08 show update #3

Sorry to you all for not updating earlier. Things have been so rushed around here that I hardly get any time on the computer. We got our 1st cutting in - 225 square bales and 12 round bales. They square bales are huge though.

You are probably all wondering how the show went. I will probably make this long winded but I'll try to be thorough.

Friday- we left around 4:30(right after gas prices had risen to $4.19 per gallon!) and got to the fairgrounds around 6. We got our "equipment" out of the trailer and unloaded the goats. I started milking Gatlin right away for the milk test. Then we set up feeders, waters, etc and got everyone settled in. We found that we had forgotten a few things so we ran to the nearest town and got what we needed. We stopped at Taco Bell for supper then headed back to the fairgrounds. We hung out for a while then headed to bed. We all slept in the back of the van on mattresses. Ah, what you can do when you have a 15 passenger van.

Saturday- I got up at 5:30 and walked around the goat barn for a while trying to think up some way to get into the barn without waking up all the people that were sleeping in the barn! If I were to step in the barn, all the goats would start yelling which would wake everyone up. Finally someone else got up the courage to go in there so I went in too! :) I got all the chores done and began to shave udders. Dad came in the barn and shaved Missy's. Then I had to milk Gatlin for the milk test. She gave 5.1#. I was pretty impressed since they had just gone through a big move, were in a new place, etc. Then we went to where they were serving breakfast!!!!! We had french toast with sausage. Mmmmm! :) After I had eaten my fill I went to got change into my show whites(for those of you who don't what I am talking about, that is white pants, white shirt.) Missy was in the first class. She was placed towards the end of the line. I can't remember her exact placing or how many she was competing against but I know it was a huge class. As soon as I got her out of the show ring I milked her out. By the time I was done I had to get Mandie ready. Dad came over and shaved her and I cleaned her up a bit. Right about this time Rebekah and Elizabeth came out of the van. It was about 39 degrees so everybody was freezing! Mandie is a 2 year old so she was shown in the 2nd Lamancha class. She placed 1st!!!! I was so proud of her. She was behaving so well but to place 1st in Lamanchas is quite a feet since there is a REALLY good Lmancha breeder there. She went in for the championship line-up but couldn't compete against the larger does in front of her. I was able to milk her out after that. We had Nigerian Dwarfs in front of Nubians but I got Sierra ready anyway. We had to shave her udder and clean her up but I put her back in her pen till I was ready for her. She disappointed me by placing last in a huge class but she is way too fleshy and the does in front of her where way more dairy. The class was placed well but now miss Sierra is put out to run with the kids! :) After that we had a break but sat around and watched the show. We had ______ for lunch and then went back to the show. We had to get Alithia and Gala ready for the Alpine junior show. Gala did pretty well - 4th out of about 12. Alithia placed 3rd out of 4 but she is so high strung that I couldn't get her to stand still. She probably could have placed higher if she behaved better. :( After I got done showing her I went and changed my clothes. Ah, it feels great to wear "regular" clothes! Then we went and parked our van under a tree and took a long nap. We got back to the show around 5:00. As soon as we got there we started getting our animals ready for showmanship. I was showing Mandie and Elizabeth and Rebekah were both showing Gala since they were in different age groups. I had to milk out Gatlin at 6:30 and she gave 5.6 lbs. (Side note, she gave more at the show than she gave at home when I tested her the other day!)We got our supper(hard tacos) then headed back for the barn. I was working on Mandie when Elizabeth went in for showmanship. There were just 3 children in her class but she got first! Good job E! The Juniors went in after pee-wees but we didn't have any girls in that. Rebekah and I were in Intermediate. There were 17 "kids" in that class so we had to move outside. It took a really long time but everyone did really well. We all were out there for about an hour and a half. The judge didn't place anyone except for #1 but he did pull out a few of the better showers. I was pulled out with 5 others(to keep you out of suspense, I did not get first. I probably just made it to the top by the skin of my teeth!!! :)). After we got done with showmanship dad took us into town. I hadn't really had much to eat since the tacos were hard(can't eat them with braces!!!). We stopped at Wendy's and got something to eat. Then we headed home and to bed!!!

Sunday - I got up and went right into the barn. There weren't as many people sleeping in the barn this time so I didn't feel so bad! Plus it was almost 6:00. I didn't need to do any shaving so I just feed/watered everyone and hung out. There were lots of "kids" there so it is lots of fun. At about 6:45 I found out breakfast was not served that morning so we headed into town AGAIN and bought some donuts, muffins and fruit. I ate most of mine on the way back to the fairgrounds. Then we watched the MI futurity then our turn was up. We went through the same rounds again. Missy was not placed but the judge later said she was in the middle. Gatlin placed 5th out of 8, Mandie placed 2nd out of 5, Sierra placed towards the end of her huge class but at least it wasn't last again! This judge really liked her but Sierra has too much fat. This judge was pretty slow so we didn't get to our kids till about 2:00 or later. We had pizza for lunch. Gala placed 4th again in her HUGE class but Alithia would NOT behave(and this judge placed down because of that) so she placed last in her class(4th). We had packed everything up before we had shown the little doelings so we loaded all the goats up and picked up the little buck that we had purchased(thank you Alpine Valley!) and headed home. We got home around 6:00.
I think that finishes my book. :) I'll try to post pics but this blog is not always cooperative with pictures.
Have a good weekend,
~Bethany~

We're home!

I just thought I would quick write to say we are home. I have to get ready for the parade this morning so I can't write the whole story of the show but I will try to update this afternoon - with pictures! :)

Just wanted to thank all the veterans that have made it so we can live freely in this country with the ability to worship as we wish. THANK YOU!

Have a great Memorial Day!
~Bethany~

Ready to roll!

We are on a roll here! We are about ready to leave- just have a little packing for ourselves to do. I need to shower and pack but after that we can head out! We are planning to leave around 3:30 but I am going to milk everyone except for Gatlin. She needs to be milked out around 6:30 tonight for the test she is going to be in.
Well, I am not going to be updating till Sunday or Monday but I may have Abigail blog something about their day here. They have the farmer's market and a reenactment to go to. Monday is Memorial Day and we are all going to be in the tiny Tekonsha parade!
Have a great weekend,
~Bethany~

Ben's 4th birthday

Well, I know you are all sitting, crossing your fingers, wondering what we did today. :) Around 8:00 we ate bagels and English muffins for breakfast. Then about 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave I heard a strange sound in the mechanical room and found a leak in the pressure tank for our well. So we had to drain it out which took a bit but we managed to get out only 40 minutes behind schedule. Then we headed for Kalamazoo and......THE AIR ZOO! We got there around 9:30 and stayed in the Main Campus till a little after noon. It was really cool. There were quite a few WWI airplanes and a few from WWll and one from the Cold War. There were also a few more modern ones. There was one airplane called The Tomcat that has been around for quite a few years. They are now destroying all of them because the Iranians are using them and the Americans don't want them to get parts from us. They had one of the only ones still around. They also had the kind of plane that John McCain flew in the Vietnam War. After going through that building we went to the other building(they have two). That had quite a bit of hands on stuff to do. They had quite a bit of information about space shuttles and all the stuff relating to that. We all took a trip to Mars but managed to get back in just 4 minutes!!! They had a pretty good WWll exhibit with several planes in that building a few outside(one of which birds had decided to lodge in!). We got to get into one of the planes and explore in it. We got home around 4:00, did chores and had the birthday party. A John Deere cinnamon cake with chocolate or vanilla(your choice) ended the day wonderfully.
Hope your day was as good as yours!
~Bethany~

Cow news - Emma and Vi

Not a ton to update on today. We brought Vi(our dairy cow) to a farm for a month where she will be with a bull. Hopefully she will come back bred. Our other cows are due in just a few weeks so we are trying to keep a close eye on them. We also got a little heifer calf this evening whom we call Emma. She was born on Friday(5-16) so she is still pretty tiny. I hope to post a pic of her soon.
Other than that, not much going on. We are continuing to work picking asparagus but with the weather staying chilly, there isn't much of it. Tomorrow I'll have a good amount to talk about(can't tell yet-it's Ben's birthday and we are going away for the day. :))!
~Bethany~

Cutest Cowgirl

Ain't it just the cutest cowgirl you've ever seen? ;) I'll have to say that Elizabeth makes one of the best!
Enjoy,
~Bethany~

Fair Hogs

The picture I was trying to put on must be too big or something. Here is a beautiful :) picture of #8 and #11. This was taken a while ago but they haven't changed much except for size. I think here they were 115 lbs. and 135 lbs.

2008 show update #2

I am making a list of things that need to be done before we leave for the show on Friday. This is more for me than anyone but that way this all isn't on a piece of paper laying around and getting lost. Also, this lets you all know what it takes to show!:)

I have all the paper work lined up and here. I also have the entry form sent in.
#1. Tattoo Alithia and Gala.
#2. Trim around feet and ears and touch up on other places.
#3. Get food/minerals/supplements, water pails, feeders, hay, straw, etc in van.
#4. Get paper work in van.
#5. Clean up goats, wash if needed.
#6. Trim hooves, show quality.
#7. All show equipment lined up.
#8. Milking equipment in van.
#9. Work with Alithia and Gala.

I may add to this list if I think of other stuff. Some of it needs to be done right before we leave, but there is some stuff that I can start anytime.

Well, other than keeping up around the place we aren't doing a lot. It is looking like we have a pretty busy week ahead but I will try to keep everything update!

Have a good day,
~Bethany~

First show update of the year!

I am having problems posting pictures, hence the reason there aren't many on. I had hoped to get several on before this but I will continue trying! Meanwhile.....we are getting ready for our first show on May 23-25. We are planning on taking 7 goats- Missy, Sierra, Gatlin, Mandie, Alithia, Gabi and Jessie. I have them all shaved but have to do a little touch-upping yet. Meanwhile I will try to keep everything updated!
~Bethany~

John Deere running gear

This is Ben(3) working on the running gear we purchased about a month ago. Now it is all painted John Deere green and yellow!