That's Why It's Called Rodeooo

Who knew I married the Silverado?

Who knew we'd have such a cute lil' Rodeo Queen just a few years later?

Strawberry Days came and went this year, and like always, it never disappoints. 

We had fun doing all the different activities, minus the baby contest because Pearl's costume came in the mail literally 2 hours too late!  Bummer.  But we made up for it by getting "Cowboy-ed up" for the rodeo.  Pearl and I wore matching pink bandanas for the theme of Friday night, "Tough Enough to Wear Pink," supporting Breast Cancer Awareness.  Poor Pearl, I know it is mildly awkward that we are matching.

One of my favorite things about Strawberry Days are the amazing strawberries and cream.  Pleasant Grove City subsidizes the cost of this delicious treat to make them more affordable for everyone.  Sure we have the worst roads in Utah and the cost of our water is sky high, but for one week of the year people can indulge in Strawberries n' Cream without going broke dang it.  

It's a tidbit embarrassing when the people working the stand selling them have your order memorized.

Pearl and I ate a lot of them:)

She loves them!  Strawberries are a fruit though right?  Healthy?  Right?

Since she had eaten so much healthy fruit earlier, Pearl had to get her fair share of sugar from Ricker and Cher.  

Our cute little neighbor boys, Bronco and Bridger did the Mutton Bustin'.  They both did great and Bronco ended up taking 1st place!  He just turned 4, I know craziness.

 Pearl was good the first two hours of the rodeo and then she'd had enough.  Lately she has a hard time being confined to one place.  Luckily Beetle was my lifesaver and came and took her home with his fam so we could finish watching the Rodeo.  So nice!  Thanks Beetle and Mindy!

Anne Fisher, in our ward, was a Grand Marshall this year.  What an awesome lady.

  Danny, his brother Rick and our friend Benj decided they wanted to give the Wild Cow Milk another try this year.  With two of them working at International Farmers of America and Danny raising a pig in our backyard last Summer, they figured they are pretty much cowboys right?

So they bought three pair of matching overalls and it was a done deal.  They entered into the arena with an angry 1300 lb heifer in hopes of getting some milk.  There are three positions needed to milk a wild cow:  The Milker, the Mugger and the Anchor.  Since only one of our cowboys has health insurance, Rick was volunteered as Mugger.  The Mugger pretty much takes the most abuse and is basically wrestling head to head with the cow.  Danny who weighs the most of the three became the Anchor and Benj, with his very long limbs ideal for milking, became the Milker. 

 Seconds before the event started I could tell they had a spirited cow (to say the least) after seeing it try to escape with its front legs over the gate several times.

 She came out with vigor yanking and pulling these three all around the arena.

 Rick got pretty beat up by Bessy as you can tell in this picture.  

But regardless of an intense and angry cow they got milk!  Benj ran it across the arena where the officials announced their team as 1st place.  

 They were stoked to be coming back Saturday Night in attempts at winning $400 and above all, the coveted Golden Belt Buckle.

Benj's legs are 10 feet long.

 Friday's First Placers!

 Everyone was excited to know the first placers.  They're pretty much local celebs.

After the Wild Cow Milk was over and my nerves calmed down, it was fun to hang out and enjoy the rest of the rodeo with some of my favorite people!

 My BFF Laura and her husband sat with us.  It was such a fun night!

 The next day, the boys were back excited and talking strategy as well as ingesting too much Ibubrofen.  

Since Pearl struggled staying the night before, Stephanie babysat for us.
She is so sweet and it made our night so much easier.

 I was a nervous wreck the whole time Danny was in the arena.  Call me a terrible sister, but I don't remember being this nervous when my brothers did the Wild Cow Milk.  I had hoped Saturday Night's cow would be in a better mood than the one the night before, but she came out just as ticked off and seemingly wanting revenge.

 Within 30 seconds of being out of the gate, the cow had head butted Rick and caused him to do a flip landing straight upside down on his head.  He blacked out and laid face down in the dirt!  It was so dang scary.  

 While Rick was passed out, Benj and Danny kept trying to milk the beast.

  

 Danny did awesome at holding the cow down by himself while Benj tried milking three dry udders.  He finally found one that had a little milk but by the time he got to the officials they had taken 4th. 

 Rick could move his extremities but for cautionary purposes got loaded onto a stretcher and a ride to the hospital in an ambulance.  Within a minute of him getting hurt another participant got kicked in the shin resulting in a compound fracture!  What a stupid and dangerous event!

 Rick went to the hospital and had a CT scan, but everything looked okay.  He has a sprained neck and the Doc said he would be sore for the next few weeks.  We are just glad he is okay!  I feel bad he got hurt, but we're lucky he was the one who had insurance.  Poor Rick!

 My pretty friend Heather, and former Los G, was visiting this week from Chicago.

  It was really fun to see her for a bit!

It was overall a great Strawberry Days, minus Rick getting hurt.  I told Danny he is not allowed to do the Wild Cow Milk anymore, but he disagrees.  I'm still working on him.

 There was an awesome super moon that night.  It was gigantic.

Ricker and Cher had everyone over afterwards for fresh Strawberry pies.  Yum.

Til' next year my sweet strawberries n' cream!