Livestock Show Day 2

Today was classification showing at the livestock show.  It's basically judging of the meat quality of the animal; not the showman.  Here is A showing one of her pigs:

Here is B showing one of his pigs:

Both kids did very well.  A's pigs were both called back for the championship round and one of B's pigs was called back for the championship round.

Tomorrow is fitting and showing.  In this type of showing, the judging is based upon how clean your animal is and how well you show your animal.  Both kids have medaled in the past and both are pretty good showman.  We will see how well they do, but their animals worked well for them today, so that's good!

Weigh-ins at the Livestock Show {Sunday Snapshot}

I put this picture first as my "pic to be judged" for this week's Sunday Snapshot not because it was an amazing example of my photography skills, but because it makes me happy.  It's a truckload of cousins and it represents the future of the livestock show.  One of them starts showing next year, 2 of them in 3 years, Cara in 4 years, and the last little cousin in the truck in 5 years.

Today was weigh-ins and this was the first of two trailer loads of pigs on the way to the show.

B waiting to have his pigs weighed in.  Both made it, even though he had to exercise one of them to lose 12 pounds in one week.

 A waiting to weigh in her pigs.  She looks pretty good for being out late at prom last night! ;)

We are exhausted, but all pigs are weighed in, educational display is up, and the club got the only 100% given for herdsmanship tonight.  Tomorrow is classification showing.  I will post how the kids did for that tomorrow night.

For more Sunday Snapshots, click here:

Prom 2012 Take Two

A went to Sunnyside's Prom tonight.  Different prom, different hair, same dress, same guy.

I used a different lens for my shots this week.  I used my 1.8.  Last week I used my zoom lens.

The hair this week:  braided side bun with finger waves.  It was a popular style for fashion week this year.  I added a little heighth, though, and the finger waves.  The braided bun at fashion week was a little more severe.

 So do you like the hair better this week or last week?

 I love this pic because I like the sun shining on the rhinestone on her dress.  I think it looks cool!

The are going with friends in a limo tonight.  A is pretty excited for her first ride in a limo!

Prom 2012 Take One {Sunday Snapshot}

A's prom is tonight.  She looked for the longest time for a dress.   She probably tried on 40-50 dresses.  She loved this one so much she's wearing it to her prom and C's prom next weekend.

Love this pic!  It's the true A & C!

She was trying not to squint in the sun...

I turned them around for this one.  Sun behind them and in my eyes instead.

Here's the hairdo:  Waterfall french braid.  Since the dress and tux will be the same next weekend I'll have to come up with a different hairdo for C's prom.

I hope they have a great time.

These pics were taken with a Cannon EOS T2i.  Shot in manual, edited in Photoshop.

For more Sunday Snapshots, click here:

Busy Night

Tonight is a busy night to be followed by a busy weekend.  Cousin D's birthday party is tonight, so Cara, B, and Daddy are headed to Yakima for the party.

A has another pageant to attend tonight.  It's the Miss Granger pageant and it's being held at my school.  Dierks Bentley is having a concert at the Sundome in Yakima tonight, so the 2011 Miss Zillah court is not attending the pageant; they're going to the concert.

Since the 2011 court is not attending the pageant, the girls running for Miss Zillah get to wear their dresses that they get once they are crowned as the 2012 court.  So A had to be in full hair and make up, they will go to Sunnyside to pick up the dresses (hope they fit), change, and wear those dresses to the Miss Granger pageant.

I will get pics of the girls in their new dresses and post them tomorrow morning.

And tomorrow night is prom! 

Girly Day {Sunday Snapshot}

Yesterday we had a "girly day."  Last night A had her first pageant to attend, so we spent the day running various errands that had to do with this pageant, the upcoming Miss Zillah pageant, and prom next weekend. 

We bought A a new blouse for her pre-pageant interview.  Next, we went to The Buckle.  The contestants are going to borrow outfits from that store for the modeling portion of the pageant.  A wanted to see what they had and try some things on so she would be better prepared when the girls actually went to the store to pick out their outfits.

The last thing we did was go to the nail salon.  I put this picture in first, not necessarily because it is the most fabulous picture I took all day, I mean, how fabulous can pictures get in a strip mall nail salon? ;)  I put this picture first, because Cara is so stinkin' excited about getting a pedicure.  She has had her nails painted at the salon before, but this was her first "real" pedicure!

My girlies getting their pedicures:

Letting her nails dry.  Doesn't she look satisfied with herself?

We went home after getting our nails done and Cara promptly fell asleep in the car.  It was a long day for her.  When we got home, I did A's hair and makeup for the pageant.  We ran a little late; her hair took so long I only had 15 minutes to do her make up.  This was the only picture I could get before she had to rush out the door.  I think she looks amazing!

She had a really good time at the pageant.  She said lots of people said they liked her dress.  Next weekend she will be attending the Miss Granger pageant and her prom.  This spring is very busy!

My pics were taken with a Cannon EOS T2i, lense EF 50 mm 1.8.  Shots were taken in automatic.

For more Sunday Snapshots, click here:




A couple more Easter Pics

I wanted to take some nice, spring pictures on Easter while the kids were all dressed up.  So we drove up to the nectarine block for some nice pink blooms.  The pictures didn't turn out that great; it was really windy and I was up too high (on the canal bank) so the kids are looking up too much.  They're a little blurry, too.

Cara swung her arm back and whacked her brother in the crotch.  Poor guy!  The girls thought it was funny, though.

Aren't they ridiculous?

Her eyelashes, I mean.  When we got Cara in October, 2010, I asked my husband if he thought they had cut her eyelashes off for some reason...they were nonexistent.  Now she has the longest eyelashes of any of us girls in the house.  Yes, I am jealous! :)

Happy Easter! {Sunday Snapshot}

Cara was so excited for Easter this year.  Last year she didn't really know what all the fuss was about, but this year she couldn't even contain her excitement in that wiggly little body.



Score!  Reese's Eggs!

She's had a little bit of trouble lately with scratching her brother when she gets mad.  So today she had to go to time out for scratching (twice).  Her cousins felt bad for her in time out so they sat with her. ;)

Hunting for eggs:

Posing for Mom:

Picture with Grandma and Grandpa:

Everyone's napping now.  I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your families.

For more Sunday Snapshots, click here:

Pinkalicious

The Miss Zillah candidates are holding a car wash/bake sale tomorrow.  So today we made cut-out sugar cookies and cupcakes.  Tomorrow morning we will make some cinnamon rolls so they're still warm when we take them to the bake sale.

We made 3 different types of cupcakes:  white, chocolate, and, at Cara's request, pinkalicious. ;)

She loves this book:

And she's got the Pinkalicious pose down pat:

 She played hard today, so she was super tired by the time we ate dinner and she got to enjoy her pinkalicious cupcake.  She looks exhausted, doesn't she?

But she thoroughly enjoyed it!

The Flowers are Starting to Bloom

When we got home from vacation yesterday afternoon, the first thing I noticed was that the rhododendrons were blooming!  Yikes!  I hate to miss it when they bloom, so I took Cara out in the yard this morning for a few pictures.  We only got a couple because it was a bit breezy and she was chilly.

Our Day At the Oregon Zoo

When we originally planned our trip to the Oregon Coast for spring break, we intended to head to the zoo either on the way to the beach or on the way home-not right smack in the middle of the trip.  But today was supposed to be a nice, sunny day in Portland with no rain, so we made the 2 hr drive from the beach to the zoo to have some nice weather.  And the weather did not disappoint!  It was sunny and the temperatures were mild and the animals seemed to be out enjoying the nice weather today, too.

I had to put this picture in of one of the bald eagles.  I just love them!  We are starting to see more of them flying around where we live, but I still wish we saw them more.  I saw one in a tree about a mile from my house about 3 weeks ago.  I didn't have my camera with me to get a picture, though.  Isn't this guy beautiful?

We love cougars since J and I are both WSU grads! ;)

I took this one through the window.  Beautiful cheetah resting in the shade.

 The lion was out and about today, too.

 This picture was the most exciting one for me.  I've never been to the zoo before when the hippo was out of the water.  Usually I just get to see ears and a nose poking out of the water.  I guess Mr. Hippo was out enjoying a bit of sun, too.

Cara especially liked the zebras.

Look at this sweet little panda I found hanging out in the bamboo! ;)

And a few mountain goats I snapped a pic of before we left!

It was a long day and we are all pretty worn out, but it was a lot of fun!