Greatest Cowboy Ever

Grandpa loved to get his lariat out and rope random things, and you'd think that I'd know what he was up to when he'd tell me to take off running....but I didn't! I'd take off running as fast as I could. Within seconds I'd feel a tug and be sitting in the dirt with Grandpa's lariat around me!

And did you know that when I was little I had quarters hidden behind my ears! I could pull and pull and pull on my ears and never seem to find those quarters. But whenever Grandpa tugged om my ear....BOOM there was a quarter behind each ear! That was good enough to buy 50 tootsie rolls at the Egin Merc! Which by the way was Grandpa's second home.

Speaking of candy....Grandpa had magic pockets on his shirts. There was a never ending supply of peppermint or butterscotch candies in those pockets , and he was always quick to share. He also had a magic hat. After putting in his days' work of riding out on the desert he'd stop in to see us kids, only to surprise us with a horny toad riding under his hat. I think there was an endless supply of horny toads too! It's a good thing they were so small, he'd probably try to rope them too!

I learned quick to never pick a feather up out of the sand. Grandpa always said, "Be careful, there might be an Indian on the other end of that feather!" So if I ever see a feather stuck in the sand, I think I'll just let it stand!

Grandpa must have made friends with some Indians at one time or another because whenever I was having troubles getting my colt to cooperate while breaking her, Grandpa always fixed the problem. And when I'd ask how he did it...his reply, "Oh just an old Indian trick!"

I also learned how to saddle a horse just right. Grandpa could spot a flaw 2 miles away. The easiest thing to do was go riding when you knew Grandpa wasn't around. Then you wouldn't have to worry about getting a saddle inspection!

And if by chance you ever got thrown off your horse, just hurry up and dust yourself off and get your butt back up there before Grandpa saw you....show that horse whose boss! Even if you still can't catch your breath and your back feels as if it's broken! Grandpa was not only the greatest grandpa in the world or my greatest teacher...he was my hero!

Grandpa will be missed by many. But we know that he is having a great reunion with Mom and his family.
I love and miss you Grandpa!

Mothers

Mothers are the place where love

Emerges from the earth,

And happiness rings out like bells

In honor of our birth.
Mothers are the sun that lights

For life our inner sky,

So we may know that we are loved

And need not question why.
Mothers are the moon that shines

Upon our black despair,

So even when we weep, we know

That someone's always there.
Whatever fear, or stress, or pain

Might them to anger move,

We know that underneath the storm

We have, always, their love.

Winter Fun

Winter was never Mom's favorite time of year at times they could be pretty long. But we found ways to get through them. One year we all got cross country skiis and decided to make that a fun way to pass away these long winter days. It was so fun watching everyone learn how to make these long skiis do what they were supposed to without breaking our neck. And of course we couldn't have asked for a better place to live to put these skiis to use....we went everywhere! Our favorite place to go was out to the sands.

But I have to admit that going out there on a white-out day was suicide! We done that a couple times and that was interesting. We couldn't tell if we were going down a hill or up a hill until one of us would totally wipe out and then the laughing would start! Oh if I could count the times we all wiped out and laughed until we cried. Mom and I decided to go skiing out to Pine Butte, which is out on the Red Road, the Clark County line. What a beautiful day it was and the snow was just right. Coming back to the Red Road it's a pretty easy ride, gets a little steep for a bit though. I remember taking off down this hill first and all of a sudden seeing Mom coming up beside me with that cheesy grin on her face. By this time we were going pretty fast, the snow was melting just enough that it was slippery. All of a sudden I hear Mom's skiis clank together and then this sound of skiis, poles, water bottle, camera and the "swooosh" of snow all combined together! Mom was down!! And usually if Mom went down I wasn't far behind because of laughing so hard! Needless to say she was just fine, hurt the pride a little but just fine! It's amazing that we never broke any bones. We all took some pretty crazy crashes!

Another fun activity we all enjoyed doing was snowmaching. Especially the night rides across the desert. Dad would gather a bunch of riders and we'd all set off out across the desert about 5:00pm and ride up to the A Bar or the Shotgun store in Island Park for a burger. That was always such a fun time. I remember Mom always saying how it scared her the whole entire time but she loved doing it!

It was always fun rounding up the family and going out to play in the snow....but watch out for those snow tubes! They will kick your butt if you let them...haha another Mom story! :)