WOW!!! What a difference a year makes. Again, it’s been a busy year and sale time is quickly rolling around, we hope you have September 26 marked on your calendar and you can join us. We have so many blessings to be thankful for, we just need to pause and “thank God” for all he has given us. As many of you already know we are now very proud “grandparents”. Mason was born 1/28 to Josh & Erica, Grandma gets to spoil (love) him 3 days a week. Emlyn was born 7/18 to Chad & Garin, I was there when she was born too and she was born on our 38th anniversary, even though she is further away she will always hold a special place in our hearts, we hope to spoil (love) her as often as we can. We love this new opportunity. Again, 2009 is proving to be another “strange” year. Calving went very well, Roger got the crops planted in a good time frame and now its August and we are going to hit 100 over this weekend – in July it was cool and wet with good rains (unusual for Iowa) and only 1 day above 90. Very little humidity which of course we thought was great. The crops & pasture look really good here, just hope they can adjust with less heat index days. February 22, we held a 65th anniversary celebration for Roger’s parents, Richard & LuEtta. What a special day and event with about 375 in attendance. They are so blessed. Roger is still “the best hoof trimmer in SWI” and puts in long hours farming and then he does bovine pedicures. He judged a couple of county fairs and could have done a few more but they were all on the same day. He loves spending time with the 4-H kids and youth. He was the major contractor for the new showring announcer’s stand. He does a fine job taking care of the showring and him & Deb again worked with the 4-Hers in the showring prior to show day, they also take the sale of champions pictures during the Westfair sale. He pretty much is a one-man farmer this spring, can’t say I didn’t warn him. I love being “Grandma” to both Mason and Emlyn—they grow so fast the next years will be so much fun when we are all together. I currently serve as Secretary on the Westfair board, financial secretary for the Heartland Limousin Assn. and serve as the ILA Sale Coordinator for the Iowa Beef Expo Sale. These things all keep me plenty busy. Emlyn came a week early and we got to make the trip to Denver to spend a day with them before fair started, I would have been pretty hard to hold in Iowa if I had not got to see her right away. We love getting together with our limousin friends, and watching some of their kids grow up in the breed. Now on to Vorthmann Limousin, our next love. We hope you plan to attend our private treaty sale, Saturday, September 26, at our farm. The majority of the calves were weaned on July 28 and are doing great. We will be posting pictures in early September and invite you to stop by anytime, just give us a call. The base prices will be established about 1 week prior and cattle may be claimed at any time, but no cattle will be sold before 2 pm on September 26. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to give us a call or send an email to me. Ann-roger@cattleplanet.com We look forward to seeing you soon.