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The year was 2013.
Isaac was 10, and Walker was 7. 
It was only our second show ever. The first was the county fair the previous summer.
We didn't know much more than we did at county fair, but we were going for the "big time". We had never even been to the Ohio Beef Expo, so we were going in blind...and a lot dumb. We still laugh about it with those that were there with us that first year. 
Daniel was still working in residential HVAC and the spring months always made for smaller paychecks. By the time we got to the Ohio Beef Expo, I was packing lunches and pinching pennies any way I could.
I'll never forget going to our local K-Mart and finding a new show shirt for Isaac for $4.00. If you've seen our trailer recently, you know that we have a LOT of stuff packed in there, but it wasn't always that way. We were so short on money and needed so many show items. We had to get creative and even made side panels out of the horse dividers in our trailer. No, the Jersey cow didn't go to Expo with us...she was just testing out the new panels. It worked. But we look back at ourselves now and just laugh. We bought the cheapest pair of clippers we could find...and then found out they weren't the right kind. But it didn't matter, because we were so bad at our clipping attempt, that we quickly realized we were going to have to cough up the money to pay a real fitter to bale us out.
Everyone has to start somewhere, but man...we really started at the bottom.
But, those memories are what make us so proud of where we are now. 
Things have changed just a little bit.
And, we have a few more blowers than we really need (except they are still trying to convince me that we really could use another set). 
But what we are most proud of is how we have gotten to where we are today.
It's been by blood, sweat and tears. Quite literally. This life doesn't come easily, and we have busted our tails day after day, and year after year to get here. 
Have we arrived?
I don't think you ever arrive. But, we're sure a lot further than where we were in 2013.
Today, we move cows in to the Ohio Beef Expo for the 13th time.
Will we come out with another buckle like we did all those years ago? Only time in the ring will tell. 
We've earned a few buckles over the years, but I don't know that any buckle will mean quite as much as that very first one.
They all mean a lot...especially now that we actually know what Grand Champion means. I'm really not kidding. Come see us this week at the Ohio Beef Expo and we'll tell you the story... 
Everyone has to start somewhere.
You can start at the top, or you can start at the bottom, but everyone has to start. That 7 year old is now our own home-grown fitter. That 10 year old is still walking those cows through the show ring.
We lost 4 Wiley Miss Bunny to cancer this summer, but she'll always be our first champion.
Our breeding program has grown throughout the years, but those foundational genetics still remain. We started with cows straight from the Largent farm, and we've paired them with some of the best modern genetics in the breed. Mixing foundational with progressive breeding to create some cows we are pretty proud of. 
Come visit with us at the Ohio Beef Expo this weekend.
Everyone has a story. We'd love to hear yours.
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4 Wiley Clover was to be our next show champion, but honestly she spent most of the year being overshadowed by 22 Finding Treasure. But it was finally her time! Isaac is a big dreamer and Daniel and I are pretty risk averse and always want to have an exit plan before a starting point. It's a constant tug of war between how much is too much risk and how much is us just being scared. Sometimes, our biggest job is bringing Isaac back to reality and sometimes his biggest job is helping us to see and accept his vision. Isaac is good at pulling us out of our comfort zones and pushing us to dream bigger and try harder. Doubling the size of our herd was certainly a combination of Isaac's big dreams and us pushing ourselves way past our comfort zones.  When we bought the herd from Colorado last summer, we knew it was going to take a lot more work and a lot of adjustment. A bigger herd, more work, less time and the pressure of having to make this all work in order to pay off the loans has certainly "upped the ante".
Several weeks ago, Isaac had the opportunity to participate in the Ohio Cattlemen's Associations Young Cattlemen's Conference. The Young Cattlemen's Conference is a three-day event for young cattlemen from across the state to come together to learn more about the beef industry and how they can make an impact.  Isaac was a little hesitant to go, but with a little coaxing, he signed up. It helped that he got to room with his cousin for the event and they always love getting the chance to spend time together.
It’s been a bit. Our lives have changed a little since I was last on here. Life can be really hard and we have been through a lot of those hard times and making some hard decisions, but we have seen first hand how God’s plan and timing is perfect. The internet rarely shows all the struggles, and I’m not going to share all of our struggles today, because I want to focus on where God has brought us this year. He has been teaching and preparing us for many years, but we can see how God has used those times to prepare us for where we are today.  When I last left you, we were focusing on diversifying the farm and Isaac has just started buying goats. Those two Christmas goats quickly turned into 30 goats. He bought some bred does and of course they all kidded the week of the Ohio Beef Expo.
At times it feels like time is standing still, but other times it feels like the world is spinning around us. As we look back at the past year, it seems much like any other year. Wake up, tackle the to-do list, repeat. But if we really stop to look at where we were a year ago, things have changed a lot. I would summarize the past year as a year of GROWTH. Little by little, day by day the little changes have added up to significant changes.  Things have been a little quiet over here on the blog lately, but it is not because things have been quiet on the farm. It is quite the opposite. Life on the farm has been full steam ahead, so I have decided to focus on each day, give myself a little grace and step away from the blog when life is too much. Walker spent many hours in the barn getting the cows ready for our trip to Louisville. Isaac is now working full time and completed his final college classes the week before NAILE. He is very relieved to have that chapter of his life behind him and now be able to fully focus on the farm. This year, Walker bore the brunt of working with the animals as Daniel and I spent our evenings ironing out the details of the show and all the behind the scenes details that have to happen to make a show happen.  We took Lucy, Autumn and Colt with us to Louisville.
We spent ten straight days at the fair. First at the Knox County Fair and then we moved straight into the Ohio State Fair. Did we eat a lot of fair food? Yes...but not as much as you would think. After this many years, the lure of the fair food just doesn't have as much appeal as it used to. We each usually have at least one splurge, but this year I think my only splurge was ice cream.  Walker and Isaac have always loved showing at the fairs, but the last several years, the real draw of the fair is time with their friends.
This was Isaac's first year not to be a participant, but he made sure to come home to join in on some of the fun. Too say we were all exhausted at the end of those 10 days is an understatement. Colt is even too tired to eat...but he only spent 2 days at the fair. Walker is going big! The Knox County Fair starts this weekend and Walker is taking a big steer this year. Don't worry...he hasn't abandoned the mini's....he is taking Lucy along as well.  Early last Monday morning we returned from the Miniature Hereford Junior Nationals. The theme this year was "Return of the Minis" because we were once again in Duncan, Oklahoma. The Stephens County Expo Center is absolutely perfect for this event and we all fell in love with the town of Duncan last year. It was so nice to return to familiar territory and really get to know the people of Duncan. The town embraced the Miniature Hereford families and rolled out the welcome mat for us.  |
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AuthorHello! I am Heather... the city girl turned mom to manure loving country boys. My husband and I both grew up in the city, but spent weekends visiting grandparents in the country. We are first generation farmers who learn best by almost always doing things the hard way. I hope you enjoy following along with our adventures down on the farm. Archives
January 2025
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