All Great

 The auction went great

 and Kyle sent me some more great pictures!

My Favorite Award

 Last night was the big show and Elvis lived up to his namesake, while Kyle lived up to his performance genes. 

Elvis came out prancing

And Kyle did a great job showing him

I think he was the 2nd pig penned, so we knew he was going to be in the top of his class.

I think we thought with them getting penned so fast he was going to place higher, but Kyle and Elvis put on such a great show that the judge said "he made him look better than he actually was."

So with comments like that, we will take a 5th place finish and run.

After everyone showed their pigs for their places, they had the showmanship show. 

I thought maybe Kyle and Elvis had a chance, but there were so many kids competing against him in the Rookie category (the kids that have never shown a pig before) there were at least 13. 

Just look how Elvis has his chin up while that other pig doesn't.  Kyle has worked every day with Elvis to teach him to do that. 

When they got down to 5-6 kids left, I started thinking Kyle might have a chance.  The judge started talking about each kid and when I saw he was going to talk about Kyle last I started videoing thinking he might win. 

This is the judge having Kyle show that he can take Elvis in any direction he wants, talking about Kyle, and then announcing he's the winner...and then my screams. 

I, of course, was thrilled as there's no award I want to win more than showmanship!

He won the most beautiful belt buckle!

Show Week

 Elvis is getting ready for the show on Friday.

And he's getting ready about like I would...

By eating his fill of powdered donuts!

Finally! Part 2

 So there wasn't a whole lot of school in November and December with a week off at Thanksgiving and coming home the 2nd week of December, but he still found time to do plenty of stuff. 

And he finally got to hang up his flag, and he can now wear his t-shirts and hat. 

He's trained for this moment his whole life. 

Jason and I are actually really happy with his choice.  We lovingly refer to it as "Reed's fraternity" because when he was going through rush he texted me and said "I just went to the house Reed would be in."  

Reed doesn't necessarily approve of him being in a fraternity, but if he has to be in one, Reed gives this one his blessing. 

Finally!

 After 5 long months I can finally post about JR.  He's been in what feels like the longest pledgeship ever. And I, for one, was certainly not going to mess it up by posting about him.  But we got the text last night that he's been initiated, so now I can blog about him. 

Going way, way back to the first week of school, Jason thought I had lost my mind while he was going through rush (they do real rush, like the girls do).  I couldn't sleep and I was a nervous wreck the whole time. 

I know for a fact I let out a very loud squeal when this text came in because he got what he wanted.

Below is a sampling from September and October, there was so much stuff I can't even remember what all it was. 

In October Jason and I got to go to parents weekend at the house.  I believe when I blogged about it I said JR had an "event".  I was so impressed with how beautiful the house is and how nice it is on the inside. 

This was the first time Jason had ever been in a fraternity house in his life.

Besides Jason wearing a high school pullover (JR and I made lots of fun of him for that), we behaved perfectly since we were sent a full page of notes telling what we were allowed to say/do and not say/do.

We'll finish up the semester tomorrow. 

Bath Day

 It feels like we haven't seen the sun in forever.  All it's done here is rain and be cold.  It's so cold the cross country kids haven't been practicing (and they practice in any kind of weather). 

As Houstonians we're used to rain, but not the cold.  Thankfully we haven't had the ice like the rest of Texas.

This little lady thought it would be a good idea to take herself outside and run around in all the wetness.  After she came in the house almost completely black, she found herself here. 

The face you make when you've just had a bath for "no reason".

Don't worry.  She survived.

Elvis Update #6

 Coming in at 235 lbs, Elvis has officially made it to show weight, but as Kyle says, he still has to get to his "goal weight". 

He's still the cutest in the bunch!

I can't believe how big he's gotten!