St. Jude Ride

Ruth and Fedi signed up to ride to Memphis to raise funds for St. Jude. Fedi bought Ruth a pair of motorcycle chaps for the ride. The ride was very successful raising over $800,000.00 for St. Jude. Fedi is proud of his motorcycle and was very excited about this ride, then 2 days before the ride something on the motorcycle broke. He had to work fast to get it fixed and ready to go. Nice motorcycle Fedi! Below is the group taking a break.

Today at lunch we had a big group. Dan's wife Susan and their youngest son Levi joined us along with Sarah and Phil. On the way back we were stuck in the ever present road construction. The bucket on the excavator was getting closer and closer to the window until FINALLY the car was allowed to move. Levi, Dan and Susan's boy, was so excited about the holes being made he wanted his mom to back the car up to see it again.

After work it was out to the farm to deliver 7 dozen eggs and check Jenis. Thankfully she is showing no signs of being in season. Is it too much to hope she is in foal? We will probably spend the money to ultrasound both Jenis and Ylse.
Steven did a great job of managing the farm while we were gone. He only had one incident happen, Saturday night Ribbon, Izadora, Velvet and Rohan were out. The shelter gate was open and the horses just decided to go out and graze. He actually said they were easy to catch, just the mud and dark made things hard. Star is getting along great with Evan and Valiant. Each morning after his feeding, Star is put out with them, then brought in each evening.
There were 2 emails on Ylse's filly when we arrived home last night and one phone call. The phone call sounds like they want her but we will see. There was also an email on Chloe. Turns out the lady interested in her is from Edmonton Alberta Canada. If she ends up buying her that will be the 4th horse exported to Canada, what a long trip that would be for Chloe.

Thanks

A while ago I did something for someone that I thought deserved acknowledgment and thanks. Of course when the action was not acknowledged and no thank you came, there was grumbling in my heart and mind.
A still small voice quietly said, "I gave my life for you, I shed my blood for you."
How much He should be thanked and is not. How dare I complain. Forgive me Lord!

Mare Needs Help

An email came from Aftab, he was the man that needed some advice for his mare and foal last year pictured below:

She has done something to her fetlock, he sent these pictures, if anyone has seen an injury like this and has any advice for him please don't hesitate to email. There are no vets where he lives.



He wrote that the mare is in pain but he does not think anything is broken.
The only advice I could give was to soak it 4-5 times a day for 20 minutes at a time with cool water and see if it starts to improve. Hopefully someone out there has dealt with this and can give him better advice.

Kid's Trip

Looks like the kids had just as much fun as the folks.










These cousins are amazing, they love each other and show it. How they shine both inside and out, they are all BEAUTIFUL!

While the parents were in Branson, MO the kids were having a ball (literally) at Indiana Dunes State park. They had over 30 of the family enjoying the last days of summer. Rachel Sauder took ALL of these pictures and since I couldn't be in 2 places at the same time, it is only fair that they are placed here for all of those that don't facebook.

Show Me State

Missouri is the Show Me State and now we know why. They show one how to camp comfortably.

If one is in a marathon and the bowels decide to move, no need to find a bathroom, in fact no need to get far off the path. This is Mark covering up an unmentionable after the runner ran up to our path heading down to the lake and squatted down. Mark was not trying to peek just kind of shocked at what he saw. We REALLY appreciated him taking care of the sight and smell.

Montana Mike's in Branson showed us a great time. They gave us free onion rings then the meals were so big we couldn't finish them. This is Shirly Leuthold and Shirly Triplett enjoying a huge meal.

Below is Eva Jean and her daughter Janell enjoying ribs after watching a show at the IMAX theater.

Speaking of IMAX we met at the IMAX complex and on the sign in front was advertising Alpha and Omega in 3D. I was so excited about seeing this, thinking we were going to see something on creation or the Lord. Janell Schaefer stops me before the ticket was purchased to explain that is a cartoon on a regular movie theater. My mom always told us that we shouldn't go to movie theaters because people smooch up in the balcony. We walked into the IMAX to see Lewis and Clark and sure enough No balcony but a couple seats themselves BELOW us, the husband carefully removes the oxygen tube from the wife and they start to smooch. The couple easily had to be in their 80s but how sweet to show us how to keep your marriage young!
On Saturday we cooked a good breakfast and were at the harbor of Table Rock lake by 8:00am to rent a pontoon boat for 4 hours. It was so foggy the first hour, Spark drove us to a cove where others were fishing and Gail pulled out her tyrannosaurus rex fishing pole. Wouldn't Nate be shocked to see the great equipment, actually Diane furnished the poles.

Not to be outdone, mom pulls out a real fishing pole and throws out a line.

Neither caught anything although we did see fish jumping all around. The sun broke through the fog, below is Gail Hodel and her 2 nieces.

It really started to heat up so the tube was lowered and Marvin & Gail's 2 nieces from Brazil had a great ride.

When the girls were tired of tubing we headed to the diving cliffs where the girls and Spark had to jump.


Spark decided to dive off the point.

The girls jumped again, then it was off to an abandoned island for some beach fun. We hiked all the way around and only found good skipping stones.

As we were heading back in, Diane and Rhonda decided they would like to tube awhile.

They almost got bounced off and Rhonda almost lost her glasses, both ladies decided this was a young persons sport. Ebby liked the boat and the island.

Once the boat was returned we invited Spark, Rhonda, Marvin, Gail and the girls to go swimming at our campsite right on the rocky beach.

This is a picture of our campsite from the boat.

Mark, mom and I hurried to make the 2:00pm show of the group 6 a singing group Eva Jean said we must not miss. We made it in time, went up to buy the tickets and found out they would sing at 8:00pm instead of 2:00pm so we drove down and saw the Chinese acrobats.

The entire group met at the Sight and Sound theater for Noah.


This was an excellent show and we all highly recommend seeing it.
Back to the campground where mom prepared for bed. We made her sleep in the horse part of the trailer, not really we offered to sleep there but she wanted her own bedroom.

We pulled out of the campground for home right at 6:30am and was making great time until this:

We had to slam on our brakes and the semi that was following us almost hit the back of the horse trailer, sliding to the right to miss us. The car ran right under a flat bed semi trailer.
We made it home by 3:00pm, opened the truck door and smell something burning. The smell is coming from the truck and it will need to be checked out but at least we made it HOME.

Made It

After what seemed like a very long drive we made it. The last 10 miles of the Missouri roads were twisty, winding, hilly, and just plain miserable. I was actually worried about the truck making it up some of these huge hills pulling the loaded trailer.
Once Samantha and her filly were unloaded we headed for Table Rock state park a very short 18 winding miles more. We are thrilled to have electricity, the lake is clean and refreshing, we all went for a swim to cool off.
Dinner was chicken breast, wild rice, lettuce salad, and cantaloupe. After dinner we looked at all of Mike and Diane's Colorado pictures and videos. Beautiful views with a beautiful camp site.

Ebby telling Mike it's time to go.

This is Diane on Bunni taking the picture of Mike on Mika coming down a mountain.

This is leaving camp to climb Table Moutain.

Bunni and Mika taking a break before heading for the summit at 12,600 feet.

Darcy or Emma

One of the dogs must be sick. This morning at 5:00am in the kitchen is green vomit, I gasp and Darcy runs into the living room. Darcy is so sensitive that even if it isn't her that made the mess she feels bad. The dogs are let out and I walk into the playroom and there is another big mess of green vomit, this has a bit of grain mixed in which makes me believe it is Emma, she eats what ever she can find and was out in the barn yesterday.
A note was left for Steven to watch both dogs. Both wanted treats this morning so hopefully neither ate any clothing.
Rhoda is staying in Peoria this weekend so Steven can call her for emergency treatment.
Right now coffee is being made, the bags are packed out side the door, the dawn is breaking it's early morn, the taxis waiting and blowing it's horn (not) and I'm READY to GO!

Packed

The trailer is hooked up the tires have all been checked, even the spare trailer tire which Mark decided at 6:45pm needed to be replaced. After calling just about everywhere and finding everything closed he filled it with air and mounted it back onto the trailer. The bad thing is it isn't in good shape the good thing is that it is the EXACT tire as the truck so the truck spare should work if the trailer spare doesn't hold air.
The clothes and cooler still need to be packed but at least everything is clean and ready.
The filly was hot packed 6 times today and each time it looked a little better. She is feeling mighty fine, right now they are in the side yard and she is driving her mother crazy by running in and out of sight behind the trees.
I borrowed one bag of bedding from Bridlewood, wrote a note to Cathie (and myself) to replace it when we get back. Just think we should have something to soak up urine if mom is going to be sleeping back there. Although we will clean it out good once the horses are unloaded.
Mike and Diane are already at Table Rock state park. They drove 31 hours coming back from Colorado as they couldn't find anywhere on the way to stop for the horses. They are boarding the horses at the place that Samantha and her filly are going to tomorrow. Diane told the owner they are their first customers! These people own 80 acres down by the park and want to open a place for people to bring their horses down, enjoy Branson, and ride the trails. There is nothing like it around Branson so they should do well.
We do not know if there will be internet service so may not be able to answer emails until Monday afternoon.

Trailering horses

Once the shopping was done, I headed to Bridlewood to await Steven Marchal and his first load of horses. He pulled up with 3 in the trailer before the paddock was ready. Once Duke, Sally and Glory out of the trailer and into the paddock, Steven headed back for the next load while I cleaned up Sally and Glory. It is a little too cool for a bath so both got a good groom. Glory let me halter her and stood quietly tied while she was worked on. Before leaving with the next load, Steven moved a round bale into the cabin field taking over Jenis, Sanna and Ylse & Indy then loaded up 3 bales of hay for tonight and tomorrow. Samantha and her filly were brought over and put into the side yard.
All the paper work was finished for the 2 loads leaving tomorrow and now it is time to start on cleaning up the truck and trailer. Procrastination seems kind of sweet right now so I'm going to try one of the tricks we used to use on our kids. I'm giving myself an hour to finish the truck, then the trailer will be started on.

Church Dinner Church

Mark wanted to leave early for church to start the labeling of the units. There are so many furnaces and air conditioners, the men were having trouble figuring out which unit did what job. We were on our way shortly after 5:00pm and were up on the church roof by 5:30pm.

This is just a small roof area, we never had to go way up on the peaks, just on the flat areas.

Each unit needed to be identified as to what area it would heat or cool, then labeled.

We quit at 6:15pm before people started coming and headed off to Mark's favorite restaurant HyVee where he got a one trip salad bar and I got a bowl of soup. His was very colorful but I didn't think to snap the picture until he was about half done.

He really likes to eat there on Wednesday nights, it is close to church, there is no waiting, the food is fresh, the fruit is good and the selection is always abundant.
We were back to church at 6:45pm for our souls to dine on a Spirit filled sermon.
So much appreciate that both our body and soul can be fed the same evening.

Diane called to report they were in New Mexico and had just had their second blowout on the trailer. Their first blowout was within 20 minutes of a tire store which made it easy to buy and replace the tire. The second one was in a desolate area, they now have no spare but we believe the good news is all of the tires that came with the trailer have now been replaced THIS YEAR! Hopefully they will be able to buy a tire BEFORE another problem.

Joan fixed the leak at the cabin by buying parts and replacing a hose. She told us she does it ALL the time in Haiti. Tim got all the round bales off the field and into the barn before the expected rain. THANKS JOAN and TIM!

Shopping Treasures

The chair was picked up from Unclaimed Freight before stopping at TSC. Three new weanling halters were purchased at TSC along with 4 bags of bedding, 1 bag of cracked corn and 3 bags of feed. The total came to $121.67 and the horsemeister credit card was used. Poor Diane will have to figure out how to pay the bill. The bright blue halter is for Rohan, Velvet's colt, the pink halter is for Glory, Big Sally's filly and the light purple is for Samantha's filly.
Philip showed up for lunch just as I pulled into the drive and helped unload the chair, then it was off to the farm to unload the feed and hot pack the filly's neck. The filly is feeling mighty fine, running and dancing her way into the barn. It is wonderful to see her so full of energy. Her neck was hot packed for at least 15 minutes until the water cooled while Samantha enjoyed her lunch, then back she danced to the paddock.
Diane called, they are now on their way home from Colorado. They had a wonderful time. They rode to the top of a mountain saying the views were spectacular and the horses were wonderful. They have not had cell service but as soon as they stop tonight if there is cell service she will email some pictures.

Drained the Well

Arrived at the farm by 7:00am, brought Samantha and her filly into the barn, fed all the horses then went to work holding a hot pack on the filly's neck. It is MUCH better this morning. After about 10 minutes placed the hot wet towel right on the site and vet wrapped the neck to hold it in place, then it was off to the walk.
When we reached the cabin we saw that the hose was leaking where it attached to the hydrant. Joan tried to tighten it but could not stop the leak. Rachel helped move a water tank into the cabin field, then left as the tank was filling. All was going fine when the well ran out of water. Time for plan B. The horses were moved over to the farm, Jenis, Ylse and Indy were put in Samantha's paddock, Sanna in with the other mares, Duke was put in with the boys and Samantha and her filly were put in the small paddock. Tomorrow Big Sally and Glory will be moved to Bridlewood as the transport company is now going to be here around 9:00am on Friday morning. Once the horse trailer is here it will be cleaned and prepared for our Branson trip. Steven will have to help the transport company load up Sally & Glory along with all their traveling papers.
Mark, mom and I leave EARLY Friday morning to deliver Samantha and her filly. We want to be on the road from the farm a little after 6:00am for the 8 hour drive. We will be camping at Table Rock State park and want to deliver the horses, clean the trailer and be all set up before dark.
Today the chair we bought from Unclaimed Freight must be picked up and then I GET to go shopping at TSC my favorite store!

Rohan

Steven met me at the farm to move in 3 round bales, soak the filly's neck and work with Rohan, the colt in the picture above. This colt is such a sweetie.

The filly has an infected IV site which had ballooned up and needed to be soaked and popped. Poor filly, we got so much pus out of it. Steven will soak it again tonight and I'll take tomorrow morning.
Cathie called while I was at the farm that a man from the apartment was screaming and cursing at Gabriella. Once home I walked over to his apartment, knocked on his door and asked him nicely if he would come out and apologize to her. He actually started screaming and cursing at ME! Before heading over to the apartment, I was praying about how to talk to him and knew a soft answer turns away wrath but he would not listen. I tried to explain very gently how Gabriella is a young girl and was devastated to be talked to this way but he kept screaming. Finally I just walked away, called the management company, talked to Cindy who very kindly told me they would issue him a 10 day notice.
It is very disturbing to be cursed at and I'm 55 years old and found myself shaking, poor Gabriella she is probably scarred for life.