Walking To the Pier

Another beautiful day, we had bright sunshine and warm weather pretty much from sun up to sun down. Right after breakfast Diane, Rhoda, Sarah, Zion and I started our morning walk. The fish were biting and the fishermen were out along with the Heron's all hoping for a handout.

 We walked all the way to the pier which is almost a 5 mile round trip.

 The picture below was taken after heading back to the condos from the pier.

 We were so hot by the time we made it back around 9:30 am Rhoda and I went right to the pool to cool off. That pool water is what we call down right refreshing (frigid). Some day Diane hopes that her condo association will agree to heat the pool.

We stayed outside all day either by the pool or out on the beach. Around 5:00 pm Diane and I started driving picking up a Hawaiian pizza from Pizza Hut, a seared grilled tuna meal from Steamers and sweet potato fries with that special brown sugar butter sauce from DeSotos bringing it all back to Diane's condo for supper. All were good and filling. This evening we were watching some telivsion while Rhoda was playing with Zion and just had to take the video below of her giggling and laughing
Karin called to report she is now only able to get 3 horses ridden before running out of daylight because she has to spend too much time to clean up the manure from the indoor, bringing the mares in, grooming, tacking and taking them back out. I think she is just saying that to let me know how much she misses me. A very nice text came in from the lady that bought Jewel's 2016 filly. She writes: Hi Judy, they aren't the greatest pictures, but I thought you'd like to see how Riata looks at 1.6 years old! She's really maturing and has a lot of hair! I'm curious to see how big she gets! She's 15.1 right now. She LOVES attention and gets her feelings hurt if she doesn't get her 10 minute "play" sessions!

We are all exhausted from all that laying around in the sun and will have an early night.

Valentine's Day Wedding

We awoke to clouds and couldn't even see the sun rise. That gave us good weather for a nice long walk road side going down all kinds of dead ends looking at houses for sale lagoon side. By the time we were heading back the sun was burning off the clouds and the rest of the day was bright sunshine and warm. As we were walking into Diane's condo her neighbor came out in a little panic saying they had a lizard in their car and they got it out but it was running to the steps of the condo.  Of course we had to help catch the lizard and give it a good home or a death sentence by letting Beth's grandchildren make it a home. A bit later Beth took her 6 grand children to the beach but I ended up with a good book by the pool and was soon joined by Rhoda, Sarah, Zion and Diane.

 What a life! When we started getting hungry Rhoda and Sarah walked to Flip Flop Deli Shop for lunch but Diane and I chose to call Bahama Bob's for take out of their lunch special, a fish taco, a side which we both chose green beans, sweet tea and key lime dessert, all for $8.00. We walked down, picked it up, and ate it by the pool in the sun. Around 4:00 pm Diane and I took a long walk on the beach. The sun was shining on the so brightly on the water it was blinding.

The picture above is from Diane's phone and the picture below is from my phone.

 After walking a little more than a half hour we came upon a Valentine's Day wedding and of course  We forgot it was Valentine's Day and kept wondering, "who gets married on a Wednesday?"

 The two ladies below with Diane were also wondering the same thing.

 We ended up being the wedding guests, watching the bride walk down the flower covered sand to her intended.The wedding ceremony, the mixing of the sand and the first kiss.

Below they have walked down toward the Gulf water and gave a toast.

Karin called right about then and I had to tell her that we can't talk right now, we are in the middle of a wedding. She was able to tell me that Mark helped get a new bale in the short shelter. We got back to the condo and watched Zion while Rhoda and Sarah went to Walmart to pick up our dinner tonight. After supper we walked over to Beth's to use her hot tub. Beth and AmyBeth came out and visited and we ended up staying for an hour and a half. This is quite the relaxing vacation.

Mardi Gras Parade

We awoke to SUNSHINE! The sky was clear, the temperature was WARM so right after breakfast Rhoda and Sarah took Zion in her stroller and started walking up toward the Pink Pony to watch the parade. Diane and I went with Beth, Amy Beth, Jarad and their 6 kids to find a good spot to watch. We were just a little shocked at how many people were here to watch the parade. We were also shocked at how big the parade was. All of us had a great time and all of us came away with prizes, lots of prizes.

 Baby Zion was a magnet for gifts. Rhoda and Sarah brought back quite a haul.

Pictures were taken of most of the floats, costumes and people. If you would like to see those pictures click HERE. We were anxious to get out to the beach as the sun was hot.

 Diane thought that wheel thing Amy and the kids were rolling around on looked fun so they gave her a lesson.

 Diane mastered it. Well maybe not quite mastered it but she had fun.

 Sarah saw the dolphins first, there were 5 or 6 of them out fishing.

All of a sudden she exclaimed, "WOW, that one jumped all the way out of the water!" That actually happened twice but I wasn't quick enough with the camera.  When we left the beach we just couldn't make ourselves go in, it isn't often that we can stay outside on Feb 13th, so we went to the pool. By late afternoon we finally made ourselves go inside to get ready for supper. We decided to walk to Flip Flop Sandwich Shop but when we got there it was closed. We walked back to the condo and took Diane's van to Walmart, picked up salad fixens and a rotisserie chicken for supper.  Diane, Sarah and Rhoda went over to Beth's this evening to sit in the hot tub but I stayed here to work on the pictures from today and keep an ear out for Zion who is now down for the night. 
Karin reported from home that all was well. The short shelter is almost out of hay so she will need to move those two horses over to the middle paddock until Mark can help her move a new bale in. She worked the canter horses today and all did great.
Robin from the Berean office sent the pictures below writing everything got done today!

I'm thankful for everyone showing up and working hard while I'm down here enjoying a week of summer in the middle of winter.

Monday's Weather At the Gulf

We had a good day yesterday, the sun came out twice, peeking through the clouds.The first time we were on our morning walk and the second time we were sitting in Beth's hot tub.  Both times it didn't stay out very long but each time we were thrilled. Our morning started with playing with baby Zion.

 Beth brought valentines and a couple of her grand daughters, Tess and Callie, over to help stuff dollar bills in them before she and Diane took them to the post office to mail.

 Diane and Beth went shopping and found a new store called Relief 4 Recovery. Diane bought a Tommy Bahama beach umbrella and 4 boogie boards. While they were out shopping Sarah put Zion in the stroller and off we girls went for a long walk road side checking out all the for sale and for rent options down here. After an hour and a half we headed back to get our suits on and head over to Beth's for swimming and hot tubbing. Both were great. They have their pool heated nicely and we enjoyed the swimming. Rhoda's co-worker from when she worked at Dunlap Vet clinic is renting a house right across the lagoon from Beth's so came over for a visit then Rhoda, Sarah, Zion, Diane and Chris (Rhoda's co-worker) went for a long walk on the beach. I had a good book so stayed at Beth's enjoying the sunshine while reading a book. I got back to the condo just as they were coming back. I snapped the two pictures below from Diane's balcony.

 We all went to Mikey's for dinner and splurged. Diane and Beth had gift cards so the meals were reasonable. The evening was spent watching the West Minister Dog Show. This morning the sun broke through the clouds and the sky to the north is clear of clouds. We are going to have a great day.

We will be walking up to the public beach for the big Mardi Gras parade which starts at 10:00 am.

Rainy Sunday on the Gulf

Sunday we awoke to thunderstorms and heavy rain. Rhoda, Sarah, Zion and I drove to Waffle House for breakfast. Beth and Greg were heading to Bob's to try out their breakfast while Diane just wanted cereal.  Diane ran over to check her condo and the cleaning lady was sure she would be done by noon so at noon we headed over to move in. The temperature was around 70 degrees but stormy with heavy rain. This afternoon we caught a break, the sky started lightening up and the rain stopped so off to the beach we went for a walk.

 The view above is taken from Diane's living room balcony and the 2 pictures below taken as we walked on the beach.  We couldn't believe there were people swimming, the Gulf water is cold.

 The waves were big and strong but beautiful.

We got as far as the public beach when it started sprinkling again so headed back and the rest of" the afternoon and evening it rained and rained, sometimes coming down like someone was pouring out buckets drenching the already sopped ground. Thankful there is no mud here, just sand and the water soaks in pretty quickly.We were going to walk over to Beth's and sit in her hot tub but decided a hot shower was much more appealing. Diane got another rental request for a week in July, before she accepted it she wanted to make sure they knew about the layout in her condo so called the person up and was thrilled to find they had been at Gulf Shores last summer with a group of people of which one of them were staying here. She had toured Diane's condo and told Diane, "We know exactly where everyone will be sleeping, we loved the layout." Diane was glad to rent to her. Then just a few minutes later she got a text from the renter who had just left here. That lady wrote: Hope you got in safe to Gulf Shores, we had so much rain yesterday, 5 inches. We had a glorious week at your place and want to rent it again next February. I left an un-opened 2 liter bottle of coke in the cubpoard, enjoy Mardi Gras! 
That means there is only 1 week in March, a few in April and May and 1 week left in July still for rent.  If you are interested in coming down to this condo and want more information and to see pictures and pricing click HERE.
Even if the weather isn't sunny and warm Diane's condo has plenty of entertainment with  high speed internet, a high definition smart television with all the amenities of NetFlicks, TiVo, cable and DVD in each room.

Shaeya's Practice

Shaeya had a wonderful practice with Evan Saturday morning. They are doing so well together. Evan is listening to her and she is in tune with him. Below she is leading him in wearing 'the dress', Evan isn't quite sure how close to get to her. It is hard not to be proud of both of them.

We have just 3 weeks left before the Illinois Horse Fair and the schedule is now up. If you would like to see that click HERE.
Diane picked up Mark and I for our trip out to Bloomington, IL to attend Rhoda and Lee's gender reveal party. Below Rhoda and Lee have lit the smoke bomb and now we all know to expect a baby girl late June. If you would like to see the rest of the party pictures click HERE.

 As soon as the lunch was over Diane, Rhoda, Sarah and I left for our long drive down to Gulf Shores, Alabama. In the pictures below Nolan is saying good-by to his wife and daughter while Lee is saying good-by to his wife and unborn daughter.

We made it down to Beth and Greg's condo around 3:00 am and went straight to bed. We had a good trip down, one of the best. The 13 and a half hours just seemed to fly by as we drove visiting all the while.  We were able to get into Diane's condo at noon and listened on line to church for most of the second service. Thrilled to be here and thankful for a good trip.

Age To Come

Now we see through a glass darkly but in the age to come we will see face to face. I didn't take the picture below and these are not our horses. I saw this on picture on Facebook.  These horses are a trio of Friesian stallions known as the ForestBoyz, check out the owner's website by visiting ForestBoyz.com  When I saw the picture and noticed how those Friesian stallions are looking toward the light, Corinthians 13:12 burst into my mind.  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.  Sometimes it is hard to wait for that Age to Come

We are leaving around 11:00 am heading to Bloomington first to Rhoda and Lee's gender reveal party. Their baby is due in June and we would all like to know if they are having a girl or a boy. Right after that we are heading South to  Gulf Shores, Alabama to take us out of this cold for a week. I will be off-line for the rest of today. We have a big morning ahead of us, practice with Evan and Shaeya, training the mares, cleaning the arena and packing. Karin had initially called off the play practice for Sunday but started getting texts from the players, they don't WANT to call off play practice. Since I won't be here I will have to rely on the players to let me know how it went and send pictures.