Darby showing his stuff

I snapped this with my phone the other night while the Smith girls were having some fun with Darby. He was feeling a little left out being surrounded by all of these purple ribbon calves! I think this really made him feel better!

This is a picture of Lot #52 consigned by the Braun family. She is an HAA Sheriff daughter (Maine Tainer) and is the sweetest acting heifer on the place...and that is saying a LOT! This is a shot of her in front of the banner at the Iowa State Fair as a division winner. I can't believe how much she has come on even since this picture. The calves are truly enjoying the great weather and looking radical! Hope to see you all soon at Club Calf Paradise!!

All about the kids!

Oh, I know I sound like an old book but every year I am reminded that all of the hard work and effort is for the love of the kids. Maybe it's taken the passage of years and the wisdom or simply raising my own kids to finally get the "big picture" and to appreciate the picture as a piece of art. Whatever it is I just can't explain what a satisfying feeling I get seeing the families and the kids stop by to look for new calves. It is amazing to see the kids sort through the cattle and mark the ones they want to have for projects next year. Every kid is motivated by something different it seems.

I really felt all warm and fuzzy last night when the Smith family stopped by and the two smallest girls begged me to let them wash one of the calves. Seriously!? Two little squirts whining and begging me to rinse a calf! How do you say no to cute?

So parents, just a little thought to keep in your mind when you are at your first show next spring and stressed out of your minds because your kids are not listening to every word you say or sticking the calf quite the way you think it should be done...CHILL OUT!!!! Remember what this is all about...FAMILY, EDUCATION, and above all KIDS!!!

Oh...I couldn't stand it...here's a few more.

Throwing out the bait

I hold my breath every time the photographer comes because I worry so much that nothing will come out right. That never actually happens but nontheless I continue to worry. What I really never imagined was that things would run so smoothly and that pictures would turn out so well. The cattle were so cooperative and the crew was so helpful. I am thinking that we will have some "fun" pictures to offer pretty soon. I always think it is fun to have those behind the scenes shots. I particularly enjoyed the group of people that put their lawn chairs up and sat to watch as each calf was paraded out.

Make sure to check back tonight or tomorrow for all of the video and pictures! We'll have discount motel coupons as well as discount fuel coupons again this year. We look forward to seeing you all!

How to get Maximum Exposure!

Picture and video day is finally complete thanks to the GREAT help of friends and family. It is so wonderful to have people that truly enjoy this business enough to come help out with the most frustrating, exhausting and nerve wracking part of the club calf sale. Without them we could never pull this off. Several of our consignors were on hand including the Scotts (Jeff and Daryl), Kareen Vaught from Kansas, Nick Anderson and Cam Statelar from Nebraska. At one point we even had spectators sitting in lawn chairs sipping ice water and offering their thoughts! LOL. Thanks gang!!!

I actually thought that I was going to have to sit this one out when the "help" spooked up a 30 foot Anaconda and made it try to attack me in the pasture. O.K., so maybe I am exaggerating a tiny bit but you all know how I feel about snakes...even Garter snakes.

Mark Sneed with Maximum Exposure did a fabulous job as always. We certainly appreciate his patience with us. Eight hours in the sun tends to make us a little goofy and he was very supportive. The video looks great so far and we should have all of the pictures and video up and online by Sunday sometime.

We are anxious to see all of our old customers and meeting new families! Please stop by anytime. The calves are all available for viewing!

Floods, record heat wave and State Fair

What a great combination for a fun-filled week. Many of the roads to Des Moines were closed yesterday due to large amounts of rain...5 inches three nights in a row. The heat index is almost 110 and there is not a break until tomorrow when it is supposed to rain on these poor people again. It amazes me how it has had little effect on the attendance at the fair. People just learn to adapt and overcome. Such is the nature of farm folk. Even in this heat I still love the fair; seeing all of the old faces...like the old guy on the white mule directing traffic. God I love them.

I was happy to see Alan and Cam Stateler pull in with a load of feeder calves for the show. The have two of the fancy heifers that they are consigning to our sale. I don't know how they do it with juggling kids and cattle in this weather. Kids are so resilient. Their little boy said the most amazing thing that really caught my heart. He asked his mother, "Mommy, why did God make the sky so cool if he's going to put it so far away that we can't touch it?" He was serious! You have to love kids!!!

Hope to see some of your faces at the fair. It sounds like after friday things will be much better! Let's hope so.

Let us not forget!

As we plunge head-long into a much deserved Iowa heat wave I think we should remember that it was just a few short months ago that we were thinking the snow would never go away and that the movie Armageddon was possibly a work of non-fiction. I certainly prefer the heat...as long as I can take a long siesta during the middle of the day.

We have been working our tails off here at Club Calf Paradise trying to get everything ready for the sale before we head to the Iowa State Fair for a few days of "hospitality duty" during the Maine Anjou show. Brad and I are in charge of the booth and we certainly enjoy talking to all of our good friends and new aquaintances. As soon as we get home we will hit the ground running for the next three weeks, until the sale is over. It is exciting, exhausting, rewarding and ...in the end...a little sad. I can't wait to see everyone again though.

Enjoy the summer everyone. Before long the snow will be flying and we will be dreaming of sugarplums and new baby calves!

Team Work

I really enjoy the excitement that comes with getting things set up for the sale. I worked most of the day setting up the catch pens and the wash area for this years sale. The Smith kids helped rinse calves for me today so that I could work on this project but they all joined in at the end of the day. Brad even got involved and we convinced him that he would be the very best candidate to climb the ladder and drill holes for the shade anchors. Nick Anderson, one of our new consignors, was driving by and stopped to lend a hand as well. We had a fun time and finished the evening with a couple of pizza's on the picnic table at the bunk house.

Now I go to bed...exhausted. I only hope that I don't have any nightmares about quantum physics!

When you just don't want dreams to come true!

I had the great fun of helping Hayley pick up her books for college the other day. It was like traveling back in time as we walked around the shelves at the university book store looking for grossly over-priced books that would be used for a few short months and then sold back to the same store for pennies so they could smack a "used" sticker on it and sell it for almost the same new price. It really doesn't seem like that long ago that I was wandering aimlessly around those shelves looking for my own books.

I rounded a corner and had to control my laughter. It was at that moment that I was incredibly thankful that I wasn't in my daughter's shoes. I can say with a great degree of certainty that my recurring dream of going back to college and living the glam college life completly drained from my system permanantly. Standing before me...three rows high...was a pile of books like this. I'm just saying...

WHY I LOVE MY JOB By Juli Nelson

Last year I sold a very nice little Hereford X Heat Wave steer to a young boy that was just starting his show career. He and his family were searching for nice quiet calf for their son to show at the county fair; something that would be a good learning experience and competitive. Nic fell in love with "Eeyore" at first sight during our Labor Day pasture sale. It was a perfect match. We stayed in close contact, helped get them set up on a feed program and gave them some grooming and clipping lessons. It was a great feeling to see Nic lead Eeyore into the ring a the Crawford County Fair and walk out with a Reserve Champion County Raised Steer award. A lot of buttons were bursting that day. Not nearly as much as when I opened this card that the mailman delivered from Nic. (insert sniff)