To give you a little background, my son and one of my nephews are pretty sure that they are cowboys, and I do not mean Halloween dress-up cowboys. They are the real things! My family has been talking about getting them to the rodeo for some time and last night we went. I expected to love watching them watch the bull riders. What I didn’t expect was getting teared up over the pride I felt for my country and the men and women who serve it.
You see it was Military Night at the J Bar W Ranch Rodeo. It was night of US pride, respect for the flag and honor for the men and women who keep us free. On this night we were invited to watch a group of about 25 men and women sworn into various branches of the US Military. Having a husband who is prior active duty and National Guard and working day in and day out with these amazing people and thier families, I already have a genuine respect for these brave men and women. But even with my experiences, seeing these young people hand their life as they know it over to our country warmed my heart and filled my eyes with tears of pride in a way I wasn’t anticipating.
Beyond this pride for these young people, my heart was also warmed by the overall experience. The announcers and the crowed were so happy to be there and watch these cowboys and cowgirls do what they love, the feeling was one of family and camaraderie and everyone one who spoke showed a true faith in the Lord above. No one was worried about saying, “God” and all heads were bowed as prayed for God to keep the cowboys safe and support them as they made their best efforts. In a world where we are all so worried about being politically correct, this was wonderful to experience.
My nephew, Wyatt and my little cowboy, Jake.
On top of the national pride, the community and the faith, my night was topped off by being with the people I loved and watching my little cowboy get to be a real cowboy. We got there early for the little cowboy rodeo. Jake (Jakey’s cowboy name) and his cousins got to ride a mechanical bull, rope dummy cows, and get up close to the horses used to rope to bulls and the cowboys that ride them. Then, the main event . . . they watched bull riding! I think the first few riders went by with out a word or even a blink from Jacob. He was in such awe. After a while, he of course had to pretend he was also riding and getting bucked off by throwing himself onto the ground. I love watching Jacob just enjoy being a kid. The only thing missing in our night was Daddy. We sure hope his back gets better one day so that he can go with us.
Some extra Rodeo photos . . . 
Aimee - I need a copy of that picture of jake for my fridge.. i love it!! Maybe next year Chase will be old enough to go too!!!
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