Lehi Parade then Rodeo 2014

The 4th of July is not complete unless you go to a parade. Even as and adult I actually still love parades.  The rest of my family is less than excited about them so for this parade I just took my Peter Pie on my moped and headed out toward the parade route.  We got their just in time, luckily my mom had saved us a seat. This parade was a little lacking in the float department.  I was somewhat disappointed.  But Peter was not and I was happy I could make some memories for him.  There were a handful of marching bands American Forks being the most awesome.  They even got invited to do the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade this year. There was also a pipe band so that made me happy and made up for the missing floats.
Right after this parade we headed to the air show then immediately following that adventure we trucked over to the rodeo.
Lehi is known for its rodeo and for good reason.  The riders and ropers were spectacular.

the Lego movie double decker couch

these guys always make me laugh

Kate and Maria

Drew and Daisy

The other great thing about the rodeo is that its a family affair. My brother usually hosts a big BBQ (this year we were too late getting back from the air show to go)  We all go and get to sit next to each other.  This year I brought my whole family along and I think I could have left the boys home.  While there was plenty of things that were "boytastic"  I noticed them getting a little restless. Peter really wanted to wear a cowboy hat but we just didn't have time to find one so he decided on a fedora silly Peter.  Once we got their TK was more than happy to let Peter borrow his cowboy hat.  I think that made his day. The actual rodeo itself was exciting, bulls dragging cowboys, cows escaping, barrel racers racing and clowns being hilarious.  The kids favorite was Juan Diego. (Juan was a sombrero on top of a remote control truck)  He was pretty funny.  They kept making comments about how he was so brave he didn't even move when the bull charged him.  Then when he stopped working the quick thinking MC said he was frozen in fear and had to be removed. But my absolute most favorite quote of the night was after a cowboy was thrown pretty badly, as he got up he was holding his arm and we were all hurting for him when the MC piped up and said "That cowboy is tougher than lips on a woodpecker."  The imagery was perfect.  There is just nothing quite like a rodeo.  It always makes me think back on those times I would ride horses every Sunday with my dad. Or the times I would go do round up with my best friend Kortnee, and even the times my friends and I would saddle up our horse to ride in our backyard mountains.  Those were good times filled with fond memories. One specific memory that always comes to mind is when my friends and I were riding in the mountains racing. My horse jumped a log that just happened to have a beehive in it.  When my horse jumped she kicked the log and the bees came out with a vengeance.  Trying to escape the stings my horse took off we came across a wide ditch in the middle of a meadow, I knew my horse wasn't really a jumper but we were going too fast to stop in time.
My only option was to push her harder so she would clear it.  I think we both held our breath as we soared through the air and landed safely on the other side.  With my heart beating out of my chest and a huge sigh of relief I took her to a trot and circled back around amazed that we were still in one piece.

cute cowboy Wyatt