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The Sale

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:33:15 GMT

Well, today concluded the 2007 Warren County Fair. We had the big sale today and had to say our goodbyes. I think grandpa was the most emotional. We're just glad he survived the whole ordeal. SOME VACATION! Seth and Safari both brought .99 and Sudoku brought .96. That was pretty good for this year as the entire sale was down quite a bit. Niki and Maddy both won weight of gain awards in Charolais and Limousin at the Family night banquet last night. Seth was the third place weight of gain winner overall. (Ginger won the weight of gain award from our family Hee Hee). A great big thank-you goes out to Reynolds Feed Service who bought Seth and Kevin Brummer our friendly neighbor who bought both of the Limousin steers. It was very much appreciated. Finally what would we do without Grandpa Lowell!!! These experiences are becoming some of the best memories of our kids lives and we are so grateful to him for all he does both physically and spiritually in our lives. The scriptures say a good father knows how to give good gifts and Grandpa Lowell has done just that. Another successful fair is under our big belt buckles! Next year we will win it ALL! State Fair is in a couple of weeks so come back to LoHeLimousin for more posts.

Kevin Brummer, the Limousin buyer

Goodbye Safari

Seth's Sale

Soduku's Sale

Safari's Sale

Steer Show

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 01:48:09 GMT

Today was the big steer show and although not everything went as we hoped there were some pleasant surprises. Seth, the Charolais steer won his class and then went on to receive Reserve Grand Champion. This made grandpa Warren very happy as all the Charolais are descendents from his herd. The Limousin steers, Safari and Soduko didn't fare as well although they were very nice steers. Soduku actually ended up getting second in his class with Safari behind him in third. The top two in each class come back to the ring to compete for breed champions so Niki had to take Soduku back to the ring to show him again. Soduku went a little crazy in the morning and really scared a lot of people so Niki was pleased when he led very well the first time in his class showing. However the second time he jerked Niki all around the ring and wore him out. We are pleased to say that Niki never did let go of him so he did a great job. Unfortunately I was so engrossed in watching to see if Niki was going to get stampeded that I didn't get any real good video of that portion of the show.
Both the kids competed in the showmanship competitions also. Maddy at the Junior level and Niki at the Intermediate level. Both did a really good job and have come a long ways. Maddy is young and still has several things she needs to focus on (like the judge) but the judge had some nice comments about her in one of the videos. Niki is slowly becoming a natural. He made major improvements this year in his showmanship skills and could very well win it some year if he keeps working hard at it. All in all it was a pretty good day. Monday is the big sale where we finally see if it was all worth it.

Seth:

Safari:

Soduko:

Niki the showman:

Maddy the showoman:

The spoils!

Fan Sections:

These posts are getting more difficult to load so I will just put a couple videos on here and the rest in the video section.

Breeding Show

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:48:20 GMT

    Today the kids showed their breeding cattle. Granpa Lowell showed Romance and Niki showed (S)Tinkerbell together in the cow/calf show. They were the only cow/calf combo in the show so they automatically won. The judge had some good things to say about Romance as you can hear in that video clip. Tinkerbell did pass out 3-4 times before the show but actually stayed on her feet during the whole showing. She was a little rambunction as you can also see in the video.
    Maddy showed her Limousin heifer, Sage. Grandpa said the only reason they brought Sage was because she led so well. He expected her to get last in her class but she surprised us and got third place (which was next to last). Maddy also competed in the showmanship competition where they actually judge the showman rather than the livestock. Maddy did pretty good but she needed to hold the heifer's head up higher and acknowledge the judge a lot more. She didn't win it but put forth a good showing and set her heifer up well. You might not be able to hear him in the video but Grandpa Warren thought she should have won that competition. I think he's a little biased.
    I also have showed some pictures of the kids' non-livestock 4H projects. Maddy made anCardinals snowman out of a gourd and a clay model replica of Bikini Bottom (Sponge Bob Square Pants). She received blue ribbons on both. Niki made a Cardinals Cribbage Board for his woodworking project. He received a State Fair Consideration ribbon which is better than a blue but not State Fair Qualifying. He ran into some problems because he had wood burned the STL symbol on the board also and the judges told him he would have to cover that up which he did with the green felt as you can see in the picture. Since then we have e-mailed the Cardinals and they have sent a letter of permission for Niki to wood burn the Cardinals logos on his cribbage boards as long as he doesn't sell them.
    Tomorrow is the big show where we show the steers: Safari, Sudoku and Seth. Dad is still pretty optomistic but there is another Limousin steer that will be in the same class as Safari and Sudoku that could possibly beat them. If they get 1st or 2nd in their class then they get to compete for champion. If they win the champion Limousin steer than they get to compete for Grand Champion of all breeds. Niki will also be competing hopefully in the Limousin and Charlois showmanship competitions.
    Granpa Lowell is still alive! Last Sunday he gave the sermon at church (which you can listen to at pleasanthillchurchofchrist.org) on Creature Worship. He was talking about the golden calves and we THOUGHT giving us a warning about how not to let non-Godly things consume us like some of the people at the fair do with their livestock. After watching all his tireless effort and work we are wondering if it was just one of those Pre-Repentance talks!!!! Oh well, the kids are having a great time and all Grandpa's work is very much appreciated.

Cow-Calf Combo gracefully entering the ring:

Cow-Calf Judging:

Maddy Leading Sage:

Sage Takes Third:

Sage's Judging Comments:

Grandpa Warren bragging, "Maddy should have won showmanship!"

Maddy sets up Sage

Sage poses for camera:

Sage takes 3rd!

Maddy's Showmanship

Romance and Tinkerbell get ready

Romance and Tinkerbell in the ring

Cardinals Gourd Snowman

Sponge Bob Square Pants:

Niki's Cardinals Cribbage Board:

Carlisle Ridge Riders' Booth

LoHe Fan Club!

Weighin Day

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:25:55 GMT

This morning was weighin time for the three steers: Safari (1340#), Sudoku (1290#) and Seth (1305#). In case you are wondering dad uses a Canadian naming system where all calves born in the same year are given names starting with a particular letter which happened to be S last year. Safari is a Limousin steer that was named after a previous cow that grandpa showed at the state fair and was the mother of Romance which there is a picture of further down. Grandpa is hoping that Safari WINS IT ALL this year. Sudoku is named after puzzles that both grandpa and Niki like to do. Grandpa thinks Sudoko could win it all too if it wasn't for Safari. Best case scenario will be Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion. Seth (the white one) was named by a cousin Nathan Willimson and is a Charlois from Grandpa Warren's previous stock. Seth is only a little over one year old and has put on great weight. Maybe he'll win a high rate of gain award. Grandpa has pretty high expectations this year and Niki worries that if they don't do that well we might be posting some video of a 60 year old grown man weeping!!!

The other cattle that we have this year is a Limousin breeding heifer, Sage, which Maddy is showing and a cow/calf combo of Romance, the mother, and Tinkerbell, the calf. Tinkerbell has been renamed Stinkerbell because she has proven rather difficult to lead around and is pretty stubborn. Niki enjoys trying to lead her though because sometimes she just flops down, sticks her tongue out and pretends to die which Niki thinks is hilarious and the spectators will think is funny. I'll try to put some movies on for Blake also.

Here is the introduction to the 4H products: three steers and a heifer

These next two videos are of stubborn Tinkerbell. Niki thinks Blake will like Tinkerbell! It's our only head of cattle that takes two people to lead!

This is Safari going to his weigh-in. Does he look like a champ or what?!?

This is Seth the Charlois or as Maddy sometimes says the Chevrolet.
Maddy will be showing Safari and Niki is showing Seth so I don't know
why in these videos neither are leading the correct one.

This is Sudoku getting on gigantic scale to be weighed.

Three pictures of Tinkerbell!

4H products: Three steers and a heifer:

Sudoku:

Seth:

Safari:

Seth and Sudoku Weighin:

Maddy scooping poop. She's excellent at it. I know what her job will be in about a month:

Seth's butt!

Cow/Calf Show: Romance and baby Tinkerbell:

2006 Warren County Fair

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:39:12 GMT

We had a little bit of bad luck again this year as Rocky the charolais steer and Ramona and Rachel, the limousin heifers all contracted warts and weren't allowed to go to the fair. That only left Maddy to show Raspberry, a limousin steer and Niki to show Reo, a hereford/limousin crossbred steer. It's still possible Ramona and Rachel may get to go to the Iowa State Fair though. We'll keep our fingers crossed. Niki and Maddy both did a good job showing their steers but it helped that they were both so easy going (the steers that is!) They both placed 3rd in their classes but did way better than expected in the sale. Farm Bureau bought Maddy's steer for 1.15 and Kevin Brummer bought Niki's steer for 1.10. Maddy was a little more emotional than we thought she would be when they took Raspberry off to the locker but we're confident that the check in the mail will erase her good conscience. The love of money is the root of all evil! Maddy also got two blue ribbons by making some chocolate chip cookies with grandma Suzanne's help and also by painting a small shelf given to her by grandma Mildred. Niki also got a blue ribbon on his grain bin explosion simulator project. He put an incredible amount of time in on this project and made a very good powerpoint presentation for the judge. Niki will present it at our next family get together and will probably have an opportunity to present it at school also. Once again, Niki and Maddy had a wonderful life experience and we hope they remember it and get more involved and work harder each year at the fair. As always big hugs and kisses go out to grandpa Lowell who completely exhausts himself giving his grandkids these invaluable life-long memories. The kids and especially their parents appreciate your hard work way more than you realize. Thanks for all the time you put in with them. Next year they want to WIN IT ALL!

2005 Warren County Fair

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:30:10 GMT

Well this year didn't turn out quite as planned as Grandpa was recovering from shoulder surgery and Pistol and Pete proved to be harder to tame as first thought. Instead, Niki and Maddy were going to take a cow/calf combo (Jamaica and Romance) to enter in open class. Unfortunately Maddy got run over by Jamaica at the club showing a couple of weeks before the fair which made her to frightened to lead this year. Hopefully next year she can get back into it. Maddy is still only in clover kids this year anyway. It looks as if grandpa and Niki are going to have to do the showing. Maddy and Niki also got interested in non-bovine projects this year as Maddy made a blanket and a cake over which she received quite a few positive comments. Niki made some Andes Mint cookies and also entered a geodesic dome in the science/engineering category. He received a blue ribbon on the cookies but actually received a state fair honorable mention for his geodesic dome. The judge was very impressed and we were all very pleased. Niki wants to do a woodworking project next year. The cow show went pretty well. Niki received a blue ribbon for showing Romance by herself and Grandpa and Niki got a blue and a red ribbon for showing the cow/calf pair together. Niki tried the showmanship competition this year and did really well. The judge just said he needs to keep trying the competition and get some years of experience under his belt. I was very proud that he tried his very best even though he was reluctant to try and do it. We finally convinced him it was just a learning experience. This year the kids get a little more experience as they are taking Jamaica and Romance to the BIG DANCE! (The Iowa State Fair).

2004 Warren County Fair

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:22:20 GMT

Well this was the big year that the grandkids, Niki and Maddy, joined up with their grandpa Lowell and LoHe Limousin and attempted to show some cattle at the Warren County Fair. They had a very enjoyable and successful fair and we all learned alot. Niki took two Limousin heifers, Natalie and Nicole, and one Hereford heifer, Neon. He also brought a Limousin steer, Napolean. Maddy was allowed to show Nicole in open class and as the judge commented she was extremely confident. Imagine that! Neon took fourth in her class, Natalie took 1st in her class, Nicole took 1st in her class and was the Reserve Champion Limousin heifer. Napolean took 1st in his class and was the Champion Limousin Steer. Napolean went fourth in the sale and LoHeLimousin.com would like to thank our buyer (and friendly neighbor) Kevin Brummer for buying him at 92.50 and re-selling at 81.75. Wow! What a successful first year of 4H! It was a great experience for everyone even when Niki and Marc slept on cots with the heifers on Thursday night. Niki and Maddy want to thank grandpa Lowell for all his hard work this week and for getting them involved in 4H. We can't wait to get started on next year's projects.

The Hawk's Nest

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 10:58:50 GMT

In October of 2003 the Hermon family undertook the project of remodeling the hayloft in Grandpa Warren's barn into a basketball court which they call the "Hawk's Nest" in honor of Marc's alma mater the University of Iowa. Below are several pictures of the Hawk's Nest.