After Hugo...

we went to Mimi and Papa's casa

so that Scout could give Mimi more birthday spankings.

During our visit we.....

 ate pudding,

 helped air up tractor tires,

played bedtime games,

acted silly,

tested out their rockers,

 rode the new 4-wheeler,

led poor Sandy EVERYWHERE,

 did a little sewing, 

and a little mowing,

and just had a grand 'ole time!

Finally, we gave big hugs 

and posed for one last picture.

We enjoyed some chill time, which we hardly ever get, at Mom's in New Mexico.  We did accomplish making a shower curtain for their trailer and ...well maybe that's all we actually accomplished.  Nevertheless, it was super fun and we can't wait to go back.  I feel a Mimi's Summer Camp coming on, especially since Scout was ready to stay.

Hallelujah

 Our annual family camping trip/rodeo in Hugo, CO has come and gone.  We had a super fun time as usual and are especially excited because we won the rodeo.  Yippee!!  Sandhill has qualified for the WRCA Finals in Amarillo.

Hugo was hot and windy, almost miserably hot.  Mom is the only person with an LQ.  We and the Townsend's have air-conditioners on our trailers, which is lovely, but no "living quarters".  This year Red aka Randy Knight brought a generator that ran both trailers. Talk about life-saver, I'm not sure my babies would have survived without a cool place to go.

 Tripp, Trail, and Red slept outside in their bedrolls.  Scout of course wanted to as well.  I wasn't real fond of the idea since I figured she would chicken out just an hour into the deal.  Friday night we said "no".

On Saturday, Tripp informed me that we were mean.  Mean for making her take a nap, mean for not letting her drink DP all day, and mean for not letting her sleep outside.  I informed him that he will be a nightmare of a grandpa someday.  Good luck Summer and Autumn is all I can say!!

So, we decided to let her try sleeping outside on Saturday night.  We got her all bedded down between Tripp and Trail.  She told Tripp story after story.  Once I peeked out the window and could see her little hands waving around.  I guess it was such a big story she needed to talk with her hands.  She even admitted that she told Tripp everything she could think of.

Either way.....she stayed all night.  Tripp probably wouldn't admit to me if he had to beg her or not, but I'm actually thinking he didn't have to.

Hopefully her stories were about hound dogs or coon hunting (obsessed with Where the Red Fern Grows) and not stories about crazy things her parents do or say.  We are to that age that when she starts to speak in front of a group, I am fully prepared to dart into a nearby hole.

Saturday was an all-day deal.  First ranch horse competition, which was a family affair.  Papa Preston was one of the judges.  Riley, Autumn, Trail, and Tripp competed.  Hope and Summer videoed and photographed.  Mom and I were water girls and my children played in the sandbox.  Red made sure camp was supplied with gas for the generators and ice for the coolers.  

Autumn placed 2nd in the cowboy class and Tripp won the Sr class which qualified both of them for Abilene.  Riley placed 3rd in the Jr class on Top Notch.  It was his first time to ever show Top Notch and his first time back in the cow horse pen in two years.  I think he had a fun time, but still might be a little more addicted to team roping and calf roping and ranch rodeoing.  lol

back  = Tripp and JC

front = Tell and Red

Tell had some awesome bronc rides.  Whew!!  My hubs is no longer the rider.  That is he and I both breathing a sigh of relief.  Tell lives for it and you can tell it.  ha ha!!  He scored a 77 on Friday and won the second round with an 86.  His wifey, Abbie and little Mr. Flint are too sweet.  We really enjoyed them.

Preston bought Sandhill in the calcutta, so it was also sort of profitable for him too.  It's kind of hard to tell who everyone is in the picture here, but he is on the left between the red shirt and Tell.  It isn't too often that we get that many family in one pic.  Maybe we all should have jumped in.

 Cutesy pa-tootsie Mimi and her granddaughters.  So much fun!

 Sunday morning we packed up.  The rodeo crew headed back to Earth and my children and I headed to Springer with Mimi and Papa.


I saw this sign in a store window in Rocky Ford, CO on our way.  I liked what it said.  I'll try to live by this advice.   

We stopped for lunch in Trinidad and the kiddos had a blast playing at Burger King.  Reno went up, with sister's help, for the first time. 

Jones Branding

This year Sandhill didn't graze the Cain Ranch.  We usually buy old cows and then sell them as packers and repeat the process each year.  This year there just wasn't enough grass to mess with, therefore we don't have any babies to brand.  Somehow, we do always get the job of taking care of business for some local farmers.  

We mostly sit in the back of the pickup at brandings.  This year we didn't even do the cooking.   

If you know Tyler Rice (childhood friend and hubby of sweet blogger friend Kristin), then you know we had some entertainment.  He's a hoot and was entertaining the kids by making a little guy.  If you don't get it, well sorry 'bout ya because I'm not explaining this one.  

Have you ever seen legs this long?  Meet Cedar, a high school student that is working for Sandhill.  He's from on up in the panhandle (not certain where). His aunt and uncle live here in Earth.   He is such a sweetie.  He has manners and tolerates my kids.  Let me tell you though, this boy is all legs.

Now on to the regulars, Tripp and Riley.  Now these two had a little competition going on yesterday.  I'm just certain of it.  

Why are they dragging if they are hosting the branding?  We didn't have a lot of help and they had already branded at another place, so I'm guessing everyone else had already drug.  That is necessarily a lesson in cowboy etiquette, but my estimate of the situation.

Back to the story, these two were bringing calves faster than they were ready for them.  You can see the calves kicking up dust.  The guys couldn't wait to get rid of one and catch another.  Tripp especially caught a couple of crazy shots. 

Mr. Trail was pulling his weight doing the ear-tagging.  He was starting to look a little tired of walking back and forth, but he did a great job!

Branding was short and sweet for us, but here's to hoping we have our own babies next year. 

Father's Day

 Saturday at noon we started the celebrating.  DR aka Don Randolph, my mom's big brother turned 75.  He lives here in Earth and we just don't see him as much as we should.  He is retired from farming and from building spurs.  Now he mostly chases grand kids to football, basketball, and softball/baseball games.  Don is the sweetest fella.  Happy Birthday!

After Sunday meeting the kids and I treated Riley to lunch at Leal's.  We had eaten there the day before and I paid with his money, but it was still a treat.  

Upon our arrival back home, I put Reno down for his nap.  Riley gave me a refresher course on the JD (mower) and he was free to nap.  I mowed and mowed, then I weeded the garden, then I push mowed under our trees.  That's a pretty good Father's Day gift, right? 

Then on Sunday evening we were invited to the Townsend's for supper and swimming/games.  We ended up without a swimming suit for Scout.  She was pretty proud of Autumn's suit being tailored to fit (hairbands at each hip).  

The kids had the greatest fun playing with kitties, pouring water on the puppy, playing baseball, looking at the horses, swimming, etc.

Is there a such thing as Older Cousins Day?  If so, we would treat Autumn like a queen.  It looked pretty cold.  Actually, we are so lucky with all these older cousins that do fun things. 

Happy Father's Day to our Dad!  We love you and appreciate all that you do for us.  I hope you know that every day of the year.

Cheap Perfume

Happy Saturday!  I thought I'd share a little goodie I found.

Soo.... not sure if you're like me or not.  I just hate spending money on perfume.  Of course it's almost essential, but you kind of don't have anything to show for that $60-$70 either.  

I have been using Mediterranean by Elizabeth Arden for the past.....hmmm 3 years.  Before that I had LaCoste Touch of Pink and also loved it.  Both of these I had received either for Christmas or birthday.  

So now it was looking like I was on my own for perfume buying and it's a long time until Christmas.

Earlier this week we needed to pick up a few things in Dollar General and guess what I found?  Perfume!!  Seriously who buys their perfume at DG?  

I saw this cute box on the top shelf that looked like an Ed Hardy or Juicy Couture knock off.  Sure enough, perfume for only $4.  I thought what the heck.

Get it home and honest to goodness, I LOVE IT!!  It's called Tattooed by Inky and I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a website.  lol

Scout's Birthday: Part 3

 I'm just about worn out with all these birthday posts, so I'm sure everyone else is too.  We haven't even officially had a party yet either.  Spoiled girl!

This past Tuesday we met Gigi and Papaw in Amarillo. We have only been to Chuck E Cheese's three times, including this trip.  Honestly it is pretty cool.  I feel comfortable there because people can't just walk out with a kid.  Also, the salad and pizza is good too.

It was really a hit this time, because they had a brand new game.

 So it's a pretty big horse, but you have to weigh 50 lbs. to make him go.  It also had a computer screen where the race takes place.  He wasn't that easy to steer either.  

So picture this.  Riley on the head keeping him out of fences, me pushing down on the seat so we'll weigh enough, and Papaw was being silly cranking on his tail.  I'll bet those poor people thought we are true rednecks.  No pics of it because Gigi was chasing after Reno while this was going on.  

More cupcakes!!  I think I've eaten like 19 cupcakes in the past week.  Yikes!  Reno takes after his Mama and favors the icing more than the cake.

   

The surprise.....a neon, seriously NEON, pink big girl bicycle.  It's pretty cool, all lady bug, polka-dotted.  She's loving it!!

She did have a small crash into the garage door earlier today, but I think she'll have it figured out in no time.

Also, please go check out The Rustic Chick.  My little birthday girl just so happens to be one of the stars there today.

Glen Rose

 We participated in the All Around Ranch Rodeo Challenge this weekend in Glen Rose, TX.  My hat is off to the small town of 2,444 people.  There is quite a bit to do and it is right up our alley.  We came in third in the rodeo, which is pretty good considering 40 teams participated.  However, our ranch rodeoing is starting to go downhill.  Don't tell the guys I said this, I don't have to worry about them reading the blog, so they will only know if you tell.  We won Clovis, placed second at Haskell, and third in Glen Rose.  What's next, fourth place?  Bratty....I know, but it's mostly a joke.  lol

 We left home at 5:30 and arrived in Glen Rose around lunch time.  The trip went really fast (when you sleep, lol).  The kids had to have a quick spin on Wrinkle before slack.  I just love this pic!  

 The Slash B/Sandhill fans can get a little rowdy.  This was before we met up with the rest of our crew.  Slack went well, as did the Thursday night performance.  They take back the top 5 teams and a wild card.  We qualified 2nd team back.  Then we had Friday to just chill waiting for the Finals.

 We swam first thing Friday morning.  Friday, friday.....it's Scout's 4th Birthday!  She had some highs and lows, but it was mostly great! 

Trail is such a fish and my kids, well....not so much.  Reno is doing much better though and was floating around with Autumn.  Bad news....I'm thinking we hopped in the pool before it was ready for us.  Reno had diaper rash within just a few minutes.  We always wear the same swim diaper, so I know it wasn't the diaper itself.  Scout had a little bad luck later on as well.  We cleaned up and off to the zoo we went.

Fossil Rim is a pretty cool drive-thru zoo a few miles outside of Glen Rose.  It's a little pricey, but worth it since you aren't having to tote kids around.  Scout was all good until the deer tried loading up with us.  We laughed at how the water buffalo had a mane on top and one on bottom.  Reno mostly wanted to hang out the window (when he wasn't sleeping).

 Scout has a friend Trystan that we've seen at rodeos the last couple of years.  This time Trystan's dad was on our team so those two got to play.  She came to our pool on Friday afternoon for cupcakes and swimming.  Scout had taken a pretty long nap and I had an idea things weren't just right.  Sure enough, she started throwing up at the pool. Poor birthday girl!!  We ended up hanging out at the room and staying there while everyone else went to the Friday night performance.  

Saturday she was all better.  We shopped at a few stores, ate BBQ for lunch, junked on the town square, and went to the river.  

Riley was kind enough to give the kids, and himself, a nap at the room.  Hope and the girls and I went to the town square.  We loaded up on all kinds of goodies and enjoyed a piece of pie.  I chose lemon meringue, my favorite!!!  We picked up the kids and went to the river.  It was so cool, because instead of dirt on the bottom it was rock.  Wish we had something like that!  Next it was off to the rodeo.  It was sort of stressful, but fun!!  Maybe next year, right?