Houses

Do people know what I stand for? Do they KNOW I'm a Christian, born again and unashamed? Would they know this when meeting me the first time? I was reminded today at church of how people will know we are Christians by our love for one another. On the other hand,Is it true love when we see someone living in sin and don't say anything about the consequences of sin. AC's are brought up to prefer one another, speak kindly to one another, deal gently and this we know well having been taught it as young child. I saw a picture today of a lady standing in front of a pulpit screaming in anger with hate filled eyes with a hate filled message. Behind the pulpit was a Bible verse and I shuddered. Today we heard about David's mighty men, of David's heart but also his sin and repentance, we heard of Joseph's coat, his hate filled brothers, his 10 years as a slave and 2 in prison and the brothers that meant it for evil but how God meant it for good, Was this all along God's plan for reconciliation of brothers? The sermon was ended on the beatitudes. Those beautiful beautiful verses in Mathew 5.
After church we decided to see the progress on the 2 houses in the family being renovated. Below is David Jacob's house. The big push here was the roof as rain is predicted.

Next was Nolan and Sarah's house. Phil and Braelyn were there going over a few things with Nolan and Sarah. David, Stephanie and Israel arrived right after us. We looked at all that work, both what had been done and what was going to be done.

 Makes me tired just looking at the construction garbage piled into the garage.

This is going to be a very nice home for them. The house is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, the garage is a very roomy 2 stall with automatic opener semi attached to the house, the yard is big and backs up to the nature preserve.
The group of us drove to Peoria Heights to eat at Kadee Kat's restaurant except when we arrived it was closed so we drove down the road and found a pizza joint.

New Chairs

Mark measured his van early this morning and there was no way the 2 chairs would fit. The stock trailer was already hooked up and cleaned out so Mark and I drove to Sam's Club early this morning had the chairs loaded by 7:20 am and were on our way back. Phil already was here with the 3 girls. He needed to be at Sarah and Nolan's new house early this morning as today was the big work day there and a crew was going to be arriving. I was hoping for some updated pictures of the word done today but no one has posted any yet. I know they worked hard though when Anna and Phil got here this evening to pick up the girls they were both filthy.
We had a ball with the girls today. There is probably nothing more fun then 2 big empty boxes.

Braelyn and Taegan each had their own 'fort'. Of course they had to try out the new chairs too.

Sarah and Nolan are going to take our old chairs which were just moved out of the way for now. This made a perfect jumping obstacle for Braelyn and Taega. The 2 dog mattresses were put in the middle for extra bounce.

It didn't take long for them to move back to the boxes. There is just something magical about a big empty box.

Today was David Sauder's funeral so we were the only ones home in the neighborhood. Karin had a crew at David Jacob's house roofing until they ran out of tar paper. While they were waiting some of the workers decided to just come here to ride. With sunshine and 50 degrees on Jan 30th everyone wanted to enjoy the outside as much as possible. Amy Koch brought back Marika just as the riders were showing up so Karin decided to take Marika on the trails.

 Above is Rebekah on Jenis, Karin on Marika and Jessse on Zalena. Below Rebekah is asking Jenis for a rear.

check out the smile as Jenis comes back down.

That mare is just so much fun to ride.  Braelyn wanted to run out to see the horses but didn't know where her shoes were. Check out the shoes she is wearing.

Mark had Nick help him this afternoon on the solar project. He came in tired but not too tired to do one more important job. The car was out of gas and had lots of mud splattered all over the sides and back from this big melt down. He took the car in to Hanna City to fill the tank and wash it up before church tomorrow. 

The Kick

This morning right after Emily and I moved bales I heard running water. That is not something good to hear in the winter. Sure enough  Roxanne and Rosaleigh's automatic waterer was gushing water over the top. The mares had removed the metal cover, broken the float off and were playing with it. These 2 coming three year olds need some other kind of toy to keep them occupied. I may try to get them a ball on a rope. Emily went over Mike's shop to find new parts and when she was in fixing the waterer Rosaleigh, the mare with an attitude, decided to bother her. Emily kept pushing her away then bending down to work on the waterer. Rosaleigh got mad that Emily wouldn't let her play whirled around and let out a kick that caught her on the leg. Thankfully it wasn't hard enough to do any damage but Rosaleigh was in big big trouble. After today I think she may have learned you don't tick off a red head. She got worked until she was submissive and apologetic. Afterward Emily took her in the barn, brushed out, braided and wrapped her long thick tail and Rosaleigh stood quietly. This really bothered both Emily and I. We are not use to a Friesian offering to kick. We will need to be on guard with her and if she even thinks of turning her rear end to anyone she will get that rear end whipped. We just can't have a dangerous 1400 pound horse on the property. Now for the record Rosaleigh came to us with an attitude so probably got away with a lot. That attitude better change or her life is going to be miserable. Kind of like children when they don't think they need to obey a parent then get to school and won't obey the teacher.  When they do not respect authority they have a much harder time later in life keeping a job and may end up in prison. Parents, teach your children to obey when they are young.
Roxanne was the next mare out. Emily worked her the saddle and bridle but didn't ride her. She was putting her away when I arrived with new Horsemeister t-shirts and some lead ropes that had been left at the house.

 Jenis was brought out but just to grain. Jenis is in a paddock with 2 fat mares that don't need grain so we bring her in to eat so as not to tempt the others.

 Mark was busy working on his latest project. Just take a look at the next two pictures and try to guess what this could possibly be.

It doesn't look like much right now but hopefully within a few weeks will be producing something valuable. We planned on going to David Sauder's visitation and wanted to arrive by 4:00 pm so had to leave before Karin's trail ride so no pictures of that but I heard it went well.
We left early so we could stop at Sam's Club to purchase a couple chairs. The kids gave us money at Christmas to replace our rocker recliners with new leather ones. We tried to find a good used one but were not able to find leather. Our old rocker recliners were purchased in 2010 and made with bonded leather (which I found out later is really mostly fake leather) those just didn't hold up well. This time I was determined to find a quality leather well made chair. We have been checking Craig's list just about everyday. Last week while shopping at Sams I just happened to see the exact chair I was looking for, sat in it and thought to myself, "I must bring Mark" Well this afternoon both mom and Mark sat in the chair and agreed, "comfortable!" Check out our new chair. Of course we bought 2 so we don't have to fight over who gets the comfortable one. This is made with top grain leather and has full body support.

 Mark has to pick them up tomorrow as Sam's only gives 24 hours for pick up. I'll be busy with Phil and Anna's girls while they work at Sarah and Nolan's new house.

Horsen Around

I only worked at Berean for a couple hours this morning. I knew Rhoda was coming and wanted to be here. To read about our morning at Berean click HERE.
When I arrived home Rhoda had a surprise with her, she brought Jace today. The day was sunny and 40 degrees causing the ice to melt. Evan was taken to the outdoor arena and did he ever have fun. He was showing off big time.

 We brought him into the indoor to tack up when Rebekah arrived with Jordan giving Jace a friend to play with.

 Rhoda gave pony rides using Evan for these boys.

 Evan settled down to work and Rhoda was pleased. 

I took the boys in the house to play so Rhoda, Emily and Rebekah could take Evan, Oksana and Jenis out on the trails. To see the rest of Evan's pictures on Facebook click HERE.

 Rebekah asked Jenis to rear for a picture, since Rebekah is pregnant (I almost wrote carrying) she just asked for a small rear. Jenis is so well trained.

 Below is Emily on Oksana. We are thrilled this 3 year old will lead.

Karin arrived after not too much later and today was the day she introduced the mares to the pirate flag.

 The mares were asked to move away from the flag then change direction always keeping their eyes on Karin. Next she walked through the group of mares then each mare was hooked up to the lead rope and asked to follow Karin while she waved the flag. The last step is to have the flag wave near then above them and on each side. They all did well with this except Zalena. She was very very afraid and reacted by trying to run away.

 Indy saw her upset, came over and started nuzzling her to comfort her. We were both surprised at Indy. It worked, Zalena settled down accepting what Karin was asking. We both exclaimed, "Indy is such a sweet mare!"

To see the rest of the pictures of Karin working with the mares and the pirate flag click HERE.
Spark, Rhonda, Greg, Beth, Marvin, and Gail are all down in Gulf Shores, AL. They posted a few pictures of their catch. These fish were caught right off the beach. Check out the size of these monsters, WOW!

and of course we can't finish this with FISH pictures, no no not on a horse blog. Jessica posted the picture below and writes: Here is an updated picture of Kenobi (Evan x Jewel). His withers measure at 14.2 HH at six months! His first show is coming up in a month, we can't wait to show him off!

This is Jewel's 2015 colt by Evan. He has Evan's amazing movement, Raven's height and his mom's sweet loving disposition. He will easily be able to go to the highest levels of dressage. We are thrilled he has a show home.

David Sauder

Last night we got word that David Sauder, Rachel's father-in-law was taken to the hospital not breathing. It didn't sound or look good and early this morning Rachel posted this:
CT scan shows nothing abnormal in his brain. Still on a ventilator, moved to ICU. Waiting to find out exactly what is wrong. Thankful for all the prayers and support.
Then a bit later: The Doctor said it looks like a heart attack & there is not much they can do. They are supporting him as much as they can and said they will see how he is in 24 hours. Surgery is not an option.
Her last post: He has finished his race. So thankful for Jesus, the Author and Finisher of his faith.

Our hearts go out to his wife Rita, his children David, Serena and Lena and his grand children. They were surely miss him.

David S. Sauder, age 75, of Brimfield, passed away Wednesday Jan. 27, 2016 at 12:51 a.m. at the Unity Point Methodist Medical Center in Peoria.

He was born Aug. 13, 1940 in Peoria to Silas and Mabel (Davidson) Sauder. He married Rita Powers on April 3, 1960 in Peoria. She survives along with one son, David (Rachel) Sauder of Hanna City, two daughters: Serena (John) Hoerr of Peoria, AnJalena (Brett) Grimm of Morton, eleven grandchildren: David, Caleb, Jessica, Logan, Luke, Alecia, Isabel, Jacie, Naya, Alia, and Chase. He was also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, one brother, one nephew, one niece and one great-nephew.
Dave graduated from Limestone High School. He was the Owner/Operator of the Dave Sauder Disposal Service which was established in 1939 through 1993. He then was employed at the Kickapoo Sand & Gravel Co., Wagenbach Lumber, Staley Concrete, and then Limestone Township until his retirement in 2008.
He was a member of the Peoria Apostolic Christian Church. Dave loved reading the Bible, studying genealogy, spending time with his kids and grandchildren, and going to auctions and collecting valuables.
Visitation will be Friday Jan. 29, 2016 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Davison-Fulton Woolsey-Wilton Funeral Home in Peoria. Funeral services will be Saturday Jan. 30, 2016 at 10 a.m. at the Peoria Apostolic Christian Church. The church officials will officiate. Additional visitation will be from 9 to 9:45 Saturday at the church. 
Burial will be in the Peoria Apostolic Christian Church Cemetery in Edwards.
Memorials may be made to his church.

Life just seems to be so short. When I was a child 75 seemed like a great old age but the older I get the younger it seems. Diane is in charge of funeral dinner and she is needing help with cooking and providing some food. If you are able to help please give her a call. She drove to church tonight with a full van load taking Sarah, Hannah, mom, Ruth, Mark and I. David Obgerfel had the service. 

Long Day

I was right about the driveways around here, this morning there was so much hard ice that for the walk we walked in the yard around mom's house instead of doing the barn drive and heading back from Spark and Rhonda's we decided it would be best to take the scenic route through their yard instead of trying to go down the driveway hill. Mom wasn't too pleased with the scenic route she couldn't take her eyes off her feet, just trying to pick the safest place to put them.
I left early for the Berean office knowing today would be a long day without a lot of our usual volunteers. To read about our LONG hard day click HERE.
By the time the mail was dropped off at the post office and the garbage taken to the dumpster it was almost 4:00 pm. Karin had the mares in the arena but by the time I arrived she had finished and they were ready to go back outside.

 They were patiently waiting as she started putting on lead ropes.

The vaulting team was arriving so Karin asked some of them to help take the mares back out. I snapped those few pictures then went in to take care of a few things so missed the vaulting practice. Karin called after the vaulting practice to report it went well and the heater is working wonderful. Last year we struggled with a heater that just kept turning off, we finally broke down and bought a new different kind of heater and this one not only puts out more heat it doesn't use as much propane.
Tonight I'm on hold with the Drury Inn in Springfield trying to add another room to our block of rooms. We now have 31 rooms booked for the IL Horse Fair. AMAZING

Coggins

Dr. Pallen arrived just after 9:30 and before 10:00 am she had finished and was on her way. She was actually shocked when she arrived to find none of the horses tied up ready for her but even more shocked when she was taken to each paddock to find each and every horse on the property was thrilled to see her, came right up to the gate and waited in line for her to draw blood. That is all except Ribbon, not that Ribbon ran from her just Ribbon didn't come to the gate to greet and meet her Ribbon made Emily walk into the paddock. When Dr. Pallen asked about this, Emily told her Friesians just love people and even at Middle Grove they wait in line to be worked and will jump in any trailer if the door is left open. By the time she left I'm sure she was thinking she had just visited the twilight zone. She made the comment this just doesn't happen with most horses. Below are the 8 horses she drew blood from for the 2016 coggins test plus the other 2 we are taking to the fair. Can you name them top to bottom?

I had a fun day with the grand children then a quiet evening. The weather has turned nasty with blowing winds and driving rain and temps above freezing but not by much. Tomorrow we will have more ice on the driveways and roads.