It's Over......

The fair is finally over and I'm still tired! Overall it was a good year for the kids but we did have some snags along the way.


A few months before the fair one of our pigs got sick and ended up dying. Luckily we had a few extra so Keri wasn't left short an animal to be able to show. Then the day that we take the cows to the fair Keri's cow gets sick. The state vet took a look at him and decided that he needed to be removed from the fairgrounds because he could be contagious! You can imagine the tears.


So I spent the better part of the day searching for someone that had an extra cow that they didn't bring that I could buy from them and run through the auction at the end of the fair. Several hours later Stacy & Christi Hostetler said that they had a small Jersey cow that we could buy from them! I was ecstatic but Keri was still skeptical because she wanted HER COW. My aunt took Keri to have a chat over some Dippin' Dots and when they got back Keri had decided that she would give the Jersey cow a chance.


So we switched from a 450 pound Holstein to a 243 pound Jersey! Not looking too good for auction money but she had a cow to show! The cow had already been named Bambi (can you tell why?) so we, of course, had to change all our decorating to reflect the new cow's name and not the Holstein's. (which was Dasher)

Once we made it through that drama we were on our way to a good week! The girls both did really well in their showmanship with the cows and the pigs! This was Keri's first year so we weren't expecting much from her but she did really well. Katie's calf placed third in it's class which was the best that she's ever done and she made it through the first round of showmanship. I was really happy for her.

The pigs did well this year too. Katie was once again the only person to have a Tamworth so she easily won Champion with that pig and she was penned 4th with her Crossbred. Keri didn't place on Wednesday with either of her pigs so she was very disappointed. I told her that the judge on Thursday would be different and that she still had a chance to do well.

Sure enough, Thursday her Hereford won Champion! She was so excited I thought she was going to burst!

Katie with her Champion.


Keri with her Champion.

Friday ended with tears from Keri because she didn't want to get rid of her animals but she was really happy when she started figuring up the money that she made for her efforts in 4-H! So another year is over and hopefully by the time this rolls around next year I will have forgotten all the drama and grief that I went through in getting to this point!

Bring on the fair!!!

Bring it on!

Tom Thumb donuts, elephant ears, funnel cakes, sirloin tips, corn dogs, pretzels, pizza, Nelson's, pork burgers, taco salad, swiss & rye on a stick, tenderloins, ice cream, fried rice & egg rolls.....

What's on your list?

Tears of Joy...

Katie just got back from church camp last night and she had a great time. She was talking non-stop all the way home about all the things that they did and about her counselor and the girls in her cabin. I always loved church camp so I was really excited and happy for her that she had such a great experience.

This morning I got on the middle school website and was browsing through all the pictures that they posted from camp. I came across this picture and it brought tears to my eyes. I see my daughter holding on to her friend and rejoicing in the moment, raising her hands to God and it was completely overwhelming for me. This is what it's about. I'm so thankful that she has friends that she can express her faith with. I don't remember having this when I was her age and looking at these kids and how open and vulnerable they become when they are together like this is just amazing.

God was at work here and I'm glad that my daughter was a part of it!!!

Getting ready...

The fair is almost here! I'm counting down the days to no more whining about washing animals, feeding animals, cleaning pens, walking animals, etc.... For the last 2-3 months I've been asking myself over and over again why I continue to do this to myself. I was always in 4-H when I was growing up and I thought that it would be a great experience for my kids. Don was not a 4-H kid so when I proposed this idea to him he told me up front that he would not be a part of it. Why did I think that I could take this on myself?

The kids have pigs and dairy feeder calves. Since we live in town there's no way to keep them at our house so we have to go back and forth between my parents and my aunt's place to do the chores. I'm very thankful that they allow us to house our animals there and many, many times they end up doing the chores for us because of my work schedule and the kids sports schedules. What would I do without them?

Still, as we are near the end of another 4-H season I'm thinking that this will be the last because it doesn't get easier year after year it gets harder because the kids keep getting involved in more and more things. Where does the madness end?

See you at the fair!!!