Grandpa's Roping Tribute

It's 8:55 pm. Today we've driven to Rexburg, had baths and played at great-grandma's house, gone to a roping, eaten and played at Mcdonalds, driven home, unpacked and cleaned the house and van, taken baths again, had the kids in bed by 8:00, gone to the redbox, and started a new blog post. Whew. What a day!

My grandpa's close friends have been planning a roping in his honor and they invited all the family to come and participate in a tribute to him. It was a fun and extremely fast little trip, and it was neat to once again get together as a family and remember grandpa. My family is so important to me and I love seeing our devotion and support for each other. I know it's been nearly a year since his death but sometimes it still doesn't feel real to me, especially in settings like today that are so much a part of who he was, so much his element. It's weird.

I asked a nice cowboy to take some pictures when we all went out in the arena. Here's all the family who could make it.

The man in the far left is Willie. My grandpa hired him years ago and became a father figure to him. He spoke at grandpa's funeral and is the one who put this roping together.

Here's aunt Lisa (in the pink shirt) announcing the "Blane and Corrine Hendricks Scholorship" to be presented to a senior who was in the roping.
Of course that's my child running around in the front!Jayci loved the horses

Jack would make a cute cowboy!
Jayci got tired of her hat so she passed it on.
This is when Jayci got to be a first-time-close-up witness to a horse going poop. She said, "Ewe, he's pooping! He needs a diaper."
Lil CowboysI love this picture.
(Notice Jayci's 'brand'. Diamond H is grandpa's brand.)

The kids slept a total of 0 out of the 8 hours of driving. Seriously, not a wink! We left early hoping that they'd go back to sleep. Nope. We drove home in the afternoon hoping that they'd take their naps in the car. Nope. Surprisingly they were really good. Better than I expected. Thank you mini portable dvd player. I love you! You were worth the $100+. The kiddos got extremely hyper when we had about an hour left and started tossing popcorn to each other. We didn't notice until some flew up to the dash. They were screaming, laughing, and having a party. I guess I'll take that over tantrums and tears. Of course when we got home all they wanted to do was run around for hours while Jess and I wanted to crawl into bed. This is how parents stay humble. (and grateful for early bedtimes!)