I can’t believe we are done with the fairs. In many ways they drug by and in other ways we were done in the blink of an eye.  Now we get on with ranching. If anyone wants to come look at foals, we have some really nice ones left. And we are now home for a bit!

Monday was back to the grind for a few days before Othello Fair, and fairlag xs 3. Kaine’s Monday game was canceled due to the smoke in Wenatchee. Kade’s team watched film for their practice, so they did not have to go outside. Dad did not work on Monday so he went and picked Kade up from practice. We were all dragging Monday, so the lack of game and practice Monday was probably for the best. The kids did some last-minute packing and working on their steers. Except Jaxsen, because he is done.  And he continues to tell us that when we mention helping.

Tuesday was weigh in after school, so the boys missed practice to weigh in their steers. Jay had to come over and touch-up on Roarke before everyone could leave. Jaxsen does not go to Othello, but mom thinks he should. This is Toni’s quote for the fairs, I do not agree, I think I ALWAYS looks good, so if you do not agree, I am not asking for your opinion. LOL. “We start the fairs out pretty good. You pack some cute clothes, go through Benton Franklin looking decent. All the moms turn up looking fresh. When we go to Connell we have a few days when we look decent. When we get to Othello we all look like we are sleeping at the train station. Comfortable clothes and shoes are the only requirement. Comments may be like the following- hey where did you get those shoes? Oh cool, your kid outgrew them so now you are wearing them, they look comfy! Fair 3/3 the only requirement is to survive.” And just FYI on Toni’s shoes, they are from Kaine, so her nephew out grew them. AND she ALWAYS wears them. She only tried to wear some cute shoes one day at Benton Franklin, which were new, and STILL has blisters from them. Toni took the kids to weigh in and I met them there. McCall brought us pizza for dinner, and Traci brough taco salad for her and Anna. The soft serve ice-cream booth was open on Tuesday so Leslie bought everyone that was there cones before dinner. Forever the cones have been $1.00 but due to inflation they charged $2.00 this year. The flies were so bad on Tuesday night the horses were just in a big group.

Wednesday was market and breeding classes. Anna was Grand Champion 4H champion. Kade had Grand Champion Angus heifer. All of the kids showed great and their steers did well. We got done early after and went back to the camper for lunch. Josie took the boys to school for practice and back. The men did chores for us.  On Wednesday we all realized that 75% of the people that had gone to CBJLS were sick at Othello. Not just steer kids and parents but everyone. Not covid because people tested and it was negative, but Wednesday there were lots of people that didn’t feel good. On a positive note the food at Othello is so much cheaper than BF Fair that we got icecream and pig ears pretty much everyday. We still had a crew to feed at the camper, some of the same kids as the last 2 fairs, but a few new ones too. Anna’s boyfriend Lane was at Othello so we requested that he eat with us at every meal. A 16 year old boy with very little supervision probably doesn’t make the best food choices without an adult stepping in. Mom outdid herself again and we had cookies, lemon bars, muffins, corn bread muffins, and some other goodies. We don’t eat healthy at the fairs.

Thursday was fitting and showing. Again everyone did a great job. Anna was grand champion Sr showman and Kade was grand champion intermediate. Both got to show in the round robin on Friday. Kaine’s best friend Max was reserve champion intermediate, we were very proud of him. This is only his second year showing steers. Max is one of those kids that we grew up with his parents and consider him one of our extended kids. Aunt Jill Pierson came over from Hay to watch the kids show, which was super nice of her.  The kids started going around to learn the round robin animals Thursday afternoon.  Josie took the kids to sports again.

Friday was the round robin at noon and judging in the morning. I went to work for a few hours and then started to feel sick and went home. I was sick and in bed the rest of the week. I heard the kids all showed well in the round robin.  Because Othello is during the school year a bunch of kids we knew were running around on Friday for livestock judging. Some of our Jr. Angus kids were there, so Toni saw them. Ady was Grand Champion in judging. Kelton was reserve. The kids FFA team was 1^st. Kaine had a game in the late afternoon, Toni cooked the taco meat that I was supposed to take for the team dinner. Josie took all the kids in, Vicki Buss helped Kaine get the crock pot with the meat set up. I went to the game but I didn’t feel great. I dropped Kaine and his friend Kutter back at the fair after and went back home. Our friend Nicole gave the kids rodeo tickets for her box at Othello so Toni and Traci took Skittles, Julian, Ady, Kade, Adrian, and Aram to the rodeo. The three older kids did not sit in the box, I guess they don’t want to be seen with the adults. Julian loves JJ Harrison (rodeo clown) so the three younger kids had a great time.

Saturday was the sale and everyone sold well. Thank you to all of our Othello Fair buyers, Edith Spencer bought Anna’s, Simplot bought Kades and Steve Jachetta bought Kaines. Natalie, Ady and Julian did well as well. The steers sold first and then after everyone hung out at the fair. Toni tried to buy us a couple of pigs like she did last year, but the pigs sold really well. The support at all of the fairs this year has been tremendous. After chores, most of the kids went back to my camper and hung out. They played cards, watched a movie, and the younger kids played football outside of the camper. The men went in after chores and went to the rodeo. Except for the rodeo goers, everyone else went to sleep early due to fair exhaustion.

Sunday morning everyone got up to load out steers and load all of the tack and heifers out. The men stayed and helped load out. Then everyone came home and unloaded. The 2023 steers that we have and a couple of the heifers got tied in the barn, yes we have already started working on them. After everyone went home to get schoolwork and regular work done, Toni and I started weaning foals. It is that time! We also had a couple of poles down to put up. I think when we leave the studs like to really get rowdy. Since Jax has no steers, he had to help fix fence. Yes, there was complaining.