Family Matters

4-H Achievement Banquet

This afternoon I attended the 4-H achievement banquet at the fairgrounds in Mound City.

Since the kids receive their plaques and buckles for their 4-H projects at the awards banquet on the last Saturday of the fair, I wasn't exactly sure what they would do at the achievements banquet.  All I can say is that 4-H today isn't like it used to be in my day, big surprise right? 

Today, the kids were recognized for 4-H activities done throughout the year, not just during the fair.  There are a lot of opportunities for the kids to work on their projects outside of the fair, for example project talks, community events, parades, etc.  There are various levels of recognition (purple, blue, red) based on the number of criteria met.

Quentin received the following recognition:
- KAP Champion (purple)
- KPA Project Award - Horse
- Emerald Pin

 
(Quentin is fourth from the left.)

Mollie received the following:
- Cloverbuds certificate of participation

 
(Mollie is second from the right.)

Kate and Jed were recognized for their work as club leaders.  Kate has served as the Busy Bugs club leader for two years.  Jed has been the horse project leader for the county for three years. 

 
(Quentin stood in for Jed - he is the third from the left on the front row.  Kate is just behind and slightly to the left of Quentin.)

Last but not least, Dad presented the camp counselor award on behalf of the Farm Bureau.

I hope the kids will continue to participate in the opportunities that 4-H gives them.  I have always felt that my participation in 4-H was as much of a contributing factor to my work place success as my college degree.  Leading meetings as a club officer, public speaking opportunities, meeting deadlines, and documenting my projects in those darn record books are just some of the skills I learned through my own 4-H experience.  In fact, I still have my record book and I love to go back through it.  You could almost consider it one of my first scrapbooks. 

Great job, Quentin and Mollie... congratulations on your achievements!

More photos from the Fuhrmans

Here are a few more photos from the afternoon at the Fuhrman's last May.

 
Brena

 
Cassidy trying to wrestle Quentin to the ground and Brena cheering her on.

 
I cannot believe how much Breck has changed.  And you won't see her fussy this way, especially when she's in Mamma's arms.

 
The horses getting a break, too.

 
Quentin

 
Quentin took this shot of us on the fence; Quentin's taking photos and I'm shooting some video.

 
Brothers catching; Bret on the head and Jed on the heels.

 
Dalton going for some heels.

 
Quentin showing off his antique holster that Uncle DeWayne gave him.

 
Dad, Quentin and Dalton (driver) on a surrey ride pulled by the halflingers.

 
On the surrey, Mollie sharing her beautiful smile.

 
Here's a happy Breck

 
Breck having fun with Quentin and his cowboy hat.

So very blessed to have this wonderful family!

Some more photos from the Fuhrman's

These pictures were taken May 31 at the Fuhrman's, the same day as Jed's bucking adventure.

The pictures above are of Cassidy's new baby.  I think she named her Lilly.  She is only one day old in these photos.

 
Bret heading (notice he caught) and David healing.

 
David and Bret talking it over.

 
Working the chute...

 
Watching the action from the back porch.

 
Dad in his element... horses, his boys... doesn't get any better than that!

 
Father and son (David and Dalton) roping together.

Love these days just hanging out and enjoying time together.

Ride 'em Cowboy Jed

This past summer I spent some time at the Fuhrman's watching "the boys" rope.

I didn't know it when I crawled up on the fence to take pictures, but I was in for a rare treat.  LOL...

I have "burst" mode on my camera which I typically use for sporting events; it's a great way to catch a sequence. 

Jed and Dad burst out of their respective boxes (Jed on the heading side, Dad on the healing side).  Jed was swinging his rope and just as he released his loop for the steers head, his steed - Buckshot - decided to let loose.  

What's even funnier... about 10 minutes before these shots, Jed rode by me as I'm sitting on the fence and told me to only take pictures of him catching!  LOL...

 

Yippee Ki Yay little brother, you're one tough hombre!

Edward Lee is parade Grand Marshal

Dad was given the honor of serving as the Grand Marshal for this year's Sugar Mound Arts and Crafts Festival in Mound City.

Jed and Bret presented Dad with the plaque then they hot-footed it to the back of the parade to ride with the Linn County Trailblazers.

To say Dad was pretty darn excited is putting it mildly.

 
(Dad in the convertible provided by Cox Motors, getting ready for the parade to begin.)

 
(Jed is up on Main Street getting ready to present Dad with his plaque.)

 
(I think he seems someone he knows.)

 
(Check him out... not sure if he should run for fair queen or commissioner... but he sure has the parade wave down.)

 
(Favorite sons - Jed and Bret - presenting Dad with his plaque.)

 
(Congratulations Dad, you deserve it!)

 
(Quentin, left, riding with the Trailblazers.  Morgan Wakefield is to the right, followed by Allison Wakefield.)

 
(Bret beside Mollie who is riding Pepper.)

 
(Breck is riding in front of Jed and Brena is on Josie.)

The pictures below were taken later in the day along the creek at the fairgrounds.  The photographer is Danielle, Stacy's (aka PJ) daughter.

 
  
 

Horse riders at Hume Parade

On August 1, Dad along with Jed's family and Bret's family rode in the Hume Parade with the Trail Blazers, Linn County's 4-H Horse project members.  Here are some photos taken during and shortly after the parade.

This is the Hume baseball team riding on the firetruck.  That's Natalie's brother, Eric Pruitt, on the back of the firetruck throwing candy to the kids. 

(They'd run out of candy and he found one piece on the back bumper of the firetrack.)

This is Cody and Danielle collecting candy at the parade.

 

Here is Brena and Jed.

Here is Edward Lee... talking, of course!  LOL...

 

Here is Natalie riding in the parade, too.

This is the group's fearless leader, Abbie Grossnicklaus; Abbie is the Linn County Extension Agent.

Quentin... happy as always.

Mollie riding Pepper.

Breck riding with her Uncle Bret.

Here is the entire crew.  Besides the Umphenours, there are the Wakefields and Abbie.

 

The girls (Brena and Mollie) sharing a rare moment of mutual affection.

Breck taking her first "solo" ride on a horse with a little help from Uncle Bret and Mommie (aka Natalie).

Breck taking a ride with Quentin, while Mom watches.

Here PJ and the kids are enjoying some of their goodies collected during the parade. 
If you are wondering, Cody is wearing that jacket because it was stinkin' cold that morning. 

Lampe Fair Pictures

Some time ago Denise sent me Fair pictures of Kallie and Coy along with information about how they did with their 4-H projects.

Here is the information she sent me:

Coy did very well working with a new horse (for him). Candy is 6 years old and broke, but not for arena classes. She is dad's pasture horse and does well at roping and gathering cows. Coy has wroked very hard learning to ride her and get her to attempt arena classes. He received a Blue in Showmanship, Blue in Pleasure, a red in Trail and got a 2nd 3rd, and 4th in the running events. As we are just learning to ride her, he mostly trotted and cantered in the speed events, but still did very well. He received 4th overall in his age group and won Grand Champion Mare in the halter class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was Coy's first year with an animal bigger than a bucket calf. He absolutely adores MACY! she weighed 845 lbs and she was as gentle as a puppy; he worked with her so much. Sometimes he'd go outside and disappear and he'd be out in her pen leading her around or loving on her. They even took a nap together in the beef barn.

 

 

 

The fair was extremely hot this year; over 100 degrees every day except for the horse show. We got to camp in our horse trailer this year for the 1st time--thank goodness for the air conditioning....next year hope to have the shower installed. We had a great time camping out and staying in the big kids beef barn...met many new friends and hung out with several old ones, good times for parents and kids alike. 

Kallie got mostly reds with her barrel horse in Showmanship, Horsemanship, and Western Pleasure, and Trail. Although she performed the Western Horsemanship pattern flawlessly and deserved a blue--he even took his leads correctly!!! He did all the obstacles in trail perfectly, but stepped out of the back through the L at the last minute. She got 2nd place in all three running events (blues). She also received 2 blues with her sewing projects, 2 blues on her cooking items, 2 blues and a purple on her photography, and a purple on her garment display booth. Overall well done considering she spent 2-3 days a week babysitting for 9-10 hour days--her first job and had basketball practice 3 days a week which left little time for riding her horse as much as we usually do.

 

 

 

 

 

 
(Wow, is Kallie growing into a beautiful young woman or what!??)

A couple of extra photos:  Kallie and dad doing the meat judging contest; Coy with a friend of ours in our club at the beef barn, Gma and Kallie getting her sewing judged.

 

 

 

Congratulations Coy and Kallie on a very successful fair!

 

Alex receives several scholarships

I know, don't pass out, I'm posting again... I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last posted, in an effort to catch up I'm just going to start posting whatever comes to mind or that I happen to find interesting or amusing. So things are going to be a little wonky for the next few weeks - meaning out of chronological order - if you haven't realized I'm a pretty linear thinker/doer and coloring outside the lines or getting things out of order is not my normal state of being.  So now that my brain is doing a complete backstroke and I've shared it with you all, let's get this ball rolling.

A couple of week's ago, Dad and I traveled to Topeka to watch Alex complete in her last Kansas High School Rodeo Finals.  She was competing in both Pole Bending and Barrel Racing.  She did not do very well in either event at the two shows I attended and I don't have any great shots to share with you - in fact, most of the decent shots show a pole down.  (Sorry Alex)

Alex did not qualify to go to the nationals this year.  When I asked if she was disappointed, she said she was a little but not too bad.  It was time for others to go and she was already looking forward to and planning for college.

However, I do have some great shots of Alex receiving a couple of scholarships during the presentation on Saturday afternoon.

 
Alex was one of two seniors that received the Virgil Miller Memorial Scholarship being presented here by Virgil's son, Jeff Miller.

  
In this photo Alex is receiving a Farm Credit Academic Scholarship.  Alex has made the High School Academic Rodeo Team since she started competing in high school rodeo; not surprising considering she was one of her class valedictorians.

Alex also received a third scholarship given by the Kansas High School Rodeo Association.

I also have to mention that when Alex was interviewing for one of the scholarships she'd applied for the interviewer told Alex she should be teaching kids how to apply for and interview for scholarships, he said she did fantastic!

Congratulations Alex on your successful high school rodeo career!  We are looking forward to watching you compete at the college level next. 

Couple of beautiful little cowgirls

Katie sent me this photo on Saturday afternoon of Mollie and Brena.

They were at a horse clinic at the fairgrounds at Mound City.  She said the girls were taking a break from the horses and playing in the flowers. 

They may be little cowgirls, but they are still girlie girls;
and they are adorable girlie girls to boot!

Thank you for the photo Katie!

Alex and her horses

I was just catching up on Facebook this evening, when I should really be packing. 

(I try not to read it too much during the week, it's addictive and if I had it up all the time I'd never get anything done.  Of courese, you can say that for any of my favorite sites/blogs on the internet.  Once I get started it can be a couple of hours before I come up for air.)  :-D

Anyway, I was reading about Alex's excitement with her horses last weekend.  Apparently, she had two of her horses tied up to the hitching post and the mare pulled back and split the hitching post in two.  Then proceeded to drag the hitching post and the colt around the yard, banging the hitching post against her legs and scaring the rest of the other horses on the place.

Of course, I can envision this in my head, like I was there and saw it myself.  Alex started the post by writing (without further explanation), "Dad is going to kill me. Stupid freakin' mare."  Here is the funniest part - Debbie Ellis wrote back, "What did you break now?"  LOL...

I don't know if it's comforting or kind of scary when our friends know us so well. 

I can't wait to get back to Kansas to see Alex ride instead of just hearing about it second hand.

Don't worry too much Alex.  Next week it will be something different!  Love you, girl.