Day 52 - Rodeo
Today, after church, Dad took everyone except Mom and Grandma to the local Rodeo in East Helena. When we got there it was raining and the wind was blowing very hard. Normally, Mississippians would turn around and leave, scared off by the weather; but we've learned to tough it out in Montana because the weather/rain doesn't last very long(according to our 52 days of experience here in Montana). Although the Rodeo looked small from the outside, the Rodeo itself was pretty big considering the fact that it had eleven events and several fun things along with it. My favorite parts were the barrel racing, bull riding, and the child sheep riding event. The sheep riding event was really cool. It consisted of 5 year olds( and younger) holding on to sheep for dear life. I've figured out that this is how cowboys secretly train the next generation of bull riders. It was very entertaining. Sheep have now officially been added to my list of animals that I want. I personally think that the Rodeo could have been more enjoyable if it had been faster paced. At least half of it was the speaker speaking about sponsors and complimenting on how great a crowd we were. I prefer the action part of the Rodeo.
Rebecca
Church was good this morning as well. We went to Hanneford Street Bible Church again. The only problem is that now that we have been there more than 2 or 3 times we are starting to be recognized. So it took longer to get out of church today. The man that sat in front of us apparently heads up the men's ministries. I just have to say that I have never seen such a list of things to do. They ranged from a weekly Bible study to an annual Antelope Hunt which I was given grave details about. I have to admit all these things sounded great. He introduced me to another man and his son. This of course produced more stories and tales of the many events that go on. They were really nice and offered to take me and the boys fishing guaranteeing we would catch fish. So I am probably going to take him up on that since no one else in town can give me good enough directions to be able to find a fishing hole where the fish are biting. Just as I was headed for the door I had another man approach me and introduce himself to me. He had lived in Atlanta like we did years ago and loves it here in Helena. When he found out we were only here for 3 months he pointed out another family in the church who had come for a 6 month stay 8 years ago. I know this will sound alarming to all of Gretchen's lady friends who are reading this but I am trying very hard not to buy into this. Besides they don't even have sweet tea here.
As Rebecca pointed out the rodea was fun. The small town of East Helena does know how to put on a show. We are used to the rodeo in Jackson which does run at a better pace and is much bigger. It's probably not our last rodeo in Mt. One of the events I wanted to tell you about was another kid event. As we were sitting in the stands they asked for all the kids 10 and under to come down to the arena if they wanted. So we blindly sent Joshua and Christina. The contest was that they had to take off their shoes and put them in the back of this small pick up truck. Then the truck would take them to the other end of the arena and scatter them all over. The contest was to see who could find their shoes and get them back on and come back to the starting position first. We initially thought they were going to do barrell racing on foot. Once the kids were off Joshua found his pretty quick and made it back. Christina was a little lost in what she was suppose to be doing. After trying to socialize on the field she finally realized she was supposed to be finding and putting her shoes back on. Eventually she made it back. Everyone got prizes and seemed to have fun.
Our day closed out with Gretchen and I getting to go on an anniversary date. After a good meal we drove to the top of Mount Helena (as far as you can drive that is) and got to sit out and enjoy the view. It is amazing how everywhere you might go in the world has its own beauty.