Nebraska State Fair

It's weekend two at the state fair and Bryan & Morgan showed sheep. Bryan won the yearling wool class Morgan won the lamb class. Overall it was Morgan with grand & Bryan reserve. Both received blues in showmanship. What made me proud was Bryan giving his sister a thumbs up when she won. Some pics are from a distance as I am announcing the 4H & FFA sheep & goat shows.

My fleeces had reserve & grand & yesterday a spinner bought them!!

County fair

We survived the heat. Kids did amazing taking a lot of projects and leaving with more purples than anything. Morgan's rabbit won class & breed. Bryan's table got a purple. Not bad for a 90 year old door. Sheep are headed to state fair. Morgan's garden poster is state fair bound along with Bryan's reserve grand champion heritage project on his trip to DC, his white bread & peanut butter chocolate chip coffee cake. Calves brought purples and reserve grand for Bryan. Bryan's birds sold at auction on Sunday. Paul showed pigs again this year and is looking forward to not being a clover kid! Enjoy the pics.

Fathers Day

Got up early to make BBQ pork ribs. Slow cooked them all day. As you can see from the before & after they tasted good! Paul made Mike rice crispy bars and then put a tie on it with sprinkles.

I cleaned house & did laundry while Mike & Bryan built fence.

Thanks Mike for being a wonderful Dad.

Off to DC

I was okay with him going till we got to the airport. I looked over at that sleeping boy and thought how grown up he has become and how much he is loved and in someways still my "little" boy. He called this afternoon to let us know he arrived safe and was having a lot of fun. Oh the adventure he is about to embark on!! The sunrise was on the drive into Omaha.

Boys

Bryan showing off his new hat. Paul laughed when I told him he had to mix the flavor in.

4Hproject

Here is Bryan's ship out of legos. Paul also wanted to share his creation.

I have to admit I grumbled a bit under my breath as I slipped on my muck boots and sprayed sunscreen on my arms-its supposed to be a holiday, I was hoping to grill out, relax, read a book but now I made my way through the alfalfa field to survey the damage from the night before. In the back of my mind I heard the voice of my Grandpa Paul saying to never wish the rain away and all it brings cause it might not come back for a long time. Have you ever caught yourself in an argument with yourself? I know this rain was a blessing because just 26 hours before my husband Mike & I checked for new lambs and we were walking in that same section talking about how dry everything was. We shared our worry for the second cutting of alfalfa and our neighbors corn and soybeans that were looking tough. You could see the dust as we climbed the hill to the fence on the north side of the creek. Memorial Day I stood in that same spot shook my head and looked at the water that flowed by, waist plus deep. Going through my head then was thank you Lord for the rain you sent, because already the alfalfa was greening up and a wood duck was swimming by that former dry creek. I worked for about an hour and a half to pull the fence out of creek removing corn stalks and debris that floated by. Section by section with Mike's help we got it put back together and back in place to keep the sheep in place. Speaking of sheep, the ewes seemed to know that the water was there, the fence was down and they kept those little lambs at bay to prevent another loss. One section left to go & Mike offered to finish so I could head back to the house and get steaks ready to go on the grill. In the end, I did get my holiday wish, great steaks from our 4H steer, a game of soccer with the herding dog Jack and our 7 year old son Paul, a book finished and most important a thank you for the rain that I would never wish away!