Christmas Morning

A few token pictures before opening presents on Christmas morning. I am so thankful for kids who slept in until 8am!

Pretty girl with her stocking.  She was the 1st one awake and had the hardest time being patient for her siblings to wake up.

Happy, Happy!

Me and my girl

Poor Seth woke up feeling horrible and had to go back to bed to sleep for a couple of hours after we opened gifts.  He sadly ended up having to stay home with Daddy and miss out on all the family fun at my Aunt Pam's.  Unfortunatley, that evening, I ended up getting sick, followed by Wayne and Kya.  I had never in my life had a cold that knocked me flat on my back for 2 days straight.

Christmas Eve with the Kubli's

Originally, we had planned on staying home on Christmas Eve with a pizza and a movie. But then we were invited to come spend the evening with our Kubli cousins and so we did pizza and movie the night before and had a wonderful time up at their home. The only downfall was having to fight the Vegas traffic the first hour, but it was all worth it.

Before leaving the house, I got this great picture of all 3 kids.  I am pretty sure this one is frameable!!!

Uncle Jim, Kristina and the kids after dinner

The kids got Jr. Monopoly and have already enjoyed hours of fun playing it.  We in turn gave the Kubli's a fun puzzle that they can put together one cold night.

Uncle Jim and Wayne

Living Nativity with Friends

This is our 6th year attending the Living Nativity and the 5th family we have taken with us. It was pretty cold this year and the line was a bit long, but that didn't stop us from having fun and learning more about the birth of our Savior.  This tradition is one of my favorites and I already can't wait to pick another family to go with us again next year!

This Roman Soldier allowed each child in our group to try on his helmet and hold his spear while we waited in line.

The helmet was so big, you can't see Kya's face!

Petting the show animals afterwards.  Jennifer tried petting an Alpaca and almost got kicked!  Of course, it was her fault as they said to only pet his neck and she reached out for his hind hip.  Oops!!!

I love the look of pure excitement on her face!

PCJBR Banquet Ceremony

Elsie and Seth worked really hard this year learning the sport of bull riding and their efforts were rewarded by a BBQ dinner, awards, great things said about them by their coaches and fun playing pool /hanging out with all the other cow-folks.

Elsie earned enough points to come in 3rd place in her division of Mutton Bustin'.  She earned a cow bell and a really nice jacket that has the team logo on the back and her name, division and 3rd place champion written on the front.  We are excited to see how she does in bull calves next year.

Seth really came a long way his first year of riding bull calves and it was evident in his riding as the year progressed.  His coach, Daryl, nailed it on the head when he said "Seth has a heart for the sport, but he  needs to learn to stop over thinking and just ride".  Seth earned a cow bell with the logo and year engraved on it.  We are also excited to see him continue to grow in this sport next year.

We are fortunate to have older kids ride with the PCJBR and be a great role model for our kids.  Ernesto rode in the Junior Bull division and was always super kind to Seth.

Thanksgiving in Hemet

Taking our annual pictures in Ken's backyard. Love the view and seeing how the kids grow.

PBR 2014

As I mentioned in the previous post, Seth won 4 tickets to the PBR Velocity Tour. Kya stayed the night with a friend and was in heaven, while Wayne and I celebrated our 11th anniversary with our youngest two kids.  These seats were amazingly close to all the action!  1st section, 4th row up.  I looked up the price of the seats and was shocked to find out they were $75 each!  Yes, we felt very blessed.  We ran into a few of the guys from our bull riding club and they were were quite surprised and then a bit upset that we had such nice seats, as they originally thought we bought them and could have used that money to go to the junior nationals in Colorado.  I was quick to let them know Seth had won them. :-)

My beautiful family minus one.

Seth and Elsie posing in front of the shoots and PBR sign while waiting for the event to start

Elsie and Daddy with the bulls in the background.  The kids mentioned a couple of times that these bulls were so much bigger than what they ride.  Well at 2,000 pounds each, I would say so!

Me and my own personal cowboy!

The arena was lit on fire with the letters PBR and the cowboys all walked through it to be introduced

It is hard to see, but here are most of the 40 cowboys that competed

Me and my girl.  We need to learn how to pose for selfies. LOL

My two handsome cowboys with the bulls and a couple of PBR cowboys in the back

Cody Nance on his first ride of the night.  Thanks to his bull, he didn't get a very high score and chose to do a re-ride.  Unfortunately, the 2nd bull threw him before the 8 second buzzer.

Cody Nance.  We are very thankful to him for choosing Seth as the winner of best dressed cowboy.

Cody Nance heading back to the shoots after his ride.  This picture was taken with just my regular lens, as they wouldn't let me in with my zoom lens.  See, I told you we were close!  We were so close that we got to see several cowboy injuries, including one guy getting his dislocated shoulder put back into place and another with his head split open from a bull hooking him with his hoof.  He wasn't wearing a helmet and the kids got to see first hand why helmets are always a good idea.

The rodeo clown, Danger Dave.  He wasn't the best we have seen, but he did have a few good lines and dance moves.

It turned out to be a pretty long night for this 7 year old.  Here she is resting her head on my lap.

I didn't pull my camera out again, but Seth was able to get several autographs from many of the cowboys on his hat.  After witnessing so many injuries up close, he is not sure if bull riding will still be in his future, but does want to continue with the bull calves for now.  This is a night that he will remember for years to come and I am glad we got to share it with him and Elsie.

Meeting Cody Nance

Tonight was a very special night for my two little bull riders. The had the opportunity to meet a real bull rider, Cody Nance, at Chick-fil-a.  Cody has been riding with the PBR since 2009 and is currently ranked BFTS 10, which I truly have no idea what that means.  What I do know is that he is a strong Christian man and someone I proud to have my kids look up to.

To say they were a bit start struck would be an understatement.

Getting his autograph.  Seth's said "To: Seth Ride Hard Buddy. C. Nance Romans 10:9 God Bless"

Elsie was trying real hard to be "proper" and it was too cute to watch.  Her signed autograph said "To: Elsie Ride Hard Beautiful Girl, C. Nance Romans 10:9 God Bless"

Seth asked the balloon artist to make him a bull, which totally stumped the artist for a bit, as he said he had only ever made a super large bull before.  But, he worked his amazing talent and created this adorable bull.

Seth won Best Dressed Cowboy and came home with 4 tickets to the PBR (amazing seats!), a t-shirt, hat, pen and a movie.  Then the balloon artist gave him the large bull too.  He was one proud boy and we all cannot wait to see Cody ride in person.

We will be celebrating our 11 year anniversary with the kids at the PBR and I couldn't be more excited.  I mean, we got married to not only spend out lives together, but to create beautiful children and spending the night with them doing what we all love it what marriage means to us.  Of course, we do plan on doing something for just the two of us, but that will have to wait a week or so. ;-)

Halloween Fun!

We were lucky to enjoy Halloween with friends and family for a few days.

Elsie's teacher rewards the kids by issuing "Class Bucks" that can be used to purchase items in the "Class Store".  Elsie bought this little pumpkin for 20 Class Bucks and wanted to have her friend, Ezmeralda, over to carve it.  They were so funny & giggly, as they removed the guts from the pumpkin.

Posing with their finished Jack-O-Lantern, while big brother Seth tries to photo bomb.

Our local high school had their Trunk or Treat a few days early, so not to compete with their Friday night football game.  We invited our neighbors to join us.  Kya, Elsie and Sophia all braved the haunted house, while Ella & Seth chose to wait outside.

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"Elsa" counting her loot after trick or treating in my brother/parents neighborhood.

All the cousins!  As hard as we tried, no one could get my niece and nephew to give us a nice smile.  I threatened Grace with posting one of the pictures of her at her wedding.  She didn't find that funny!

Our Frozen Gang!  I was able to get this nice picture of them, by not letting them know I was taking it.

PCJBR Finals 2014

We may not have won any buckles this season, but we had a wonderful time learning more about the sport our family loves, made some new friends, the kids improved with each ride and we are already looking forward to next season. Here are some highlights from this weekends finals.

Opening Ceremony:

Elsie getting some advice from her coach, Daryl.  We are very thankful for his patience and teaching the kids how to ride.

Seth waiting his turn to be introduced to the crowd

Honoring our country and military

It wouldn't be a rodeo without praying for the safety of our kids, animals and military

Heading back to the shoots and preparing to ride

Saturday's Event:

Not quite sure what caused this, but Elsie came out of the shoot sliding off of White Lightening

She worked really hard to stay on and cover, but....

White Lightening ended up tripping and falling over.  Both Elsie and the sheep were okay, leaving Elsie with only a bruise to her shin.  Luckily, this ride didn't count and she was able to get a re-ride a bit later on.  We are also thankful to the bull fighters who are right there when the kids come off to make sure they are okay.

Seth and the other cowboys hang out to watch the rodeo while waiting for their turn to ride.

Elsie did her re-ride on Turbo and ended the day with 74 points.

As always she addresses her fans like a true winner

Man, the bull calves were the definite winners on Saturday by throwing each and every lil' cowboy off quickly

But this tough bull didn't stop Seth from trying his best to stay on

As Seth came off, the bull fighters stepped into action and helped keep the bull from landing on him

And of course, he never forgets to greet his fans

Sunday's Event:

Elsie riding Grandma like a champ, while the bull fighters do their best to keep up

This was Elsie's last sheep ride, as she will be graduating up to calves next season.  She had an amazing finish by holding both hands u in the air after the buzzer sounded, but before her sheep came to a stop.  Sunday's score was 76 points with a total of 150 for the weekend.

Bull riding is obviously a sport mainly enjoyed by boys, but there are a few tough cowgirls that like the challenge as well.  Elsie and Charlie became fast friends this year and were looking forward to competing against each other next season, but unfortunately for us, Charlie will be moving to Nebraska in about a month.  Elsie was very upset and took advantage of the weekend to spend as much time with her friend as she could.

Seth didn't cover, but he rode the best ride of his life today. 4.66 seconds!

We are very proud of his effort and look forward to seeing him grow and improve next season

Seth and the lil' bull fighter walking back to the shoots after his amazing ride

Kya hanging out supporting her siblings, even though she honestly would rather be anywhere else besides at a rodeo.

After five years of being the medic for PCJBR, this was Mike's last rodeo, as he and his family are moving to Texas.  The kids thanked him for all his service and are sending him off the cowboy way. Chase & Tackle!

Dog piling Mike the medic