Vacation

We were able to take a vacation in August.

We didn't think we were going to get it done but we squeezed it in.

We went to the Black Hills (again). My mom lives out there so we visited her and got some site-seeing in too.

Family picture taken in Deadwood at Woody's Wild West.

Very fun experience!

We brought Jeremy's girlfriend Stephanie along with us. We left the day of her birthday so we grabbed some birthday cupcakes along the way to celebrate her birthday.

Jeremy and Stephanie rode the 1880 train from Hill City to Keystone.

Courtney, Stephanie and Jeremy enjoying ice cream in Deadwood.

Chad and me taking a break to have dinner in Deadwood.

Courtney...real impressed that I am taking her picture!

Stephanie and Jeremy

Jobless

Ok, I am not totally jobless but I have decided to resign as daytime waitress at the "Bullpen" restaurant where I have worked part time for the last year. I loved my job and enjoyed interacting with the customers, especially the seniors that I served the 60's Plus meals to.



After much discussion and with both kids gone to college, Chad and I decided that I was needed here on the farm much more. It was a hard decision to come to but I do realize that my job was creating more stress on Chad and the farm (and me on occasion) than I realized. You see, I have been at home raising kids and helping on the farm for the last 19 years and although I do enjoy being home, I thought I was missing out on something. I will always treasure my time I spent working off the farm and they have asked me to fill in when I am not crazy busy on the farm (those of you who farm, know that is rarely). Anyway, I am now back to being full-time Frazzled Farm Wife again.

Empty Nest

Both of my kids are now at college.

Chad and I are officially "empty-nesters"!

So how has it been?

So far I haven't noticed a huge difference, only that they do NOT come home at night. They were at the age where they were out working or doing their own thing but managed to come home some time during the night, anywhere between 10pm and 3am *yawn* to sleep. I don't think is has totally hit me yet, when it does, I am afraid it is going to hit hard! So in the meantime, Chad and I continue to farm and enjoy each other.

*Courtney is having a hard time adjusting to college life as I am sure most freshmen do. I hear from her often via phone calls and texts (several a day). So, I am trying to enjoy those moments as I know some day I will not hear from her very much at all!*

State Dog Show

I finally got my pictures downloaded from the State Dog Show held several weekends ago.

Courtney and Madyson and Nolan and Chips in the ring for TEAM. Team consists of 4 kids with their 4 dogs doing synchronized tasks.

My niece Kennedy showing Maggie in OBEDIENCE.

A friend's daughter Chloe showing her dog Tinkerbell in RALLY.

Courtney showing Madyson in SHOWMANSHIP.

Nolan showing Chips in SHOWMANSHIP.

Dylan and Cooper, Courtney and Madyson and Nolan and Chips during TEAM. Not pictured is Ryder and Tess, also part of the team.

Courtney and Madyson (can you tell she loves her dog and her dog adores her).

Courtney showing Madyson in RALLY.

It was once again a very long, hot day (not as hot as the county show though, thank goodness).

It was a new experience for us and Courtney had fun showing her dog at the State Show. She ended up with blues in TEAM, RALLY, and SHOWMANSHIP and a purple in OBEDIENCE.

Achievement Days 2010

4-H Achievement Days are being held this week in our county. This is the week all the kids get to exhibit their homemade projects and show their animals that they have been working on all year.

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Courtney did very well on her projects. She received 14 purples and 1 blue.

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The dog show was yesterday.....

My nephew received purples in Rally, Agility, Obedience, Showmanship and Team!!

He also received Grand Champion in Obedience, Reserved Champion in Showmanship and Reserved Champion in Agility.

Here is Courtney with her dog Madyson.
Courtney received purples in Rally, Showmanship, Obedience and Team and a red in Agility. She also received Grand Champion in Rally.
It was 95 degrees out yesterday and we were at the show for 9 hours. Even with the heat, all the dogs and kids did GREAT!

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The cat show was held today.....

Here is Courtney playing around with her cousin Nolan's cat aka her moustache!

Nolan showing his cat.

He received a purple on the cat and also Reserved Champion Showmanship!

Farm Life

We have been crazy busy here on the farm!

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We got second cutting of hay put up and road ditches cut and baled.

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We have vaccinated all 3300 pigs TWICE now....wow, what a job!

If only they would stand still like this when we vaccinate!

Don't I look glamorous after vaccinating? NOT!


We started the spring wheat harvest yesterday...

after a few minor problems were solved.

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4-H Achievement Days are next week so Courtney has been busy getting her projects done and practicing with our dog Madyson, getting ready for the dog show.

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We were going to try to take a family vacation this summer but it is looking kind of bleak now, the summer is almost over for the kids, they both go to college at the end of August.

Window Wells

We had two of our window wells fill up with water during one of the many rainstorms we have had this summer and one window leaked water into the spare bedroom in the basement so we had a little investigating to do.

We dug down to the tile line to find out what the problem was....

Chad is 6' 5 " and when we got done digging, he could not see out of the hole...
and of course he picked one of the hottest days of the summer, also my birthday, to do the work.

We had no pea rock down to the tile line (just mostly clay) so we filled it with pea rock so it could drain properly....and have not had a leak since, even though we have had several more rain storms since, so I think it is fixed.

I did not take pictures of the other window well. That one was under the deck and was a PAIN to work on!!!!!