2009 Clearwater County Fair

Sorry this is such a long post! What can I say, I talk a lot! Hope you enjoy!

Jacob's third Clearwater County Fair definitely tops them all! Wednesday afternoon we loaded Hot Dog and Pizza into the trailer and off they went to the county fair! I know Jacob had no clue what the purpose of the fair was, but I believe that in his eyes we took his pigs to a new place to show all of his friends! Anytime another friend would come around he was thrilled to grab their hand and pull them to his pig's pen.

Speaking of friends, we could never ask for better! So many of our friends are more than willing to help out with Jacob and to spend their time playing with him. He spent a great amount of time "farming" in the cattle barn with whoever was willing to stop by. Everybody became accustomed to Jacob just grabbing their hand and walking with them wherever they were heading and some would even come and ask if Jacob would like to accompany them; crazy people! Thank you to every one of you who helped in keeping him entertained and happy all week! We are so blessed to have such great friends and family!

Friday kept Scott and Kendall busy with cattle. They spent the majority of the day sorting cattle to take to the fair for pen classes while Jacob and I headed to the fair to feed the pigs and watch the 4-H pig show. We thought we would let Jacob preview what Hot Dog and Pizza would be doing a couple of days down the road. Jacob was absolutely enthused with the show. He begged and begged to go into the show ring and finally I let one of the swine superintendents carry him in. He loved it! I figured we had possibly "used up" all of Jacob's enthusiasm on the 4-H show and he may not be so thrilled about showing his pigs on Sunday. I was pretty convinced that Scott and Kendall would be the ones showing with Jacob and I on the sidelines watching.

Saturday Scott showed pen classes which is always so competitive! All of the exhibitors brought outstanding stock! Scott placed in the middle of most of his classes, which I know isn't where he wanted to be, but considering the competition, I thought it was great! He received some well-deserved compliments on his cattle!

Sunday was Jacob's big day! Bright and early at eight in the morning the open swine show was set to start. Before the show, I still assumed that Jacob would not be joining in. I'm sure by now, most of you understand Jacob's ways quite well. If he doesn't have showing pigs on his mind then there is absolutely no way you will get him to show pigs. We got to the fair, fed and washed the pigs, then started prepping Jacob. At first, he wouldn't even hold the whip. Then, some of the boys who were showing pigs also came over and coached him through it. We all clapped and cheered when he made his first little tap on the pig. He received more and more encouragement from friends and also saw Kendall practicing with the pigs. From that point on, he was ready to go. It was hard to keep him out of the show ring; he actually snuck in a couple of times. Finally it was his turn to take his pigs in and he yelled, "Yay! Wet's go, Daddy! Wet's go, Dendall!"

I honestly did not stop laughing the entire show. It started with Jacob recognizing that Uncle Jon was in the audience so he had to give a shout out to announce that, "Uncah Don here!" Then his focus went directly to Pizza (he's the less ornery of the two)! Kendall was debuting her showing skills with Hot Dog and Scott followed Jacob who was chasing Pizza throughout the show arena. Jacob sang to Pizza, he hollered at Pizza, "Ober dare, Teetzah! Come on, come on, Teetzah, wet's go!", then there was the mix up. Hot Dog and Pizza stood next to each other and Jacob decided that he wanted Hot Dog instead of Pizza. Kendall and Scott kept trying to redirect him to Pizza, but Jacob had none of it. The judge came over, squatted down and said, " You want to show Hot Dog instead? I think you're making the right choice. I would pick Hot Dog over Pizza, too." So Kendall and Jacob switched and not long after that, the judge placed Hot Dog in first. He announced (I'm not sure if you can hear it in the video below) that he was putting Hot Dog in first place with the junior 2 1/2 year old showman! Jacob received his ribbon and went nuts!! He jumped and yelled, "Woohoo! Yay!!". Then, he ran to the middle of the show ring, gave his whip to the ring man, and twirled his ribbon around for everyone to see! What a nut! The crowd went wild...or just laughed hysterically!

Thanks for checking in! God bless! Scott, Kim, and Jacob

Watching the 4-H show.

I love this view of the beef pen classes.

All the exhibitors stand in the back of the pen and talk while they wait for the judge to finish.

Scott showing one of his cow/calf pairs.

Jacob coloring with a friend, Austin.

Jacob farming with a friend, Tanner.


Kendall assisting with the halter show. Nobody could convince her to show!

Ready and waiting.

After the show we grilled for all the exhibitors.



Practicing before the show

Waiting for his turn. He's all about climbing gates now!!

Farming with a friend, Caleb.

Taking a break.

And, yes, what would the fair be without a little crush.

Jacob received a couple of kisses from Madison, 4, and she gave him directions to her house as well.

Madison showed pigs that morning as well.

Jacob decided to help clean his pig pen.