After a long day of showing, the ladies had time to rest, relax and generally hang lose and munch on hay for a week in KY getting all kinds of attention.
One of my highlights was a surprise visit from the Wendt family! They began investing in Jacobs Pride animals back in 2006 and have flourished with them ever since, much to our delight and over the years, becoming trusted friends.

One of the joys of attending a National show is to see friends you don’t have the opportunity to see any other time other then through e-mails, phone calls or websites. Anne was one such blessing. Who truly became a true blessing for our little Morie, who’d become sick shortly after arriving. Anne being a licensed vet, was able to intervene using her knowledge that I believe was a saving grace for Morie (thank you again Anne!) Needless to say, when situations like this arise, the bond of friendships deepen.



Trudy had a taste for real southern pulled pork so she went on a search and found this small, eclectic family run establishment that is actually nationally recognized for their food. Wow, what a score! Great job Trudy! We patronized their establishment on a few occasions while we were in KY, including one evening with a small group of friends. Naturally, a great time was had by all!






One of the fun parts of the evening was the entertainment that’s an established part of the little restaurant. The singer reminded me of a male Phoebe Buffay on the T.V. series Friends who welcomed any participation, making for a fun time. As those who’ve heard Caroline sing, knows what an outstanding voice she has. She can belt out a Patsy Kline song beautifully. I think she was a surprise to the performing artist. And speaking of surprise, quiet, seemly shy Ryan got up without hesitation to sing and he sang well too! Those two belted out some western tunes to be relished and most definitely remembered!



As with everything in life, the times both good and bad come to an end. And so it was with our time at the Nationals. A great time with lasting memories had come to an end and it was time to quickly pack up and hit the road back home. Check out on Saturday, giving us a small window of time to make it back home for Marshall and Trudy and begin their workweek back at the hospital.

Kentucky! We’re here!!! We finally arrived around 5 pm that afternoon. I guess we’d cut it close but we hadn’t noticed. We had a good, safe trip and had arrived safely, with everybody making the journey without incident and in good health, always a good thing when traveling with milkers over such a distance. The herd was visibility happy to be at their destination. Tired, but definitely happy.

After arrival and going through the vet check-in, sign in, unloading, setting up and getting all our girls nestled in, we were able to begin the tasks of preparation for the big show day on Monday. Nubians were the first breed lined up to show that week, which I was glad for. No counting down the days with tension mounting when we show. With class entries of anywhere from 60 to 70 plus Nubians per age class, last minute grooming details are important. Interestingly, I found that showing in such large classes for me to be less stressful then showing in our local shows of 10 to 15 Nubians per class. At the Nationals, in a huge ring that is a sea of goats encompassing the entire ring I feel somehow comforted by the mass, knowing fellow exhibitors are feeling the same high excitement and anxiety too of showing their animal at the Nationals. Somehow that brings a strange comfort to me. Would that be likened to the saying that misery loves company? However, I had a special treat this year when a friend showed my Crisy. I think it was more nerve racking standing ringside just standing and watching, hoping she’d make the cut. In the Nubian classes the sizes they are, the Judges make a cut of 20 does out of the majority to begin their final Judging and line-up placements and excuse the rest of the animals in the class. So hoping to be in the cut holds anxiety. The up side to standing ringside and watching someone else exhibit your animal is being able to actually watch and take pictures. And take pictures I did.

I was very happy that all 7 of our girls we took to Nationals made the cut.

Starting out, with our 3 juniors.

In Class 71: Junior Kid, Morie placed 15th.

In Class 73: Senior Kid, Fiesta Puddn Ol’e placed 4th

In Class 75: Senior Yearling, Cameron Doeiaz placed 14th

In Class 76: Best 3 Junior Does, Morie, Fiesta and Cameron placed 5th

With our 4 milkers, in Class 79: Two Year Old Milker, Misty placed 3rd with 3rd udder

In Class 80: 3 Year Old Milker, Sunny placed 19th, just barely making the cut, that was a close

In Class 82: 5 And 6 Year Old Milker, Crisy placed 8th

And in Class 83: 7 Years And Older Milker Pudd’n placed 1st with 1st Udder. And the rest is history going on to achieve the National Res. Grand Champion title, Res. Udder and Top Performer

In Class 84: Nubian Dairy Herd, placing 3rd Place. Class 85: Best 3 Senior Does (Pudd’n, Crisy & Misty) 6th place

Class 87: Produce Of Dam with Pudd’n and Sunny, 2nd Place.

All in all, with all 7 animals making the cut, 3 does in the top 20 (14th, 15th & 19th pl.) one in the top 10 (8th pl.) 3 does in the top 6 (1st, 3rd & 4thpl.) it was an awesome National show for us.

Our next evening layover was in Missouri, at the home of great old friends, Don and Jonee and their son Dustin, now grown with a family! Heather and baby Dakota. Wow how the time flies! Don and Jonee left the heat of AZ to settle in MO., which appears to be a perfect fit for them, they love it. Their warmth and hospitality they extended our goats and us was immeasurable. We were treated to dinner out that night, at their favorite little family run dinner and delicious naturally. And then there was that awesome breakfast Jonee cooked up for us before hitting the road once again which included homemade syrup…yummm.

Our first stop was to one of Marshall’s foster families he lived with, Ma and Pa Sprowls. They were a big part of his young life and major influence. We pushed hard that first day to arrive there that night. OK, maybe it was more like 2AM in the morning. That way Marshall and Trudy could spend time with them in the morning before hitting the road again. But hey we made it with bragging rights and loved every minute. Marshall and Trudy knew the trip back would have to be a push to make it to their jobs on time so the push to Ma and Pa’s was a given.
We all enjoyed the morning rest and I know Marshall’s Ma and Pa enjoyed their time spent with them as much as they did. It was easy to understand Marshall and Trudy’s love for them. They are a most loving and kind couple. As Marshall can attest to, he was very blessed to have had them in his life and not wanting to miss the opportunity to see them both together for most likely the last time here on earth.



Oh seriously now! Who could resist a suburban milk dump butt shot?To quote a line out of a move; “Is better to act then not and ask forgiveness later”. Sorry Marshall

The ladies are rested, milked, had their stroll and ready to get back on the road. What good travelers they’ve been!

The decision to go to the 2010 Nationals in KY was not unlike the last time in respect to being a last minute decision. Normal people plan ahead for such events, especially for such a huge event of National importance so to speak and a road trip that entails traveling over halfway across the United States. But true to form, for me not to fit into doing something sane and that is nothing to be proud of. However, I am truly glad the decision to go was made and happy I did. The last minute decision came about by the encouragement of our dear friends and their offer to share their trailer space and motel room with them, coupled with the instance of my husband to go with them and attend the Nationals (go figure). Gordy was convinced I should go to the Nationals and that I would be able to go both the Nationals and attend our daughter’s wedding. With the wedding of course being number 1 priority and why I felt the Nationals was not in the equation. But he was right on all accounts as usual. So, with my husband’s insistence and the open arms of our dear friends to share in the National experience together, off to the Nationals I headed with 4 of our milkers, a dry yearling and two junior does. A lot of goats to bring under the hospitality of friends, but we all made it and still remain good friends. SO, off to Winslow I drove, on June 16th, with our 7 goats for a two and half day journey to KY.

We hit the road in typical goat ownership style. In one speed we goat owners are comfortable with, around 11:30am I think it was when we pulled out. Trudy’s patience was tried on occasion from the get-go, but she handled it well and only filling in for Gordy at times. I think it was my insistence of stopping every 4 hours to milk that pushed her to the patience point maybe a time or two but it was all-good. I think I wore Trudy out with my non-stop chatter but it kept Marshall awake, maybe not so much entertained but awake.

We had borrowed M’s Sagebrush Puddn’s Kisses, aka; Kiss, from my girlfriend last fall for my specific planned breeding, using him to cover our beloved Pudd’n, which produced the beautiful Fiesta Puddn Ol’e. Kiss hung out here with us over the winter and into early fall before he was needed back at his home for my girlfriend’s fall breedings. Fortunately I was able to get in a breeding with him before leaving, to Jacobs Pride Tri 2 Spot’m. 2Spot is a 2007 doe that’d been open since her first freshening and I wasn’t willing to give up on. She’d freshened as a yearling but that was it. I had been unable to get her settled from that point on. 2Spot had become cystic and my attempts at clearing it up had been unsuccessful up until last fall. My last attempt was using a method from a woman who’d dealt with cystic does and used the treatment successfully for years. Another friend had been experiencing the same situation with a top doe of hers that was also cystic. We both decided to use the woman’s treatment and we had success! We’re both very grateful to her! Last fall was 2Spot’s last chance. I despise having to come to those infamous last chances. So now, it is with great anticipation I look forward to

Kisses last kids from a doe on her last chance. Hummm, I think the name; “Jacobs Pride 2nd Chance Kiss” might be in order should I be blessed with a doeling out of 2Spot by Kiss.

This year’s Memorial Day Show was a nice time spent with good friends, coupled with some nice wins. Our granddaughter was able to spend a day at the show and take in the fun, much to her delight and ours as well.

Jacobs Pride Wedding Belle Kiss

(GCH. under Judge Marie Perkins-Layman)

SG. Jacobs Pride El Show Excelente 9*M

2 Res. GCH.'s under Judges; Gary Whitehead and Anna Thompson-Hajdik

Jacobs Pride Cameron Doeiaz

Res. GCH. under Judge Marie Perkins-Layman

Jacobs Pride Fiesta Puddn Ol'e

GCH. under Judge Gary Whitehead

Res. GCH. under Judge Anna Thompson-Hajdik