the far paddock, it makes it just so much easier to grain but now Aragon does not have his playmates which help keep him humble. He and the 2 ponies go round and round play fighting. The mares don't put up with his shanigans and Izadora is just no fun to play with, she just moves away.


Here he is looking back at me to say "are you still around?"

I just had to take this picture of Ylse, she is so photogenic and knows she is a lady.

Jenis and Ylse were hanging around the fence watching me move Izadora. I thought this was a pretty snow picture of them.

Disappointment

Drove to church sat for about 25 minutes and had such a coughing fit I had to leave. Drove home and took some cough medicine (for the first time in my life) to see if it would help so I could go to Gridly tonight. So sitting at the piano and trying to sing and having a coughing fit at the end of each line, I just gave up and called Rhonda to tell her I just can't go. I love hearing the choir, I love singing the songs but shouldn't be out spreading any germs. bother....
We are suppose to get up to 8 inches of snow and it wasn't suppose to start piling up until after midnight but it has been coming down pretty steady. It is just as well I'm not out driving in it.
Made a pot of chicken noodle soup for dinner, that might help soothe my very sore throat.

Snow Flakes

Sitting this morning watching the big fat snow flakes drifting lazily down onto the bushes right outside my window and thinking "is winter ever going to be over?" Only one more week of February and usually we can get some very nice warm days in March so everyone just hang on, spring is coming.
Emma loves playing with my slippers so this morning only one can be found, outside to get the paper with one slipper brrrr. Our tile floors are so cold that my feet are sharing one, kind of funny hopping around everywhere with both feet in one slipper, not so, FIRST my right foot gets warm, THEN my left foot.
Mark has been coughing for 8 days now and it was so bad last night he went into one of the spare bedrooms. He will be staying home from church today. The choir sings at Gridley tonight and my throat is still sore, I should stay home but I desperately want to go to church and Gridley, I missed Wednesday night because of this throat and the last 2 Sundays we were on the cruise.
There was an email this morning from the IL Horse Fair, they want to know if we have any expert kids and would they be willing to put on a 4 minute demo at the 'Night of the Horse' both Friday and Saturday nights. How do I answer that? Since it was morning and I hadn't yet had my coffee, I told her to watch the vaulters during their Saturday performance and if she likes what she sees they could perform on Friday and Saturday. That was about as stupid as saying we can turn time backwards and didn't even catch it until now (while drinking coffee!)
Karin will have to make this decision and I'll give the Horse Fair contact lady her email. The other information she sent was kind of bad news, the vaulters still owe $100.00 for the entrance fee. I guess winning the stall decoration is different from winning crowd appeal we only get $100 off the $200.00 entrance fee. OH well the vaulters have money in their account so will need to get to the bank on Monday.
The Horse fair lady was emailed back with Karin's email address, Karin can make the decision way better than I could anyway.

Amy's Que

Amy Koch would like to sell her 2 year old registered Haflinger gelding named Que. He was born at her place June 2007, imprinted at birth, had regular farrier care since he was 6 weeks old dewormed every 2 months and is up to date with everything. He is currently at Bridlewood stable. He is green under saddle but willing. She is asking $1500.00 for him. She actually bred his dam so she could have a games pony but he is not nimble or quick enough. Please contact Amy if interested, email address: alk5475@yahoo.com phone number: 309-925-3783.
UPDATE: Less than 2 hours of putting up Que's video Amy got a legit offer on him. As of Feb 25th, he is SOLD!

Addyson

Ben, Taunya and Addyson came to dinner along with Phil and Anna. For desert we had chocolate cake. Addyson decided she wanted to try it also so they put her on the table and let her crawl over to the cake. We were laughing so hard are her expressions. Ben put a piece of onion near the cake, of course she had to grab that and put it in her mouth. This is her expression until we took it out of her mouth.
Ben and Taunya are laughing in the background at their funny daughter.
She is crawling quite well and when she sees something she wants she really can move.
On another note, Karin was so pleased with vaulting today she called and really bragged on the kids and the horse. She said they are now doing all tricks at the trot. IL HORSE FAIR HERE WE COME!

Drake Going Home

Just got word that Nate and Brook are deciding against the treatment and are taking Drake home this afternoon. They feel peace about their decision as the side affects were so drastic. Also Drake's right ear was tested again today and there may be a little hearing there. Drake and his family needs prayers for the next 2 years.

Patience & Wisdom

Two of life's greatest qualities are Patience and Wisdom as the picture at the end of this post shows.
Today I had an appointment 1:30pm to show our vaulting barrel to a CIRTS instructor who is having one built. She also wanted to look at our foals and Big Sally so I decided to go early and clean up the horses and do a job I had been putting off. The stalls are now all cleaned, the aisle swept, the horses grained and the foals shown. The instructor is looking for a beginner vaulting horse and thought maybe Big Sally would fit the bill as she is half Percheron but Sally would need work for that and she is due in May which would put off training. Shadow, Chloe and Wanda were all brought in the arena, tied up and groomed a bit before she arrived. Funny they had a tough time telling the difference in the 3 foals but the prices are quite different, Wanda is priced at $8000.00, Shadow at $3500.00 and Chloe at $2500.00. They asked a couple of times which was which. While they were looking at the foals Big Sally decided she had been tied up long enough, untied her lead rope and took off running straight to her paddock. I left her loose while I put the babies away. Sally is looking HUGE and still had 2 and 1/2 months to go.
now for the patience & wisdom picture:

The Walk

Rachel took this picture on one of the morning walks. Each morning the foals line up to see who is coming and will they get any attention. I'm not 100% sure which ones these are but if I was to guess from left to right is Evan, Ciera and Rachel's colt named Raven's Shadow. (OK, I've been corrected, it is Wanda, Ciera, then Shadow.) Shadow is out of her quarter horse mare Sandy and he looks so much like a purebred even the vet can't tell he is half Friesian when she comes. Shadow is being weaned with the rest of the 2009 foals at the farm. We have found the best way for a foal to be weaned is with others the same age, misery likes company and they can all comfort each other. Shadow is for sale and I know Rachel only has him priced at $3500.00. He has a brand new coggins has been handled from birth, is very friendly and well behaved, and is up to date with worming and shots. Someone is going to get a fantastic buy at that price, a black half Friesian that looks ALL Friesian and a Raven son at that, which means he will be a piece of cake to train and put under saddle. Just read our feedback page on our website www.horsemeister.com kind of proves how easy Raven babies are to train. Shadow really is quality.

Salsa

This email came in today from an owner of a Raven daughter:
Salsa is a gem, and is so much fun to play with. Luckily she inherited Raven's calm disposition, I was doing a little beautification on her a couple of weeks ago and all she wanted to do was keep her head on my shoulder. She's been sooo easy to start, I waited until she was 3. Never bucked, spooked, or even thrown an fit. And she's hit another growth spurt and is a little over 16.2 hands now. If I was going to breed Tango again I'd definitely come back to you (due to the economy I'm taking a break from making babies ;) I'll sent you pictures if you want once she sheds her winter coat and doesn't look like a big hairy moose…

We love hearing from our customers as their Raven babies grow up.

Back to Normal?

Normal defined in the dictionary is: –adjective
1. conforming to the standard or the common type;
usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.
2.serving to establish a standard.
We are wondering if things around here will ever be normal. We wait for updates on Drake and sometimes we are flying high and sometimes we are close to hitting bottom. How our hearts go out to Nate and Brook. They have some very difficult decisions to make today. Please continue to pray for them.
Funny how we have taken for granted so many years that our babies will be 'normal' and when things are not 'normal' we are shocked.
The farrier was called today to schedule trimmings. I was only able to leave a message but Tyler Joos is very good about calling me back. We have only 2 weeks before the IL Horse Fair and I really want the foals done along with Ribbon.
I also finally got around to ordering more foal watch kits. They will be shipped out today so hopefully get here before Paris delivers but if not she has a nice dry place to foal out. Paris is huge and the baby has dropped so we are thinking it will be soon. She is not actually due until March 8th. Rachel sent me a picture she took of her last foal while we were on the cruise, I saw the picture but now cannot find the picture. Rachel was kind enough to send it again. The owner of the Paris' last filly hired Rachel to get pictures of her in the snow. I see why she wanted new pictures, the filly is FANTASTIC! She is by Raven and out of Paris, hope the new foal turns out as nice.

Foal Pictures

The foals above were just posing so nicely if I didn't write down who they were I bet hardly anyone would know.
Left to right is Ciera, Evan, Wanda and finally Valiant.
Once work was done I met Steven and Rhoda at the farm where they were working on teaching Jenis to bow. Jenis is coming along very nicely and once pretty much did it on her own. These Friesians are just so smart.
The camera was in the car so Steven and Rhoda were asked if they minded helping me get some pictures. We had none of Evan and only a few old ones of Wynne. I really liked this picture of Wynne, it shows her very nice neck set.We should trim up her facial hair a bit, this winter the horses all have very thick winter coats and it was NEEDED! Wynne will be bred to Raven this spring.
The picture below is of Wanda, all of the foals have a different colored halter on so we can tell them apart. Wanda was born last so she is a little smaller but still it is hard to tell them apart.
Valiant is such a show off, he is very easy to get pictures of, he was born knowing how to pose.
Evan also likes to pose, we had no problems taking a nice picture of him either.

And then there is Ciera. She is not a purebred Friesian but no one would ever know. She is going to be bred to Evan when 3 years old, I think looking at the 2 of them it will great match.

Cruise Pictures & Videos

This morning I made it in time to walk at the farm. How I've missed that but sure haven't missed the cold, snow and ice. Once the graining was done, Izadora and Aragon were moved and Paris brought back out I was ready to roll. The propane tank for the office is again out of fuel and Ralph has agreed to switch over to the new tank. Diane gave me her camera with the cruise pictures and videos after the walk. I was very pleasantly surprised to see Steven cleaned out the feed stall and started laying the stall mats. It also looks like he started on the last stall. THANK YOU STEVEN you went over and above taking care of things here at the farm while we were cruisin on the sunny seas.
Mom and I spent about 30 minutes at CEFCU straightening out her accounts. For some reason CEFCU was auto paying her personal account but so did mom so a pretty large amount was taken from her personal checking and her business account was skipped. We were able to fix everything and got rid of the finance charge of $29.00. None of us like paying finance charges.
Once mom was back home, I stopped at Meister Brothers to work on credit card applications and finished those before lunch. Philip, David Jacob, Anna and I delivered the new copy machine to Eva Jeans, set it up, made sure it worked, then hauled the old one to the garbage. We stopped at Subway on the way home for lunch.
Once home from work the pictures and videos were downloaded onto my computer and the fun started. Both videos had to be uploaded on to youtube and the pictures hopefully where placed on the blog were they needed to go.
Will need to scroll down to cruise blogs for the rest of the pictures and Diane's rescue video.
One good note is baby Drake Herman's MRI did not show any brain damage just some issues with his brain size. Keep checking Nates blog for updates: http://thediaryofalakenerd.blogspot.com/

Back To Work

It was really hard to think about going to work this morning but we did all finally make it out the door. Eva Jean and I worked quickly and efficiently on the Bible studies and had them loaded up before noon. Of course she did most of the work. We tried to get RK Dixon to fix our risograph but it was purchased in 1995 and they just don't make the parts for it any more. Spark bought a bunch of copiers on ebay (at least I think that's where he got them) and he is offering us one of those so again God is Faithful. Eva Jean makes about 7000 to 10,000 copies a week and we didn't know what we were going to do without our risograph.
Once home Steven Marchal brought over some colostrum from Paris to be tested and we went over everything done the week we were gone. How thankful we are to have good helpers. He even came to Bridlewood and bought bedding and hay to stall Paris on some of the awful cold snowy days.
The bill came for our coggins, sonagrams and exams, Horsemeister's portion was $490.95 and my bill for Lily's exam and coggins on Lily, Sangria & Ciera + Sangria's sonagram was $209.10 and yet our tax man says we made money, funny how it just seems to flow out fast but comes in very slow.
Since no one wants to feed us like the cruise line fed us, there was shopping to be done if we wanted to eat. After spending $104.28 I think we have enough in the house to last at least a week. I went to Wal-Mart as I needed some non food items Aldis doesn't carry. Only a little after 4:00pm and I'm ready for my afternoon nap in the sun but I can't find the pool.

Koch's Grand Daughter

We had a very pleasant surprise waiting for us in the fridge this morning. My best friend Amy Koch, knew we would be missing the wonderful fresh fruit always available on a cruise and there was a sweet fresh pineapple all prepared for us for breakfast this morning. What a good friend! She went on our last cruise but her daughter was expecting and due while we were gone Amy just had to be in the delivery room and yes Jamie, her daughter delivered a beautiful baby girl. Jamie and John Dill are now the proud parents of 3 big bruise n boys and 1 beautiful petite little girl! Congratulations Koch family! Her name is Mia Noelle Dill born Feb 9th, 2010 at 7:08pm she weighed 6lb11oz and was 19 inches long.

Little Drake

Little Baby Boy Drake

We have been getting updates on my nephew Nate's newborn baby boy named Drake. It is so hard to just sit and wait for updates but if anyone wants to read his story the best place to read all about his birth and difficult diagnostic is Nate's blog. The link is: http://thediaryofalakenerd.blogspot.com/
Our hearts go out to the parents Nate and Brook. They have loved this boy from conception, they didn't even know if he was a boy or girl until birth but knew they loved him.
Reading Nate's blog reminds me of our heavenly Father's heart Psalm 139:
13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
God knew and loved this baby before Nate and Brook loved this little baby. We know God is in control and He never gives more than we can bare.
Below is Brook with her new son Drake Allen Herman

Drake with is big sister and his daddy:

Home

Our last day on the boat was a little chilly. While the sun was out it was fine but once it started clouding up it we moved inside into the hot tubs. We were just not use to the cold 70s we love those 80-90 degrees. As it was out last day we decided to eat lunch and try some of the other foods available we skipped each day and The chocolate buffet at noon was a little overwhelming. By dinner time we were not as ready to order and it showed. Instead of 2-3 appetizers we only ordered one each. On our last dinner the cruise-line offered prime rib so most of us ordered that and for dessert we did not order the melting chocolate cake could be we all just had too much chocolate. (is that even possible?)
After dinner we went into the lounge. Some played rook and some just visited but it was nice ending to our cruise.
The next morning we were up at 6:00am, went to Beth and Mom's room then to Rosie's for breakfast before walking off the boat. It is cold in Miami only in the low 60s. We all left for the airport and once there Mark and I found a Red Roof Inn while the rest traveled home.
The hotel has a nice pool and we were able to sit around the pool in the sun until it started clouding up, then walked to Benigens for dinner around 4:00pm and off to bed.
We were up at 4:30am caught the shuttle to the airport and home to Peoria by 4:00pm. Good to be home. How can we be so exhausted when most of the time we were sitting in the airport or sitting on planes.

Rescue on the High Seas

Tonight as we pulled away from Cozumel we were traveling right into a storm. At dinner the boat was rocking but not too bad and the dinner was again delicious. Once over we settled in the lounge to play rook. The boat was rocking pretty good when an announcement came over the pa system that there was distress lights from a boat and we were the nearest vessel so we were heading over to see if the Carnival Valor could give assistance. We went out on the 3rd floor deck and saw the boat in distress. It was a sailboat that had already had the mast broken off and a man was hanging on for dear life. Just as we were leaning over the railing to get a better look, a heavy wooden ladder came flying down off the 4Th deck and hit a lady in the head right next to Mike. She dropped to the deck, Mike started calling Peter and he came running. By the time Peter got there she was conscious but not moving. Then a crew member threw down a rope, put on a life jacket and starting dropping down to the boat which was by this time getting slammed into our ship and breaking up. He was able to get a life jacket and harness around the man and they were able to pull him aboard. He is now down in the hospital ward and should be fine. The lady was taken by wheel chair also down to the ward to get checked out. Mike was a little shook up as he was right there and also almost got hit.
(I won in rook)
We had very good news from home from the Herman's. Nate has been able to text Mike about his little boy Drake. Drake is now doing better and we think the prognosis is good. Read his entire story on Nate's blog.
As I'm typing this the wind is howling, the boat is rocking pretty violently and the keyboard is moving away from my hands. Time for bed!

Cozumel

Mark and I watched the boat pull into Cozumel early this morning then went to a quick breakfast before meeting the group in the java cafe. Most of the group decided to either rent scooters or just go to a beach. Here is Peter trying out his scooter Here are some bathing beauty's applying the very needed sunscreen Evelyn, Mark and I decided to go to the state park beach at $19.00 each with a taxi ride of $11.00 there and $10.00 back. The weather is so hot and sunny it is hard to imagine the snow and cold at home. We found this internet cafe where we could get on line for only $2.00 a half hour but it took me about 10 minutes to get online, still so much cheaper than the boat at 75 cents a minute. We got a message from one of Nate's sisters that baby Drake is doing better. So praying for him, Brooke and Nate.
The snorkeling was ok at the park but we really expected more fish. The coral is just not the vibrant colors we expected also but the water is so clear and such a beautiful blue. \One of the funny stories today was while Mark and I were snorkeling, all of a sudden we were surrounded by fish, then a vendow in snorkeling gear and a camera shows up and wants to take our picture. Enough already we just can't get away from the vendors, not even in the water! Each day of this trip has been such a delight it is hard to imagine it is almost over and we are going to have to face going home to the cold and snow. Tomorrow is our day at sea, then Sunday we must leave this floating hotel I'll post pictures and videos of the trip once home.

Cruise at Belize

This morning at breakfast Diane brought the cruise flyer on the trips and there was no zipline advertised. She was very mad at Mike as he told her the lady at the desk said the best zipline was on Belize. We decided to go on a fishing trip and all of us dressed accordingly. As Rhonda was going through the tender line she asked the lady there and she told her yes, there was a zipline, lots of fun and she herself had done it 5 times.
Heading in on a tender, a good shot of our ship.

The 4 on the back of the boat were drenched by the time we made it to land Once off the ship we found a man that would take us for $75.00 each and headed to what we thought was a 45 minute trip to the mountain. Mom, me and Mark all suited up and ready for the hike up the mountain Here we are hiking up the mountain to the zipline The trip took a good hour and twenty minutes but the zipline was great. Above is mom on the first zipline, we did 5 cross country and one straight down. Mark is afraid of heights but even he got the courage to try and was shaking during the first one but all the others went well. Mom had a blast and Diane video tape her so once home we will post it. As we were getting ready to go back to the port, the other couple in our van had paid for the cave tubing and our driver told us we could do that also for another $25.00 or wait for them about 45 minutes. We chose to pay the money and go and it was well worth it. The trip back to port was a little hairy, the other couple was on a Royal Caribbean boat that was suppose to pull out at 3:00pm and we didn't make it back to port until 3:48pm but they were fine, got on the last tender. We all said this was the BEST FISHING TRIP EVER!!!!
I'll have to finish this later, need to tell Beth about Nate and Brook's little baby born just born and in the hospital.
The scenery was just beautiful