I Do Take Requests!

So I got a call last night from my very favoritest cousin (oh, well, Jordan - if you are reading this - of course, YOU are my favoritest cousin! Oh yea, Stevie - if you are reading this - of course, YOU are my favoritest cousin! Oh yea, Nate - if you are reading this . . . Aaron . . . Diana . . . Melanie . . . Cameron - oh well, I can't pick a favorite) So, last night I got a call from my GREAT cousin Jonathan. You see, Jonathan's fondest dream is to move to Wyoming, change his name to Butch Roper (a real cowboy name), and spend all of his time in the saddle, while simultaneously reading every Louis Lamour book that has ever been written. So Jonathan can't figure out why I don't have more pictures of Rae on horses on my blog! I think my answer would be that it is WINTER, really COLD and not quite the peak of horse riding season around here! However, I dug through the 'ole iphoto and found some really cool horse pictures for my favoritest cousin (there I go again . . . .) Jon. If only we could all just ride horses all day long, everyday . . . . . right Jon!?!

Kelly really likes to ride too. He took the kids on some fun rides this summer. He kept trying to keep his favorite horse, Belle, in shape. She tends to fatten up too well.
A normal sight from my kitchen window in the summer.
During her try-outs for Jr. Princess, Rae had to "work" a cow in the arena. She did a great job - she was just wishing that she could have been riding her Grampa Barry's awesome cutting horse, Peppy. He has some serious moves. But Peppy is getting old, and she's trying to do more with Lady - the horse she rode this past summer for Jr. Princess. I love her look of focus. She is really trying here!
This is Rae's favorite picture in the whole world. I should get it made into a poster for her. She just thinks it is the best thing ever. This is a picture of her - coming around the 3rd barrel - taking it home! She really has gotten into barrel racing. She loves it, and is trying to get better and better at it.
I like this picture of Rae too. She is competing in pole bending in this picture.
Oh, the Princess wave!! She has been practicing this move her entire life. Rae definitely got her love of horses from her Grandpas. Kelly and I are just not into the rodeo thing like Rae is. She really wishes that we would love it and be into it as much as she is. We try to support and help her as much as we can (without getting a second mortgage on the house for buying a truck, horse trailer, horses, pasture etc. - this stuff is pricey!), and then we are grateful to Grampas (and Colleen too) who help us out by actually owning these horses! Taking care of and feeding these horses, and also taking her to events - hauling her horse and her around and such. Let's just say, there is no way that Rae could do all these fun things without help from Grandpas! We really do appreciate them!

Thanks for the call Jon. It was so great to hear from you! I really miss not being able to see all of you more often. You are the best kind of people there is. Get a blog or something! I need to see your own cuties more often!