Pigs!!!

 Never in my life did I think I would have a pig.  Or two.  Never.  Sage came to us last year wanting to raise a pig for the fair.  I'm not sure where this came from, or why.  She says she wants to be able to help her kids do it some day.  This is some serious planning ahead.  I would have said no to the pig, but Jake is a sucker to any kind of animal, especially a farm animal.  He not so secretly wants to live on a big ranch.  Apparently, until that happens, we're going to try to turn our acre, in the middle of Midway, into a farm.

Back to the pigs...Raising pigs for the fair is a lot different than just having pigs on a farm.  Fair pigs get tagged, and then you have to get them to make weight.  In our county they have to weigh 230lbs by the weigh in day.  We got our pigs the end of March, and had until the end of July to get them to 230.  If they don't make weight you don't get to show them.  They're not allowed to eat just any kind of food.  Leftovers?  No way.  They eat only special food that somehow helps them gain weight differently than not special food.  In addition to weighing enough, they have to be able to walk around an arena and follow your directions.  How do you get them to do this?  You walk them.  Yep.  You start out with short little jaunts, but by the end you're walking them for like 30 minutes twice a day.  It's some serious training.  And finally, they can't just roll around in the mud like pigs want to do.  No, they're skin and hair has to stay nice and clean and healthy.  So they're not allowed to run around in the pasture.  If you do let them out they have to wear sunscreen (I had no idea pigs can get sunburned).  And yes, you wash them.  Once a week.  Or more.  These are princess pigs.  Their water has to be cold, their pen can't be too hot.  They live better than half the people in the world.

As you can imagine, doing all of this is a lot of work.  There were some things that were a family affair:  getting concrete in the pen, installing a gate, figuring out a water system.  But most of it was Sage.  She worked so hard.  And did something that was big and scary.  She read everything she could about showing a pig, she talked to everyone she knew.  She had a job most of the time she was raising pigs, so some days she would get home from work and then have to walk the pigs - at 11:00pm.  Bless our neighbors.  They were actually so patient and nice.  Most of them got a kick out of seeing Sage walk her pig down the street.  Our pig was extra loud, and didn't want to walk.  So he would scream the whole time she walked him.  Sounded like a dinosaur or something.  I was fully prepared to get complaints from our neighbors, but they were so supportive.  Which was awesome.  

Fair days came and we had the weigh-in to start things off.  I was so nervous about making weight.  We would have been crushed.  But the hard work paid off and we made it in at 247lbs!  Then for the next few days Sage pretty much lived at the fair ground.  We had a day of market and showmanship.  I won't get into all the details of this, but basically you walk in front of judges and they judge you.  Plus lots of random people watch.  The better you do at these, the sooner you get to go at the auction, and the more money you usually make.  Sage did such a good job!  All of her hard work paid off.  And our pig came through for us.  The only time I've ever wanted to hug a pig. 

The auction happened on Saturday.  They auction off all the pigs, steer, goats, and sheep at the same time.  Over 300 animals.  So it takes almost all day.  I have to say that one of the hardest things I've ever done is watch my daughter walk out in the arena, by herself, to try to get money for all of her hard work.  There are no words.  And then it's suddenly over.  Your pig goes to butcher, and this animal you spent hours and hours with is suddenly gone.  I didn't expect that to be as hard as it was.  It was super sad.

These pigs took up a lot of our lives for a few months.  We all learned a lot.  And I got to see Sage work her guts out, and learn some really good life lessons.  I'm amazed at everything she did.  Way to go Sage!

I installed this fence by myself.  I was proud.  I'm sure it was hard for Jake to not redo it.

They were so small when we first got them.

Trying to pick out pigs when we know nothing.

First walk!

Waiting our turn for weigh-in.  Sage ended up riding in the trailer.  We were real nervous at this moment.

One last wash right before showmanship

This is what the FFA kids had to wear.

blue ribbon for showmanship!

In the pen that leads to the arena.  So nervous!

Summer Things

 We made it through the summer.  This shouldn't be a hard thing, but sometimes it is.  This summer didn't have any huge trips, but looking back we definitely had some fun!  Family BBQ's, a bike race, Stadium of Fire, Flaming Gorge, Bear Lake, rodeos, and of course mountain bike practices.  

This summer was hotter than normal.  Usually we have amazing, cool mornings here in Midway.  Not this year.  It about did me in.  Just the last couple days have finally been cool again and it's been glorious.  Also, our summers, and lives, just keep changing.  Gone are the days of kids everywhere and all day craziness.  This year felt especially quiet because Kate stayed in St George.  So it was just Jake and I with Sage.  Being the oldest I never experienced, or even thought about what it was like to be the youngest.  Turns out it's not super fun being the only one home.  Anyway, even though it was quieter than normal we still had fun.  And enjoyed the times when everyone was home.  Here are the pics to document the summer:

A family bbq with a hot dog bar!

Sage and I did touristy Midway things

Sage did a random bike race at SoHo.  She's amazing!

Kids came home for the 4th.  We visited the random pioneer museum down the street.

When they banned all fireworks, even Memorial Hill, I got Stadium of Fire tickets.  It was a good move.  We had a lot of fun and the fireworks were amazing!

Farmington Festival Days!  It's been years since we were at the parade!

Teenage craziness at the Ditto's after

It was real hot but fun to visit.

We love to see Kate when we go to St George!

We had to go down to finish some things on the house.  It was sooo hot.  But we worked hard and got them done!

And then we got to have the inaugural swim in the new pool!  It didn't disappoint.

Beautiful Flaming Gorge.  We went with the Mackay's for a few days and had great fun.  The weather was perfect.  We boated our guts out and had great fun!

Kate braided Zack's hair.  I have no words.

We had to celebrate Kate's birthday like a week early because that's when she was home.  

Kate had to take pics with this animal for school.  Elementary teachers do weird things.

This is Pfeifferhorn Peak.  Officially the hardest hike I've ever done.  Poor decisions were made and I found myself on this hike with Jake and Zack.  To say it was challenging is an understatement.  We had to scramble over rocks for a couple of hours.  And then hike straight up to the peak.  This pic does not do it justice.  I survived.  Barely.

We had some raccoon visitors.  Jake was happy to trap and kill one of them.

Senior year of my youngest.  How did we get here?!

Somehow Sage convinced us to take 14 of her friends to Bear Lake for her birthday.   I believe we should win for parents of the year.

Sage's last season of mountain biking.  Our only kid to do it every single year.  First race at Beaver Mountain.

She made it on the podium!  5th place!