WE GOT RAIN!

The thunder started rolling in before 5:00 am but way in the distance. The storm reached us just before we were scheduled to walk but quit after only dropping about 2 tenths of an inch. Taunya left Abe with me and took the rest of the kids to VBS. I took Abe over to mom's on the golf cart and joined Karin and mom for breakfast. When Taunya arrived to pick up Abe, Karin came with me to start work, first raking and pulling weeds in the outdoor arena.

Then bringing out Lola and her filly by Valiant named EasterBonnet for a short video. Below is that video.

She didn't show off as much as we had hoped but still even when she is not showing off has decent movement. I took a few still shots too to update the website.

Next out was Eli and his foster mom Walker Sally. When this colt started moving both Karin and I exclaimed, "WOW!" this 7 week old colt can really move.

He is doing so well that I will probably take he and Sally to Middle Grove soon to be with the rest of the herd. Below are a few pictures of Eli taken today.

The last foal out was Rosaleigh's colt by Evan. We did not make a video of him, we like to wait until the foals are almost 2 months old before we do that and this colt isn't even 1 month old.

This colt is very friendly and probably the most beautiful foal born on the horsemeister farm this year. We were sure someone would snatch him up quickly, but here he is almost a month old and still for sale. We are only asking $8000.00 for him which is a bargain for a foal of his quaility. If he doesn't sell soon we will pray about keeping him for the future. As soon as we finished I needed to take off for the grocery stores getting home around 1:00 pm. The grand kids had just finished lunch and were heading over to cool off in the lake.

We all came back to the house for dinner. After supper Nolan sent a text that a tornado was spotted in Hanna City. We had not been paying attention to the weather as the kids were playing kind of noisy. Sure enough the rain started pounding down, then the wind and the hail started slamming into the house. By the time we finally were aware that there was a tornado in the area it has already passed by thankfully missing us. What it did give us is more rain, lots of rain almost 2 inches. We are thankful these dry thirsty fields now have had a decent drink.  This evening Taunya took the kids over to Phil and Anna's, Mark stayed home and I went to mom's to play games. We were joined by Diane, Joan and all of her kids. Sarah won again!

A Big Surprise

Check out the picture below.  Any idea of who this is descending from the heavens or is it ascending to the heavens?

Dan says he took the picture above of Hannah jumping off the cliff into Mark Twain Lake. What an awesome picture. The campers all had a wonderful time and all are now home safely. We got home from church and were surprised big time by the Dallas Sceggels coming to our door.

Taunya drove all the way up with Addyson, Jack, Jace and 3 month old Abe to surprise Mark for his birthday dinner.  What an amazing Sunday. Craig Stickling had the morning service and Greg Rumbold had the afternoon and then came the big surprise of our long lost grandchildren arriving from Texas. After the birthday dinner we all headed to the playground for volleyball. Below is Lee loading up the grandkids to take them to the playground.

 Even the dogs have fun at the playground, left to right is Ruby, Ari, Studley, Emma and Rizzy. 

 Kensley likes to swing in one of the hammocks

 The others started playing a game of horse shoes. Their rules were interesting. 

 The boys won and locked the girls up in the cage. 

 Kensley loves the dogs and when Anni's dog Chewy arrived she quickly headed his way. 

 Below are Nolan and Lee resting before the big volley ball games.

 Brian and Rebekah arrived. 

 The kids migrated to the trampoline before moving to the merry-go-round. 

 Some of us went in and played games inside to escape the heat. We had a really wonderful day. So thankful Taunya made it and so happy she made it in time for Mark and Anna's birthday dinner. Below are a few pictures that were taken on Saturday. While waiting for the trail riders I had to marvel at the delicate detail of the wings on the dragonfly below.

 The bumble be wasn't nearly as delicate but isn't it amazing how those tiny wings on the bumblebee can hold up and fly that big body? 

A couple of deer came out of the woods to graze. I didn't have my zoom lens on but snapped a couple pictures anyway.

It was a doe and a buck. Below is the doe.

 The buck is below. 

They heard the horse back riders and took off bounding through the field back into the woods. 

Another Late Post

Yesterday was another hot one. Karin brought over Shaeya to work with Coke early then the 2 of them rode the 'death trails' ponying Coke. It went well and they were well pleased.

Mark got the oil changed in the skid steer but got overheated and got nauseated, dizzy and then started vomiting. After taking his blood pressure and testing his blood sugar we were pretty sure it was a case of heat exhaustion. He spent the rest of the afternoon inside! I went over to play games with Karin, Shaeya and mom.

Humble Pie

I got a big piece of pie this morning, humble pie. Diane called that the next month statement for Horsemeister arrived in the morning mail and she was just going to go ahead and do it until she realized too many deposits and checks had not been entered. Sure enough I drove in to the Honegger Law office, where we do all the reconciling and found out I had forgotten to put in 2 decent size deposits but had also skipped an entire page of checks written. Thankfully there were only a couple big ones written. At the end of the time spent there we were a couple thousand dollars richer than yesterday. Yes, I deserve that humble pie but thankfully it didn't taste as bad as it could have.
Karin was out giving Shaeya, Noah and Ariya a lesson on round penning with Coke. I was able to watch all of Shaeya and was pleased with how well Coke responded to her.

 Noah went next and also did pretty well. 

 Until Coke decided she had enough. When Noah asked her to go to the right she kicked out at him. 

 He soon was able to draw her in so Ariya could have a turn. 

 I only got to watch the beginning of Ariya's turn as I had an appointment in Peoria at 11:00 am. 

When I got back Anna dropped off the girls to go swimming just before Cathie Trent arrived with a few of her students to swim.

 Karin, Noah and Studly swam over to Rachel's to jump off the redneck highdive followed by Rhoda bringing Kensley. 

 The rest of the girls thought that looked like fun so off we went to Rachel's dock. 

 After swimming Karin took Noah, Shaeya and Ariya back over to start desensitizing Coke. Below is Noah and the bag. 

 Kensley and Taegan had a fun time watching. 

Before Coke was put away she was taken over to Evan for teasing and very dramatically said NO. Karin helped me tease Dakota and she also said no today. Hopefully she will be in soon. This evening Rhonda, Ruth, Karin, Mom and I played games. Karin won but we were sure it was because she was keeping score. Mike, Diane and Joan went to Middle Grove. Dan's family, Rachel's family, Anni and Hannah all went camping at  Mark Twain Lake in Missouri and are having a blast. Rachel posted the pictures below of cliff climbing and tubing with Dan's boat.

Balancing Act

Today was Berean day and we had a lot of mail but I had plans at noon. Not fun plans or anything like, just a balancing act. We worked at the  Berean office until 11:00 am then I gave everyone the option of leaving and leaving the rest of the work for Tuesday. I left before anyone else so not sure how many stayed or how much got done but there was so much work there will be plenty for the Tuesday group.
The Horsemeister check book hadn't been balanced since January. SIX months of statements awaited along with 6 months of the credit card statement to go through for quick books. I'm PROUD to say it only took 3 hours. Well it took 3 hours for me to be satisfied, not sure Diane was too happy as I just went off the statements not the actual checkbook but for that to come out perfect each month according to the bank statements was a real accomplishment. I guess it is pretty easy to figure out I'm not the accountant in the family. Diane made the remark it would be easier to just do it herself but we just couldn't get her to taken on that job again. The good news is we are still in the black, the bad news is the check book is almost empty. We'd better sell a horse quick before the next hay bill is due.
I had 3 calls on Whitney and all three want her but one didn't want the foal, one wanted to know if Whitney would be suitable as a therapy horse for the wounded warrior program and the 3rd doesn't have a trailer available. So no we won't sell her cheap and accept the foal back after weaning. There is just too much risk that we actually would not get the foal back and Whitney is WAY to nice to sell for $2000.00. I do not believe Whitney would be good for the wounded warrior program and explained why to that person and the 3rd just wants her for trail riding which would be perfect but I refuse to trailer anymore. If they want really want her they will find a way.
The other horse news is no news. None of the outside horses are in season. We are waiting for 2 of them to start to show.
This evening mom, Joan, Sarah, Diane, Rhonda and I played Mexican train at mom's house. We were joined by Hannah and all had a good time. It really is all about the company. I'm thankful for family.