'Twas a Big Week

Y'all. Last week was long. And soooo very busy. But it ended up being SUCH a big week for my older girl that it's almost hard to put into words.

For starters - remember when I posted pics of her and this one was included? Well, what I didn't say at the time is that I had taken them because she needed to submit a photo with her Heart o' Texas Fair & Rodeo Sweetheart application. Tryouts were last Wednesday and Taylor is now officially a Sweetheart. In fact, she has her first meeting tonight.

We really could not be more proud and I know she'll have an amazing time representing the fair throughout the year. She'll definitely be busy but seeing her sooooo excited was really amazing.

Thursday was spent preparing for the Midway Livestock Show & Sale that would be held Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Now, sweet Sprocket didn't fare all that well. The judge actually thought he was a good looking goat but told Taylor he just doesn't like big goats so he was definitely out of luck. He did weigh in at 108 pounds, after all.

Dottie was being shown against all the cattle in our school and, while we may not excel in goats, the heifers our kids have are really impressive. Like, Taylor was nervous showing against them that night. But, y'all, SHE AND DOTTIE WON GRAND CHAMPION.

Does that smile not just say it all?

And she finally won a buckle. In her first heifer season. And speaking of heifers...guess who's having a baby? :)

Yep. Baby calf will be here in late September.

Saturday afternoon was cold. And wet. But the sale must go on, right? Taylor was surrounded by sweet friends all weekend and it was so fun to watch all of them just, you know, hang out. They've built quite the bond this year and that makes me extremely happy.

And, yes, Sprocket ended up being quite a lover. Seems to be a trend with our goats.

And sometimes he behaves. So you have to take a picture to prove it.

A sweet friend of ours came out to buy for his company and bought ol' Sprocket. For which we are very grateful.

And I, of course, stupidly went back into the barn as we were leaving him for the last time to take some last photos. And I ended up bawling while taking said photos.

But at least they turned out cute, right?

So long, sweet Sprocket - we love you so!