Fishing, Fun in the Sun

What a perfect day, bright sunshine, big waves, and fish. Mark and Chad went fishing this morning and caught our dinner. While they were fishing a pod of dolphins came bouncing out of the water chasing fish. It was fun to watch them jump clear out of the water.
Of course by the time I grabbed the camera they quit.

 Mark got swamped a couple of times, below he got completely drenched by a big wave, he lost his hat and his glasses, thankfully he was able to recover both!

 Below mom is getting expert fishing advice from Chad while he rigs the poles.

Chad and Julie's girls are having such a good time playing in the sand and water.

 Above is Emma and Livy below is Mercy

We took a long walk on the beach and by the time we were back we needed to cool off. Diane ran up to the condo and brought back the boogie boards. We had a great time riding the waves.

Check out those smiles, this was really fun the waves were perfect for riding! Mom and Aunt Jinny enjoyed the beach, they did their boogie boarding yesterday and today just watched.

There isn't internet at this condo but Beth has a phone with a hotspot. I'm going to try to borrow it for a short time each day to update.

Made It To the Gulf

We left at 5:40am and made it down here by 8:20pm. A long 15 hours of driving but we made it with no problem. No internet here so updating will have to wait until I get over to mom's condo tomorrow.

Emma In Foal

We had a long day with some good news and some not so good news. Our day started with one helper short at Berean and so many letters and studies came in we were not able to finish. Eva Jean took the bulk of the work home with her leaving the letters for later. They will just have to stack up on the desk. Diane, Mark and I are leaving for Gulf Shores, Alabama early in the morning and won't be home for 9 days. Right after work Jenis and Emma were hauled to Dr. Hoerr's for their sonagrams. We were not happy to find that Jenis did not settle, but thrilled to find that Emma did. Emma was bred to Evan and is due Aug 10th. 2014. Since we are leaving for vacation, we decided to just haul them both out to Middle Grove to be with the herd. Maybe Killian can do something with Jenis.
When Emily and I arrived at Middle Grove, Emily went to open the gate and it fell off the hinge. It took both of us to get that big heavy gate back on. The mares were let loose and we locked the place back up. Later a text came through from Karin saying we locked her IN Middle Grove. Funny this place is so huge we had no idea she was there.
Rhoda was working with Anna when we arrived home. She wanted to build on Emily's 10 minutes with that mare and we are very very pleased with Anna's progress after today. Rhoda told me she could have her riding in a week, well it took her a couple of hours.

Choir tonight was fun. I'd write more but it is late, I still need to pack for our trip tomorrow and Mark just informed me he left the gate open. I'd better head outside to make sure the horses are where they belong and shut the gate. Good night all.

Horse Training

The weather today was perfect for working horses. Emily brought Eliza out to work on her canter so I brought the video camera out to video tape her colt by Raven. This is the last Raven colt ever, check out his video to see why we loved what this stallion produced.

His foals were all just spectacular, hope his son Valiant will produce as well.
The video below is Emily working with Eliza.
Next she brought out Anna. This is a short video of the first time she was asked to come in to the middle and follow Emily off lead. She figured out within 10 minutes what Emily was asking.
I snapped a few still pictures while she was working horses. Below is Eliza's colt by Raven. He is a very independent colt. We thought he would follow his dam while she was in work but he had more fun galloping around the farm and posing for pictures.

Below are a few pictures of Emily working with Eliza.

 Anna was pulled out last, This is the first time Emily worked with her and the first time she was introduced to round pen reasoning. She did great, within 10 minutes she was following Emily around the arena off lead.

 Next Emily brought out the scary bag. It didn't take Anna long to realize if she stood still it wouldn't hurt and she wouldn't have to move.

 As Emily was leading her back, she exclaimed, "Rhoda was right, we can have her riding in a week.

Hadassah and Solomon

The man that put the deposit down on Hadassah and Solomon was called to tell him he has until October to pay and pick them up or the deal is off. He put down a $500.00 deposit back in June and told me he would pick them up as soon as the papers were back. Well we put a rush on Solomon's registration papers, got a new coggins for Hadassah, the buyer was called and he said as soon as his brother arrived he would be here. Each month he is called and each time he says the same thing.  The decision was made to place them back for sale as of October 1st. We will still offer them as a 3/1 package for  $6000.00 but only until the 26th of October. Solomon will be 6 months old then and should be weaned. At that point Solomon will be for sale for $4000.00 and we will keep Hadassah.
If you are interested in this package let us know pretty quickly. Hadassah is pictured below. She is confirmed in foal by ultrasound due April 18th, 2014. Evan is the sire of Solomon and this new foal. Hadassah is a Raven daughter.

 Hadassah is 50% Friesian, 25% Arabian and 25% Quarter. She was born in 2010 and registered with Friesian Heritage Horse. She will be gray, right now her face shows the most white hair, the rest of her body has flecks of white through out her coat. The picture below shows more of her face. She is coming up from the lake after getting a drink. Killian is the horse behind her.

 Solomon is pictured below. He looks just like a purebred Friesian, he is 75% Friesian and registered with Friesian Heritage Horse. He was born April 26th, 2013.  He is extremely friendly, loves attention and loves people. He also has unbelievable gorgeous movement. He has the mind and movement to excel in dressage or any other discipline. He will stay black and along with the rest of his Friesian characteristics has inherited Evan's HAIR!

Today we hope to take Jenis and Emma to Dr. Hoerr's for an ultrasound and are just praying both have conceived.

Sunday Sermon

I can't close out the day without talking about the blessings of church today. Before the minister stood up my prayer was "Lord, speak today through your servant, if I need chastisement, then soften my heart to accept it but most of all Lord let me know that You, the Creator, the Savior, loves me." Willis had the service and anyone that knows Willis knows he does not hold his punches. During the service Willis very loudly exclaimed, "God LOVES YOU!" I couldn't stop the tears from running down my face. Imagine that the One who died for me while I was yet a sinner, the Great I AM, the One who created Heaven and Earth would hear my heart and answer so clearly.
Then Ron Kipfer was visiting from Bluffton and had the afternoon service. He opened to Ezekiel 38 reading about Gog and Magog. This reminded Ron of his very first choir trip.The Peoria choir went to Alabama and on the bus ride home Marvin Hodel shared that chapter with us and talked about the prophecy of end times. Ron heard Marvin talking through the night. Now Marvin was talking to my brother and my cousins, but I was laying up in the luggage rack (the old buses had an open rack) and spent the night listening intently. We arrived home early Monday morning and I was so convicted, wanting to repent but not able to get the words out. I left for school early and only found out when I arrived home that one at a time my brother and cousins had started to repent. My first though was oh know, I can't repent now, they will just think I'm a tag along but by evening I didn't care, I had to get the words out and tell mom.
So not only was I reassured in the morning of God's love but He reminded me again of the day He called me and the day He saved me.
Then to top off the day Psalm 100 sang for us. Their beautiful harmony on those beautiful hymns made me long for home.

100 VS 2000

The picture below shows the guys trying to work on the 4 wheeler that got rolled.

This one had some damage on the wheel the other 2 were covered in mud. They sure had fun.
Yesterday afternoon was cow moving time. Emily's company agreed to help her load the cows for their trip home. I'll let the pictures help tell the story. Below she is leading the mom's to the back of the barn while the calves follow.

 They take the cows between the 2 buildings where the stock trailer is waiting at the end. The rest of us were following with a cattle panel just in case the calves decided not to follow.  Below Emily is leading in Kenna first as she is harder to handle than Goldie.

 Kenna decides to turn around leaving Emily no option but to climb the wall of the stock trailer to untie her and move her over to make room for Goldie.

 Kenna tries to turn around again, Emily then shows us how strong she is. She got between Kenna and the trailer and physically moved that 2000 pound cow over to make room for Goldie.

 Check out her intense look of concentration as she shoves with all  her might. This is 100 lbs vs 2000 lbs.

I'm happy to report that worked, Goldie was led up next to Kenna and both calves just jumped right in. The cows are going back to Emily's house in Forrest, IL where they will be bred for next year. Emily has some very nice pregnant heifers for sale. They are almost show ready, and I believe both pregnant due next spring. Anyone wanting a tame shorthorn heifer that will produce fine looking calves for years to come contact me, I'll put you in touch with Emily. Now these will not come cheap, they are quality all around and TAME! She would sell them for $3000.00 each or $5000.00 for the pair. Even though these are beef cattle, Emily has her cows so tame they can be milked right out in the field so the added bonus for someone wanting to homestead would be fresh milk.

Perfect Riding Weather

Cool, crisp, clear, all of these words describe our weather today. Emily took her company to Middle Grove. This was a group of guys from Forrest, IL and they came with  their 4 wheelers.
While one group rode the horses the others rode the 4 wheelers on the original Middle Grove land then they switched. Below are a few pictures of the afternoon.

The horseback riders all came back in good shape, but the guys 4 wheeling had some problems with landing in the mud. That just goes to show horses are the better option sometimes.

Harvest Moon

I took this picture today at 6:35 this morning. The moon is so bright it was as though the sun had started rising.

This was zoomed in as far as the camera could go and without a tripod so it isn't as clear and defined as it should be. Yesterday before potluck Mark worked on spreading mulch around the driveway and patio. He walks out today to see the dogs making themselves comfortable on the nice soft bedding. Now he is talking about putting up a picket fence to keep them off. He wants to plant decorative grasses and flowers and would like to keep the dogs from laying on them smashing them flat. Which is what they do to the flowers in the front of the house. He wants to be reminded, "why do we have dogs again?"

Potluck

The morning was spent getting a new tire for the truck and having it installed then a quick trip to Sams for dog food. Emily has company today, her brothers and some of their friends are spending the night. She has 6 boys staying in the cabin. They also brought along four 4wheelers. She is going to take them to Middle Grove tomorrow for a trail ride.
Diane hosted rotating potluck tonight. The food was good but the visiting afterwards even better.