We started out with an eventful Monday. Dad texted that Sally was foaling, then a few minutes later that she did not know she was foaling. This is Sally’s first foal. I changed out of my work clothes really fast and headed out the door, Anna was headed in so she jumped in with me. We ran down there and Dad, Anna and I pulled the big guy. On our way down we saw that Twiggy had foaled, so we stopped and checked it out on our way home, a cute buckskin filly. Toni gave both colostrum when she went and checked. Then she chopped down some more trees with her Dewalt chain saw. Allie called Toni because she had a ride home for Annie and Benelli, she checked Benelli and she is in foal to NZ Scotch Time, we are very excited. We love Glo and this baby will be a ¾ sibling. Annie is a very protective mother, maybe a little crazy when others get by her foal, so Allie was ready for her to leave. The mares got home about 6:15 pm and we got some warmbloods in about 4:30 pm to go on the same trailer, so we were the meeting spot for everyone. The warmbloods were very interesting. Annie and Benelli were happy to be back and on pasture.
Tuesday Bell had a cute filly by King. Only Jaxsen went to school, the rest of us packed in the morning then we headed up to the Spokane Jr Livestock Show. We got in and started setting up. Also Anna applied for the Show Ambassador while we were up there and got that, so that was exciting.
Wednesday was work on homework day. At the show there is livestock judging, but it is state judging, and Connell FFA did not have a Team up there and it takes all day, so our kids worked on homework. Anna did have a meats judging team, and participated in that. The Connell team was made up of kids we knew so they came and hung out in the barn with us and our kids when they were done. Hardy, one of the boys, said that Connell was in the top 10 for meats judging. Toni asked how many teams, he said 5. He is a pretty funny/sarcastic kid. Aram was also on the meats team so when they were done he helped Anna wash her steers and just helped us at our stalls. This year at Spokane they had more vendors so we went around to those and bought some stuff. Toni and Traci went to Boot Barn to get clothes for the growing kids. Dad took a bull up to Odessa, a repeat buyer had an older bull get injured and bought one of the ones we had left to turn out with cows. So dad ran them up there.
Thursday was Market, FFA showed in the morning and we did not show until afternoon. Camie had a cute colt by Leroy on Thursday. Camie would not let anyone get close to it so we did not know what she had until we got home on Sunday. The kids’ prospect steers did great, Anna, Kaine, Kade, Ady and Julian all made it back to the championship round. Natalie made it back to the championship round in market with her big steer. Emmett did not make it back but he did a great job showing. Peewee showmanship was after market, prospects and the pen of 3. Savannah and Kayla both did a great job showing. All of the animals showed great. It was a long day by the time we were done. Anna, Kaine, and Kade all made top 10 prospect steers. We were really happy with Kaine’s steer Shazam. Shazam was brought in out of the pen on the Sunday before we left, so this was his first show. He was a rock star.
Friday was Fitting and Showing. Mom, Deb and dad came up to watch the kids and Kicker brought the trailer to take the prospects home. Reba foaled on Friday by DP Gunnaoutshinya. Dad sent a random totally bad picture from his yard so all we could tell was that Reba foaled, it was sorrel (both parents were sorrel so we knew it would be sorrel), the foal was up, and it had some high white socks. All of the kids, except Natalie, showed their prospects in Fitting and Showing, Natalie showed her big steer that did so well the day before. Natalie and Kade were both 3rd overall in their division. Anna was 6th and Kaine 7th overall seniors. Ady and Julian both made it back to the championship round. After we got done showing we washed the steers and threw them on the trailer for Kicker to take home. Mom, dad and Deb had already left. We were supposed to have hamburgers for dinner, but it was pouring rain, so we had left overs. Overall, for both show days, these steers did fantastic. The kids also did well, but the steers were pros.
Saturday was the sale, we were last like normal. Pigs always get to sell first due to transportation issues. Rosey foaled on Saturday, a fancy buckskin colt by King. Lots of questions about if he will go gray- there is a 50% chance. We had great support at the sale, thanks to our 2023 buyers, Ledgerwood Gelbvieh and Rafter C Red Angus bought Anna’s steer, Les Schwab bought Kaine’s steer and M Five Farms bought Kade’s steer. Thank you to everyone. We loaded out Kade’s steer, and the rest stayed until Sunday, so we fed them and packed up our stuff. The big and medium kids went and played laser tag, and the little kids, Anna and the adults went out to dinner with Toni’s law school roommate Kellie.
Sunday we finished loading up the steers and then came home. Toni and I spent the afternoon moving horses around the kids cleaned out the trailer and started working on their next group of steers.
Thanks to the men, Jaxsen, mom and dad for doing the chores while we were gone and keeping everything going. One of the hardest things about leaving is all of the extra work it causes, but at the same time, these kids want to show, so we are going to let them. Anna, Kaine, and Kade have a passion for their cattle and the show ring, nurturing that drive and encouraging them to pursue their dreams is what parenting is about.
KT Ranch 
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