Fun at the rodeo...

Yesterday at 4:30 in the afternoon, we started our chores and got them done in record time. Why the big hurry, you say? Well, because we had bought 5 tickets to the Mandan rodeo and we hoped to get there a little before it started (7:30PM), so that we'd get seating for 5 people together. Well, the guys dropped Mom and I off at the rodeo grounds to find a place to sit and reserve it, but as soon as she & I got up the steps to the grandstand, we knew we'd have fun finding several seats in a row! After searching high and low, we finally discovered a place in the 3rd row from the front--with the view of a big light-pole right smack in front of some of us. But, it was a place to sit and we were glad for that! We still could see most everything that went on.

We really enjoyed the rodeo this year (except for most of the music) and I took a lot of pictures. I'll share some of them with you here...

This picture makes it look like the horse was jumping right over his former-rider, but I think he was off to the side. Still, I did not envy that cowboy one bit!

This horse was very shy and refused to come out of the pen. After 3 or 4 attempts at getting the horse out, they finally gave the cowboy a different horse to ride!

Hi-Ho Silver...

Ride 'em, cowboy!I wonder how many cowboys will be seeing their chiropractors tomorrow?

There were other events to watch besides bronco riding--such as calf roping/tying...

Some of those guys' hands just flew so fast you couldn't see what they were doing!

This Texas cowboy was doing his best to get this large steer flipped over...

A really neat part of the rodeo was when they had a Chuck wagon race...

Last year during this race, one of the drivers fell off his wagon (he wasn't hurt) and the horses went running about at their own will. The announcer began shouting in the mic, "Close the gate, close the gate" and some people barely got over to it and got it closed before the horses got there. If the team had gotten out of that gate, they could have run all over Mandan! Nothing like that happened this year though, thankfully.

Unfortunately, it was too dark to take pictures when the bull-riding was going on, so I don't have any pictures to share with you of that. One of the cowboys, Mother informed us children, was our 3rd cousin. :) He had a rough time with his mount, as the bull flipped him over the top of his head and then proceeded to bulldoze him, until the professional bullfighters intervened. Praise God that none of the cowboys got hurt badly this year!

When the rodeo was nearing the end, I had a very special surprise... The Geigers showed up and my dear friend, Miranda was with them!!! She was on a "Vacation" visit home to be with her family (she's been helping relatives in the South) and I was so hoping that I'd be able to see her before she leaves (tomorrow morning), but didn't think it would be possible.

It was SO great to see and be with you, Miranda! I'm praying for you and your relatives to have a safe journey these next couple days.

Here is a picture of Miranda and I, with Miranda holding her baby brother...

After the main rodeo, they had what they called a "Ranch Rodeo" where 4 groups of local cowboys did some races--like "Pass the baton on to the next rider on your team," and "Be the first to get that calf loaded into your trailer." That was pretty neat.

Then came a very amazing fireworks display! I think Andrew said he heard it's the biggest display in ND. The grand finale was so big that you could only say, "WOW!" when it was all over with!

We got home at 1:30 and then had to get up early this morning to do chores because of doing them so early the afternoon before, so everyone was a lacking a little in enthusiasm for the work of this day. It turned out that we had a great day, and I have lots of pictures to share, but those will have to wait for tomorrow, as I really need to get to bed!