The Dettens go to the fair

The days are finally getting cooler and shorter.  We have had beautiful weather lately -- cool mornings and pretty, sunny days.  Another sure sign that fall is on the way around here is the fair.  This year we took the whole family to the Tri-State Fair in Amarillo.  We had a great time going through the exhibits and experiencing some of the fair food.

The kids really enjoyed the John Deere display....

This mural was a fun activity that the kids enjoyed.  They had Crayola markers set up and each child selected a color and went to coloring the huge mural.  

Here's Rachael adding her mark.

I think Sam colored more on himself than he did on the mural. 

The real reason we went to the fair?  The lamb show!

In August, Jack purchased two lambs from his Uncle Chris.  He named his Hampshire cross "Moses" and his Southdown "Isaiah", two good Biblical names.

Over the past two months, he has worked diligently to halter break them and practice showing them.  He really enjoys working them, and on one particular day, I was especially tired and told Jack we would take the day off.  He would have none of that!  He went out by himself, but because catching the sheep is a two man job, I had to get out there, too.

Though my lamb show knowledge is limited, I did my best to help Jack work with them each day.  In fact, the first time Jack had ever even watched a lamb show was the day of his first show at the Tri-State Fair.  He did really well, especially considering he had never even been to a lamb show!

"Moses" was pretty thin and green and did not place -- though we think he has alot of potential.  "Isaiah" was the star of the show -- he won Reserve Champion Southdown!  Jack was so excited!  Here he is with his twin cousins, Josef and Johan.  We took a picture of Jack and his lamb, along with Rachael, Avery and Sam with the show backdrop, but I am waiting on a disk from the photographer.  It will be included in a future blog post.

We have learned alot about sheep, and are enjoying this new family activity.  All of the Dettens had a great time at the fair!