Bull-o-rama!

Last weekend, Dad and I took Andrew to the bull riding competition in Oneonta.  The doors opened at 6:30, but the show didn't start until 8 pm.  We got there around 7 to get some food and get in our seats.  We finished eating with about 30 minutes to spare and someone got sleepy.  With 15 minutes to start time, I look over and saw this:

 He got a good 10 minute power nap before the action started.  The opening ceremony was one that would make any "good 'ole boy (or girl) proud!"  It was very patriotic.  There was even a nice salute to our military.  

 That's supposed to be "USA" burning in the middle of the arena, but the top of the "s" didn't light.  Funny story: The announcer was getting all patriotic about America and our freedoms, one of which is the freedom to pray.  So he proceeded to pray and immediately following the "amen", you heard Toby Keith's voice over the PA "Cause we'll stick a boot in your A**, it's the American way."

 There were a little over 20 riders that took on the bulls.  Only 4 of them qualified, meaning only 4 of them managed to stay on these beasts for more than 8 seconds!  Here are some of the painful moments of the night! (I apologize for the quality)

 Ouch!

 It's hard to see the cowboy in this one....he's flying off the left side of the picture.

 Very OUCH!

 I think this guy ended up with a concussion.  The bull trampled his head!

 I just liked his chaps.  They were very colorful.

 Good save by the bull-fighter.  (That's what they call the crazies who protect the riders)

 Yee Haw!  Ride 'em cowboy!

 So far, so good.

 Ouch #1

 Ouch #2

 Ouch #3

 He was the only one that we saw bleed.

 I just like how the bull jumped straight up in the air in this one.

Watching bull riding is so much fun.  I think those guys are out of their minds, but still it makes for good entertainment.  

Post #400!

It was after school on a Wednesday (when I was teaching at HBA-2005).  No one likes professional development meetings after school, but we suffer through them.  I remember our computer teacher was leading that particular meeting.  His topic: BLOGS.  He explained how blogs were "the new thing" and we should all create a blog for our class.  We could post homework assignments and other upcoming class events, etc..  I remember thinking to myself, "This is pointless and I will NEVER use a BLOG!  Well, about 2 years later, The Ladner's Latest emerged.  My very first post, left much to be desired.  It was basically a "hey, I've got a blog!  and here, today, we're celebrating 400 posts!  


Now, I know that I'm no writer and many of you could care less what I have to say.  You just want to see cute pictures of Andrew. :)  But I'm glad I have you readers (even the ones who never comment!).  It's nice to know that at least someone reads the blog.  


Over the past 3 years, we've seen and done lots of things.  I'd like to dedicate this post to the past 3 years and take this time to remember some of our favorite moments.  Some are happy, some are sad.  Some are birthdays, and some are good byes.  


The first happy blog post just so happened to be post #2....Drew's Homecoming!


Another momentous occasion, Andrew's first haircut!


And who could forget the three of us dressed as the DOODLEBOPS?


Or Andrew's 2nd Birthday Party?


A rather sad post....Drew's 2nd Deployment.


To help pass the time, my friend Kellye came to visit, so the whole month of July was FUN!  Just check out July 2009 in the archive.


Another happy day...Drew's 2nd Homecoming.


After that deployment, we took a fun family vacation to Disneyland.


There are so many more fun things that we as a family have been blessed to be a part of.  Take some time (if you have it) and browse through the archives and tell me about your favorite post.  


Thanks again for caring enough about our lives to actually read our blog. :)

Back to Gatlinburg

At Christmas breakfast, the family asked us about our recent trip to Gatlinburg.  They got to talking about how we should go again sometime and take the whole family.  (We've done that a couple of times with Dad's family and we always have a great time.)  Well, we kept talking about it and the other aunts and uncles were getting excited about it, so we planned another trip to Gatlinburg for Jan 14-17.  


Unfortunately, Annah, Jefforey, Uncle Bruce, and Aunt Dee were unable to attend.  There were 13 of us that did make it.  So Friday morning we loaded up and drove to the mountains.  It was a unique drive because for the whole 4 1/2 hours on the road, there was SNOW!  For us southerners, it's very unusual to drive that far with snow on the ground!  (However, Albertvillians....I think we had more snow than they did in Gatlinburg!)We made it to the cabin first, shortly followed by Chris and his gang.  We spent the afternoon hanging at the cabin, waiting on the rest of the gang to get there.  Instead of me taking a TON of pictures of the cabin, I thought I'd just send you to the link.  Go HERE to check out the Starr Quest Lodge.   It was a very nice cabin with an excellent view!  

Sunset view from front porch.

They boys were more than happy to have the game room downstairs.  There were tons of foosball, pool, and air hockey games going on!  Even the big kids enjoyed playing!  The Barclift boys also enjoyed the hot tub.  Sam's favorite was doing cannon balls! 

 That night, when everyone had arrived, we went to Mama's Farmhouse to enjoy some delicious grub.  If you ever go to Pigeon Forge, TN, you MUST eat there.  Their peach butter and molasses butter are superb! 


The next day (after sleeping in) we went with the Barclifts to ride go carts while Raegan went to the aquarium.  Andrew loves go carts, so he was excited.  We had 5 cars in this race.  Andrew and I are beating Chris and Sam.

 There goes Caden!

 Andrea and Will waving to the camera.

 After the go carts, we went over to MagiQuest for some glow in the dark mini-golf, a mirror maze, and laser course.  It was so much fun!  Andrew only wanted to play golf, so I stuck around to do the other activities with the boys.   Ask Andrea how she liked the mirror maze!  LOL

 While we were finishing up at MagiQuest, Granna and Paw-Paw took Andrew to lunch followed by MORE go carts!  They went to the Nascar track this time.  Apparently, Mom made friends with the guy running the place and he let them ride as long as they wanted.   They rode for 25 minutes before they both got a little chilly!

 We must have had too much fun today because there was lots of napping to be had that afternoon.  Paw-Paw didn't make it through the Duke boys.

 Chris and Caden also had a nice little snooze on the couch!

 Andrew and Raegan had such a good time playing this trip.  They got along so well.   Here's a shot of Andrew walking puppy Rae Rae.  They're so silly!

 The next night, they cuddled up on the couch to watch cartoons while the adults played some board games.  Oh, what fun that was!  I learned a LOT about some of you!

 Our last night in town we went to the Dixie Stampede.  Mom and Dad didn't want to go back since we were just there, so they had a nice, romantic dinner at The Partridge & Pear.  She said it was the best food she had ever had.  I guess I'll have to give it a try someday.    Meanwhile, at the Dixie Stampede, the kids had a blast. Raegan was super excited to see the "horsies."  We had a great time.  


Monday morning came way too fast and it was time to go home, but not without a Griswold, I mean Barclift family photo on the front steps of the cabin.  Here's our gang:

We had such a good time that it was hard to see the weekend end.  It would have been perfect if everyone else could have made it.  I love it when we all get together like that!  I especially liked this trip because I felt like we had a lot of R&R time just to hang out at the cabin. We had lots of time to sit around talking, laughing, and drinking a million pots of coffee!   We've already picked out a few potential cabins for our next family vacation!  (which we jokingly said would be next month)  LOL  

Ice Ice Baby!

Our snow has been on the ground for over a week!  Today is day 9 and though most of it is long gone, there are still patches of snow in the shady areas.  But, it's raining so it'll all be gone shortly.  I totally enjoyed the snow and am sad to see it go, but maybe we'll have another big snow storm while I'm here.  

I took some pictures of the icicles that we've seen "hanging" around lately.  They were beautiful.  Notice now the sheet of snow slid off the house a little before refreezing.  

The bannisters even had ice.

This is on the back side of the house.  A little later you'll see the same shot, only 2 days later.  

This was a funky looking one!

This one is hanging on the corner of the barn.  He grew a lot in 2 days too!

Andrew's Toomer's Oak

By the third day, the snow might has well have been solid ice because in places, even I didn't break it when I walked on it.  It was really funny to watch the dogs try and get around.  

Icy Mustang

On Thursday, I managed to get Andrew out of the house to play with me.  He was just glad this small patch of driveway had cleared so he could ride his 4 wheeler.  Later that day, I actually got him to ride the "sled" behind the real 4 wheeler.  He rode it with me for about 6-7 minutes and then he was done.  He'd much rather drive with Paw-Paw. 

Here's the one on the barn...only BIGGER.

Here's the shot of the back of the house.  That one really long one right there was 31 inches long!  Unfortunately, when I tried to measure it with the yard stick and take a picture of it at the same time, I broke it. :(

This one was the next closest in size.

On Day 5 of our storm, we still had ~3 1/2 inches of the white stuff!

The icicle on the corner of the barn got longer the next day too...and apparently the wind was blowing because it now has a curve.

Day 6, we went out for one last play in the snow before leaving to go to Gatlinburg.  It's not everyday that you leave snow in Albertville to go to the mountains.  Usually, it's the other way around!

Wheee!  If you want to stay warm in the snow....coveralls! (especially the extra thick fire-proof ones)

This is the closest thing to a picture of the 2 of us that I have.