More Lamb Day Pics

Lamb Day

Why does this scare me? She has no fear!

Red River Valley and Home on the Range, these songs are western to me....

Grandma Rainy on the float (in white)

Susan a.k.a Tia and Prospector a.k.a Fits

Little sheepmen... (just for the day though)

Whew! The crazy weekend is over. Lamb Day is a VERY big deal in Fountain Green. This is the first year that we did the lamb show and sale and the kids and I loved it! Earl was okay with it as long as he didn't have to be involved. Hayes raked in $410 though. WOOOHOOO! The idea of school shopping just got a lot better! Anyway, here is a rundown of the events. Lauree, Mom, and Dad came down on Friday for the lamb show. The boys and I got up early and washed and trimmed lambs. Weigh-ins were at noon. Hayes lamb weighed in at 110 lbs and Kalons at 100. They actually gained really well! On May 12th they weighed 65 and 57 lbs. We got these lambs from Dad (thanks Dad). Anyway, the show was great. Kalon showed in the pewee division and Hayes showed his with 9 other 8 year olds. Both got first place ribbons in the showmanship and $10 each. That night, Hayes, Kalon, and Dally sang in the talent show. SO CUTE! Then the boys came home and spent the night in the tent on the back lawn. Saturday morning started off with the town fire trucks making the rounds at 6am with the sirens blaring loudly (yes, very irritating). Earl ended up riding in the flag ceremony at the park with his dad and brother and then hit the breakfast. We went to the parade at 10am will as many people as I have ever seen in town EVER. It was unbelievable. Fountain Green Lamb Day is a GOOD parade. Lauree met Maureen in SLC on Friday night and went to see George Strait (I know-not fair). They made it back for the parade though. After, we came home and ate lunch in a very, very hot house and then hit the park again. There are sheepcamps from every manufacter (old ones and new) on display, quite a few craft booths, and tons of games and rides for the kids. Dally and Kalon ended up riding the bucking machine and had a blast. FINALLY, Hayes got to sell his lamb. Actually, it ended up being Kalon's lamb but it worked out great. Kalon can't sell one until he is 8 and his was a wether. We are giving the ewe back to Dad and we will be lamb-free again. So, by this time, kids are exhausted, I am exhausted, onrey, and need a Pepsi. We ran home so kids could nap, and then Earl and I had to go up to the raffle. You had to be present to win. We have been present every year and never won....hmmm. Earl ended up talking forever and I walked home in 100 degree heat. We stayed up and set off our own fireworks until the town did theirs and then FELL into bed. TOTAL EXHAUSTION! Sunday's after Lamb Day are the best. EVERYONE walks around church in a daze! It was a good weekend!

Bear Country

Warren's herder, Ed, has had bear trouble lately and lost a lot of lambs and ewes to a hungry bear. He finally got even. I knew that this was bear country but this is the first one I've seen. Earl's brother was going to try and save the hide (that white stuff all over it is salt) but the DWR wouldn't let them keep it. They had already had us cut the ears off but after they saw how big ti was they changed their minds. I guess that the skull is pretty valuable. It was pretty cool to see though. It was 7 1/2 feet long from nose to hind paw.

Downgraded

Hmmmm. Well, I had an interesting Sunday. I had an appointment to meet with the bishopric right before church and they informed me that they were releasing me from my job as primary secretary. BIG SURPRISE. Okay, I GUESS I can do that. Then the told me that they wanted to keep me as a primary worker. Back to the hmmmmm. I have Chansy (10 months). My secretary job has not been so bad to do with a baby. As soon as I finish, I can take care of her. She plays by my feet as I take roll. Not a bad thing. As I was training the new secretary the counseler came up and told me that they were putting me in nursery. Now, normally, that would not be a bad thing. I LOVE THE KIDS IN THE NURSERY! Every week when I go in to take the roll I always hang out for a while. Our nursery is really young though. All day, I pictured 1 and 2 year olds mauling Chansy, crying, and then Chansy crying because they were crying, and fighting over toys. Yeah. Not a good day. I also have the lesson next Sunday. I am not complaining about teaching a lesson to little kids. Heck, I might even learn something since I am right on their level but-THIS WEEKEND IS LAMB DAY!!! Let's just say, completely over-scheduled and crazy. We are getting lambs ready this week and praying that they don't die before we get to sell them. Anyway, I guess that stress is a big deal in how I feel about the new calling and I really really hope that it will be better than I think. I don't like how I found out about it though. Is it normal to just be kicked out of a calling without any warning and just thrown into a corner. I JUST DON'T KNOW. So, if I ever quit murmering, I might get a few very needed blessings from this new experience to serve. Cowboy up to the nursery table. The snacks will help. Think that the kids will like chocolate and pepsi?!?

I really need a new lawn mower. The one that I have now was supposed to last forever when we bought it 8 years ago. It has been slowly dying a horrible death for the last year or two. I have tried everything. I've changed the oil yearly (or not) or at least fill it up when it runs out-which should count because at least it's new oil (right?). I have even had it to the local repair shop. Anyway, as of today, my yard looks like it grew dreadlocks and then I turned Dally loose with a pair of electric clippers. I decided to get creative today and mow it on a "diagonal". It would look soooo professional. Well, I started in the middle and started cutting it like you would plow a field in kind of a circle, working your way around. The mower got really sick. Just to get it to start the first time, I have to pull the spark plug and clean it. I did it 3 different times just to keep it running. Alas, failure, and then DEATH. My lawn is in mourning over it's ugliness which is not going to change in the near future. So, when you drive by my yard, it's the white trash one with the lawn mower up on blocks. Oh, wait, you won't be able to see it because the grass will be so tall!

911

Okay, I always get meat, potatoes, bread, etc. stuck in my esophagus. It hurts like a bugger but I can usually dislodge it myself by either forcing it down or back up. Last week, it was just stuck. I took a drink of water trying to force it down and ended up puking and inhaling everything! I thought that I was going to die. This was by far the worst case that I have ever had. I was home alone with the kids. Hayes had gone to bed sick and it was just Kalon, Dally, Chansy and I. It scared Kalon to death. Somehow, I made it though the night convulsing and puking constantly (I couldn't swallow my own spit because of the blockage) and hit the ER the next day for an endoscopy. Since then, Kalon has been questioning me about what he should do. He has been really concerned when it has happened before anyway, so we started learning about 911. We borrowed Dally's pink princess Aurora phone, learned the numbers to push, learned his address and what to say and do. Then we had a trial run with me pretending to choke. He did a really good job. So, then I told him that you could call ANYTIME that you had a bad emergency and they would send help. Our next emergency scenario was Dally being hit by a car with broken legs and arms and blood everywhere (he helped me make it up). As Dally's laying on the floor, Kalon dials 911(on the pink princess phone) and explains the situation. Then he tells the pretend person on the other end, "Hold on a minute, I need to take a picture of all this blood" as he walks toward Dally with the pretend camera phone pointed towards her. BOYS!

Captain Jack Sanpitch

My husband is amazing! Have I mentioned that before? Well, he is. He is the best husband and father that I could even imagine! He is so good to me and the kids worship the ground he walks on. We just spent a couple of days at his mom's reunion and the theme was "Pirates of the Sanpitch". She had Earl dress up as Captain Jack and attack the kids on the first night. It was a hit. He dueled with every kid there and made there whole day. His mom had made swords and sold them at the store so by the second day, EVERY kid had a sword. Captain Jack decided to make a special appearance on the second night as a surprise to everyone. He came bounding over a 6 foot high fence with a holler and yelled that he was back to claim his revenge. Needless to say, every kid at the reunion (grandkids, great-grands, cousins) came running to him armed to the teeth. He jumped up, jumped down, ran, climbed and made sure that his sword touched every kids there. He was amazing! He has to have the body of a teenager to do what he did. Then he made my night-He found his fair lady and gave her a kiss. WOOHOOO!!!

Holden, Porter, and Chansy- all born withing a month of each other.

Dad and Dally dancing.

Warren(my father in law) making everyone cry at the ping pong table.

Here lamb,lamb,lamb,lamb...

I grew up doing 4-H lambs. I didn't always enjoy it but the money part was GREAT! I was so glad when I sold my last lamb at 18 and thought that I would NEVER do show lambs again. So, the town where we live has a "Lamb Day" in the middle of July. NEVER have I been tempted to see the lamb show or have any interest in it. In fact, I've gone out of my way to avoid it. Well, the lady that I visit teach somehow talked me into letting Hayes and Kalon show lambs. I thought- okay, this will be good for then. Hayes can also use the money to buy his own school clothes. Earl was not so easy to convince! He never showed lambs. He even said that he would rather have him show a steer or even a pig at the fair. Way too much work for an overstressed Mommy! Finally Earl said that if we want to try it that we could- but we were going to be on our own. Grandpa Kent got us a ewe lamb and even "wethered" one of his buck lambs for us. So, here I go again. This time around it is even kind of fun. I love to watch the lambs buck and jump and drag my kids. Sad I know- but it brings back so many memories. I am even chuckling while I type this. I do makes sure that they don't get hurt or that it doesn't get too wild or crazy. The weirdest thing about this is... I enjoy it for me. I am so excited at how big the lambs are getting and how much better they are getting to lead. I love watching them DEVOUR the grain mix that they love. I still dread the "show" part of things (including all the prep). I'll never forget the disgusting smell of Ivory dish soap on wet lamb wool. YUCK! But, I guess that we'll keep going with one thought to bouy us up. The lamb sale here is one month SOONER than the fair. More money for less time and work. Countdown to sale...45 days left!