Volleyball

 

 

Once again Jeslyn participated in the community volleyball league. She had a lot of fun and had really improved from last year.

 

 

Way to go Jes!

HALLOWEEN

Once fall seems to set in, my girls start anticipating Halloween, and comtemplating over what they should be. Usually there desires aren't too big of a feat. I do have a hard time holding them off of not wearing there costume completely out before Halloween even gets here.

 

We started celebrating the night before with a pumpkin mess! The girls are getting so big they both wanted to carve their own. Jauncee quickly changed her mind. Clay, he just wanted in on the picutres!

 

 

I didn't figure Clay would really want to dress-up so in preparation of a melt-down, I had planned on him being a little cowboy bandit. While going through the Halloween tote we came across this cute lil lion and coaxed him into putting it on.

 

 

He liked it for about 10 minutes while he pranced around the house scaring everybody!

 

The finished pumpkins!

 

 

The next day was Halloween and Jeslyn was able to dress-ip the entire day to celebrate.

 

 

Madusa! Isn't she scary?

 

Jauncee was able to dress-up after lunch. Clay and I went in to help her and to watch the cute costume parade.

 

My prettty little gypsy!

 

Clayboy, watching the fish, waiting for the parade to start!

 

Once the kids got home from school, we ate homemade chicken noodle soup and rushed  to get cosutme ready.

 

 

My little cowboy, isn't he dreamy!

 

 

What cute little girls!

 

 

My three little LOVES!

 

 

Our evening that night consisted of a trunk-r-treat and then a school sponsored carnival in the gym.

 

 

All in all it was a very fun and sPoOkY Halloween. Each of the kids got a lot of candy and had a ton of fun playing games. I think they mostly enjoy just getting to dress-up!

The N.I.L.E

 

The NILE, Northern Internation Livestock Exposition is a week long event that takes place in Billings, Montana. It celebrates the rich history of the western tradition with a stock show, pro rodeo and horse extravaganza. Our family went up to participate. It was a lot of work, but we all had fun in the process and are making plans to do it again next year.

 

The trip started off 9:00 pm Monday night when we pulled out of the drive-way. The kids were all in their pajamas and ready to sleep in the trupick! Clay was really excited about sleeping in the truck, that is all he talked about for the first hour and a half keeping the girls awake, until he finally fell asleep. It was a perfect night to travel as the weather was very accomodating. We made it to around Island Park when Clay woke up and decided sleeping in the trupick was no longer fun. He wanted to get out! We let him cry it out and after about 50 minutes he stopped. We pulled into Bozeman, MT around 2:00 am and decided it would be best if we took a little snooze. We slept 3 hours (they were the hortest 3 hours of my life) then hit the road for our final destination...MetraPark in Billings. We made pretty good time and got there about 8:30 after eating a McDonalds breakfast. We all got busy and went to work setting up stalls, and getting the animals in tip-top shape to be on display. This was the longest day of them all, luckilyit ended with a swim and a soak at the hotel. We all slept well this night.

 

The next morning was show day for all the cattle. The day started early!

 

 

 

Jeslyn competed first. She was in class 2 showing Spud in Quality. At this show, they categorized them by hip height so she was showing with animals that were a lot heavier than Spud. He weighed in at 1190 after an 8 hour haul. Dirk figured he probably lost 150 - 200 lbs. during the trip, but he still looked fresh.

 

 

Jeslyn did very well, but the judge completely overlooked her steer commenting that he wasn't finished. Well, he wasn't 1600 lbs. like some of the others...but who want to eat that heavier of a steer?

 

Next she competed in the Junior Showmanship. Once again she did very well. She took first in Class and came back to compete for the grand champion. I think She finished 5th overall.

 

 

 

Jeslyn was a little disappointed but she shouldn't have been. Jes did very well for her 3rd time ever showing. I was very proud of her and it was a great experience.

 

Next up was the pen of 3 heifers. Luckily Dirk had a friend up there who a a couple daughters who were well versed and willing to help out. I think they each traded services for one another.

 

 

 

 

 

The heifers all competed individually. We took a 3rd, 4th and a 5th. Then Dirk competed as a breeder with the 3 individuals as a "Pen of Three".

 

It was fun to watch him. It is no doubt that he is a professional!

 

 

 

Dirk ended up the Reserve Champion!

 

 

After the show, we got the cattle settled and took a trip out to Haweye West. Which is were Genex houses a lot of there sires. We were able to walk through the grounds and see all the bulls housed there. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

 

We all had to wear these plastic boots, Clay was not happy about them at all!

 

 

And this is were my camera died! I wish I would have been able to take some pictures of some of the million dollar bulls housed there...WOW! Everyone who AI's should make a point at some time to check out the bulls they are using...they might be surprised!

 

The next day was sale day! I wish I would have had my camera. It was fun to watch Jeslyn lead her heifer Oakley around the sale ring.

Only 2 of the 3 heifers were able to sell, due to the number of entries. We did very well though averaging $2,200.00 a heifer.

 

All in all it was a very fun and eventful trip!

We all can't wait until next year!