I thought I would do one quick post to catch up from the spring. Then I realized how much has been going on and realized that would be way too long. So we're going to break it down.
First, the pigs. Sage decided she wanted to raise pigs for the fair this year. This is pretty big around here. Most people who do it have parents who did it and their parents did it. It's a thing. A little crazy to jump into so late in the game, but we told her to go for it. I don't think any of us quite knew what we were getting into. For those who don't know, you get a couple of pigs in March and raise them for the fair in August. Sage is hoping to show both of her pigs. This means she walks them into an arena with judges and lots of other people watching. The pig that does best in show then goes to market to be auctioned off and hopefully sold for a lot of money. Generally the pigs that do best in show get sold for the most money. Wasatch County has one of the biggest fairs. There will probably be like 160 pigs. To get them ready for show you feed them special food. Twice a day. But they have to eat their food in like 20 minutes or you take the food away. We had to put concrete in the pen because they can't get muddy and dirty all the time. They get washed multiple times a week. You have to walk the pigs. Yep, you actually walk pigs. Their water has to be nice and cool, even though it's summer. The pigs can't get too hot or they won't gain weight, so a fan needs to be installed in their pen. And did I mention that to even qualify to be shown they have to weigh at least 230lbs. So you could do all this work and then not have them weigh enough. So yeah, turns out it's way more than just feeding and watering an animal. Sage has been a champ. She's working so hard to fatten them up and keep them healthy. All of this while finishing school, working, and doing cross country and mountain biking. Not exactly a leisurely summer. Bless us all to survive the pigs. PS - they're names are Pepper and Sugar.
In the middle of the pigs, Jake brought home 12 chickens. Chickens are much easier than pigs, but still take work. Suddenly I'm living on a farm. The good news is I think the pigs are keeping the racoons away. Winning.
Sage jumps in with the pigs, gets real dirty, tracks the shavings all over our house, but then cleans up for prom and looks like a girly girl. It's impressive. This year was her junior prom. At Wasatch that means you get to promenade with your date. This entails getting announced and walking out with your date, doing a choreographed dance with like 12 other couples, and then a father daughter dance. Such a fun tradition. I would like to point out that Sage made it to school at 7:00 every day the week of prom. So turns out she's capable of waking up early with the right motivation. Serenity now. Anyway, Sage went with a great date and a super fun group and had the best time. It was a perfect junior prom.
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| Look close to see Jake and Sage |
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| The Alamo |
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| Sage's fun prom group. They went clay pigeon shooting for their day date. So fun. |
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| Jake and Sage did 6 hours of Frog Hollow again. They did great. It finished with a wind storm, as usual. |
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| The oldest cousins were together for the first time in years, so we had to document the occasion. |
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| Marcus and Sam were grateful for Sage's nails |
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| Dad and Kathy did a cute Easter pageant thing. |
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| The Lindon Temple open house. This is the temple we get to go to now. Shaves off 20 minutes of drive time! |
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| We all went to see Marcus play UVU for lacrosse. So fun! And cold. |
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| The pigs are significantly bigger now. |
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| Sage and I went to an amazing concert for Easter. It was beautiful. |
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| Sage and her Higley cousins |
