Spring Cleaning in July

I FINALLY got my house clean! I am now borderline on agreeing with Beau that Deuce should be an outside dog. I had to post something so I would remember how miserable this experience has been. My least favorites were the ceiling fans and the base boards. Living on a dirt road is so hard! Blah. Bring on the house guests!

Happy Birthday Beau Scott!

Beau turned 30 on July 23rd!  He is such a hard-working, caring, and amazing man and husband.  I love celebrating him!  As usual, his birthday fell on the same weekend as one of our biggest chuck wagon races:  Lockwood.  It is nice because we get to be surrounded by family and friends for his birthday.  This year I hung up a banner so EVERYONE would know that it was his birthday.  :)

A little cheesy.....I know.  

Beau wanted to race our buckboard wagon in Lockwood to practice for the National Championships in Clinton on Labor Day.  Ron Hickson, one of the ranch hands, rides with Beau.  They were AWESOME!  The races both days were very exciting, and Morningside Cattle Co. came home with another first place buckle!  

I hate that this picture is blurry, but I had to include it because it is so AWESOME!  What a SHARP turn!  Neither of our Moms liked this photo too much!  The wheels came back down though, and everyone was safe!

Great job guys!

We finished celebrating Beau's birthday with a traditional Leonard family birthday dinner.  My parents, the Clarks, and Oma all came to celebrate!  Mom made a delicious chocolate cake with a chocolate filling!  Yum!

Happy Birthday Beau! 

Monett Speedway

Morningside Cattle Co. took first place at the Monett Speedway Chuckwagon Race! It was just one of those races where everything was perfect! Smooth is fast!

Drew Brown (our outrider), Beau, and Me!

RC to the Thompson Ranchette!

Alli and RC came to the house this morning to play. It was so fun! We spent most of the time petting the horses, running with the puppies, splashing in the creek, and riding the rhino. It was so nice to have some visitors to play with during the day today! Love!

Seagrove Beach, FL

We just got back from our annual family Florida trip.  This year we stayed at a place in Seagrove Beach.  It was very nice, and we really enjoyed our time there.  Derek just started a new job, so he and his family were not able to make the trip this year.  We missed you guys! 

Being the only nephew and grandson present, RC got all kinds of attention!  He is so much fun at the beach.  The guy loves it!  He likes to play in the sand and in the water!  He is pretty much up for any beach activity!

 

Uncle Beau had to get in on helping dig a little pool for Russell.  :)  

Mimi and Poppy got him this dump truck.  He loved it!  He would run around and around in circles pushing it. He got going a little fast and RC flipped!  He stayed in this pose for like 2 minutes and laughed.  HILARIOUS!  He looked like he was doing some modeling.  

RC was NOT a huge fan of the crabs that Poppy caught.  He wanted to look, but only from a distance. 

Dad loves catching these big blue crabs.  He is the only one that is brave enough to pick them up!  Beau and I hunted for crabs too, but we went for the sand crabs at night.  They are not nearly as mean looking! 

Beau and I went out one night for our 4th wedding anniversary.  We went to a little dive called Hurricanes that was known for their oysters.  Beau LOVES oysters so we had to try it out.  His favorite flavor ended up being what they called the Mexico.  It had pico de gallo and salsa on it.  I am not a huge fan, so I stuck with my favorite Florida meal:  fish tacos. 

One of our favorite parts of going to Florida is definitely the food.  Dad loves to find "where the locals eat"!  We had some wonderful meals! 

We also cruised over to Shipwreck Island this year.  It is a big water park in Panama City.  We all had a really good time.  RC loved running around the kids area.  He was so cute!  My favorite part was riding the big tube ride with Beau, Mom, and Dad.  I laughed so hard!  So fun!

They don't look anything alike, do they?!  Ha!

The waves were really rough this year.  Dad actually had a bad spill that left his nose and shoulder without any skin.  He was NOT happy!  Beau had to get a boogie board.  The rafts were just not cutting it for riding the waves.  The flags were either red or yellow all week. 

 Overall, it was a wonderful trip!  Beau and I got to relax and spend time together and with my family.  I absolutely loved it and could go back tomorrow for another week!

 

Until next time Florida.....................

Home Grown!!

Dinner at our house consists of some home grown veggies every night now! We love having a garden!


Tonight we tried some grilled okra. We saw it on BBQU. It was delicious! AND way better for us than fried okra! :)

"What about Bob" Chuckwagon Race

We traveled to Wilburton, OK last weekend for a chuckwagon race. It was a lot of fun. Beau and I camped with the Campbells, Gary (Shannon's Dad), Ron and Rando Hickson, and Drew Brown (our outrider from St. Louis). Rando and Drew won their races, but that was it for Morningside. We still really enjoyed the weekend though because Brynn and Shannon brought the girls. We got to spend lots of quality time with both of our beautiful nieces!
Skyler.....





and Kayden!





We love these girls!

Pedi with my Mom!

My first outing of the summer! And who better to spend it with than my beautiful mother!


Love you Mom!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary today!


I love, love, LOVE this man!

BBQ with my BFFs!!!

Beau and I got to go to a cookout with my BFFs on Sunday!!!! We had so much fun! There are more photos to come, but I just had to share!


I love this crowd! Thank you Carrie and Paul for being such wonderful hosts! I loved that Carrie's parents were there for the event too. Coach D peeking in on the pic is too cute. We missed our other couple, Jamie and Mark, the world travelers. One of my favorite moments was watching Scott Woods and EK call the hogs!! :) So cute! Beau was just happy to be reunited with Jackson! I loved everything about this day!!!!!!

Beau's Big Catch

Beau loves the outdoors and any hobby that relates to being in nature.  He never really has been a big fisherman though, and I guess that this might be why.......

He is fine, but I don't think he will be picking up a pole anytime soon.  It took about an hour to get the hooks removed.  OUCH!

Oma's 90th Birthday Party

We celebrated Oma's 90th birthday this weekend. Mom and Dad planned a wonderful lunch at Fred's Hickory Inn. Mom really thought of everything (as usual!) and I know that all of her hard work was so worth it. Oma was so excited! She was really just overjoyed. I know that she was just so happy to have had everyone come to celebrate. There ended up being about 40 guests. The Leonard side of the family was there......




Which also means that Beau and
I got to spend some time with our cute nephews......




I don't think Russell was as excited about this photo opp as I was....ha!



Beau and I really loved the whole experience. It was just so awesome to see someone we love so excited and overjoyed! A few more shots from the day....




Oma looked so pretty! Here she is blowing out the candles.

Prepping for the Big Storm

Should I be concerned that even Holly got a spot for this storm?!





I had to remind Beau, my die-hard survivalist, that we were preparing for a storm and not the end of civilization!





The anticipation for this storm has been out of control. We are prepared, but I really hope that all of this hype is for nothing!

Just had to add these.......

My sister sent me a few more photos from the Penn and Rope and I just had to add them. 

My rock star cowboy sticking it to 'em.....

And my HANDSOME nephew checking out the view from the crow's nest!

Morningside Cattle Co. Annual Penn and Rope

Every year Randy and Tina host a Penn and Rope.  It is basically an event where friends and family come together to have fun and raise money for a good cause.  The past few years we have donated all of the proceeds to the Circle of Life Hospice House. 

Friends and family start arriving as early as the weekend before to start getting ready for the big weekend.  Beau and I went out to the ranch on Friday this year.  Randy has a big chilli supper for everyone who is camping that night.  We all wake up early on Saturday for the events.  I am in charge of coordinating the rodeo events.  A family friend, Karen Snow, and I get everyone signed up and then run the event.  This is a picture of us in the "crow's nest" with Tim, another great friend, who announces the events. 

Beau does a ton of jobs including: competing in the events, tending the cattle, being a host, and doing anything else that needs to be done.  This is a picture of Beau, Shannon, and Randy getting ready to change out the cattle. 

One of my favorite parts about the whole event is that it is free to enter, and that the teams are drawn out of a hat.  It makes it a lot more interesting!  People always ask me if I pick out a few of the teams and the answer is NO!  They are all randomly drawn out of a hat.....with that being said, Brynn and Shannon drew out on the same team.  This is the second year in a row that these crazy love birds have gotten to compete together. 

Beau drew out on a team with his good friend Chad.   

They ended up winning the whole Penn and Rope!  We were able to announce the winners right away this year, so they decided a victory lap was necessary. 

Beau and Chad were on a team with Tina's brother Jimmy.  Congratulations 2011 Penn and Rope Champions!

Another one of my favorite things about the Penn and Rope is that both sides of our families try to come out and enjoy the day.  Beau's Mom and my parents have all come out the past few years.  They all have a really great time! 

My Mom and Dad say every year that, "Next year we are staying the night and watching the entire show!"  Morningside has a band every year, and Mom and Dad just love live music!  Here is a picture of Mom and Dad talking to our horses. 

This year we also had a very special first time guest!  The Clarks came out with RC!  He had a great time checking out the horses and learning how to climb fences.  He even sat on Uncle Beau's horse.  It was too cute!  All in all, it turned out to be a really great weekend!  We look forward to it again next year!

Favorite People Day!

Yesterday was one of those days when I got to see SO many of my favorite people!  It just made me so stinking happy! 

It started with lunch with Mom, Alli, and RC in my library!

Then, I got to have dinner with 3 of my BFF's (we missed you Mere!) at Table Mesa on the square in Bentonville. 



Julia and Jamie



Carrie and Me

And finally, I got to go home to my wonderful husband and my ole pup!  I LOVED it!