Today while this dishes sit!

I hope summer is filled with these kind of  days.   We are having a play date with some good friends.   This adorable boy pictured above more often than not lately has a melt down.   So today I decided to try a different approach I didn't tell him to get over it.   I didn't tell him I loved Zeak and Kaci more than him.   (Unfortunately that is my standard response.)   Today I snuggled with him on the couch.   Had him read me a few pages in the  book he got at the library this morning.    There was a lot of protest on his behalf telling me how he didn't even want the book that his good friend Keanna made him get it.  He didn't want to read with me he just wanted to go back to school.  I tickled him until he couldn't pout anymore and then we read.  I am amazed at how his reading as improved.   He can read words that I struggled with forever.  He read his five pages then I let him go with  a smile on his face.   He then researched KSL for a Billy goat.   He wants a specific kind in the right price range.   He wants to start breeding them and raising them for JR rodeo.   He knows how old they have to be and which breeds are the best.  His brother finally came in and asked him to go back out and rope and ranch with him and Buster and life is good.   So Keanna thanks for making him get a book that we could lay on the couch and read together.    I want to be a different mom and spend more quality time with my children helping them through their challenges and struggle in a positive righteous way.   Although I know there will be many more days of failure today was a success!

Utah State 2012 Junior High Finals

 This photo is what could have been.   If that loop would have kept going we would be on our way to Gallup, New Mexico.   He would have won the round and placed high in the Average.   But as fate would have it the loop didn't go around and we didn't go to Gallup.   As a parent this is so hard to watch but deep down before we even left I knew that because of our Faith not Fate we would not be going to Gallup this summer.   Earlier in the season I would have told you a different story but because of life and circumstance I knew we were not going.    I find comfort in knowing he has all the talent in the world to go just for reasons unknown to us at this time he is not going. 

 What matters more than going to Gallup is having such a great support team whether you are loosing or winning they are there or on the phone getting an instant replay.   

 Luck would have it that Torri Mackelprang and Zeak  qualified in Delta 2 weeks before State and caught once at State.  That was a perfect ending to a rough team roping year.  

 One away from the top 10 in Ribbon Roping was awesome.   We were on the edge of our seats waiting to see what the results of this team event was going to be.   Shaylynn was exactly where she needed to be every time.   I think Amy bribing Zeak with cinnamon rolls if he caught was the trick he hasn't missed since Delta.   So we will start the bribe early next year and hope to go to the top 10 and on to the top 4 next June.  

As tradition would have it we ended the day with a trip to Granny's for a shake with Grandpa and Grandma.   It was a fun year at State.   We are taking the summer off and gearing up for 2012-2013.  

Heavens View

 Memorial Day 2012 Heaven looked down and this is the amazing view they saw.   Three hundred plus people rallied together to help an amazing family in need.   We had the 5th and under state finals                                              
Friday and Saturday in which we had all of the concessions go toward the Winn's.  Marni, Amy, and I ran the cook shack both days.   Then Monday morning I met everyone there at 5:30am to start cooking breakfast.  When I pulled into the arena and saw all of the trucks and trailers I knew it was going to be a good day.    Jackie Boren, Amy Carter, Marni Shepherd, and Jerrilynn Winn and I ran the cook shack.  We didn't see much of the roping or silent auction but when I went out for a minute I had to go back and get my camera.    I was overwhelmed with with the view.   So I went to the top of the bleachers so I get get the whole view.   Tears rolled down my face as I realized that there was a call for help and this was the response.   Everyone was having fun and everyone was here for the same purpose to serve one of our fellow beings.   Throughout the day there were many tear filled experiences.     I helped a young man not more than 19 or 20 when I went to give him his change he said keep it, it is for a good cause.   Then I  heard more than one story of how Wendy and Casey had helped someone in need.   All week as we were getting donations people were more than generous.  Mt Nebo Market donated to us and they don't donate to everyone.   All of the meat and eggs were donated.   It was very humbling for me to be involved in such a great project and know that there are still so many wonderful people in this world that want to do what is right.

I'm so happy my kids got to live first hand what we teach every Sunday in church!   Zeak roped and gave his earning back to the Winn's.   He didn't enter the Junior High Jackpot so that he would have money for Monday.  What a fun memorial day for all involved.