We also had the Sunday rodeo challenge. Most of the rodeos are Saturday/Sunday except when Cardston or Magrath host and then the rodeos are Friday/Saturday. We have chosen to not rodeo on Sundays. So the girls only get a chance to compete and earn points at about 14/20 rodeos.
Each year Austin promises them blessings for keeping the Sabbath Day holy.
This year Jill ended the regular season in 6th place in goat tying and Hanna was 7th place in goat tying. Jill was in 14th place in breakaway going into the last rodeo. They went to Strathmore and she won the Saturday rodeo. So then she was tied for 10th place, and she wasn't going to the Sunday rodeo. Then the Sunday rodeo got cancelled because of snow - so she qualified to go to Provincials in goats and breakaway. Blessings.
We left Lucy home with Brooke Hardy's family so she could go to her divisional track meet and play at the Battle of the Bridge basketball tournament.
We loaded in our truck and left at 5:30 am to drive to Grande Prairie, Alberta. It took us 11 hours to get there from Cardston with a few gas/food stops. It is beautiful that far north. They have trees everywhere, something that we don't have on the southern Alberta prairies.
Austin's cousin, Judy Salter Burnham, lives in Grande Prairie so we stayed with her family.
Day 1
Jill breakaway 3.8 seconds 4th place
Jill goats 10.2 seconds 10th place
Hanna goats 12.4 seconds
Taylor Lewis, another cowgirl from Cardston, really wanted to go to Carl's Jr for dinner. So we went and enjoyed some tasty hamburgers and milkshakes. While we were eating, the owner of the restaurant came out and said it was an honor that we came to eat there and she wanted to take our picture and put it on her Facebook page. Our cowgirls were famous:)
Taylor Lewis, another cowgirl from Cardston, really wanted to go to Carl's Jr for dinner. So we went and enjoyed some tasty hamburgers and milkshakes. While we were eating, the owner of the restaurant came out and said it was an honor that we came to eat there and she wanted to take our picture and put it on her Facebook page. Our cowgirls were famous:)
Day 2
Jill breakaway 3.4 seconds 2nd place
Jill goats 8.5 seconds 4th place
Hanna goats 10.2 seconds
Day 3
Jill breakaway 3.1 seconds 2nd place
Jill goats 9.2 seconds 8th place
Hanna goats 8.1 seconds 2nd place
Hanna didn't do her best on the first 2 runs, but she finally figured it out on the third run. Competing at provincials is a new level of competition, and now she will be better off next year. She did end up 12th place for the year.
Jill barely made it to Provincials in Breakaway. In fact she was listed on the program as 31st out of 32nd contestants. Then she had an amazing provincial finals and won the average which put her in 4th place overall, which means she qualified for Nationals. That's a really big deal. She also ended up in 6th place for the year in goat tying, which means she qualified to for the Canadian High School Finals in breakaway and goat tying.
Day 3
Jill breakaway 3.1 seconds 2nd place
Jill goats 9.2 seconds 8th place
Hanna goats 8.1 seconds 2nd place
Hanna didn't do her best on the first 2 runs, but she finally figured it out on the third run. Competing at provincials is a new level of competition, and now she will be better off next year. She did end up 12th place for the year.
Jill barely made it to Provincials in Breakaway. In fact she was listed on the program as 31st out of 32nd contestants. Then she had an amazing provincial finals and won the average which put her in 4th place overall, which means she qualified for Nationals. That's a really big deal. She also ended up in 6th place for the year in goat tying, which means she qualified to for the Canadian High School Finals in breakaway and goat tying.
After a bit of discussion and thinking, we decided to pay the fees and sign up for Nationals and Canadians. It is a good thing we love Jill and that it is worth the experience (because it is kind of pricey). All of the parents and contestants from our division were so excited for us.
When I was standing looking at the final standings sheets, Simone Park's dad said to me, you know if you did rodeo on Sunday, which I am not saying you should - it is important that you live what you believe - but if you did rodeo on Sunday, Jill could be at the top of the list.
We have as a family decided that if they go all year without going to Sunday rodeos and then they make it to the finals, that we will rodeo on Sunday at the finals. We did go to church with Judy on Sunday and took the Sacrament and then headed to the rodeo.
When we were signing up for Nationals, we were talking to the Mitchells, who were also signing their son up. We asked if they could take our horse so we could bring a camping trailer to stay in. We called and asked Rod & Jackie Olsen if they would let us borrow their trailer. Then John Mitchell, the dad, said to me, you know you have really amazing kids - I mean really amazing. It was a true compliment that I appreciated.
We went to the banquet they had on Saturday night. They honor the grads, have a nice dinner and a guest speaker. It is amazing to see how everyone can clean up and look beautiful.
On Saturday afternoon and evening, Carly went with Judy and her family to play at the sand dunes. They had quite the adventure and got stuck a couple times.
On Sunday by the time we waited for the awards and got signed up for the next finals, it was 5 PM when we left Grande Prairie. We arrived home at 3:15 am.
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