Sweet Friends!

My kiddos have these wonderful, new friends.  Ok, ok......backup......I have a wonderful, new friend and these children just so happen to belong to her and have everything in common (same as the mother and I). 

Two (twins) of these fun kiddos celebrated their 5th birthday and we were lucky enough to join them. 

Their mother really did things up with major food, organized games, and decor.  So this might be the one way that she and I aren't alike.   

 Pillowcase Race

 The donut eating contest was too hilarious!

 Suspend a donut, tie up their hands.  

 My Scoutie actually finished the whole donut.  

 Mustaches for everyone!!

 Birthday Girl!

 Scout and Cake!!

 This boy.....have you ever seen prettier eyes?   He and Scout have been married a few times.  I'm kind of hoping it sticks.  

 Big Brother Buster

 The Dad and Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

Birthday Boy was pretty proud of his gun.

Most of all, the Smith Family is pretty proud to call the Barnes Family friends.  Isn't it the neatest thing when you make friends that you just click with?

1st Annual Sandhill Invitational Team Roping!

Our fourth of July was very laid back this year!  Thankfully we received a good rain the night before and the 1st Annual Sandhill Invitational got moved to the round pen.  Team roping in the round pen isn't ideal, but it was a little western.  It was packed with lots of fun and a few wrecks.

I'm usually the first person to freak out, but I do have a little experience with a person losing digits.  Riley lost his thumb the year before we were married and even though I wasn't there when it happened I was at the hospital with him before his surgery.  When our good friend Coby caught his fingers in his dally, I offered to take him to the emergency room. I'm almost certain that my wild driving kept his mind off of his fingers.

My Scoutie fearlessly sang the National Anthem to start the roping.  You can watch the video at the end of this post.

 I love these pics Rain shot of the kiddos playing in the commodity barn.  

After the roping we headed home for lunch and some tasty shortcake and fruit thanks to Rain.  Our cute little table is a combo of her cooking and craftiness and my junk on hand.  

Tell me we aren't going to have trouble keeping the boys away from these two!

Springlake....yes people Springlake, Texas has a pretty awesome celebration for a tiny town (population 200).  We enjoyed the parade, music, food, and fireworks.  

Here you can watch Scout singing the National Anthem at the feedyard.  She had no problem standing up on the bumper of a pickup, leaning over the fence, and belting it out in front of the cowboys.  I wish I had her courage.  She is something else!

Scout's 5th Birthday Party!

This title could actually be interpreted a couple of different ways.  Scout did turn 5 in June and we celebrated her 5th birthday.  We are usually gone on her birthday and have to plan an out of town, impromptu party.  Therefore she usually ends up having 5 birthday parties or at least that's what it feels like.  

The first party idea of going to the zoo fell through about an hour beforehand when I realized that admissions closed before we could all get there.  Plan B quickly turned into Castle Land in Clovis.  Luckily we were joined by family and friends that were close enough and not busy.

 Townsend, Smith, and Barnes kids!

 These two.....texting, snap-chatting, posing?  Are you surprised?

 In walks Mr. Brycen with these sunflowers and balloons for the birthday girl.  My heart melted. She was clueless.  However....she is no longer clueless.  The other night she announced to Autumn that she has a boyfriend.  Autumn asks if her dad knows about it and she replied, "I don't think we're supposed to talk about that."

 Putting didn't seem to be these kid's strong point.  The idea that they stayed hooked and played most of a game is an accomplishment in itself. 

We ate pizza and cake and ice cream, rode go-karts, and opened gifts on the tail gate of a pickup.  No it wasn't all themey and perfectly planned and cute, but it fit us and my girl was happy.

Trail and Buster gave the girls a ride on the helicopter.  It must have been a pretty wild ride.  Check out their expressions in these pics!