Monday Memory: Cousins and Pigs

Growing up, my siblings and I showed various livestock animals at local shows and fairs for 4-H and FFA projects. We started out with pigs and had some we were preparing one summer when our Utah cousins came out for a visit. My young cousin, Joel, was probably seven years old at the time, and absolutely adored my brother, Kasey. Although Joel was initially terrified of our 200+ pound pigs, he got over his fears and kept up with his older cousin.

 

This might be my all-time favorite picture. Kasey (red hat) and Joel (blue hat) happily riding around the pen on the back of Mollie, our tamest pig ever. I love this picture because the two boys are adorable and so happy. I love it because it shows how close these boys were. And I love that it absolutely epitomizes what country kids do for fun. Not a lot of video game playing happened during that cousin visit, but we sure made up for it with pig rides!

 

These two are grown up now with college degrees and real jobs. They are both married to ladies way out of their league, and both would whole-heartedly agree with that statement. But no matter how big they get, or how mature they try to act, I think they'd both jump on the chance to ride a pig again.