Emily's Hair Donation

8 inches.

Donated. 

Pantene Beautiful Lengths.

Slumber Party Time!

It is hard to believe that our sweet Megan turned 9 . . . already. It has been a true joy to watch her grow in so many ways. She is so responsible and compassionate. I see so much of Christ in her. 

She celebrated her 9th birthday with a movie party/slumber party with 7 friends. After a pizza party and Oreo birthday brownies they watched the movie "Up" and then, at some point in time before 6 a.m., sacked out in their sleeping bags. Up the next morning, they had pancakes for breakfast and then played and played and played until they were picked up.

So glad her friends could make it over to celebrate with us!

Illinois State Fair 2014

We had never gone to the State Fair as a family. After one trip, I think the kids want to make it an annual event. There really IS something for everyone!

What were our favorite parts of the Illinois State Fair?

Emily: Piglets on Parade

Megan: Farmer's Little Helper

Eli: the ferris wheel

Matthew: Piglets on Parade

me: harness races

Megan tried her hand at milking a cow. Sometimes I think (as much milk as we drink) that we should have one of these pretty ladies out in the barn. 

Trooper Emily????

And Eli!

These are exciting races. I could have watched for hours, but Eli couldn't!!!!

A great view from the top of the ferris wheel.

I took this photo from the top of the ferris wheel. 

You can't go to the Illinois State Fair without checking out the butter cow. It is amazing! One fun fact that Matthew learned about the butter cow is that the same butter is used every year. 

Piglets on Parade was a really neat display. It is a trailer with sows and their newborn piglets. You can walk through and observe their behavior, and ask the staff any questions you might have. One lady was amazed to learn that bacon come from pigs!! 

We saw state senator Sullivan speaking at the signing of a new state bill. Oh yeah, Pat Quinn spoke too.  

Pony rides for the kids. 

This is the way to travel at the fair! 

We caught the draft horse and mule show. Beautiful, beautiful and well-trained animals!

2014 Adams County Fair

We love county fairs. I love looking at all the cool projects and beautiful vegetables and yummy desserts. We always love watching the kids show their livestock projects, knowing how much work goes into each project. One thing we love about the Adams County Fair is the horse show. We love to watch my niece show her horse, Whisper. Sadly, Whisper passed away recently. 

Here are some photos of this year's Adams County Fair!

Lissa & Whisper during showmanship

Whisper was such a beautiful horse, and she and Lissa were a great team!

LOVE this photo!

There is a lot of equipment on display on the fairgrounds and Eli loves to check it all out. 

McDonough County doesn't show dairy cattle, so we thought it was fun to check out the dairy cow barn.

And, our bunny-loving girls had to visit the bunny barn!
This is an angora bunny. You can actually sell their fur! So cute!

And this bunny went a little overboard with the eyeliner!

Lissa is quite the artist, and took a great drawing to the State Fair. I wish my photo of her artwork had turned out, but it didn't. You'll have to trust me that it was GREAT!