Happy Labor Day everyone. We had a good Labor Day. The kids finished clipping their show animals for CBJLS and Othello. In the morning I did some computer work and Toni did some law work. Ben went to Othello and got some parts to fix the power in the barn, so he worked on that. After lunch Toni and I went out and got Gunners pen in. We pulled Gunner and hauled him to my house, Jackpot was there in the next pen so we pulled him as well. We hauled the mares and foals to mom and dads, wormed the dry mares and turned them back out. This sounds pretty simple but it took some time. Gunner and Jackpot are great to handle, so that helps the situation. We actually caught Gunner out on the 500 acres, tied him to the back of the pick-up and had the mares follow him in. Jackpot just ran in because the corral is where we put the mares from Gunner’s pen. It was dusty and hot work, but needed to be done before the next set of fairs which are back-to-back. Hunter came to see Call, so Toni rode the new mare, Minnie, around while she waited for him.
Tuesday Sonny and Jeanie came up and brought some pork. They have some bulk pork sausage for sale for $5/lb if you need pork sausage. It is processed at WSU in the meats lab so is USDA inspected. They were supposed to bring our 3rd donkey up from Pete, but he was unable to get in touch with Sonny to let him know. Kaine had a JV game in Othello after school. So Ben, mom, dad and I went to that. Toni, Jaxsen and Anna did chores, and Kade assisted after football practice. The football game was good, Kaine had a lot of play time.
Wednesday was steer weigh in for CBJLS after school, it was from 5-7, so Kaine and Kade got to go to practice as well. Toni had a Teams meeting Wednesday morning, and she soaked her feet that were still blistered from wearing new shoes at Benton Franklin Fair. Once Anna and Jax were home from school, those two and Toni got the steers loaded and hauled in. Our steers all weighed in well. Dad, mom and I did the horse chores and the men did the cow chores. I didn’t go in to the fair. Everyone participated in the spaghetti 4-H feed and meeting where they divvied up responsibilities for the week. For us this should be our best fair week. All of the jackpot steers are at this one fair. Why we didn’t split them up is beyond me, but it makes things easy. I can say with certainty that our steers should be rock solid in the show ring, meaning they aren’t going to be wild. There were 2 steers that came off their trailers hot that belonged to other people. That always makes for an interesting time.
Thursday was market, the kids all showed very well. In weight order, Kade won his class, Jaxsen, Ady and Julian were all in the middle of their classes, Kaine won his class, Natalie got second, they were in the same class, and Anna won her class. So Kade, Anna, Kaine and Natalie all came back to the championship round. Anna was grand champion and Kaine was Reserve. They all showed great. I was at work, so I missed it all, we are saying it might be lucky if I am not there?? Mom, dad and I did horse chores again and the men did cow chores and worked on circles. The event at CBJLS for Thursday was a movie, Minions, Toni, Anna, Kade and Jaxsen were all too tired to go, so Kaine went and spent the night at Leslie’s house.
Friday was showmanship, and all of our kids did wonderful. They start with oldest at CBJLS, Anna was Grand Champion Sr, Ady was Grand Champion Intermediate, and Emmett was Reserve. And Jaxsen who had a “burning desire for a buckle” was Grand Champion Jr and Natalie was Reserve. Jax was our only kid without a buckle and he had been feeling the pressure. At one point he was trying to borrow one from Whitney but they have dates on them and he didn’t want a buckle that predated his birth. Then there was peewee showmanship followed by adult showmanship. Of interest to me is that the peewees showed specific steers then the adults all fought over those same steers to show in the adult class. So, I guess the adults needed to see the peewees show before they could pick a steer? All of our good steers got shown in both classes. None of us showed adult, but Toni, Leslie, and Traci had to show during the junior championship round. The judge had the kids pick a parent to come in and show their steer, then they critiqued their parent. Don’t worry, Toni is certain she won. We think Jax had fun using the mike and saying what he thought Toni was doing wrong. Savannah and Kayla showed peewee steers, sheep and pigs. The round robin in Friday night, so Anna, Ady and Jaxsen went around and learned how to show everything. Toni, Marlo, Whitney and I went home and did chores. The round robin was great, Ady and Jaxsen had never gotten to participate in one before. Anna was grand champion overall Sr showman and RDO donated some really nice boxel boxes. That evening we had axe throwing, so the kids all went axe throwing and had a great time.
Saturday was livestock judging in the morning and then the sale. Kade was grand champion in Intermediate division judging, Natalie in Jr and Anna in FFA. Kaine was reserve in FFA. The sale was great, prices were really good. Thank you CBHA, Christensen Oil, Ed and Liz Schneider and 3 Rivers Potato for buying the kids’ steers. After the sale we loaded the steers, the men did all of the chores for us. Then we had a BBQ, awards ceremony and then a 4H dance. The 4-H dance was really well attended and the music was hopping. Some of the parents went out and showed their moves too. We did decide (adults that is) that we need a 4-H meeting where we teach the kids to dance. Savannah tried to dance as many dances as she could with her chosen boys, mostly Emmett. Poor guy. When the older kids wanted to dance with her, she would just say no and go grab Emmett. Emmett finally left.
Sunday we woke up and went into CBJLS to pack up, and Stacy and Emmett had most of the bed cleaned out already and the decorations down. So we loaded up the trailer and it was not that long before we were in Othello. We unloaded the trailer and made our beds up for Othello. Our last terminal show for the season. We are still suffering from Fairlag, now times 2. We all went to Checos for lunch when we were done setting up, it was good. Then we went home and did ranch work. We had livestock to check, fence to fix, water to move, so the normal.
CBJLS was an amazing experience. All of our kids did great. The biological kids and the kids of our hearts. They didn’t all win the purple but they left everything they had in the ring. To say that the competition was deep is an understatement. Jaxsen had told the Judge he was going to bring it, and I felt like they all brought it. Then the support from the community only enhanced the experience. CBJLS might be a little show, but it is mighty. And everyone has a good time. No drama, no parking passes, no payment to go watch the show. Everyone is there to support each other and do their best for our community. There isn’t anything as great as a community livestock show to renew your faith in your neighbors and your commitment to the community in which you live.
KT Ranch 
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