He is now 11

Eleven years ago today I was heavily sedated and unaware that this amazing little boy had just come into my life. Lucky for him his dad was right there taking good care of both of us. I think this is why they have such a strong bond. I am convinced that those first few hours and days are so crucial for our babies. Today I am so grateful for him and the boy he is becoming. He has grown so much just in the last few weeks and so have I. Zeak's first love is team roping. So the other night Dan said lets throw Zeak a surprise party and have his friends and family come to the barn roping. I was game. I wasn't sure if we would have support from some of our family and friends but decided that didn't matter what mattered was Zeak! So the plans began. Dan did the inviting and I arranged the food. Then the task of keeping it a secret began. The surprising part was that Jake and Kaci were in on it to. The surprise was good until after school. Dan got off work early and loaded the horses and gear up and headed to the arena. Zeak came home and started asking questions that Dan and I hadn't rehearsed. Still Justin and I were keeping him at bay. By the time 6:00 came he had figured it out but was playing along. When I pulled into the arena he said, "mom why is my horse in there saddled?" "Mom, why is grandma Lou here?" At that point what do you say? SURPRISE!!! He was so surprised and ran to give his dad a big hug.
Zeak and Shane blowing out their candles. Shane is Zeak's old but forever team roping partner. They are 4 years and 1 day apart which makes team roping together hard for the time being. But still they have a great friendship and common bond. I am sure they will rope together in the future. Shane's birthday is today the 27th. Happy Birthday Shane!

As you can see we had a lot of family and friends come and help surprise Zeak for his birthday. Thanks to all of you for being apart of Zeak's life you are all very special to him and to us.

This is how we give cowboy birthday spankin's over a barrel. After dinner and spankin's we resumed the roping which had a different turn of events. Take note of the balloons in the top photo. Before dinner and during dinner none of the horses seemed to notice or mind the balloons. However, after dinner Zeak had a little mishap with them and then all of the horses were aware and frightened of the balloons. So they were cut down and retired to the truck. Zeak was sitting by the fence waiting his turn and adjusting his rope. He ended up catching the balloons and pulling them into his horse which resulted in Zeak landing with his fist in his ribcage and a hard belly flop on the arena floor. Unlike water where you receive a sting the dirt had no give and took all of his air away. I was worried he had broke a rib or something but am happy to report he is fine this morning other than his pride which might take a few more days to heal. Happy Birthday Zeak hope it was a fun day and fun surprise. Just remember how much we love you and how many other people love you as well! Love, Mom