Ruffin' It and Lovin' It......

This past weekend we went to a ranch rodeo at Hugo, CO. Hugo is pretty much out in the boonies. Limon is about 20 miles away and has some really nice hotels, but we opt to camp out. We (us, Tripp & Hope, and Mom & Preston) all have trailers with dressing compartments. So let me make sure you understand........a dressing compartment is a small space in the front of the trailer plus the nose of the trailer. This is not to be confused with living quarters or LQ as we call it. An LQ is one of those fancy outfits that are mostly nicer than my home. They are all decked out with leather, cowhide, fire places, and granite countertops. OK....so most trailers with LQs honestly cost more than our home. So we have a full size mattress in the nose, which all three of us slept on. Amazingly we all slept well. There is a bathroom with a pretty nice little shower right there close. We all pitched in with some food and it turned out great. The weather was pretty warm, but not too bad.

O...about the rodeo. Sandhill didn't do too hot. Someone seemed to have a little trouble in each event resulting in many no-times. We had some pretty good laughs about it. Autumn was the sorter on Saturday and her dad let a wrong number across the line resulting in a no-time. Who would have thought?!

The ranch horse competition turned out better for them. The junior and senior classes were combined and the cowboy and ranchhand. Because they have recently changed some of the rules, Riley is able to show in the ranchhand again. Tripp won the junior/senior and Riley placed second. Then Riley also placed second and third in the cowboy/ranchhand. Summer and Autumn showed in the youth class. Autumn won first and Summer placed third. They both did an awesome job. I wonder when Trail will be showing "Pink Panther"?

Scout & Riley on Gunner.

Riley and his nieces. Is Autumn making a fist?

My babies taking a nap at camp.

We took Scout's little pool since we had a long, hot afternoon with nothing to do.

New Tricks

Scoutie has a new trick.....climbing. She climbs up on top of something and of course does a little dance. I didn't catch that part on video though. Since there has been a cooler (going to a rodeo this weekend....more on that Monday) sitting in the kitchen today she has been standing on it. At one point the cooler was close enough to the dishwasher that she could go from it to the dishwasher door. Yikes, I know......we have a monkey on our hands.

You will see that she is lacking patience. Come to think of it neither of her parents have patience either. Here are a few videos explaining what I'm talking about.







Scout and Riley always have some kind of game going. Lately its been "Don't get my toes". Pretty cute stuff!

B-DAY and BRANDING

Yesterday evening was Trail's birthday party at the feedyard. If you've never been to a feedyard party......you're really missing out. There is a huge round pen made of out sheet metal (ok....so not too sure about my kinds of metal) where the guys work horses. It has sand in it instead of plain ol dirt. The sides of it are tall enough that it makes perfect shade around the edge. So you see it makes a perfect party place. They always come up with some hilarious entertainment involving wild animals and small children. Waaa-laaa a perfect birthday party!!

Scout making her way to "the pool".

Eeewwww.....this mud feels good!!

One Dirty Kid

Scout loved the mud and Riley and I love playing games with all the kids. Turns out to be a good deal for everyone. Happy 7th Birthday Trail!!

Sandhill branding was supposed to be last Saturday; luckily we got rained out. This morning it was dry enough to get the job done. Hope cooked a huge pot of meat/beans, Mom & Gran made cornbread, and I made sopapilla cheesecake. I rounded it all up and took it out to the branding pen. Scout's favorite part was the Big Red that she and Autumn shared.

Tripp, Hope, Bryson, and Summer

Summer, Quentin, Autumn, Rem, and Bryson

Brady & a kid from Hereford flanking. Brady is here learning from Tripp for a couple of weeks. He has fit in really well. Sure would like to hear what he tells his folks about us.

I thought I actually captured a good shot of Tripp roping.

Summer, Scout, & Autumn

Hope pouring the leftover water jug on Diamond Jim. When he was holding a calf he had flanked he would so convieniently reach over and untie her shoe. Pay-backs!!!

Wild Child

Scout seriously has such a mind of her own. This child is going to be a handful. OK, let me rephrase that. Scout Preston Smith is already a very independent and spirited little lady.

Example A:

This one is sort of old, but nevertheless proves my point. One of her tricks is to roll-em-up (patty cake). So when she first started throwing fits she would try to hit you and flail her arms about, but then quickly roll-em-up hoping you didn't notice.

Example B:

The newest one is when she gets a swat she just looks at me with no expression. Then she swats herself followed by tears and crying. My child actually thinks she can spank herself better than I can. I even spank better than her Dad.

Example C:

She stood up in the front seat of the pickup while she was temporarily buckled in the big person seat belt since Hope needed to step out for a second. You guessed it.....she locked her out. Then she would point and make her "oooo" face. I can only imagine what she was telling Hope as they talked through the window. Luckily she rolled the window down far enough that Hope could get back in.

Example D:

See the toothbrush episode below.

I'm thinking we're in for it!

Scoutie is 1.....

and this makes me very sad. I cannot believe a year has already gone by. It seems like yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. She has been such a good baby and so much fun. I'm not sure what our life was like before, but it must have been boring. Of course we think she is beautiful, smart, and hilarious. It seems like her personality is coming out a little more each day.

Aunt Kait took this photo a couple of weeks ago when we saw them at Grandpa Roy's branding. To see the rest of them go to http://www.kaitlynsmithphoto.photoreflect.com/

My momma came this past Wednesday and we worked like crazy people around this house for a few days. Since I'd been teaching and not working at home, sooo many things needed to be done. Thanks, Mom, for your help!! We also found time for pedicures, some shopping, and the Coors Ranch Rodeo in Amarillo. My step-bro Will Wood works at the Bell Ranch and was on their team. They didn't do so hot, but we enjoyed getting to see him.....even if it was mostly from a distance.

So the party was yesterday at lunch. She pretty much put on a show for everyone (as usual).

Me trying to hang on while she threw a fit to get the cakes. Yep....she throws fits.....yep.....she gets spankings.....nope......it hasn't stopped her yet!


Smearing cake everywhere. We had to give her a quick bath it was so bad.


Opening gifts. She loves clothes......funny huh.


The big "little red wagon" that Grams & Gramps got her. She loves it already!

Testing out the bouncy horse that Mimi & Papa and the Adams family got her.

The Smith Family

Scout with her Mimi & Papa

Scout with her Grams & Gramps (Can you tell she was tired of taking pics?)

Scout with the Townsend Family

Scout with the Adams Family (Pakers was at football camp at Tech. We missed him.)

Us with Granny-Great. Sure glad she could come!!

We're bragging on Daddy.......

cuz he won "Top Hand" at the ranch rodeo in Haskell this past weekend. It was a two performance rodeo with new teams each night. Sandhill was up on Friday night. All of the team came home on Friday night except for the Townsend family. Tripp showed in the ranch horse competition on Saturday. He won the junior class on Hoorey. They took the winner of each class into a work-off after the rodeo performance on Saturday night. He also won that....which means a saddle. There were some phone calls and lots of texting going on around 11 pm Saturday night. They were letting us know that Riley had won "Top Hand", the team won 2nd, and Tripp won the saddle. I'm sad that Riley wasn't there to accept his spurs. That is part of the fun of winning, right?

Oh....don't let me forget the girls. Summer and Autumn showed in the Ranch Cutting on Friday. They both did awesome (not sure of scores, etc.).......I didn't see it, but I know!!

How's that for some bragging?