Show pictures!

So you are probably wondering how the show went. It was awesome. We managed to get to the show around 5:00 pm after our van (with the hitch) broke down and managed to get itself into a hard-to-fix situation. We had to borrow our neighbors truck, but thankfully all went well and nothing else broke down. We got all set up in the barn and at about 6:00 our friends arrived! It was lots of fun getting everybody bedded down and milked the first night. We didn't milk everyone, just those there for the milk test, which by the way were Gatlin, Hannah, Missy and Mandie. I didn't get the exact weights that they milked out but I do think they'll all pass. I'll let you know when I get those results. We were very happy with the placings we got both Saturday and Sunday.

Goat's Name Sat. Sun.

Candie 3rd 2nd
Lulu 3rd 2nd
Hannah Not Shown 1st
Dixie 5th 3rd
Sunny 4th 4th
Thea 9th 7th
Tea 2nd 1st
Gala 1st 2nd
Alithia 4th 4th
Mandie Not Shown 5th
Movie 8th 6th
Top 2nd 3rd RESERVE CHAMPION
Treasure 4th 8th
Honey 4th Not Shown

Abigail, Jenna and Josh sitting at the show on Sunday morning. Can't you tell they all just woke up? hehe!
I love this picture! Jenna and Anna putting the pens back together.
This is where all the 2 legged kids played all weekend! They had a blast here. :)
Jenna, Tenn, Mandie and I in showmanship.
Another of my favorite pictures I took over the weekend! I think this turned out really well.
Elizabeth right after winning peewee showmanship! Good job girl!
Ben ummmm......doing whatever to Thea after showmanship.
Mrs. Regan, Jenna, Abigail and I showing our Lamancha doe kids.
Me showing Tea. She won first place in her class here.
Elizabeth showing Thea in her breed class.
Candie being shown. She placed very well in my personal opinion.
Everyone just chatting between shows.
Little Laura enjoyed the show too...........most of the time! ;)
Abigail showing Gala! She's in first place here! We were totally thrilled.
Abigail and Jenna making supper on the tack box in the barn. Roughin' it. Sorry the picture isn't very clear. The barn was SO dusty since all the floors are sand. The camera lense got dusty. :(

I'll be posting some more pictures of the goats later on. I'll let you all dwell on these for now, then post pics of the parade.....then come the goat pictures. Hope you all like pictures.

Enjoy your day!
~Bethany~

Memorial Day

Freedom is Not Free

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of TAPS one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That TAPS had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.
~Kelly Strong

Memorial Day is the day we honor those who have fought and are fighting for our country. It is a day to rejoice in the knowledge of our freedom. It is a day that many morn the loss of sons or daughters, brothers or sisters, mothers or fathers. It is Memorial Day.

In the American Revolution, 4,435 men died fighting for our right to freedom.
In the War of 1812, 2,260 died fighting for our right to keep our freedom.
In the Mexican-American War, 13,283 men died fighting to show which country was #1.
In the Civil War, 364,511 men died fighting to instill their rights in the country.
In the Spanish-American War, 2,446 men died fighting again to show which country was #1.
In the World War 1, 116,316 men died fighting to keep their country from being invaded.
In the World War 2, 405,399 men died fighting to keep their country and families safe.
In the Korean War, 36,995 men died fighting to help Korea keep their country free.
In the Vietnam War, 58,151 men died fighting to help South Vietnam keep their country free.
In the Operation Desert Storm, 382 men and women died fighting to keep Kuwait free.
In the Operation Enduring Freedom, 420 men and women died fighting to show that America is not a country to be messing around with.
In the Iraqi Freedom, 3,688 men and women have died fighting to help Iraq free their country.

In total, 1,008,286 men and women have died to keep freedom alive. They have not died in vain, but for a purpose. They died for the purpose of freedom. The freedom that you use everyday. The freedom that we take so for granted. At least 45 MILLION men and women have served during these wars. Many more have served during the peaceful times to keep the peace. Will you not take a few moments of your time today to stop and thank anyone who has served or is serving in the United States Military whether they be in the Navy, Air Force, Army or Marines. These men and women are our modern day heroes.


THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE SERVING OUR COUNTRY!

~Bethany~

Update and Prayer Request

Have you all wondered where I have gone?
U R My Sunshine getting ready for the shaving experience!
All finished up and pretty lookin'! :)
Top Notch before the shaving. She is the doe I bought this spring.
Shaving Top's legs. These can be tricky since they love to move around a bunch.
Almost done!
Alithia's doe kid Anthea before.....
.....and after! Thea was such a hairy little thing!

So that's what's been keeping me busy besides working at Harvey's. We only have a few more day 'till the show so things are getting busy here. I'll try to keep you updated on how our preparations are coming. :)

Oh, and a quick prayer request. We have a friend who was admitted into the hospital and found out that her left kidney is shutting down and will need splints and they are awaiting results from a cat scan as they are worried about brain tumors. So please pray for Angie S.

In Christ,
~Bethany~

Chicks!!!

We got a phone call today from some friends who had just picked up some chicks from TSC (a local feed store) and the cost......only $0.35!!!!! We called the store and asked what breeds they had and they only had straight run (males and females together) Golden Comets and a few Rode Island Reds. We looked up Golden Comets on the internet and found that the males are yellow and the females are a red/brown color!!! We headed on over there and picked out 55 females (yes, it was quite obvious) for only 35 cents each!!! We also bought 25 meat chicks from a different local feed store for 49 cents each. Now we are going to try out the Golden Comet breed...we've always stuck to the Isa Browns but we'll see how this goes. :) Anyway, it was an amazing deal since we only spent about $18 on all whereas if we get them through the mail we spend close to $100!!!!
You can see mostly Golden Comets here, but there are a few of the meat birds. The meat birds are yellow/white and the Golden Comets (like I said above) are red/brown.
Everyone is hungry!

Oh, and I got my perminate permit (try to say that 10 times in a row) today!!!! Now I'll be logging hours and working towards that level 2 licence!!!

New Look!

I am working on my blog and have gotten a totally new look. :) I know, it was high time for it... hehe! I'm going to try to keep working on it little bits and pieces at a time. Maybe someday I'll get smart enough to figure out the blog button thingy.

Farm news.....everyone is relatively healthy and I think I am going to start shaving some of the darker does today for the upcoming show. Only 10 days away and still lots to do. I would really like to make a nice tack box but I think that's going to have to wait till next show. Everyone is too busy right now.

I am still working but Abigail has pulled back so she can finish up on school (good girl!) and I just keep plugging away at what I can do each day. I am almost done with 3 of the 5 subjects!!!

Hope you all are having a good day!

In Christ,
~Bethany~

Random

....and I mean seriously, crazily, oddly random. These are just a few pictures I took over the weekend.

We were dog-sitting one of our puppies from the Christmas batch Sat/Sun. He is getting SO big! Pallo is only about 6 months old and look how massive he is! You can't really see how big his feet are....but they are HUGE!
Cutie Pie Pallo.
Cutie Pies Elizabeth AND Pallo.
Folks....this is horrible. We either keep too many chickens, buy too much chicken stuff or don't keep tabs on our chicken supplies well. I mean how many chicken feeders/waterers does one need? :)
MORRELLS! It's mushroom time! We actually found these in our hayfield. hehe!

Well, have a great evening!
~Bethany~

Farm update

Just an update from here on the farm......
#1. I am starting to get paperwork, etc. worked out for our first show which begins in only 18 days! Lots to do before then. I am planning to take at least 16 does (including kids) so we should be busy. More details on that coming....

#2. We sold the last of our Nubians yesterday (thank you!) so we now only have Allegro for sale. We may have a few more doe kids for sale later in the summer but I'm going to guess we won't be parting with too many. They all look pretty nice!

#3. I did a second milk test on the does yesterday (only 11 now!). I was pretty happy with the results.

Missy - 9.96#
Gatlin - 11.5#
Mandie - 9.02#
Hannah - 9.58# (I do believe this was read wrong, I think it's supposed to be 10.58#)

First Fresheners
Maggie - 7# even
Lulu - 5.98#
Alithia - 7.4#
Cammy - 7.28#
Gala - 7.46#
Zoe - 5.5#
Candie - 7.26#

The only ones I would have liked to see a little more in are Lulu and Zoe but their udders fill up nice and don't look small so I think they will freshen out nice as 2nd fresheners.

Well, that about sums it up for now. Will try to get some pictures on pretty soon.

In Christ,
~Bethany~

Giveaway @ Beside Quiet Waters

Lauren Ann is hosting a giveaway on her blog! Check it out here!!!!

In Christ,
~Bethany~

Giveaway @ Feminine Farmgirl!

Jenna @ Feminine Farmgirl is hosting a giveaway! She is giving away a book titled "Rebekah's Diary" from No Greater Joy Ministries. This is what she wrote on her blog about the book:

Rebekah Anast (Pearl) wrote this diary while she was witnessing to the people of Papua New Guinea starting in July of 1995. It is encouraging, funny, inspiring, and real! Here is the introduction:
Rebekah is the oldest child of Michael and Debi Pearl. Her
homeschool days were continually interrupted with the busy
atmosphere of a home dedicated to serving God and others. She
grew up seeing the power of God at work transforming the lives of
broken sinners.
At seventeen, having never been away from the protective
environment of a loving home, she boarded a plane with several
other young people and went to South America where she
witnessed the power of God transforming the lives of primitive
tribal people. She would never be the same. The following year,
selling the family cow to raise the last of the money, the Pearls sent
their eighteen-year-old daughter to Papua New Guinea. Eight
weeks later she came home with a heaven born vision. She would
go to linguistic school to learn to translate Scripture into the
language of a primitive tribe.
After three years of preparation and much prayer, she
boarded a plane for the Madang region of Papua New Guinea. She
did not go out under a mission board. She was sent out by her local
church. Her eighteen-year-old brother, Gabriel, went along as her
“protector.” During their four week trip, God led them to the
Kumboi people. They returned to the U.S. so she could get an
extended visa and make preparation for residency in P.N.G.
She soon returned to the Kumboi. This time, with her
seventeen-year-old brother Nathan went along as her assistant.
After three months, he came home, leaving her alone on the top of
a mountain among tribal people where no white person had ever
been. She had no support team, and for the first few months, she
had no communication with the outside world. There are no roads
to the village. The only way in or out is a six hour hike from a
primitive bush air strip. This is her diary, as she wrote it, from the heights and
depths of service to her God.

This book isn't a "girls only " read! It is encouraging for all ages of a family, but even more as they get older.

Photography Contest!

There is photography contest at Young Maidens for Christ! Check it out and post your pictures! The more joiners the more fun it is! These are the photos I'm entering.

Photo #1. after a rain storm. Aren't the clouds amazing?
Little Ellie only a few hours old.
A view of the woods through a scope.
One of the 8 week old puppies from our last batch.
A double rainbow over our pasture.