Day 3 at the Fair

 Hello Everyone,

What a day at the Alameda County Fair!  Jess started the day at 8am showing his pigs.

Stubs was well enough to leave his pen and brought Jess a 2nd place in his class.

That was followed by Lil' Wayne coming in 1st in his class!

Win or lose, you always shake the hand of the judge.  The judge was pretty amazing because she knew their names.  Yes, they are written on their FFA jackets, but in tiny letters.  As she spoke about each animal, she told them what they need to do to improve, and she told them what she liked about their animal.  She also smiled a lot!  We've never seen that in all of our years of watching the judging.

Next up after dinner was Emily with wild child Rooster.  Look at the power and the look of determination in that animal. We were on the edge of our seats just waiting for him to bolt.  Our daughter couldn't watch.  He kept it together with Emily's gentle and determined handling.

He stood for a moment of calm for pictures.

Emily and Rooster won FFA Reserve Champion!  We all had tears in our eyes.  Kinsey is in the picture because she helped Emily every step along the way. She was in the holding pen and had knots in her stomach watching Emily in the ring with Rooster.

When the pictures were over, Rooster decided he had had enough and headed for the barn.  Emily went along for the ride. He is so big; he had a hard time fitting through the gates to get back to his pen.

We are off early again this morning for the showmanship competition for pigs.  Jess will be handling Lil' Wayne.

Jess got his pigs in February on the same day Emily's first steer died.  In honor of Wayne, Jess named his pig Lil' Wayne.  These kids are very caring and compassionate to each other. 

Yesterday was the most joy-filled day for the Wilder family.  

Soon,

Lymm