Reno, Santa Fe, Pecos, Sonora, and Greeley

We've traveled thousands of miles and haven't quite hit our lucky streak yet.  But we are hauling on with our heads up high! 

On June 19^th, I dropped Ace off at the airport in Denver for his 6:25am flight to Reno, Nevada.   Once arriving in Reno, he would get his rental car, check-in to his hotel, and get prepared for the Reno Rodeo performance that night.  I stayed behind in Brighton, Colorado with our rig, Mexico, and Porkchop.  Since I would have two full days to myself, I figured I should be somewhat productive with my time.  I dropped Ace’s rodeo attire off at the dry cleaners to be washed and freshly starched and then did a little grocery shopping.  I have to admit, I knew the day that I had to stay behind was coming, but didn’t realize it would happen so soon in our summer run.  Ace has been more than courteous when it comes to us traveling together, because he knows this is still such a new lifestyle for me – and being around the horses is just as fresh.  I can't lie, I was a little nervous to tending the horses myself, but they had a big pen to themselves and I had water and electricity available for my use.  It’s not always that smooth, but I’m very thankful I had those amenities for my first night alone on the road!

Since Ace flew to Reno, he would ride another horse for his runs out there.   As I wasn't there, I anxiously listened to his run online. Ace rode Cody Quaney’s horse, Spook, and made the fastest run of the performance that evening, 9.6 seconds.  Unfortunately, after the first round ended his run didn’t place in the round.  However, since he placed top three in the performance he came home with a little day money.  Day money is prize money given to the winners in the performance.

Click HERE to watch Ace’s first run at Reno

The next morning, Ace and Spook would match their second calf.  The calf came out of the chute and ducked left towards the fence and didn’t give Ace a chance to rope her, as the judge standing outside the barrier would come between them.  As much as rodeo is a drawing contest, it seems a little unfair to me that there are no options for a judge to offer a re-run option to cowboys that this happens to.  

Click HERE to watch Ace’s second run at Reno

I got in a little workout on Saturday morning before going to finish the rest of our laundry.  I had a little time to burn before I could pick up Ace’s clothes from the dry cleaners, so I went to Kohl’s and did a little shopping.  Ace’s plane was supposed to land around 10pm at the Denver airport, but his flight got delayed numerous times.  I watched a food documentary on Netflix:  Food, Inc.  After this documentary was over, I checked the flight tracker app and saw that Ace’s flight was delayed once again and was to land around 1:15am.  I started another documentary and set an alarm for 12:30am and quickly dozed off.  I woke up at 12:45am and hustled to the airport and drove up to arrivals just as Ace was getting off the plane.

On Sunday, we caught up on sleep and didn’t have any alarms set.  A knock on our trailer door awoke us to JoJo LeMond.  He came to pick up Porkchop to try him out at a few rodeos.  Ace and I had a fairly relaxing morning and a late breakfast at The Egg and I.  When we got back to the arena, we went for a jog/walk around the Adams County Regional Park and headed back to the trailer so Ace could watch the US Open. 

The arena was right next to a golf course and Ace wanted to get in a quick game on Monday morning before we took off to our next destination.   We called the course and unfortunately they didn’t have any tee times available until later in the morning, so we decided to get breakfast and get on the road.   We had breakfast at the Delectable Egg and headed back to the arena to load up.  While getting everything together, Ace had the idea to clean out the 35 gallon water tank that is mounted to the top of our trailer.   The tank has been full of gunk for quite sometime and we figured it was time to clean it.  A little dish-soap, hydrogen peroxide, a toilet brush, and some elbow grease later – we have a very clean water tank!  

We headed towards Greeley, CO where Ace had set-up to rope some calves and try a horse at Ricky Lambert’s place.  After roping, we played a game of baseball in the arena with Ricky’s son, Boedy.  Boedy is one of the wisest seven year olds we have ever met!  We stayed the night at Ricky’s and left for Santa Fe, NM on Tuesday morning.  On our drive, we listened to Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” on audible.  Cody got to Santa Fe before we did, so he snagged a stall for us.

On Wednesday the 24^th, we woke up and got ready for the slack.  Santa Fe was hot and dusty – just as you’d imagine New Mexico to be.  We didn't have any luck on the first run in Santa Fe.  I cooked lunch for the guys – chicken pasta – and we all re-grouped.  Ace and I went to play golf with Byron Wilkerson and had a fun afternoon, while Cody went to a local gym to get in a workout.

I loved being able to see the mountains on the horizon.

So many of these little guys were on the golf course... This one even posed for a picture!

I just loved this site!  A blooming rose bush positioned right by a cactus plant.  

Ace and Byron had a good match!

Thursday morning’s slack was a repeat of Wednesday morning, so we loaded up and headed to Pecos, TX.  We made it to Pecos at about 6pm and went to the hospitality for dinner.  Right as the performance started, we were plundered with rain and hail.  This would make for a very muddy slack on Friday morning. 

On Friday morning, Ace rode a horse that Frank Holliday sent for him to try.  Ace had no luck on both calves, so we really couldn’t gauge how he and the horse got along.  Cody made a good run and made it back to the performance that night.  During the day, Cody took the truck to a local park to workout.  I went for a run around the arena before Ace and I went to lunch.  We all finished listening to “Gone Girl” and started watching the "Gone Girl" dvd before the perf that evening. 

Saturday morning would take us to Sonora, TX.  When we arrived, we turned the horses out on a baseball field while we threw the football around. 

Sonora had gotten a little bit of rain, which made for pretty muddy arena conditions.  Ace and Cody both rode Frank’s horse and Ace placed fifth overall.

Click HERE to watch Ace’s run at Sonora

After the rodeo, Ace was debating on horses and trying to rope some to help him make a decision.  This led us back home to Cuero, TX and we arrived around 3am.  On Sunday morning, Ace’s mom and sister brought us breakfast and a baby – boy was Stratton excited to see Uncle Ace and to meet a new face – Cody!

I cleaned up the trailer and started our laundry, while the guys started roping.  I filmed a few runs and ran into town to get a few more cases of water for our trailer.  I heated up our leftover Paleo Porkchops and broccoli (click HERE for the recipe) that I made in Sonora and Ace’s mom, Lonna, put some stuffed bell peppers in the oven.  We had a late lunch/early dinner and made a horse decision before loading up.  Ace and Mexico have been getting along good the past few runs, so we loaded Mexico, Spook (Cody’s horse), and Sleepy – Alan Thibodeaux’s horse that Ace split the Jackpot in Buffalo, TX on.  Ace drove from Cuero to Luling, I took over for the next few hours, and Cody got us to Amarillo around 4am.

We slept until about 10am on Monday and started towards Greeley, CO.  We made it to Greeley about 30 minutes before the perf started.  Ace and Mexico had a good start on a quick calf.  Once he flanked her, she kicked a bit but he got her tied in one of the fastest times of the perf.    

Click HERE to watch Ace's run at Greeley

Our schedule for the remainder of our Fourth of July Run:

6/30 – Cody flew to St. Paul, OR to rope on 7/1; Ace and I headed towards Caspar, Wyoming

7/1 – Pick up Cody from the airport in Billings, MT and head to Cody, WY

7/2 – Cody, WY am slack; West Jordan, UT perf at 7:30pm; Oakley City, UT slack after perf at 8pm

7/3 – Prescott, AZ

7/4 - Day off

                                  We hope everyone has a fun-filled and safe Fourth of July!!

Here We Go Again...

Yep, it's that time again.  Time to pack our bags, load the trailer, grab the horses and make a run for it.  Time to not look back until late September.  Time to look forward, hit the white lines on the road hard, keep each other motivated and grow closer together - because you never really know someone until you've spent several months with them in a 13-ft confined living-quarter horse trailer.

Last Sunday, Ace and I started cleaning and loading down the living quarters of the trailer pretty early in the morning.   After hours of cleaning, we went to his sister’s (Kailey Leske) house.  She had told us to pack as much as we could in the morning, because we needed to block off Sunday afternoon to hang out at their house before we were absent for the entire summer.  We were told to wear something “cute casual” but we were clueless as to what the plans for the afternoon were, so Ace and I thought we were taking family pictures again.

As we drove up to Kailey’s house, we noticed a bunch of vehicles and knew that she had something up her sleeve.  We arrived to find that our family and friends had gathered together to throw us a surprise send-off for our summer travels!  They had gifted us with gift cards for our travels and an awesome digital camera to help document our summer.  It was the perfect Sunday afternoon surprise and we will be forever thankful for the gratitude of the individuals we are blessed to call our family and friends! 

I think our faces can show that we were extremely surprised!! 

Em made us the perfect card!!

How cute are these cowboy cookies!? 

We are so grateful for each and every one of you!! 

Monday morning, we continued packing the trailer and finally finished shortly after noon.  After loading everything we needed for our travels, we loaded everything we needed for the horses.  We finally hit the road about 5pm on Monday and we stopped at Buc-ee’s one last time before leaving Texas (Ace is obsessed with their sliced sausage sandwhiches!). 

Ace had some ropes shipped to Bloomer Trailers and we wouldn’t make it to Salado before they closed for the day, so they placed his box outside for us to pick up along the way.  When we opened the box, we found some Bloomer hats to sport this summer, along with an awesome card of encouragement!  Thank you, Bloomer Trailers!!

We made a pit-stop at Slovacek’s in West, TX and got some kolaches and other snacks for our drive.  Our first destination is North Platte, NE and we figured we should make the trip in two days.

We stayed in Denton on Monday night and would travel the rest of the way to North Platte, NE on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning, we woke up pretty early and had breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  Ace wanted to use the selfie-stick that was given to us by Kahlei Matejek, and the checker board outside of Cracker Barrel was his scene of choice!

We utilized our first gift card from our send-off party….Thanks Cliff and Brynn Foulds!!  We picked up Cody Quaney from his house in Cheney, KS and had a quick lunch along the way.  Of course we had to take a selfie with the selfie stick, since we were reunited again!  

We made camp in Gothenburg, NE and got the horses put up just before getting hit by a little thunderstorm. 

Wednesday morning, we woke up and drove about 40 miles to North Platte, NE for the slack.

 Ace warmed up Mexico, while I exercised Pork Chop.  We both headed up towards the arena and I found a spot in the stands to video from.  Ace and Mexico were in the box and Ace nodded, but the gate malfunctioned and the calf didn’t come out of the chute.  Ace ran another calf at the end of the slack, but Mexico didn’t stop correctly and walked up a few steps after Ace got off.  This made Ace have to run farther to flank the calf and also left too much slack in the rope and it resulted in a longer run.

Click HERE to watch Ace’s first run

Ace and I drove into town and had a quick lunch before heading to an afternoon backyard roping jackpot.  We were pretty exhausted after getting back to the fairgrounds, so we decided to make camp and call it an early night.     

We got a little more rain on Wednesday night and woke up to pretty muddy conditions for Thursday morning’s slack.  

Mexico scored good, but didn’t work as well in the field and it made for a sloppy, muddy run.

Click HERE to watch Ace’s second run

After the slack, Cody jumped into Will Howell’s rig and Ace and I took off in our rig towards Cheyenne, WY.  We stopped about an hour outside of North Platte, NE to get a quick lunch.  I drove the remainder of the way to Cheyenne, and I think Ace is finally  getting comfortable with me driving the rig because he kept dozing off in the passenger seat!  At lunch, Ace decided that he was going to fly from Denver, CO to Reno, NV for the Reno Rodeo – instead of driving the whole way.   We met up with Will’s rig in Cheyenne and Ace left his rope can and boots in Will’s rig so that he wouldn’t have to fly with them.   We drove towards Colorado and Ace got me set up at a little arena just outside of Denver.  The horses have a huge pen to themselves and I have water and electricity.  I guess this is about as easy as it can get for my first time being alone with the horses on the road! 

This morning, we woke up at about 4:30am and headed towards the Denver airport.   I dropped Ace off for his flight to Reno, NV.  Ace’s first run at the Reno Rodeo is tonight at 7pm (PT).  Since I am states away, I will be listening to the live stream of the rodeo on our iPad and cheering him on from Colorado.

http://prorodeolive.com

Here's to a summer of fun, sun, and fast runs!

Houston, Austin, Goliad, Beaumont, and the Spring Classic InvitationalRoping

I'm a little late on posting Ace's last few runs..... Here's what we've been up to the past few weeks!

After Ace's SuperSeries set at Houston, we had a few days to unwind before wedding festivities for our friends began!  On March 14th, our friends, Lexy and Brady, tied the knot!  We had so much fun being able to be a part of your special day! #weddingboehls

On March 18th, Ace and I headed to Houston with his mom (Lonna) and neighbor (Karl).  We allowed extra travel time and made it to Houston pretty early.  Since we arrived super early, Karl went into the horse barn, while Lonna and I walked around the trade show.  Some kind of way we ended up in the wine garden.....

Ace stayed behind at the trailer and started getting his horse and ropes ready for the semifinal round.

Ace was interviewed by the Houston Chronicle as we were walking into the contestant hospitality.

Click HERE to view Cowboy Diaries:  Ace Slone

Suzanne Thibodeaux and her son, Alan, joined us for the round.  I told Suzanne that she HAD to be there because she is Ace's good luck charm!  Alan's niece and nephew made the cutest sign to cheer Ace on!  "Howdy, do your best!"

Mexico and Ace ran a little further down the arena and Ace's run was 11.1 seconds.  We were all watching the remainder of the round with so much anticipation and maybe a little anxiety (on my part).  Ace placed fourth in the round and qualified for the Rodeo Houston Finals.  We were all so thrilled that he made it back!!

Click HERE to watch Ace's semifinal run

On March 19th, Ace went to Austin with Karl and his grandson, Jace, for his first run at Rodeo Austin.  I think Jace had a blast being able to hang out with Ace before the rodeo!

Ace placed second in the first round and would run his second calf a few days later.

Click HERE to watch Ace's first run at Rodeo Austin

On March 20th, I went to Canyon Lake for a wedding rehearsal for my friends, Gina and Grant.  We all met years ago while working at the Gristmill in Gruene.  On Saturday, I was so excited to be a part of the Lloyd wedding but also torn because I wanted to be in Houston cheering on Ace.  Ace ran his final calf at Houston as we were taking bridal party pictures.

When we finished I rushed to my phone to check updates and was devastated for him.  He mounted on a horse from a buddy and ran the calf through the loop and it caught her back leg.  After having several good runs in a row, it hurt me to watch him not place good in the finals.  But, that is the way rodeo life is...  You just have to get back in the saddle and focus on the next run and keep your head as high as you can.

Click HERE to watch Ace's final run at Rodeo Houston

After the wedding, I went back to New Braunfels and got to join in on my sister, Kristy's, surprise 30th birthday party festivities!

Amanda (sister #3), Kristy (sister #4), and I (sister #5) had a great time visiting that evening!   When Ace and I started dating, I'm sure he was a little intimidated by the size of my family.  I am the baby of five girls and have many nieces and nephews.  We joked that I would have to make him flash cards to remember everyone!  It become somewhat of a habit to say "sister #1, #2, #3, or #4" when I was describing my siblings or their families! 

On Sunday afternoon, Ace was entered in the Goliad rodeo.  I left New Braunfels pretty early in the morning to make it back in time to go with Ace.  It was really muddy, so Ace decided to ride Alan Thibodeaux's horse, Sleepy, instead of Mexico.  As you can imagine, Sleepy earned his name by not being so much of a firecracker, but by being somewhat lackadaisical at times.  Since the arena was so muddy and yucky, I'm pretty thankful Ace didn't tie one down and get all muddy!  (Whew- don't let him hear me say that ever again!)

Click HERE to watch Ace's run in Goliad

My sister, Amanda, and her family (husband - Justin and daughter - Camdyn) were able to make it for Ace's second run at Rodeo Austin.  Amanda was the videographer of the evening, but unfortunately her phone died right as the rodeo was starting, so I don't have film of this run.

The top two guys from the round advanced and Ace finished third in the round by one tenth of a second.  You can only imagine that he was a little disappointed.  However, he missed his slack and still managed to have a time of 8.8 seconds!  I'd say that is still something to be proud of - I am, at least!

Ace had a few days in between rodeos and the weather was perfect, so he decided to take a fishing trip to Rockport.  We, along with 12 other family members and friends, are participating in a healthy lifestyle diet,  the Whole30 http://whole30.com/.  Each couple cooks for the entire group one night of the week (excluding weekends) and we all pick-up our meals each evening after work.  Ace was determined to catch enough fish for our whole group and told me I wasn't allowed to buy food to prepare for anyone.  I trusted him and he pulled through and had an awesome day of fishing!  I knew he would get home late, so I set out all the materials he would need to prepare the fish packets.  Everyone loved his meal!

This past weekend, Ace and I traveled to Beaumont.  Our drive consisted of Pandora Karaoke and him falling in love with Kacey Musgraves and her new song, "Biscuits."  We had to listen to it on repeat and he bought it on iTunes, so I'm sure he knows every word by now!

Ace figure-eighted the calf's tail with his rope, which made his run a little longer.  He placed in the performance, but not in the round.  However, since he placed in the performance, he won a little bit of day money.

Click HERE to watch Ace's run in Beaumont

 On Saturday night, we drove to Buffalo.  Ace was in a roping jackpot on Sunday, the Spring Classic Invitational Roping.  We arrived in Buffalo about 2am and got the horses situated.  I was very hesitant to join Ace for the weekend, because I had to prepare a meal for our dinner group on Monday.  I took it as a personal challenge to prepare a healthy meal for a large group out of our living quarters in the horse trailer.  Luckily, the jackpot had just enough guys to allow me to grocery shop and prep in-between Ace's runs.  I was able to visit with Shea Fisher (Tyson Durfey's wife) and she kept me updated while I was in the trailer prepping meals for our Whole30 dinner group.

Ace rode Mexico on his first run and wasn't too thrilled with the way he performed.  Since we had Sleepy with us, I suggested that Ace just saddle him up and try him on the next run.  I'm sure Ace had already thought of that, but I couldn't keep my mouth shut.  Ace rode Sleepy for the next three runs and qualified for the short-go.  We were both pleased with Sleepy's performances!

Ace split the jackpot with Justin Maass and had to have a rope-off to see who won the saddle.  Ace broke the barrier on his second run and was too long on his first one, but I think he could find a new saddle somewhere if he searched hard enough! http://www.slonesaddles.com/

Click HERE to watch Ace's runs from the Spring Classic Invitational Roping

On Good Friday, I prepared a fish lunch with more of Ace's catch from Rockport.  We ran some fresh steers down the arena and the guys roped in the afternoon.  On Saturday, I cleaned the trailer and packed for Ace while he had a practice roping session.  After Easter Sunday service, Ace headed to Oklahoma to try a horse.  Afterwards, he met up with Cody Quaney and they are headed out West to California for the next few weeks.

Here is a list of a few of their upcoming rodeos:

4/8/15 - Logandale, NV
4/10/15-4/11/15 - Oakdale, CA
4/15/15-4/16/15 - Red Bluff, CA

Good luck and safe travels, cowboys!

Rodeo Houston: Super Series III

Ace and I ventured towards Houston on Sunday and made most of the trip in a pretty steady downpour.  We came up a day early so that Ace could watch calf roping and get a feel for the start, so that he and Mexico would be prepared for their first run on Monday night.  We got to the arena around 3:25pm and the afternoon performance started at 3:45pm.  Ace wanted to saddle Mexico and take him into the arena and get him familiar with the bright lights and all the noises that a stadium that large could resonate.  Since it was still raining, Ace made me hop on-top of Mexico to keep the saddle as free from water as possible.  I stayed in the hospitality while Ace went down to the roping boxes to watch calf roping.

Afterwards, we headed to the contestant campsite.  We are extremely thankful for the amenities that Rodeo Houston provides for contestants.  We arrived to a tent that housed stalls for the horses and a full hook-up, including a water spout and electrical outlet, for our use. There was even a contestant hospitality tent at the campsite!

Once we got Mexico and the trailer situated, we decided it was time for dinner.  One of Ace's all-time favorite places to eat is Papasito's.  Lucky for him, there was one right down the road from us!  A few team ropers hopped in the truck with us and we headed to dinner.

On Monday morning,  Ace went to tie the calves and I stayed behind at the trailer and caught up on a few work items.  Ace attended a contestant meeting and then we went to lunch at Papa's BBQ.  While eating, I was looking around at all the decor and couldn't help but notice a Calgary Stampede poster.

Doesn't this resemble Ace's dad, Tod Slone?!

After lunch, we hooked up to the trailer and headed to the arena for round 1.  The calves in the set were pretty wild and not many were willing to take a tie.  

Luckily, Ace drew a pretty decent calf and he and Mexico made a great run!  He placed third in the round and got his name on the leaderboard!  A family friend, Suzanne Thibodeaux, was able to join us for the round and took Ace and I to dinner at Pappadeaux's after the rodeo.  Thank you again!!

Click HERE to watch Ace's Round 1 run

After he roped, Ace headed over to the Fan Zone in section 109 to sign autographs.

He was able to catch up with Michael Stansbury, a calf roper that Ace coaches virtually on his website, http://coachmycalfroping.com/

One of my best friends, Rasha, and her boyfriend Max were able to come out for round 1.  I always love getting to see them!

On Tuesday morning, we had breakfast with Ace's family and got to spend the afternoon with a dear friend and her sweet newborn baby, Grace.  We had a quick lunch at Papasito's (if Ace could eat there everyday - he'd be in Heaven!) and went back to the contestant campgrounds to load up.  We headed over to the stadium and got ready for the rodeo.  This time, Ace decided that a poncho was a good idea for himself and even had one to put on the saddle!

The announcers made a comment during Round 1 that Ace used to wear some flashy shirts, and I think they were expecting him to keep up the tradition.   On Tuesday, he wore a bright green shirt and it caught their attention so much, they said he looked like a Leprechaun!

At the start, Mexico popped up a little and Ace had to take the calf a little further down the arena.  His run wasn't quick enough to win any money in the round, but he tied one down and got a time which will go on and help him in the average.

Click HERE to watch Ace's Round 2 run

After Ace roped, we headed back to section 109 where he was signing autographs again.  We caught up with many family members and friends that happened to be at the rodeo that night.

Afterwards, we went down to hospitality for dinner while waiting for the Tim McGraw concert to start.  We love when family and friends come out and are able to visit.  Longtime family friend, Whitney (Dr. Boyce), was able to join us on Tuesday night.

We enjoyed watching Tim McGraw from the buckin' chutes and as he was circulating the stadium shaking hands, we decided it would be a good idea for us to jump down and try to get in on the action.  Whitney hopped down first, and I followed behind.  One boot landed on the dirt, and the other in a hole.  I guess Tim McGraw made me weak in the knees or something, because I hit them on my jump down!

Ace and I decided to leave a little before the concert was over to miss the crazy Houston traffic.

On Wednesday morning, Ace's dad (Tod) came to get us from the trailer and we decided to run to SAMs to see if they had a cookie cake to surprise Ace's sister, Kailey, for her birthday.  Thankfully, they had one and we headed to pick up Kailey, Lonna, and Stratton.  Kailey decided on a local Houston eatery, Punk's, for her birthday lunch.  As we walked in the door, she was completely surprised to see her husband, Martin, awaiting us inside!  Such a great surprise and great restaurant - Happy Birthday, Kailey!!  After lunch, they dropped us off at the trailer and we took a quick nap before loading up and heading to the arena for round 3.

Ace needed to place towards the top of the round in order to advance to the semifinals.  He was second out and we checked the draw and saw that he had a pretty good calf.  Ace and Mexico had a great run and were on top of the round.  Mrs. Thibodeaux was able to join us again and all of our hearts were racing that Ace stay on the leaderboard for the round.  A few ropers later, he fell to second in the round but was able to maintain the second place position for the round.

Click HERE to watch Ace's Round 3 run

This allowed him to make it back for the semifinal round on March 18th.  We are so proud of you!!

Here is Ace with his nephew and biggest fan, Stratton!  

San Antonio Short Go, Tucson Short Go, Tilden, and Bay City

After his first set at San Antonio, Ace and Cody Quaney headed to Tucson, AZ.  He had his first calf down quick, but she strained and wouldn't take the tie.  He had a good second run, but was one of out the money for the round.  Ace was consistent enough on two head to make it back for the short round, which fell on the Sunday after the short round at San Antonio.  Ace's videographer wasn't there to film, so unfortunately I can't post those two runs....

For all non-rodeo affiliated readers, the short round (or short go) is the championship round.  I think I am finally catching onto all the rodeo terminology and it's becoming somewhat second nature in my vocabulary!
 
Ace got home from Tucson just in time to turn around and head back up to San Antonio for the semifinals.  I would like to extend a HUGE thank you to Bart Hutton for allowing me to sit in his amazing seats - right behind the roping boxes.  Also, a HUGE thank you to Mike and Kim Paxson for inviting me to sit with y'all to watch.  Bart, the seats are way better than the companion seats up in the nosebleed section!

On his first run, Ace had the calf down to be real quick, but she sucked her legs from under him and it resulted in a little longer run than we anticipated.

Click HERE to watch Ace's first semifinal run at San Antonio

After the round, Ace got Mexico situated for the night while I met up with Kahlei and Gabe, some friends from Cuero.  We all went back down to sit with the Paxson's to watch Jeff Foxworthy's show after the rodeo.  It's not very often that we stay for the performer, but we are so glad we did.  He had us in continuous laughter!

Throughout the night, Kahlei was very stern in asking me when we will be getting back from the summer rodeo trip, as her and Gabe are getting married in mid September.  I assured her that we wouldn't miss their big day for the world - even if we have to fly home to be there!

That night, Gabe asked Ace to be a part of their wedding and he was thrilled!  We all decided to go downtown and eat at Mi Tierra once again.  Of course we had to have breakfast for our late night dinner!

The next morning, Ace and I headed to Lake Placid to spend the morning and afternoon visiting with his family.  Lonna, Kailey, and I did a little afternoon shopping while Ace and Stratton stayed behind and took a nap.  When Stratton awoke, he was sure ready to watch Uncle Bubba rope!

Ace and I headed back to the arena and got ready for the rodeo.  He placed in the round, but unfortunately was one out of the money to advance to the finals.

Click HERE to watch Ace's second semifinal run at San Antonio

Ace decided to head back to the trailer and get some rest, as he had to make the trek back to Tucson on Saturday.  I stayed out for a bit and visited with Kahlei and Sarah Beth - friends from Cuero.

The next morning, Ace and Monty Lewis headed back up to Tucson for the short round, while I headed to Fredericksburg to join in on wedding shower festivities for a girlfriend from college, Gina. I had so much fun catching up with girls I haven't seen in forever and making memories with friends - old and new!    

In Tucson, Ace's calf ran him down the arena and he had her tied down.  However, before the 6-second tie inspection expired, she got up and it resulted in a no time.

In the past few days Ace went to a CPRA rodeo in Tilden, TX and a PRCA rodeo in Bay City, TX and earned second place paychecks at both rodeos.  While Ace went to Tilden, I went to New Braunfels and spent time with one of my sisters and her two sweet boys!  We took Jaxen to see a monster truck smash cars at a local dealership....he had so much fun!

Ace and longtime rodeo friend, Judson Nowotny, were both up at Tilden during the same performance on Friday night.  They joked that if they won first and second that they would get a suite at an upcoming Spurs game.  Well boys, turns out that your joke became reality..... now when are we going to watch the Spurs?!

Click HERE to watch Ace's run at Tilden

Ace, Tod, Michael Zuber, and Randy Perry had a good roping session yesterday before we headed to Bay City.  I called Ace on my way out to the arena and asked him if he could saddle a horse for me.  Shortly after I arrived, his sister, Kailey, pulled up to the arena.  Ace told me she had a surprise for me - it was my very first Slone Saddle!  I am so excited to break it in and show it off! Thank you, Slone Saddles!!

 Ace and Mexico had a good run and got a second place paycheck in Bay City.

Click HERE to watch Ace's run at Bay City

Ace got done roping fairly early last night and we were able to make it home at a pretty decent hour.  This morning we loaded up the trailer and are headed to Houston for Ace's set on March 9-11.  We look forward to being consistent and keeping the momentum up!

Let's Rodeo San Antonio!!

The San Antonio rodeo is practically a hometown rodeo for Ace and I know he was so glad to have the opportunity to rope in the ATT Center again and have family and friends come support! 

On Friday morning Ace woke up and went into San Antonio to tie the calves for the rodeo that evening.  I stayed home and packed the trailer for our weekend in San Antonio.  Lucky for him, I even packed enough clothes for all week - since he has a loaded schedule of roping! 

He came back to Cuero and we headed back to San Antonio about 3 pm.  We planned our trip just right and thankfully missed all the big city traffic.

We had lots of family and friends join us for round 1!  

The round was pretty quick, but Ace had a good, clean 9.8 second run.  After the performance, we visited with some friends at the hospitality room and enjoyed some of the amenities at the rodeo grounds.

(Kahlei Matejek - one of Ace's hometown friends and Me after round 1)

(So glad my best friend since childhood, Hannah Kocian, could make it out to finally watch Ace rope!)

Saturday morning, Ace and I ventured to downtown San Antonio for breakfast.  Mi Tierra was our restuarant of choice, and it was the perfect start to a great day. 

Ace and Mexico got ready for the afternoon perf and we all headed up to the arena.  Ace placed second in the round with a time of 9.0 seconds. Afterwards, we met up with family and friends and decided to go downtown for lunch.  Of course, Mi Tierra was our destination of choice! 

While we went to lunch, Ace's mom and sister stayed in the trailer so that Stratton, Ace's nephew, could take a nap.  After his nap, he was ready to ride like Uncle Bubba! 

It must be in their genes or something!! 

We all headed back up to the arena for our cowboy to run his third calf.  This set was fast and I was so anxious while waiting for Ace and Mexico to ride into the box.  He had a great run and placed second in round 3 with a time of 7.4 seconds!  His consistency allowed him to tie for second in his set of ropers and allowed him to advance to the semifinal round on this upcoming Thursday and Friday.

Click HERE to watch Ace's runs at the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo

After Ace's run, I headed home with his family while he and Cody Quaney hit the road for Tucson, AZ where they rope Monday morning.  Ace will be back in San Antonio on Thursday and Friday to rope in the semifinals and my fingers are crossed he'll get a run in the finals on Saturday! 

Rope 'em fast, tie 'em faster!!