Weekend with my Folks

My parents came into town last Thursday for a weekend visit. For some reason I expected them around dinner time, but they didn't get here until around 7:30 or so. I am always excited to see my parents and this weekend was no exception. I couldn't sit still inside, had done all the cleaning I was going to do, and couldn't even eat dinner I was so excited. So I paced around the yard waiting for them.

Friday they did a little sight-seeing around town while Matthew and I worked. We all met up for lunch at Mimi's. If I haven't mentioned it before, I really enjoy eating at Mimi's. The highlight of a meal there for me is the buttermilk spice muffin. It is delicious! I told Matthew that I daydream about that muffin. He thinks I'm weird, but it's true! It's not a daily daydream, but I think about that muffin from time to time. Friday after work, we ate dinner and then just rested at home. It was a nice and relaxing weekend.

Saturday morning we slept in a bit and had breakfast. While my mom and I went to a fabric store and did a little other shopping, my dad and Matthew worked in the garage. Matthew started a work bench with his dad over Thanksgiving. After the holidays, we bought some workout equipment that stayed in the garage until last weekend. Since it was now out of the way, Matthew had room to finish his work bench and start organizing the garage. It was a beautiful day - I believe the high was in the 70s. So it was a nice day to be outside and working in the garage. Once we got home, mom and I played with Max and then fixed lunch. We hung around the house for a couple of hours and then went to the Pikes Peak or Bust rodeo.

I always enjoy a good rodeo. It's been a couple of years since I've been to one. We had a good time! (Don't Matthew and I have the same smile? That's a little weird.) I have to say there was an interesting prayer before it started that I didn't quite understand. One minute the guy was praying about Americans supporting our military and the next he said something about everyone else shutting up. I have to say I have never heard the words "shut up" in a prayer before. I also have never heard people cheer so loud during a prayer. It was quite interesting. My favorite event was the Mutton Bustin'. It is hilarious if you've never seen it. Little kids wear helmets and try to ride sheep. They basically lay on the sheep's back and hold on for dear life. Generally, they slide around and end up falling off pretty quickly. It is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I took some pictures. This is the best one I got. Hopefully you can see the little guy riding the sheep. We also witnessed something funny during the steer wrestling. The first guy to participate in the steer wrestling got off his horse to wrestle the steer but landed in front of the steer. The steer just jumped right over him and trotted off. My dad said in 50+ years of going to the rodeo, he has never seen that happen. I'm sure the cowboy did not think that was funny, but it was one of the highlights for us. And while this was a PRCA rodeo and not a ranch rodeo, they had teams participate in a wild cow milking event. That is generally entertaining, but this time all the teams competed at the same time. Everything was happening so fast, I pretty much missed the whole event. I'm not sure why they planned it that way or if anyone else saw anything that happened.

Sunday we went to a breakfast buffet at a local hotel (one of Matthew's favorite things to do). Again, we had a lazy day at home relaxing. We spent some time at Home Depot getting some stuff for Matthew to continue his work and organization in the garage. I'll have to take a picture at some point so you can see how nice it looks. We also stopped by Smoothie King which has recently opened here. This was Matthew's favorite place when we lived in Austin. He was almost heart-broken to find there were no Smoothie King's in Colorado when we moved here. Thankfully, our good friends N and M saw it when they were here over Memorial Day. We had no idea it was here. Sunday evening, I took Max out to do his business and found two dogs in our yard. One was an older golden retriever and the other was a puppy. I probably walked around our neighborhood at least 30 minutes trying to find their home. It turns out they belong only a couple of houses down from us. That puppy scratched up my back pretty good by jumping up on me as I was walking. They were very good at following me around. The older dog would stop every few houses to rest. I felt so bad once I learned they lived so close. I was happy to have found their home though. The thanks I got for delivering them safely home..."Where's our third dog?" "Umm....I only found two of your dogs in my yard. Sorry." It turns out the third dog was still in the backyard. When I got home from that adventure, we watched "Something the Lord Made". We all really enjoyed the movie based on a true story. Those tend to be my favorite movies.

I have to say that no matter what we do, I always enjoy spending time with my parents. I think the older I get, the more true that statement is. I really appreciate the people they are, the way they raised me, how they have taught me what is important by the way they live. I like to hear about how they grew up and stories from their childhoods and adult lives. I have known it all my life, but it is still good to know they love me. And even though she probably wouldn't admit it, I think my mom likes Max. Several times during the weekend she played fetch with him and it was her idea.