Extreme Bullriding Night

It was rodeo time last week.  Yee haa!!!!

My parents bought our family tickets as an Easter gift.  :) 

We went on the first night, which happened to be "Extreme Bulls Night."   Heck yeah!!!
The whole night was all bullriding, which happens to be my favorite event. 

The rodeo was held in a local university football dome which was really nice since it was cold and rainy outside.   Gotta love that HUGE flag!

Ready to rock n' roll, people!!!  With cowboy hats on of course. 

Aubrey borrowed Jed's calvary hat for the night.

My brother, Cory, and his family were with us too.

 

I love watching fiesty bulls that don't cooperate or when they charge anyone in their path, like the rodeo clowns.  The whole element of danger is what makes this event so exciting to watch! 

My cousin, Laura, from Wisconsin was there helping out as well.  She's riding the rodeo circuit as Miss Rodeo Wisconsin!  Since she lives so far away from us and I don't get to see her very often, I tried to see if I could find her to say hello.  Sadly, security was tight and I wasn't allowed back by the animals and rodeo workers before the rodeo started.  However, Laura did have the chance to come visit us a few days later right before she flew back home. 

She even gave Aubrey an signed autograph.  :) 

Here are a few highlights from our night:

Birthday Boy in the House

We recently celebrated Rigdon's 4th birthday!

Rigdon's been literally talking about his birthday and what presents he's going to be getting for about six months now . . . several times a day, everyday .  Very excited little dude.  We celebrated his special day with as many family members as we could pack into our little living room.

We went with a Captain America theme . . . with cupcakes.


Rigdon's grandma and great-grandparents.

Grandma and Grandpa.

Me.  :)

Rigdon's 3rd cousin, Hudson.  He is one of Rigdon's best buddies.

Rigdon blew out his candles in a quick snap.

Connor was in charge of video taping.

He got a flashlight from his Great-grandpa.  He loved it.

Serving up cupcakes and ice cream.

He loves his knight and medieval horse.

Jed dressed Rigdon in his new hunter coveralls and camo shirt  (I tried to talk some sense into Jed that this combination does not "go together."  He could care less.)


Last but not least, Captain America!

Student of the Month

Aubrey was one of just a few students selected to be honored on the "Student of the Month" display at her school for the month of March.  This included a professional photography session and a write-up so other students could get to know her better. 

Way to go Poogy Girl!

Lowdown on Easter

Here's how Easter went down:

Family Dinner on Saturday evening at the church.  We're finding as our families grow throughout the years, it's much easier to fit everyone in this way.   :)

This pic is from Lisa's blog:

My parents:

After dinner we made "tomb rolls" as an object lesson.  (I'm guessing at the name here.)

Jed's usual Plan A of how to get out of being in pictures involves a dirty look and trying to be uncooperative when I ask him to smile for the camera.  Taking silly pictures is plan B so I won't ask him again. 

But I've learned persistance pays off in the end anyway.  :)

Playing ball in the gym.

To top the night off, we had two Easter egg hunts . . . the first one just for Rigdon and Brooklyn.  My mom got creative this year and made glow-in-the dark eggs and turned off the lights.  It was so cute to hear Rigdon giggle with excitement the whole time when he found an egg.  Loved it.

The goods:

The kids loved running around with the glow-in-the-dark sticks Grandma had bought for everyone. Now it's the big kid's Easter egg hunt!  Each color here is a different kid running around in the gym with the lights off looking for eggs.

The kids got candy and MONEY in their eggs, they were pretty excited about that.

EASTER MORNING involved basket hunting for the kids.

Rigdon's was easy to find- the Easter Bunny left it in his new "house" made of blankets.  This is where he's been sleeping literally all week long.  


He's pretty excited about his new squirt gun.

Aubrey finally found hers hanging on the shower head . . . it took her a little while to find it.

But not nearly as long as it took Ronin to find his.  He spent the first five minutes looking for it in the kitchen/living room area.  Lazy was helping him too. 



After several more minutes of looking and a few "you're warm or cold" cues, he got a little closer.  After about the third time looking in his clothes hamper, he found his basket hidden underneath his dirty clothes.

 Looking at this room , it's any wonder that our boys can find anything in it anyway.

Ronin got some new dress shoes with his basket.

Jed came home from work for few minutes in the morning to watch the kids look for Easter baskets.  

We, of course, headed to church too. 

Behind all the fluffy, fun stuff there is a much more important reason why we celebrate this day.  It's important for our family to remember that . Our Savior, Jesus Christ, suffered for our sins, overcame death, and gave us a way to repent and return to live with our Heavenly Father one day. I don't think I'll ever completely understand all that He went through, but I certainly grateful that He did.  This life would be utterly meaningless for us all if there was no atonement made on our behalf. 

Happy Easter everyone!