Saying Goodbye:(

On December 24th, I said goodbye to my beloved horse Ross. And no, he didn't die - I just gave him to a little girl that could get more use out of him and take better care of him than I can. With Ross being old, he was needing more care than Riley and I could provide at this time. He needs a barn where he can be warm an dry and we just don't have that stuff yet. Although I was beyond sad to say goodbye, I'm so glad that he is sitting in a nice warm barn making another little girl the happiest little girl in the world.

For a while there, Ross became a taboo word for my family. Anytime someone brought him up I would get extremely upset and always ended up bawling and sometimes hyperventilating. My family quickly learned to avoid the topic.

Ross and I made so many good memories together. We traveled all over together, competed together, and had fun together. I would not have been half as good at roping as I was without him. He is an athlete and a competitor and made me better because of it. I think he wanted to win as bad as I did.

I know that I'll never replace him - I'll probably spend the rest of my life looking for something half as amazing as he was. I grew up with Ross and he was a huge influence on my life and the way that I've turned out. I'm sad to see him go, but I'm so grateful for the memories that we have together. I can't wait to go see him compete at the High School Rodeos this Spring.

Here are some pictures from my High School Rodeo days with my old boy Ross!!

December

Since I'm behind on blogging (again) I decided to just update the whole month. So here are all the events from December!

We started the month by vacationing in Las Vegas. We went to the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) for 5 days. Riley was so excited that he got to meet these Rodeo Super Stars. The first one is Trevor Brazil and the second one is Tuf Cooper (for those of you who didn't know, we are big fans of both - we are even going to name our first boy Cooper).

I wanted to go to the Bellagio flower gardens. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't too impressed. But it did smell good in there! We took this picture by that card made completely out of flowers and plants.

The only picture we got of us on the Strip. We aren't really big Vegas people. We only enjoy doing the Cowboy things while we are down there. But what is a trip to Vegas without a walk down the strip. Too bad we were both in Cowboy Boots - both our feet were blistered after our "little" stroll.

The next big event was our Christmas Vacation. This picture was taken on Christmas Eve at my Parents house. My parents always throw the best Christmas Eve Party. I don't think I could ever miss it! This year we played games, ate tons of YUMMY food, (my dad's beef brisket and homemade BBQ sauce - enough said), played X-Box Connect, and had lots of fun chatting the night away. Pictured above is Zach, Riley and me, Callie and her new guy Dave, and Jake (who looks a little out of it - ha ha).

We spent Christmas day with Riley's family and had a blast! Little kids make Christmas so fun! We opened presents, went to the annual Coates family breakfast, played games (including food storage Bingo (my favorite)), and laughed our heads off. On a side note, our little Hazyn is already spoiled. She received her first doll from Grandma Julie and her first horse (stuffed) from Grandma Brenda (among several other things from the two). The best present that she got came from Papa Ron. Every year my dad goes to the Diamond Store and picks out the best jewelry for my mom, my sister, and me. We all love this tradition because it means so much. Well this year my dad included little Hazy in this tradition and got her first bracelet. It even match the neclace he got me. It may or may not have made me cry. I know she'll cherish it someday just like I cherish all the jewelry that my dad has given me through the years.

We had the best Christmas Vacation and enjoyed all the time we got to spend with our Awesome Families.

After Christmas, my awesome mom made the long voyage up to Logan to spend some time with me. Because of our location and need to visit both families when we go home, we haven't been able to spend as much time together as we would like:( But fortunately we are both teachers so Christmas Vacation was the perfect time to do that. (I've been a little homesick for my mom and I think she sensed that - so thanks Mom for coming to visit - It meant a lot). While she was up here, she was kind enough to tile my backsplash:) It looks awesome!! I can't believe how talented my mom is. I just handed her tiles while she did all the work - I bet you all wish your mom was this awesome!! She also took me shopping and bought a bunch of maternity clothes for me so that I wouldn't feel bad about myself.

I don't know what I'll do when I have to do this stuff by myself. (Actually, I know exactly what I'll do - I'll just pay someone to do it - ha ha).

And to finish off our December (and year), we attended a Team Roping for Riley. We thought it would be a little jackpot, but boy were we fooled. The Jackpot had 680 teams. We arrived at 9:00am and left at 10:00pm. And we even left before it was over. It sucks not being able to ride and rope too. But don't worry, I'll be back at it this summer. We'll just need to get one of the Grandmas to come with us to tend:)

2011 was a great year, but we can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us. We especially can't wait to meet our little Hazyn Jane!!