Happy International Livestock Show

Our local stockshow, the Happy International Livestock Show, was yesterday. It is a time for the youth of our community to practice before our county shows. This year was the 61st annual show.

Our local show is great for several reasons. The kids compete against each other, but they also help each other out and are proud of their friends when they do well. Showmanship may be a more coveted award than Grand Champion.

The people that make sure the show goes well are another thing that makes it great. Yesterday, I looked around and saw people helping that had no kids involved. They were either Happy graduates coming back to pitch in or parents whose children are no longer showing. One man hasn't had any kids showing since I last showed. It's pretty cool that people in our community care enough about our kids to make sure they have memorable opportunities.

During awards, Sadie sits with friends of our that help with the show every year. Neither one of them has anyone showing anymore, but they still are faithful helpers.

Another cool thing about the show is we take time to let the kids that aren't old enough to show have a turn. We have "Pee Wee Showmanship" with the lambs and pigs. Everyone gets a ribbon.

My dad was a great supporter of the show. It's now named Happy International because he used to joke about calling it that when we were kids. The Hustler award is named after him. I think he'd be proud to see that not much has changed since his kids were showing. It's still all about the kids and hopefully will continue to be.

To see more pictures of the show, go to our family website, here.

Thankfulness

In the tradition of the season, I'm going to take the opportunity to list a few things for which I am thankful.

• My family and our health
• We live in such a great community--not many kids get to participate in a Thanksgiving feast at school and actually give thanks before they eat.
• The zoo--T.S. found one place the chickens have been laying, so he got to throw the old eggs at the tree. Somehow he ended up with egg on his socks and shoes.

I could list more, but I'll stop there for now.

I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with all you want and that you remember to keep an attitude of Thanksgiving throughout the year. (Especially when you start your Christmas shopping and have to deal with the million other souls who are shopping, too)

Why I Love Trick-Or-Treating in Happy...

Last night I was again reminded of how blessed we are to live in our little community. Here are a few reasons why:

• You don't have to get out at every house with your kids for two reasons. 1. Everyone knows them. 2. You'd never finish trick-or-treating because you'd visit too much.
• My kids received candy from some of the same people that used to hand it out to me.
• If you do get out with your kids, you can almost bet you'll walk away with a piece of candy, too.
• When someone opens the door, you hear, "Come on in here."
• The first year T.S. went trick-or-treating, a friend of ours opened both hands and gave T.S. a choice--candy or a golf ball. T.S. chose the golf ball. He's gotten a golf ball from him every year since.
• I came away from one house with new crocheted pot holders.
• Sadie was sad that we, "couldn't stop by Roberta's this year." How often does a 9 year old remember that a 90+ year old passed away since last Halloween? You could never leave Roberta's house without a sack of candy and a hug/kiss. She always wore bright lipstick, too.

Happy Happenings

The seasons seem to be changing around here. Tarantulas are on the move and we've seen evidence of snakes changing into their fall wardrobe. We're busy on the farm with chores, homework, a new instrument and life in general. I received my first "real" paycheck in nine years today.

On our way to the 4-H meeting tonight, I stopped at the post office to get the mail. I was greeted by a man as I came out. He was wondering where our gas station was. I glanced at my watch and told him he was out of luck...it was after 5:30. His expression led me to offer to get him some gas from our key pump. Just a little FYI--if you're traveling through and think it'd be fun to say you filled up in Happy, please try to make your trip on a weekday before 5:00 or 5:30. If it's a Saturday, get here before noon. We only have the one station. Quite a few of us have pump keys...but you can't always guarantee we'll be around.

I tell you this because the other evening a lady was shocked (or possibly dismayed) that we:
1. don't have a grocery store
2. don't have a convenience store (Jackie's is convenient if you are in town during the hours I mentioned before...he has fountain drinks, some candy bars, eggs on occasion and special treats for special customers sometimes, too.)
3. We can't eat out whenever we want or "run" to Sonic just because it is happy hour.

The nearest "conveniences" are about 15 miles away. Life in our small town takes planning and forethought. And, that's just the way we like it.

The joys of small town life are abundant.