Emmy competed in Novice B obedience, and Coco just wouldn't let anyone touch her. Emmy held up pretty well, but she was frustrated. She also competed in Rally B and Skillathon. Even though the day had not gone as planned, Emmy was very excited to have enough points to earn her Ohio State Fair Dog Championship Title!!

 

July 29, 2013-- Ohio State Fair Dog Show

Emmy had a huge day at the Ohio State Fair Dog Show on Monday, July 29, 2013. She started the day with showmanship. Although Emmy answered the questions well, Coco was just too shy around the judge to do well. Plus, the judge asked competitors to do a more advanced pattern, and Emmy wasn't prepared for it. (heavy sigh...) Fortunately, Emmy was able to put that event behind her and focus on You and Your Dog. She did great in the interview, and Coco cooperated better. They earned a great score, resulting in second place in the state, second only to a pair from Franklin County (the apparent kings of that event, given that a Franklin County youth won every single You and Your Dog catagory). After You and Your Dog, Emmy competed in Rally B, and Coco did fantastic! Unfortunately, Emmy breezed right by one of the signs, resulting in an automatic deduction (heavy sigh...). All in all, though, Emmy and Coco had a good day. After the competition, Emmy went up on the midway with Ellie-Kate and Britti for a quick ride before the others left to go home. Emmy and Christie went back to the hotel to rest up for another day at the dog show.

 Emmy posed in front of her poster for the poster competition.

2nd place in the state!!

Ohio State Fair concert-- 7/28/13

After a 4-H meeting, Roger and Christie headed to Columbus with Britti, Emmy, and Ellie-Kate-- and Coco. With Britti back in the hotel watching the girls and the dog, Roger and Christie walked over to the state fair for dinner and a concert-- REO Speedwagon and Styx!!!!! What a blast to the past!! Other than the very loud music ringing in our ears, we loved hearing the familiar songs and spending some rare time with just each other :) (It was very cool to watch people use lighters-- not just their cell phones-- to honor the band-- wow!)

After the dog show... 7/27/13

Coco relaxes after a hard day at the office, er, show ring :)

Athens County Dog Show-- 7/27/13

Tyler & Buck, Riley & Bella, and Emmy & Coco (3rd)-- Novice B

Emmy and Coco in the ring for showmanship

 

Emmy & Coco (1st), Tyler & Buck, and Riley & Bella-- Intermediate Showmanship

 Madison, Emma & Gracie, Emmy & Coco (3rd), Abby, Zoe-- Pro Showmanship

Emmy and Coco celebrate a very good day at the dog show!

Grandma A-- 7/27/13

Roger, Ellie-Kate, Chelsea, Emmy, and Grandma A.

July 25, 2013

Britti, Emmy, Chelsea, and Ellie-Kate at the Athens City Pool for 4-H Day at the pool. After we got back from Burr Oak, we launched right back into parenthood, visiting the girls at the pool for 4-H Day. They came home, and we jumped right back into the very last day of VBS :)

"That's a wrap" on VBS-2013: Emmy, Christie, Ellie-Kate, and Chelsea Meagan

Anniversary at Burr Oak State Park-- 7/24/13-7/25/13

 

 

Happy 14th anniversary!! We are so grateful that we were able to go back to Burr Oak! For our 13th anniversary, we had to settle for dinner at Casa. We love Casa, but we LOVE Burr Oak, and we were so sad that it wasn't open for some time due to renovations. Actually, we had no idea about whether or not that it would ever re-open, but it did, and the renovations are spectacular! The restaurant/new bar are just amazing, and the renovated rooms are just breathtaking. We had a great time, and we hope that others re-discover this special place as well :)

VBS-- July 22, 2013

 Ellie-Kate, Emmy, and Chelsea

 Christie and Ellie-Kate

Emmy, Grandma A., and Ellie-Kate

*We had a lot of fun at VBS this year. Ellie-Kate attended so she had fun with the carnival games, crafts, movie, and FOOD! We had carnival food to fit our carnival theme-- popcorn, cotton candy, sno cones. Chelsea and Britti served as leaders, and Emmy worked in the game area. Of course, Christie was in the skits again. We did a Scooby Doo meets Andy Griffith set in a carnival. Christie played Thelma, a ride operator/actress wantabe. Our quest for the week was to identify the Rubber Ducky bandit. No, Christie was not the bad guy :) VBS is always such a great week, and 2013 was no exception!

Still Project Judging-- July 16, 2013

 

Emmy, Coco, Tyler, and Buck-- 1st and 2nd, respectively, in You and Your Dog

Emmy celebrates her great day at Still Project Judging-- 1st in Pet Pals, 1st in You and Your Dog, and 3rd in Self Determined.

Tough to describe...

Hi everyone--

It's really tough to describe just how insanely busy that the past seven weeks have been... Our friends and family are used to hearing about our crazy lives, but I really can't remember another stretch where things have been just this crazy... I'm not exactly certain why... We've always done 4-H judging and the fair, and Chelsea moved to Baylor last year too. However, the circumstances over the past several weeks swirled to create a perfect storm of commitments, opportunities, success, and, well, stress. Here's the quick update:

We went straight from 4-H judgings to VBS to four days at the Ohio State Fair to the Athens County Fair to soccer (Emmy) and Baylor move-in (Chelsea) to back to school for the younger girls and then Roger and I. Wow... After just typing that line, I realize that gloss doesn't even begin to do justice to our experiences. Of course, we are so very grateful for the many rich blessings that we have encountered. It's just been a lot...   

The light is starting to peek through the end of the tunnel and on to the horizon. I'm chugging through my "to do" list; Roger is almost done with his book; Chelsea is safely back at school; Britti is visiting Grandma P in Virginia, and the little girls are doing great in school. Now that I have a bit of time, I'm going to work on catching up our blog.

We've missed you! Hope that everyone had a great end of the summer and start to the school year.

Fondly--

Christie