We had animals in place and everything entered by Tuesday evening and were ready to go. Wednesday was show day for both heifers and rabbits so it was time for the girls to get all gussied up. It was cold and rainy, but everyone survived.
Drying Willow off and combing out her tail:
Helping Dal to get her dry and then her top line done just right:
Colton's and Moolah's turn:
Ayden helping to get her dry:
Chaddy, Kacy and Colin were all keeping busy, too:
Beauty parlor time:
Cady was back and forth between the rabbit barn and dairy barn all day. Her rabbit, Tigger, was judged earlier that day and he got high marks on everything except his size. It was finally time for showmanship. Here she is with one of her BFFs, Clarissa, who also shows rabbits:
Here all the rabbit besties are with their bunnies:
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| Emily, Cady, Clarissa and Aubrey |
Showmanship time:
It has been quite the learning year and this time we learned that a judge can boot you out for having your hair down! All our friends were surprised too, but it's a judge's opinion and you can't argue with that. We learned our lesson and will have it up from now on. Cady was upset, but she pulled it together and went and put her show whites on to get ready for the dairy show. And, I pulled her hair back!!
Speaking of hair and show whites, Colton got help with his mop from Kaydens and Jimmie:
Friends ready to show their dairy heifers:
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| Chloe, Kaydens, Grant, Cady, and Colton |
We were blessed to have Papa and Gramma there to cheer the kids on:
Showtime!! Cady and Willow were up for the Class 3s:
Willow was being a pain to show but she moved up one space and got 2nd to last instead of last this show, lol!
Here are Colton and Moolah waiting for their turn:
Class 5 heifers were up:
Moolah was consistent and placed last once again out of her class. Like I said, it was a learning year for us and I am so proud of the kids. All they learned and accomplished made them winners. We will know more of what we are doing next year!
After that was all over, the rest of the week was a lot less stressful and a bit more fun and relaxing. Colton and Cady helped DAC 4-H with school tours on Thursday but I had to work and didn't get any pictures. Someone is supposed to send them to me though. Hopefully soon.
That evening was the Bubba Preece Memorial Cookout, sponsored by LCHS FFA in memory of one great guy. Bubba was one of my 4-Hers and such a joy to be around. It is always an honor to help with this event. Here are Colton and I waiting to get started:
Our serving line (after I changed into my new FFA Mom tee!):
Thursday night is a really fun night for the kids. The midway does a wristband special, and its not real crowded since it is a weeknight, so all the show kids like to go ride the rides that night.
Here are Cady and Clarissa trying to decide where to go next:
Colton and his friends only rode a few and then wound up at the rodeo. His friend, Anne, took this shot of him laughing and having a great time:
I love this pic!
On Friday, Colton stayed and helped feed the heifers in the morning:
and then helped with school tours again while Cady and I went to school and work for a half day. He sent us this pic later with this boa around him:
We just knew money or impressing girls was involved because he hates snakes as much as his Mama! It wasn't money so it had to be impressing a girl!
We curled Cady's hair with a new curling wand after school and it worked! Had to take a picture before it all came out:
That night was the livestock sale, which we didn't make it into this year. Cady was asked to help her friend Kate, who was in it with her beef steer. She held the ribbon and her other friend, Kailyn held a gift basket:
Here is a shot of me with my man (this was toward the end of the sale and we were exhausted and ready to retire to the camper by then):
On Saturday, we volunteered a couple of hours in the 4-H Red Barn as we do every year to watch the exhibits and talk to visitors about 4-H. Only thing different was that we were missing Colton who was participating in the SNMSF Livestock Judging Contest.
We also had time to check out the kids' projects like this 5 Favorite Photos of Cady's that won Grand Champion:
She also received 1st place on all three of her baking items:
Laramie joined us in the 4-H Barn, too:
Speaking of Laramie, she had a great time at the fair and went all over the place with her boy. Here are a few of my favorite pics of her from the week:
That night at the rodeo, Cady was signed up to participate in the 2nd annual Calf Scramble. That is where 40 kids chase after 20 calves and try to catch one, halter it and drag it across the line. If they do so, they get $500 to be used toward next year's livestock project. There was a meeting for all the participants before hand and they took a group picture of all 40 of them:
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| Cady is the 7th from the left in the back. |
Here are besties, Cady, Aubrie and Clarissa ready to chase some calves:
Our girl ready to go:
The girls all did their hair the same and tied up their sleeves with baling twine:
Lined up and ready to go:
And they are off:
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| Cady is #40 |
I started taking pics of our friend, Kaydens:
She had one but then it got away:
Then, I look up and see Cady all the way on the other side of the arena and she already has a calf haltered and is trying to pull it to the line!!
Mom and I were so excited and were screaming and carrying on and she did it!! Not only that, but she was the first girl across! We were so happy for her and actually, a little bit shocked. She is a bit timid and reserved but she proved us wrong! It could be that I told her to summon up all her frustrations from the rabbit and dairy shows and use that to win. Her Gramma and Papa also told her that they would add $100 to the $500 if she got one so that may have been good motivation, too. I just know I am sad to have missed the fight of her catching and haltering it. Still talking to others who were in the ring to see if they happened to get pics of that part.
Our friend, Dalene, took this one of her after she crossed the line and because of her smile, she used it on the NM Farm and Livestock Bureau's page to thank the sponsors:
It was so fun to watch and exciting to see her and friends win! Grant got one after her:
Kaydens caught another one after the escapee and got it across the line:
Both her friends, Aubrey and Clarissa each got one but I only got a picture of Clarissa:
So. Much. Fun.
After the rodeo, as mom and I were headed back to find Cady and Colin and congratulate her, we ran into this guy:
Always so good to see my handsome cousin, Brian!
My dad had to leave that morning for an elk hunt, but Gramma stayed and hung out with us and our friends until close to 11 and then she had to head out. Here is a shot of her and Colton before she left:
We were so glad her and Dad were with us for so much of the weekend!
Sunday finally came and it was time to clean up and get home. Here are the kids helping to clean the dairy barn and surrounding areas:
Cady also cleaned out under her rabbit cage:
Two o'clock finally came and it was time to load up and get going. Here are Cady and Willow headed to the stock trailer:
Colton and Parker monkeying around one last time before saying goodbye:
I snapped this shot of Colton with his Grand Champion conversion to Black and White as we picked up projects from the 4-H Red Barn Sunday afternoon:
Here he is with the rest of his Digital Photography entries that he had in both the Red Barn and the Veteran's Building:
Cady had her Arts and Craft projects in the Veteran's Building and got a 1st on the bulletin board and a 5th on her sea star painting:
Her Scrapbooking projects were in the Red Barn and she got a 1st on the covered album (which also received 2nd at the NM State Fair a couple of weeks ago) and a 2nd on her single page of Piper:
She also cleaned up on her photos with all 1sts and 2nds in both the Veteran's Building and the 4-H Barn, with her Added Vignette pic of the hawk in the tree being named Reserve Grand Champion:
So proud of the kids and all they accomplished! If you ask them, they will tell you it was the most fun week they have ever had and can't wait to do it all again next year!!
