Every year on Pioneer Day weekend (usually around the 24th of July for the uninitiated), the William Jordan Flake Family gets together and celebrates our cowboy/rancher heritage by putting on a rodeo.
Now, I use the term "rodeo" in the loosest sense of the word, friends. While there is the occasional member of the family who regularly rides horses and practices to become quite good at certain rodeo activities, the majority of us are people who ride horses an average of twice a year... and most of us don't even actually own boots to do so in.
So this kind of rodeo ends up being a lot of getting bucked off, silly antics, and the occasional injury, but for the most part, it's really quite thrilling to go--and for me, the inner cowgirl that I keep buried for the most part tends to get really excited to be showing my kids a little taste of what I grew up with. That being said, here are a few pictures:
Daliah, my older sister, has come in an observer's position for many years now, but she always knows exactly who's competing, how they're related to us, and what they've been doing for the past fifteen years of their life.
Molly, my sister, and Tyler Ann both just graduated and are heading off to college...Molly just left for my alma mater, EAC, today. *sniffles a little* I might miss my main babysitter this next year (and replace the word "might" with "most definitely will").
My mom also usually goes in the role of observer, as well as grandchild wrangler and main socializer... she's usually found talking to someone while bouncing a child on her hip to keep them happy and give their mom (usually me) a little break.
This was Steve's first experience with a rodeo--EVER. He was thrilled to be there....ish. This guy has about as much country blood in him as I have high-maintenance blood in me, but he has been both branding and on a trail ride with me, and although he has yet to be converted to country music in general, he will listen to Rascal Flatts. So we're working on the rest. :)
Dad usually is out there with the best of them, wrangling cows and getting covered in dust, sweat, and manure, but because of an ear surgery this year, he had to sit and watch. Seeing his reactions to events he's usually a part of made me laugh--at one point, they did the calf dressing event, which is several teams of three men who compete with each other to get a steer wrestled to the ground and dressed in a ginormous pair of granny panties the fastest (yes, it's as hilarious as it sounds). Dad usually tends to be the mugger for a team, but this was his first year watching instead of participating.
As the event started, he cracked up. "This event is ridiculous to watch!! What a funny event!"
We didn't tell him he was usually one of the funniest ones to watch.
It's been such a blessing for me to get to bring my kiddos every year and let them experience some of the farm life I was blessed to grow up with--this year, Clark and Jack even got to sit in the front of the pickup truck after their events (the money calf and the foot races) were over.
Maggie didn't participate in any events, but being the only member of our immediate family who owns a pair of boots, she seemed to really have the cowgirl spirit about her the whole time. Also, any time a calf would run past, she'd point and say, "Baaaby cow!"
It was basically adorable.
One of the events Snowflake is known for is the Keg Race, which is basically musical chairs--on horses. It's my favorite event to watch, because it gets pretty intense and competitive. The past couple of years, they've added a horseless version of the Keg Race. The instructions are pretty basic: two team members have to share a stick. They start out both sitting on a crate, and when the announcer says, "Mark, Set, Go!" all the teams get up, run around a barrel at the other end of the arena, and then come back and try to grab a crate to sit on. As they all get up, someone pulls at least one extra crate out. Hence, the musical chairs aspect.
This year, I convinced Molly to be on a team with me. She was hesitant to do something so juvenile, but I forced her like the nice big sister I am.
We got out on the first round, but it's okay, because my brother, McKay, and cousin, Manasseh, also got out--and as I tried to get all four of us in a selfie to post on Facebook, I got yelled at by the announcer to get out of the way.
Oops.
But the picture turned out, anyways, thanks to a random cousin who offered to take the picture for us:
This next one is my favorite of all the pictures. To me, it encapsulates everything I love about this lifestyle. I love that kids are taught to be strong, independent--to work hard and learn to solve problems. I love the fact that we cow folk have grit and stubbornness, that we're patriotic and loyal, and that we aren't afraid to do hard things. I'm so grateful that I have the chance to expose my children to experiences that will hopefully help them to learn those traits.
Happy Pioneer Day, y'all!
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