Grandkids at Glenn Co Fair

Tom is showing "Dip n Dot" a young Holstein heifer at the Glenn County Fair. Tom also brought her mother, Dottie, showed them separately and then together. The mother and daughter won the highest award. To see more pictures at flickr, click here.
Laura is showing one of the Jersey cows she brought. Not sure if this is "Truffles" or if that was the other cow.
Both Tom and Laura did very well, winning championships for their animals and for Laura, she won Showmanship in the Senior division of the dairy and also in the "Round Robin" where she had to show 7 different species i.e. meat goat, dairy goat, sheep, dairy cow, beef cow, horse, and pig. The other animals were owned by other kids and Laura didn't have experience with showing them. There was a different judge for each type of animal. So, that was a big win. She has two new buckles to add to the one she won last year. Both Tom and Laura won cute wooden boxes with a place for a picture on the cover. They were very happy with their winnings.

Trip to Orland

My sister and I drove to Orland recently to visit my grandchildren on the dairy. Laura requested that I bring Pizza Villa pizza and Rollen Donuts from Merced. We only stayed one night.
We turned off I-5 at Willows to see the Drive-In where my sisters worked for a couple of weeks back in 1952. I think we found the right building on the old 99 Hwy and Road 162 going to Glenn. We then drove to Glenn; a long drive with not much to see until you get to the community of Glenn at Road 45. The grocery store with the gasoline pumps is no longer in business, but the building is still there. The little post office is still in operation. We were surprised to see so many mailboxes with the Giesbrecht name on Road 45. We stopped by the Mennonite Church and took a picture.
Also went down Road 48, where we used to live. Nothing is left that is recognizable. Our old house was torn down as soon as Uncle Abe purchased it in 1953. We moved back to Winton before Christmas in 1953.
My daughter and son-in-law like Orland a lot and don't intend to move back to Merced County. That was hard for me to believe at first, since my sisters and I were anxious to get back to Winton.
We had an interesting 2 days, watching the grandkids do the milking and other chores while the parents were away. Mandy and her boyfriend John were in charge of the milking. Tom and Laura pitched in to lighten the load. Mandy is the cheese maker and oversees that part of the dairy operation on a daily basis. Mandy has been on the Rachael Ray Show, which aired the day before Thanksgiving in 2007. Cojo did a makeover on Mandy for the show. See Mandy's blog here. To see more pictures from our Orland trip click here.
When I got back home and drove into the garage, I could see Maggie the cat, watching me from her cat door. She watched me leave and watched me come home. She doesn't like to be home alone. I love to visit the grandkids, wish they were closer so it would be an easy one day trip.