Let Summer Begin!

Hunter and H after his homerun game!!

Nice swing H

Thumbs up after his Homerun

diving for his pool tools

These goggles were pretty tricky. The first time we put them on him he paniced because he couldn't breath. I guess he forgot that you can breath through your mouth and nose.

 Houston and I officialy sent Hunter off today! This is the first time in 5 years we haven't left with him. A little sad but I'm keeping my hopes up that he kicks some major butt out there. And Houston and I may eventually fly out but as of right now we are hangin out here at home. Well T-ball finally ended...we didn't win the tournament, not even a game in the tournament but we were pretty successful. Houston hit 2 homeruns in his last 2 games!! They were Huge hits and you would have thought we just won the world series. Heck in my book it was just as sweet as winning it but I'm kind of partial. We were all so proud of him and he loved all the attention he got. I think he made close to 60.00 from all his family. Hahah we have quite a few family members and he kind of robbed his Dad. But you only hit your first homerun once!!! Now that T-ball is over Houston pretty much lives in someone's pool. My parents, Hunter's parents and our good friends John and Diane have a pool so he thinks everyday he has to be to the closest body of water. And it doesn't matter who takes him as long as someone is willing. Here's a list of rodeos Hunter will be. I will add more as he enters them and I will try to keep you guys updated on how he does at each one of them. Anyway hope to see some of you down the road and hopefully I can keep you as entertained as possible with stories from the road!! God Bless

June
15-16- Northplatte, NE
17- Pleasant Grove, UT
21- Reno, NV
22-23- Santa Fe, NM
24- Pecos, TX
29- Greeley, CO
July
1- St. Paul, OR
2- Cody, WY
3- Prescott, AZ
8-11- Calgary Stampede, Calgary, Alberta Short Round is the 16 and 17

Right where we want to be

Read about Hunter at Ft. Smith, AR. Hope he keeps this pace all summer!!!

http://www.prorodeo.com/Story.aspx?xu=2783

Where has the time gone?!

Where has the time gone? Seems like we're in full swing of things. Rodeo has picked up and we're right in the middle of t-ball season. I need a minute to catch my breath haha!! Houston is loving playing ball. He plays first base and bats second! His team isn't bad for them all being first-timers. We've won a few games but mainly lost but it's still fun to see the goofy things they do. This week one of the kids whose dad coaches a high school baseball team started singing "Hey Batter Batter" so that got the rest of the team chattering right along with him! Pretty cute! H is still working hard for a home-run. I think everyone in the family has told him they'd give him 5 dollars if he hit one, with the exception of a few people who he's negotiated all the way up to 10 dollars. He's going to rake it in when he finally hits one. Hunter has moved up in the standings all the way to Number 2!! He's been pretty hot all winter so we're hoping it carries right on over through the summer! After the ciruit finals in OKC he flew to Logandale, NV where he won 2nd. Then he had a week off and flew out Clovis, CA where he won that and then was at Corpus Christi, TX the same weekend and won that one too!! It was much needed and sure has us feeling much better about where he is this year as compared to last. He also went to Guymon the first week of May. He went into the progessive round winning 10th in the average and was 7.0. He ended up 2nd overall. Our good friend Jerome Schneeburger won it. It won't be long before we hit the road for the summer. I'm sure if it's like all of our other summers I'll have an abundant amount of stories to tell!! Until then...God Bless!!

My baby is growing up, carrying his bad to his first t-ball game!

Hunter and H

First at bat of his career!

He just couldn't resist sticking his hand in that nice pile of white chalk

So fast he was kickin up dust!!

Cruisin on by while they fight over the ball

Pics

Snake measuring on Sunday. My dad is holding the head.

Dad holding him up

Pretty one

H feeding the birds at the Zoo. He was scared at first because they're pretty greedy.

Silly kid!

Pretty decent weekend at the DNCFR

Well we didn't win the DNCFR but Hunter came really close and it turned out to be a great weekend anyway! Thursday Hunter was one of the first ropers and his calf kicked and he was 11.7. There were performances Friday night to end the first round and then 2 more performances on Saturday to start and finish the second round. By Saturday night enough guys had went that we knew Hunter needed to be 8.6 or faster to qualify for the semi-finals on Sunday where they took the top 8 back. 8.6 doesn't sound that fast but 8's were winning the round. He was last roper and was 8.1. Good enough to win the round and to make it back in last hole to the semi-finals on Sunday. We were so thankful and way excited to be roping on Sunday afternoon. Sunday morning we attended Cowboy Church with Susie McIntire and then had lunch at Braum's. It was finally rodeo time. During the Prayer and National Anthem we almost had a severe emergency!! Houston somehow managed to slip his arm in the crease of the seat and couldn't get it out. It wasn't that bad at first but then I couldn't get it out either and he started to panick. It was pitch black in there and I yelled at Jamie to help me. Everytime we lifted the seat a little it just pinched his arm even harder. This whole time Houston was screaming like someone was trying to cut his arm off and I'm sure it felt that way to him. We were starting to draw in a pretty big crowd of people trying to help. The man above Houston was trying to work his arm out and we were trying to slide his body where he could move it better. Then a lady came from nowhere and insisted if we would just lift the seat his arm would come right out. I guess in the 5 minutes he was stuck she didn't think we had tried that. FINALLY his arm came out just as I was ready to go find someone who could save my poor baby! It was swollen and already bruised. He has recovered fully though. During the semi-finals the top 8 guys rope in a sudden death and then the top 4 advance to the finals. Hunter was first roper and came out and set the arena record with a 7.2!!!! He won that round and moved on to the final 4. The final 4 ropers competing for the round money and the Dodge Truck voucher were Tyson Durfey, J.D. Kibbe, Ryan Jarrett and Hunter. Tyson came out first and tied Hunter's record with a 7.2. Kibbe was next and was 9.5. RJ came out and missed. And then came Hunter...He had his calf roped fast, bobbled his tie a little and threw his hands up in 7.3 seconds, BUT he missed his huey and went back to the tie which you can't do after your hands have already left the calf and they flagged him out. That's how it all ended! But as bad as it stunk not winning the whole thing we were so fortuante to have won what we did. 10,000 is not a bad weekend any way you look at it. So, we live to see another day!!! Thank you to everyone who came out and supported Hunter all weekend. It was good to see family and friends that we haven't got to see in awhile. This week Hunter will be flying out on Thursday to rope at Logandale,NV and Pocatello,ID. and then will be back late Sunday. Houston has his first T-ball game Saturday at Cyril at 9:00 and 10:30. He is so excited to play and pretty funny to watch. You can tell he's been at the ball park a few times because he'll yell..Mom, "watch me drop bombs". Which translates to hit a home run! I have Alex Orf and Sam Swanda to thank for that one. That's what they always say. A few weekends ago we went to Stephenville to watch Al and Sam play and H got to shag balls for the team. He decided he did enough shagging and wanted me to pitch balls to him. He made Grandma and Grandpa and Dayne and Nina Swanda be his shaggers this time. We noticed everytime he got ready to hit he would draw something in the dirt. We didn't really know what he was doing but went with it. We finally found out what he had been drawing. One of Al's friends named Katie, who always plays with Houston, draws a cross everytime she gets in the on deck circle and when she's up to bat. Sure enough that was what he was drawing too. Just shows you how much they listen and watch all the time!!
Anyway God Bless, see you guys down the road!!!

Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo

Hunter ropes this Thursday and Saturday night in Oklahoma City at 7:30 for the DNCFR. Hopefully he'll rope again Sunday for the short round. Hope to see you guys there!! If you aren't able to make it here's the link where you can listen to the whole rodeo online        http://www.prorodeolive.com/

Pics from lately

Houston's first solo ride on the 3 wheeler. Pretty sure his Grandpa created a monster.

Trick Riding.

Houston's new baby calf. He named her Julie Bell.

Julie Bell and her Mama

H and Grandpa snake hunting out in the slick hills.

He said he's ready for anything

H and Grandpa with our catch. I think this is the one I caught but H says it's his and the only reason I caught one is because Grandpa showed me where it was.

Pretty good one!