September 26, 2021

1st day of Lucy and Ava's sophomore year!



September 4, 2021

Pinch me.... this didn't just happen!

 I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming,  because there is no way that my little baby twin girls are old enough to get their permit?!?! But wait, they did! How is this possible??? 





September 2, 2021

Annie got her first puppy cone!

This pup is seriously the cutest! 


 

State horse fair in Salem, Oregon



Lucy qualified for State fair in English, Western, and Showmanship.  We spent Tuesday through Friday evening in Salem at the show.  The days were long, the nights were short, but we had a great time!  Lucy got blues in Western and Showmanship, and a red in English.  I'm super proud of her ability to handle all the stress with ease!  Great job Lucy! 


Is this puppy even real?  She acts like a floppy teddy bear sometimes! 

Silly girls!  
Representing our 4h club!  Best club around! 





 

A little schooling show

Lucy has been riding Reba and is trying to determine is the two of them will be a good match together.  Reba gets a little excited when she goes to new places/shows, so we are working on getting her out as much as possible.  Tinker also went to her very 1st riding show and handled the whole scene like a champ! Great job ladies!  


I even rode in a class with Dakota and placed 4th.  I only did walk trot, but it was a good 1st experience! 


Annie settled right into her role as being a tag along at the horse shows.  She is such a good pup! 
 

Happy 15th birthday Lucy and Ava! (August 15th)


How is it possible that these two beautiful young ladies are 15 years old!?!?!  Time sure does pass by quickly... before I know they will be 18 and off to college.  We began the day by eating pastries from Sisters Bakery, followed by  a lovely trip down the Deschutes River.  We concluded the day by eating the best dinner I think we have ever made, filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes and delicious green beans.  We ended the celebration with a strawberry chocolate cake that was homemade by Maddie and I. 







 

Three Creeks Lake




Annie went on her first big girl puppy adventure and I think she loved it!  She explored and played and was very spoiled by Maddie, Lucy, and Ava! 

If you look closely you can see a bald eagle sitting on the top of a tree! 
Ava taking Annie on a kayaking trip. 
No lake trip can be complete without fishing.  We didn't catch any fish this time, but that's okay! We still had fun trying! 
Oh, look at that! The Eagle came down right in front of our boat and swooped up a dead fish!  That was SO neat... pictures don't do this moment any justice! 



If you look REALLY hard you will see a puppy hiding under all the girls! 


 

Deschutes County Chicken Fair!

We tried something new this year, showing and selling chickens!  The girls have been working very hard on breeding quality silkie chickens and decided to advance their knowledge by joining a 4h chicken club.  They also raised meat birds this year and sold them at the 4h auction!  The whole experience was informative and I think the girls learned a lot!

Chickens are pretty darn dirty creatures, so of course the all needed a bath before taking them to fair!  The girls bathed at least a dozen chickens, but it very well could have been a few more than that!


Getting all the birds health tested before bringing them into the fair! 
This is Charles.  He ended up being best male chicken out of every chicken in the show! 
The judge comes around to all the meat birds and identifies which pen is the best.  Ava was champion for the fryer pen! I think we just got lucky this year as we had no knowledge as to what was actually being judged.  Next year we will be very prepared! 

Chicken Showmanship time!  The judge will ask each member different questions about poultry and even specific questions about the breed that you are showing.  The member also has to demonstrate proper handling and walking! 

George got a blue ribbon in Showmanship.  George is a very good rooster that we all love! 

Lucy's birds (which are actually ALL the girls birds) won champion male and female out of all the chickens at the fair! Great work girls!  Your knowledge and dedication to your birds is really paying off! 
The club! 
Chris and snuck away for a bit to grab a beer and a little alone time before heading to the Chris Janson concert that night! 

Making our way to the chicken auction!  Unfortunately Ava got pretty sick the day of the auction and was unable to attend... Maddie stepped in and auctioned off Ava's birds and did a great job!