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.