stock shows and memories...

I know there is a wide range of people that read this little blog... and I am not sure how many of you know what a stock show even is. I would guess a lot of you but maybe not ALL of you. So a 'stock show' is basically a show of animals... whether it be heifers, steers, pigs, goats, sheep, etc. You basically buy an animal and walk it in front of a judge... and the best animal wins! Ha! And if you don't know about this or have never seen it, I am sure I have just blown your mind! :-)

I did this from the time I was 9 (or probably before) until I graduated high school. And I LOVED it! I have so many awesome memories. I met people along the way from different schools that I am still in contact with today! These things are HUGE in the southern schools. They are ALOT of work (mostly for my dad. sorry dad!), but they are so worth it! There are shows when it is 100+ degrees and shows when it is in the 20s. I know after saying it has HARD work and the weather can be crappy, you just cannot imagine why anyone would want to do it... but they are seriously some of my best memories. NONE of my close friends showed with me. It was something I really did on my own. But I think that was the good thing. I had to go out of my comfort zone and meet people all on my own. Just talking about this makes the memories rush back in...

And saying all of that... imagine how OVER EXCITED I was when Nana called and asked if Hadlea could show a bottle calf in their local stock show with Riley and Hannah. Yall... I swear I did a bunch of little dances. I called Justin and told him... which he didn't understand since he has never been to a show in his life. I wasn't sure if she would do it... she can get stage fright pretty easy, but we talked it up and our sweet girl delivered!

with Riley and Hannah getting ready for the show! 

Riley was up first! He has two heifers and won first in his class with both!

Hadlea meeting her 2 day old baby. She named it Georgia.

And now they are in the ring showing off their babies.

The bigger heifers scared Hadlea a little so Riley got to go in with her.

All of the kids received $5, a trophy and a blue ribbon.

She was LOVING it!

my sweet girls with their trophies!

this is how we got hadlea's baby around. They just carried it! ha!

Gigi and Poppa even drove up to watch. This was heaven for Poppa too!

our little winners!

some of our neighbors drove down to watch too.

we called them the fan club!

Nana and Rusty with their babies!

LOVE this!

Thanks to Rusty for all of the extra work in getting this done. Like I said, this is ALOT of work, and I am so thankful they thought of Hadlea when they decided to do this!

This momma got to re-live some high school times  on the other side.

It was an awesome feeling!

PS. Jennifer, I WILL post some pictures of me showing soon. I need to get back to Medford and get some! :-)