The Rodeo

Exactly a week ago today my mom and I went to our yearly rodeo, held by the Flying U Rodeo Company. Being the only rodeo within many miles of this area of SoCal (Southern California), people come from all over. It’s really pretty popular, even with people whom you would not expect to be at a rodeo! :) Anyways, this was our second year of going. I mentioned it slightly last year, but I did not post any pictures of last year’s...for the simple reason that I had been using a cheap disposable camera and had not gotten any good shots. This year, however, we had our little Canon PowerShot SD1000 – still not quite the camera that I intend to have someday, but good for now. My photography skills have improved immensely since the camera was given to us by my sister and brother-in-law. Also, the RMV Rodeo doesn’t do Barrel Racing. Can you believe it??? We’re always a little bummed about that, but oh well. Also, some of my spacing got messed up, but I'm done with it, it's fine the way it is. All that said, let me warn you – LOTS OF PHOTOS COMING!!! REPEAT, LOTS OF PHOTOS COMING!!! OK, now that you are properly warned, here goes.

This was the announcer, on his lovely dapple gray. Most of the time we really couldn’t hear what he was saying, what with the music, people around us, etc. And I think the volume on his microphone was too loud or something – his voice just seemed like a loud hum to us. Anyway, here he is.

Here’s another rodeo guy, on his gorgeous paint. What a lovely horse. I wonder if the guy is marrried? No, he looks a little old for me. Sigh.

And the rodeo clown. Same problem with him as with the announcer – we just couldn’t hear his words.

These little boys were absolutely adorable!! They were there on the roping and tying events to chase the calves and steers back to the pens.

But there was one steer that was determined not to go. Both boys tried to rope him and failed. He continued to run and twist around. Even Grandfather Cotton couldn’t get him. Finally he made up his mind and trotted nicely into the pens.

There was a drill team, who performed very nicely. I couldn’t get a very good picture of them, however, because I had the camera on some wrong settings and hadn’t figured it out yet. That camera caused problems all through the bareback bronc and the steer wrestling, until I finally figured it out. From then on it was great.

See this huge boot? Now, if you’ve ever been to one of the rodeos done by the Flying U, you know how famous Cotton Rosser is for spectacular beginnings. This one wasn’t the most fantastical he’s ever done (i.e., pyrotechnics, jumping/bursting through things, etc.), but it was definitely the most touching and the sweetest I have ever seen. Now, I’ve heard of this boot containing things like a bull, a horse and rider, etc., before, but never something like this. Notice that there appears to be something coming out of the boot?

There is. It’s the Rancho Mission Viejo flag. Held by a Marine.

And the USMC flag, another Marine.


And the CA flag, another Marine.


And the US flag, another Marine.


All four together. They stood this way, rotating inside the boot, as the National Anthem played. It was perfect. It was absolutely perfect. Oh, one thing I forgot to mention: all four men had done at least one, if not three, tours to Ir@q... And the one holding the US flag is headed back in a few days. There wasn’t a heart that wasn’t touched, an eye that wasn’t misty.


OK, now for some action. Like I said earlier, the camera was acting up, so there are only 2 really good shots of the bareback broncs. But don’t worry, I made up for it later with the saddle broncs! ;)

And here’s two of the steer wrestling. It was right about then that I figured out what I needed to do with the camera to set it right. From then it was only my problems that kept me from getting good pics, not the camera’s fault. :)


Now here come all the bareback pics. Be ready, there are a lot of them!

Isn’t that a nice baseball cap??? Well, actually, you’re supposed to be looking at the air between the ground and that pony’s hooves. It was a nice ride.

Here are a bunch more. Any body parts or hair or anything else are only incidental, and couldn’t be edited out.

See this lovely bucking mare?


After the ride, they let her baby out and the two trotted around the arena a bit. Aren’t they ADORABLE???


Now for the calf tying.

Now is when we get some bull action. Now, I love and can understand all other aspects of rodeo, and I enjoy watching it all – even the bullriding – but I happen to think that these guys are nuts. I would love to get involved in all the other events, but bullriding always seems a bit insane to me. Anyway, here are the pics. Don’t make the mistake, though, of thinking that just because these pictures don’t seem to show major bucking action, that these bulls were tame. Not at all. It’s just that the camera happened to freeze them in a very tame-looking position. Every ride on these boys was like saddling a whirlwind. They may look like innocent, sweet little cows...but these boys can really buck, as anybody who’s ever forked one knows! ;)

He’s comin’ for ya!


This black-and-white big guy had it in for the poor soul...and the clowns, and the pickup guys, and everybody else!

As for this speckled beauty, he finished his ride, then decided not to move. But unlike the steer I mentioned earlier, this big guy simply planted his hooves and refused to go anywhere. They roped him to no avail. The horses simply couldn’t pull him into the pen, although they had two horses working on it. One cowboy ran a rope behind the bull’s hind legs and tried to pull him in that way – the bull simply would.not.move for anything. One clown even daringly walked up behind him and slapped him on his rump with his hat (that is, slapped the bull on the bull’s rump with the clown’s hat – just thought I’d clarify the hims). Finally, when nearly everyone had given up, he changed his mind and galloped in. Just goes to show ya – never underestimate a bull.

See this lovely brown fella?

Better watch out, he’s comin’ for you now! ;)

Well, that was our rodeo. Now, to those privileged few of you who get to see a rodeo every week or so, this is no big deal. But to us, who only get to see a rodeo once a year, and dream about it the rest of the time, well, this is quite a big deal. Everyone comes from many miles around to see it. No matter how long the drive, at least it’s a rodeo – something there is really not very much at all of around here. So it’s a big event. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the pics! :)

A Birthday Wish

At this moment I would like to wish a very happy birthday to my favorite college professor, Rita T.

I appreciate so much her teaching and mentoring during my Sign Language 1 and 2 classes. All her cues, little things to remember the signs by, helped me learn and retain, and I still remember them when I'm signing. So even though she is no longer my teacher, her influence will help me in my signing...probably forever. I consider her a friend.

So, I don't know whether she will ever see this, but I want to wish her a very happy birthday...and a well-earned break!!

Catching Up Part1

Hi everybody! I know I was only gone about 2 weeks or so, but it seems like an awfully long time. So much has happened in everybody’s lives, I’ve had to go around and get caught up on everybody! The posts below (yeah, I know, they’re numbered funny, but I made them that way) will catch you up on me, but first let me tell you what I’ve learned while catching up on YOU:

I knew that my friend Miss Ashleigh’s husband had come home, but it was nice to finally see the picture!

And I knew that my sisters Laurie and Kryssy had been to Montana, but again, it was wonderful to see the photos! I wanted to go sooooo bad, but it was too last-minute of a trip for us, we didn’t get to go.

Mrs. Theresa and her family are doing great.

Mrs. Connie has been spending time with her grandkids and enjoying every minute of it!!

Amy Elizabeth is back home.

My friend Morgan is doing great, but we’ve been emailing so I knew that already. :)

Kate is doing great.

And everybody else that I read seems to be doing well also. Not too many earthshattering events! :)

Catching Up Part2

OK, so now about me. Well, first let me talk about our Bible Blasts. Earlier I mentioned the Saturday Bible Blast, how it’s like a VBS but it’s every Saturday for 5 weeks instead of every morning for a week. Remember all that? Well, the 16th was our last Saturday. I believe that the Lord really did use the program in several children’s lives, especially in a few of them. I would like to ask for your prayers for a few specific children. I won’t mention full names, because I don’t have their families’ permissions to do so, but the Lord knows their names.


A is going into the fifth grade. He and his family are Mormon, but his mom was very enthusiastic about the whole program, and he attended every one of the five days. He memorized nearly all the Scripture verses that we assigned the kids (the Romans Road, basically). We have been praying that he would keep these Bible verses in his heart, and that someday he would realize that there is a big difference between what the Bible says and what the Mormons say the Bible says. Also for his mom, who watched one of the puppet skits, and helped A with the verses, that her heart would be touched and she too would see the emptiness in Mormonism. He actually won the Bible Blast contest by getting the most stickers for attendance, memorization, and bringing friends, so he will be getting a bicycle.


F and R, sister and brother, are from a Muslim family. They were brought by A last Saturday. They both participated in the games, and appeared to have fun. During the puppet skit and application, however, R did not seem very interested. F, on the other hand, probably prayed the prayer to accept Jesus into her heart. At the end of the program, we gave a Bible to every child there, but R refused it. He stated, "We are not Christian or Jewish or anything, and we don’t have anything like that in our home." He also attempted to stop F from taking a Bible. She, on the other hand, wanted the Bible, and took it, even though R tried to talk her out of it. As she was given the Bible, she held it and said, "I believe everything that’s in it. I believe God wrote it. And I want to memorize more verses." If that doesn’t touch your heart, I don’t know what will!! We have all been covering her in prayer, asking the Lord to strengthen and grow her, to keep her safe, to let her be a light in her household, and to keep her strong despite the antagonism in that family. Sunday night after church we saw her in the neighborhood, and she said to Pastor Daniel and Miss Melonee, "I did a really bad sin today. But I did what he said." Miss Melonee asked, "Did you pray?" F answered, "Yes, I prayed." Please, pray with us for this girl and her family.


D and D (twins) live with their single dad and their grandfather. Their dad is searching, and he is willing to admit it. Pastor Daniel and Miss Melonee have talked with him, and they believe his heart may be open to the gospel. D and D had fun and seemed attentive, and they also will be receiving Bibles, although they were not there last Saturday. Pray that D and D and their dad and grandpa would be open and would see the truth, see what it is that they have been looking for for so long.


D and S, brother and sister, with their cousin S, are all Christians, and they and their family have attended our church a few times. They came faithfully, and even brought friends sometimes, and really were a light in the group. They were always polite and nice, and D really gave A a run for his money on winning the contest. D was just too funny sometimes, when during the application to the skit, Pastor Daniel would ask a question and D would give an answer that was correct but way off topic. For instance, one time Pastor Daniel asked the question, "What is a gift?" D eagerly answered, "It’s when God sent Jesus His Son to the earth to die for us all so we can go to heaven and not go to hell and Jesus died on the cross for us and…" You get the idea. It was all correct but it wasn’t exactly what had been asked! But these children were salt among the other children, and for that we ask the Lord to bless them.


There were several other children who only attended once at some point during the five weeks, including D, A, A, and others whose names I have forgotten, but I know God hasn’t forgotten them. Pray that the Lord will work in their hearts, that they will be touched by what they heard, even just in that time, and that they will understand what they heard and believe.


Before I finish with this post about the Bible Blasts, I want to show a few pictures of the puppetting that Mom and I did. You’ve already met Gertrude and George:




But you didn’t get to meet Yolanda. Anyway, here are the three puppets dressed up for the skit ‘A Good Horse’. Gertrude is Rodeo Bob the cowboy, Yolanda is Kylie the girl, and George is Doug the boy.


They rode horses in the skit, so Mom and I drew up horses for them. The palomino is Rodeo Bob’s horse, the bay is Kylie’s great horse, and the gray is Doug’s good horse. You would have to see the skit to understand, but the whole thing was about how some horses are great horses, because they always know who’s boss, but some horses are just good horses, because they don’t always remember to follow the one who leads them – the application being, obviously, that we should follow Jesus’ example and obey God. Like I said, you would’ve had to see the skit to understand.

And yes, we did some clowning around behind the scenes. Gertrude, Yolanda, and Miss Melonee getting tanned. Don’t ask. We really aren't hams, oh no we're not!! *grin*

I never got pictures of the costumes for the skit ‘Wake Up, Sam’, about Samuel being called by God, which is too bad because my mom made wonderful cotton-ball beard, mustache, and eyebrows for Eli (aka Gertrude). But we did get pictures from last week’s skit, ‘Take a Bath’, which was about Naaman’s healing. George did Naaman (in the middle with the blue turban and bandaids), Yolanda was Elisha’s servant (whom we know as Gehazi, but they didn’t go into all that in the little skit), and Gertrude did Naaman’s servant. By the way, if you ever decide to try a skit like this, let me tell you something we learned – BandAids *do not* come off of puppets. It’s really not funny. We did get most of them off, but we have to say that George has a birthmark on his arm. It’s pretty embarrassing. Thankfully, though, we figured it out before it was time to do the skit, and I made some paper ‘bandaids’ which came off easily as he was dipped in the ‘Jordan River’ (a blue sheet).

Another thing I learned is that your arms get tired really fast when you’re doing puppets…especially when the puppet stage is above your head… Not to mention if you ever try to do two puppets at once, like I did for the singing last Saturday. It hurts *so* bad…

But the kids loved it. This is what they saw:

That about sums it up for the Bible Blast update.