A Family for Ellie-Kate: October 2014

Friday, October 31, 2014

Saying good-bye to the 2014 Athens County Junior Fair... 8/9/14

Ellie-Kate and Britti eat one last dinner at the Lion's Club booth...

Ellie-Kate got one last chance to go on the kiddie rides... On the one hand, it's great that she's so tall for sports... On the other hand, it's sad that she's so tall because she won't be able to go on the kiddie rides again next year... Our baby really is growing up...

Ellie-Kate and a girl from her softball team rode on the kiddie roller coaster together.

Chelsea and Ellie-Kate

Ellie-Kate had a great time at the barn dance! Actually, Chelsea and Britti enjoyed the line dancing too after we finished taking down our fair booth. Meanwhile, Emmy was at a pre-season soccer scrimmage... Let's just say that she was definitely NOT happy about missing so much of the fair due to soccer two-a-days and then the scrimmage...

Other than soccer conflicts, we had an AMAZING county and state fair!! Emmy just had incredible dog and rabbit shows and food judging. Britti did a super job with 4-H judgings and the fair. Chelsea Meagan had an awkward fair... She was too old for 4-H and Junior Fair Board but too young for official, adult roles. Thus, she volunteered throughout the fair and filled in gaps where the Junior Fair Board members weren't available. It was very cool to see Britti and Chelsea running the Wednesday poultry show together :) Ellie-Kate enjoyed the kiddie parade, rides, and all of the animals. We're so blessed that all of the girls love the fair. What a special time for our family :)

Last day of the 2014 Athens County Junior Fair... August 9, 2014

Brittany, Becca, Sabrina, Chelsea, Adale, and Sierra all participated on the Fair Queen Tractor Pull team

They pulled hard and came in a close second (to a much more, well, well-equipped team). They walked off the track and vowed to train harder for 2015!

Britti, Adale, Sierra, Becca, and Chelsea

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Halloween, 2014: TBT

TBT: Six years ago tonight, we had just finished trick or treating, and, over pizza, I confided to our friends about this beautiful baby with amazing eyes. Roger and I had been approved for the Special Needs List, and I just kept going back to one of the babies. I could close my own eyes and see her looking at me from the top left corner of the screen (and still can!). As I told our friends about this baby, I shared that her special needs seemed to go beyond what we had agree...d that we could handle. Yet, I couldn't stay away from staring at her photo, every time that I turned on the computer. Blessedly, our friends encouraged us to get more information about the precious baby in the picture who would soon become our incredible Ellie-Kate. Thanks to Dan Modaff and Jennifer Butler Modaff for being such great friends and such an important part of our journey as a family. Trick or treat night gained a special place in our heart that night, six years ago.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Auction Day-- August 8, 2014

Emmy had another incredible day at the fair. At the pre-sale auction announcements, she won Intermediate Skillathon for Rabbit, Intermediate Skillathon for Dog, Outstanding Intermediate Exhibitor for Rabbit, and Outstanding Intermediate Exhibitor for Dog. WOW!!!

Emmy also was recognized for earning her 5th Athens County Dog Champion Title!! Other club members earning titles included Chloe, Olivia, Tyler, and Abby

Chloe, Nicki, Olivia, Emmy, Abby, and Tyler

Emmy and Ellie-Kate

Chelsea helped one of her former campers with selling her Reserve Grand Champion Turkey!

Emmy and Coco-- 8/7/14

The Athens News was kind enough to run a special issue about the Athens County Fair champions, and it needed a picture of our Dog Pro Showmanship Champion!! Thus, we re-created a picture of Emmy, Coco, and their awards from the county dog show.

Thursday, August 7, 2014: Athens County Junior Fair

Ellie-Kate in the kiddie tractor pull competition (Let's just say that her upper body strength is MUCH more impressive than her leg strength...)

Emmy competed in the first ever Iron Chef competition on the Hillside Stage. She won first in her category and reserve champion overall :) Emmy had just an incredible fair, even in the "fun" categories!

Adam and Chelsea were the judges. (Chelsea would be an even tougher critic than someone who didn't know her.)

More midway fun... August 6, 2014

Emmy and Ellie-Kate enjoy the midway!

Working the poultry show... August 6, 2014

Chelsea and Britti worked the poultry show together... just like old times :)

HIgh School Orientation-- 8/6/14

Yu-Shin, Emmy, Kali, and Patricia all compare schedules after orientation. How surreal to be at the high school for orientation right smack in the middle of fair week!

Emmy at her very first high school locker!

Celebration at Texas Road House-- 8/5/14

Chelsea, Britti, and Emmy smile during our celebration for Emmy's great day at the rabbit show!

Fun on the midway-- 8/5/14

After an intense (and amazing!) rabbit show, Ellie-Kate got rewarded for her patience and treated to some rides on the midway :)

2014 Athens County Rabbit Show-- August 5, 2014

Well, the day didn't start out great... Emmy didn't show market so the excitement from last year's final drive (wherein Emmy not only made it to final drive but had an awesome run to 6th place overall!) didn't recur this year. Because Emmy won Intermediate Showmanship last year, she had to move up to Senior Showmanship and compete against older competitors. Emmy had a very respectable 3rd place finish in Senior Showmanship, but, after a string of wins in showmanship over the last four years, it was a bit of a disappointment for her to not to compete again in Pro Showmanship. We comforted and reassured Emmy and headed to lunch.

After we came back from lunch, we had to wait for a long time. New Zealands are in Class 6 at the end of the show. When Emmy and Perky finally did get back on the table, we were in for an amazing treat. Perky won 1st place New Zealand Senior Buck and then Grand Champion New Zealand, even besting last year's Overall Best of Show! Perky then competed in the Class 6 championship and won Grand Champion Class 6. The end of the show was nearing... The final competition was Overall Best of Show, and Perky WON!!! We had never done so well in the rabbit show, and Emmy was beyond thrilled. On a personal note, I had thought that Perky looked *really* good at home, and my glance around the barn affirmed that he was in good form in terms of his shape and coat. However, I didn't know how he would compare against other breeds or even how the judge would rate him. We were all so happy, and it was an amazing day for Emmy and Perky!!