We are home from the Kitsap Fair.  It was a successful fair for us this year.  It is always a lot of work to put this fair together but in the end it is so worth it!  We are lucky that we have so much great help in the llama barn, we couldn't do it without all of that help.  It is a great team effort.  This year seemed like a lot more fun than years past and we even had new friends there which is always great!  The llamas did well but were ready to be home.  Two of my kids showed 4-H and qualified for the State Fair next month and they are so excited for that new experience!  Our newest llama Jenny got in some great PR time with the public and she got in some great obstacle practice along with taking in all the sights and sounds of the fair.  She is young and we were impressed with her behavior.  Once again a huge thanks to all those who helped out and filled our barn!  We are looking forward to next year! 

We are enjoying our week being back at our county fair. It is a lot of work but we are enjoying it with family and great friends. Even some new friends!! One of the great parts of the day is the evening when we take our two cart trained llamas out to cart around the fairgrounds. This is so much fun! We bought a second cart this year so that both llamas could go together. The looks on peoples faces when they see us carting is priceless! Seeing the llamas seems to make everyone so happy. It is also a great way to show just how much llamas can do and what amazing animals they are. We have only been carting llamas a few years but it is something I am glad we learned to do!

The first day of our fair has ended and everyone is settled for the night. It was a fun and successful day. Our kids had fun showing in their 4-H classes, they missed this last year. I think 4-H is such a great program and I am glad my kids can participate like I did. We got to share our llamas with the public. I loved watching my kids answer questions for people. Seeing llama friends again and making new llama friends is always great too! I have been at this fair since I was in 4-H so it means a lot to be running the llama barn now and seeing my kids have the fair experience.

Today we hauled most of our llamas to our county fair. We run both the open and the 4-H side of things. We have been in charge of the open for many years and this is the first year running the 4-H side. It is a lot of work but we enjoy every minute of it. We are also fortunate to have great family and friends that help! We missed the fair last year and are very excited for this week. We spent today getting all set up and tomorrow the fair opens. We enjoy sharing our llamas with the public and teaching them more about llamas. We are very excited for a fun week.

As we get close to our county fair this week I think of questions we are often asked. One is how did you get into llamas? I saw my first llama as a kid hiking outside of Mount Rainier they came around a bend in the trail and I was in love. My parents took me to some llama shows and found a local 4-H club. I borrowed a llama my first year then saved my money and bought my own. I worked off my board by cleaning pastures. I loved my 4-H experience and stayed involved over the years. It was a dream come true when we bought our farm. I love that they are gentle and my kids have been walking them since they could walk and help with the chores. Now we run the llama barn at our county fair which is hard work but very much worth it! Having a farm and having baby llamas and training them is a dream come true. Who would have thought that I would be here just from seeing llamas on a hiking trail?!

We have been blessed to have such great family help with our farm. I wanted to take some time to thank our family for all the help. First, both sets of our parents got us involved in llama 4-H and that is how we met! After we were married we bought the house and farm from Joe’s parents which was a huge help! Joe has put up with my crazy ideas for all these years! He drives to all the shows and helps get kids and llamas ready to show, I couldn’t do it without him! We board my parents two llamas on our farm. They feed for us when we are gone and help clean pastures among other things. This week they are helping us get ready for the county fair. They have also been to shows with us and gone to shows to support their granddaughters. They have helped get us to other events when Joe has been busy and all of this is a huge help and greatly appreciated. I feel fortunate that our farm and our llama experience is a family affair! I couldn’t be happier that we get to share our joy of the llamas with our families and the kids get to share it with grandma and grandpa! Joe thanks for making sure we get to where we need to go and even showing a llama!

We are Harper Hill Llama farm. It has always been a goal of ours to create a website so we can better share our llamas. Finally we have done that with the help of our middle daughter. We are a small llama farm in Washington State. Joe and Stephanie along with our three daughters Nicole, Megan and Ashley. We have 9 llamas and one alpaca and a baby llama on the way in the Spring. Joe and I grew up showing llamas in 4-H and then bought his parents farm to call our own. Our kids enjoy showing at 4-H shows and open shows. We take the llamas on day hikes and camping and do PR events with them.
In 2017 we had our first baby llama born on our farm. He was born to our classic female Lena. Having the baby was such a great experience! Two years later his full brother was also born on our farm. We have started to expand our breeding program. Currently Lena is pregnant for a spring baby. In February we purchased another classic female to add to our breeding program but she won’t be old enough for two more years. Jenny and Lena are both classic type llamas, Lena is bred to a classic male and when Jenny is old enough she will be too.
We love having our llamas and showing them and sharing them with others! We are also very excited about doing some more breeding, on a small scale! Our kids are great helpers on the farm and do a great job with the chores and taking care of their animals! They are always excited to share their llamas with others.
​We are looking forward to sharing more about our farm and llamas!