SD State Fair

This week the SD State Fair began. It runs through Labor Day. My kids do not show livestock but do have some building projects at the fair. My nieces and nephew however are showing calves and dogs. I sure wish I could go watch them by I don't think I will make it to the fair this year. Courtney has a volleyball tournament all day Saturday (when the dog show is) and we move Jeremy to college on Sunday (when the heifers show). Kennedy with her heifer.
Nikki with her heifer.
Kassidy with her heifer.
Nolan and dog Hershey...he also has another dog "Chips" that qualified for the fair.
Kassidy and dog Carly.

I took all these photos at Hamlin and Clark County Fairs where I was fortunate enough to watch them show their animals. I am so proud of you guys!

Uppercase Living

Here are some of the Uppercase Living things that I bought and have hung up in/outside the house.....I still have one more to hang but it's a pretty large one and I am waiting for help from Chad (which I have learned could be quite a long time). I also have one in the laundry room that says "Laundry gathers here" but I forgot to take a picture if it.Outside - beside the patio door.

In the basement family room where the kids all hang out and watch movies and play air hockey and pool.

Basement family room too.

In the dining room right behind he dining room table.

In the hallway....I love this one because of our farming profession.

In our master bedroom.

In Courtney's room-she intends of hanging a bunch of her basketball photos on this wall.

In the hallway coming into the house.

They have sooooo many neat sayings that I could have ordered a bunch more but decided to stop with these and hope someone else has a party so I can order some more.

College Bound

We have been packing things up for Jeremy....getting ready to move him into his dorm on Sunday. Anybody have any tip, hints, tricks, suggestions on what to send with him or things you couldn't have lived without in college. Chad and I both went to vo-tech and stayed at home so we are new to this whole college experience! Jeremy with his girlfriend Stephanie and Courtney.

I don't think I ever posted that he has a girlfriend. They have been "going out" since the end of June and she is his first "real" girlfriend. That should be interesting with him going off to college too, she is a senior here at the school Jeremy graduated from. Lots of new changes for him.

Back to School

I can't believe I sent my daughter off today as a Junior in High School....Yikes....I can't believe my baby is a junior already.Here she is with her friend Tayler.

It was strange just sending one kid off to school.

Jeremy moves into his dorm on Sunday and starts school next Tuesday. Big changes here in the next few weeks.

Noem Clan

Here is a picture of the Noem grandchildren at the Twins game that we went to. It was so fun....it was Grandma and Grandpa Noem, all 3 of their boys and wives and all of the grandchildren. We don't all get together at the same time very often so it was quite a treat! Jeremy, Jackson, Kennedy, Booker, Kassidy, Mitchell, Courtney (missing Dawson, he is only 2 and was NOT in the mood for a picture)

Zucchini

I have got these coming out of my ears!So....I have made zucchini cake x2, zucchini bread, sauted zucchini, a zucchini casserole, have frozen 7 bags of grated zucchini and have given several away (and have had one stolen...right Laurie).
Chocolate Zucchini Cake....It tasted alot better than it looked!
Now onto these suckers.....I think we may have stuffed peppers for supper.

An Award

Farm Chick gave me an award!

The rule is to pass it on to 7 people.....here are the recipients of the award from me:

Kerrie

Amy

Jodi

SAH

Jennifer P.

Tracy

Amanda

Norway Pictures

I finally got some pictures downloaded from Jeremy's trip to Norway. Jeremy, Kasey and Karianne up on a mountain. They are so far up they are in the clouds and it is misty and cold.
The Fjords
Jeremy and Kasey at Gerangerfjorden.
Fjords
Fjords
Kasey, Karianne and Jeremy at the Sweden/Norway border.
Jeremy and Kasey at Lillehammer.
Jeremy and Kasey
Back of Trollstigen
Karianne's parents cabins they stayed in.

AWOL

Sorry I was AWOL this week!

We took a family vacation and were not going to leave until Wednesday but ended up leaving on Tuesday before I got to post about it.

We went with Chad's whole family (mom, dad, brothers and wives and all the nieces and nephews) to a Twins game. They beat the Yankees....YEAH! It was our first pro baseball game and Courtney's first trip to the Cities. Jeremy was the only one of us that had been to the Mall of America (he went on a NHS trip there last year).

We had a great time but as always, I am glad to be home. Hopefully I can get some pictures downloaded and posted on of these days.

Newest Family Member

Here are a few pictures of the newest member of our family.Meet Madyson (Mady for short).
One of the local families was giving away pups at the 4-H County Fair. Courtney fell in love with this one. I have to admit I was pretty taken with her right away too and both Chad and I had been thinking about getting a pup. Our dog Suzie is very arthritic and old and we didn't think she would make it through last winter. She seems to be handling the puppy very well.

Courtney would like to show her at the dog show next year at the County Fair....we will see if she has time to work with her.

4-H

Our county's (Hamlin) 4-H Achievement Days are going on now. The kids entered their building exhibits last night. Jeremy got 8 purples, 2 blues and 1 red ribbon. Courtney got 11 purples and 1 blue.

Today is the dog show. Jeremy and Courtney do not show dog but both my niece Kassidy and my Nephew Nolan do. I am heading to town today to watch them show their dogs.

Tomorrow my niece Nikki shows her calf at the Clark County Achievement Day show. We are heading to that county (about 45 miles away) to watch her and then my niece Kennedy (and maybe Kassidy, not sure) are showing their calves in our county show. I am hoping to get back to our county in time to watch them show too.

Grandma Phyllis (from Rapid City) came back to see the grandkids (Jeremy, Courtney, Nolan and Nikki) show and exhibit (and to get away from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally). She and I should have some fun times this week.

He's Home!

We FINALLY got Jeremy home! He and Kasey arrived in the States on Friday evening and were back in SD with us at 12:30pm Saturday. They didn't get into the States until late so they were not given a hotel room and had to sleep at the airport in NJ. The first things they asked for were a shower, clean clothes (their luggage is still missing) and food!

Jeremy talked non-stop for several hours. I can tell he really enjoyed his trip. He's not a huge talker but he just went on and on and on. He has some very interesting stories and he has some great photos too. The Fjords were his favorite part of the trip and he has some really gorgeous shots of that region. I am hoping to get some of his photos posted when I get a chance (he took about 350 pictures).

It is so good to have him home! I figure if I can handle this experience, I really shouldn't have any problem sending him off to college in a few weeks.....the college he chose is only 45 miles away.