The Future of Rodeo

Things haven't slowed down a bit.  We just spent the holiday weekend with a couple of close friends out at our ranch.  Total head count, 7 adults, 13 children.  Needless to say we were out numbered.  But the kids kept themselves very busy, moving as a small herd from the barn, to the pond, to the bunkhouse, back to the barn & only coming to the house when they were hungry. 

We ended the weekend with an afternoon at the rodeo where a few of our buckaroos did some mutton bustin. 

Not sure what that is, pretty simple & semi-barbaric.  It's where you stick your small precious bundles of joy on top of a non-rideable sheep & let them see how far down the arena they can get.  One of our girls went the farthest, she really held on! 

It's always super fun to watch & the kids feel so proud afterwards.  Sometimes the pride comes after a few tears, but they always have big smiles when they're handed their prize of a baseball cap & two dollar bill.  This is our friends son biting the dust.  That't the unfortunate part of the game, everyone has to fall off sometime.  A few lucky ones are saved by the rodeo clown, but that doesn't happen very often.

Here's a my second born's (by 10 whopping minutes) ride in sequence.  She had a good grip from the start.

 The sheep eventually turned right & B-lined for the flock.  But she held on.

 Then the sheep tried another tactic, bucking.

Which proved effective.  There's here dismount, & the rodeo clown is right there to help her up.  Those rodeo clowns are great.  They keep the kiddos safe & help them when they fall off, I mean, dismount.  They are so encouraging & the kids feel like real rodeo starts.

I love the bronc riding.  Now you see him...

...now you don't.  Look a that horse's concentration.

My girls love the barrel racing.  They are just starting to learn how to do it & love it.  I wouldn't be suprised if I have pictures of them in the junior barrel racing in next year's rodeo.

And of course everyone loves the bull riding.  For some reason this doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

And all of it's wrapped up with wild cow milking.  I love watching wild cow milking.  Hey buddy, are you sure you want to do that?!

Busy Week

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while.  See, I had family in town.  Family from really far away.  Family that I love dearly & see sparingly.  So I was a little preoccupied.

Actually, a lot preoccupied because my beautiful sis-in-law brought her new baby girl.  This was the first time I got to meet her (& smell her, I love baby smell).  So every spare moment I was sitting on the couch holding her.

Or taking pictures of her & her cute chubby cheeks.  Which left little time for blogging.

Plus the weather finally got warm up here in the mountains.

Which meant there was a lot of time spent outside swimming...

... & posing cute chubby cheek babies in ridiculously cute settings...

... & working.  My bro-in-law loves coming here so he can work ;)

& of course we squeezed in some horse riding.  Unfortunately my other bro-in-law (not pictured) took a horse ride the first day he was here & had an accident which resulted in five of his ribs being broken.  So his vacation was a bit dampened.

We also took a day trip to a nearby town for some fun shopping & a stop at the amazing candy store.

Cousins got to spend time with each other...

... & we topped it off with yet more cute pictures of the sweetest chubby cheeked baby around.
I promise to post some yummy recipes soon.

Pay It Forward

Today I want to give you an opportunity to help out a brave set of parents.  I was given the link to this site via a comment on my blog.  This is a pretty cool idea & for a great cause.  You buy a raffle ticket (or a couple) & get enter to win this sweet camera (trust me, this is a SWEET camera).  In turn money is raised for this family to adopt a sweet little boy named Noah.  But this is no run of the mill adoption (even though all adoption is great, there is nothing more wonderful than giving a child a family & home).  This family is adopting from a foundation called Reese's Rainbow which is an international ministry for down syndrome orphans.  I do not know the Silva family at all (but they do live where my Dad grew up & most of my relatives reside... so go Lake Stevens! And Arlington, and Marysville, and Savanah... I have too many relatives.), but I think what they are doing is incredibly brave & compassionate.  I pray that they get all the funds they need quickly & easily so they can bring this little boy home.  Check it out & if you can buy a raffle ticket please do.  If not, help pass the word around by posting/Facebooking/emailing this link.  Above all, just your support & prayers would mean the world to them.

Nikon Camera Give Away

Tune in tomorrow to see the update on the Easter dress... I'll need some more input.

Lunch Hour

A while back (when we still lived in town) my husband came home for lunch.  I had planned to make him a sandwich but was too busy feeding kids & getting them down for a nap when he arrived.  He couldn't wait any longer so he decided to make his own sandwich.  And this is what he did...

No, your're seeing it right folks!  Turkey, Little Smokies & American cheese sandwiched between two bagel thins.

 I'm not squeamish, but when he ate it I gaged a little.  Then I thought, maybe I should be packing him a lunch on a daily basis.  If this is the result of him fending for himself maybe I really should intervene.  There's not even any mayo or mustard on that thing, much less veggies.  And Little Smokies, come on!

So what do you do?  Do you pack your husband a homemade lunch everyday?  Or does he walk out the door with a few bucks that he'll spend at Taco Bell for his rations?  How about your kids, what do they do?  No spouse or kids- what's your lunch time routine?  I'm curious what ya'll do for lunch so let me know in the comments section below.

Happy lunch hour!