A picture-full post!

It's been a busy couple of days!  You  may have noticed I did not post last night----the reason being that we got home from the Mandan rodeo (and fireworks display) a little after 1:00AM, and as I fell asleep on the way home, I felt like I was sleepwalking while getting ready for bed and certainly didn't have any thoughts of posting.  BUT, I have been working on a nice long picture post throughout the day, so I hope you all enjoy it (especially Hristiyan's family!). 

Here it goes:

Andrew's used car/pickup lot:

The garden is doing well, with the aid of the very tall sprinkler you see in the picture below.  It's so tall that it can water the garden in 4 settings. 

I'm sure you can all guess what that little green squash is between the flower and the plant!

A couple of the lovely orange lillies that Sarah gave me last Summer (and you can see the raspberries I also got from her, growing in the background).

I took this picture yesterday morning....   We decided to go see a parade and, after much thought and debate, it was at last decided that we'd go to the parade in Linton, like we used to do in the "Good old days".  :)    So, we put on our walking shoes and......   walked across the road to hop into Andrew's pickup! 

Here we are waiting for the parade to start....

I think the boys liked the yellow car?

These were the only horses in the parade:

I liked this car:

After the parade was over, we visited for a while with some people we used to go to church with, then we headed for home, but got a bit distracted.  :)   We drove back to the farm where we used to live and were happy to see that there's someone living there now.  Then, we showed Hristiyan our Temvik house (the big blue house in a previous post).  We had a belated lunch when we got home.

It was pretty nice and warm out, so after some convincing talking (I won't say by whom or whom to), my brothers, Hristiyan and I headed up to the big lake in our pasture.  I wanted to swim, but the boys wished to stay dry, so they went in boats/rafts.  It was pretty windy, so we had some difficulties getting back to shore, (Kristi M, I'll let Hristiyan tell you about that experience)....

Jacob by his pickup, with "Paddle boats" on back....

Hristiyan and Andrew...

After about an hour, we decided to head for home.  There was a slight problem with the cows' fence though that we tried to fix, kind of.....   Apparently, someone didn't notice the fence or know that the road there's been closed for many years, but at any rate, they bent over a fencepost and lost some plastic from their lights. 

 Trying to pound in a post with a rock (it didn't work)...

The guys did chores early while Mom and I packed some sandwiches for supper, then it was off to Mandan for a RODEO!

 This was the bare-back bronc-riding event....

Calf roping/tying event: 

 Everyone enjoyed the Chuck-wagon races!

Then there was more wild horse riding (with saddles this time).  Thankfully, nobody got hurt too badly, although I'm sure some of the cowboys were a bit sore after some of the landings they took....

This cowboys' guardian angel was working overtime I think!  He actually flipped up and over the horses' head, but then he fell to the left and the horse went to the right.  Yikes!

Another cowboy with an awkward landing...

Steer wrestling (jumping off a horse and twisting the calf's neck sideways so it tips over---along with you.)

They had "Mutton Bustin' " this year, which was so cute to watch.  Basically, little cowboys and cowgirls rode on sheep and tried to stay on as long as possible.   The one boy who actually stayed on the full length of time was so funny to watch, as he was leaning way off to the side, but just had such a grip on that sheep that he stayed that way-------even after the beeper beeped and he could have let go!

Team roping...

 
The bull riders are getting ready....

Barrel racing...

 The bull pictures are all a blur, so this is the best one that I have!  I think there were only 2 cowboys that managed to stay on the whole amount of time.  I can not even imagine trying to ride a bull.  That is the ultimate in scarrieousness!

 After the official rodeo was over with, there was a Ranch Rodeo which was also very fun to watch.  My favorite of the 3 events they did was the WILD COW MILKING!   One of the team members would rope the cows' head, then some would also rope the back legs or else one team-member just pulled the cows' tail, but the goal was to milk a bit of milk (enough to poor out) into a baby bottle, then a team-member had to run the milk to the judge, all in as little time as possible.  It was so funny!

In the picture below, 2 teams would be competing at the same time, trying to rope their designated calf and get it loaded into the trailer as fast as possible. 

Oh yes, during the main  rodeo, there was a clown and he had a special act, but we didn't like him much at all!   There was another special event though, which we enjoyed a lot...  Shooting balloons while riding your horse around the course.  I have a video and will maybe get it posted sometime?

After the Ranch Rodeo was over, there was a gigantic, loud, amazing fireworks display, which we all really enjoyed.  Then it took a long time to get out of the parking lot, with everyone trying to leave at once......    We finally did get home, like I said, a little after 1:00 in the morning.  I was surprised that we were all up around 8:00 this morning!

This day was special too.  Most of the day was spent in work (the guys went over to the hayland and fixed the tractor and finished stacking bales after lunch, and Mom and I cooked and did laundry, and I ran the tiller through the garden paths), but this evening was really fun.  We invited Tom and Virginia M. over for supper/campfire and fireworks, so they came and we had a very nice visit; ate; roasted hotdogs and marshmallows; swung on the swings; played Boccee until it got dark; then the 3 boys lit off most of their fireworks and the rest of us enjoyed the show (and more visiting). 

It was a delightful day.  

Please pray for my aunt LV in the morning, as that is when she is having her open-heart surgery....  Also, if you would, please keep my mom in your prayers as she has decided (last minute) to go to a class in Canada, travelling with friends.  She'll leave in the morning.  Also, prayers for cooperation from the cattle would be nice, as the remaining 5 of us will be attempting to cut out 3 young steers from the herd and getting them herded up to the old farmstead and loaded up.  Andrew plans to take them up to our friends in the Turtle Mountains (they're buying the calves from us) tomorrow, as soon as we get them loaded.    Life is never, ever dull!