Good Weekend

Early Friday Russ had a crew with him to do cow jobs. Our table was full at lunch and it was memorable as we enjoyed having 2 guests from Switzerland with us. Also, I tried a potato soup recipe that will definitely be served again.
I dressed for work Friday afternoon. Not for cattle jobs, but a wedding rehearsal. The wedding was held in a pasture. Russ said, “Kathy if this wedding is in a pasture you must wear your cowboy boots to this rehearsal.” I agreed. That was a first for me as a minister. I still had a “souvenir” on my boots from working cows with our neighbor last week.
The rehearsal was over in time to warm up some soup, hug Morg goodbye and get to the Barbie movie. We really enjoyed it.
While at the movie I got a text from Morgan. “Turns out not leaving tonight please make sure I am up at 3:30am” After the movie…. coffee got prepped, croissant dough taken from freezer to thaw and rise, the oven set for a delay preheat for 3:15am and my alarm set for 3:25. It went off and I swung into gear. I put the croissants in to bake, flipped the switch on the coffee and went to wake my roper up so he was ready for his ride to the rodeo. Waking a teenage boy in the middle of the night is not for the faint of heart.
Early morning coffee in a kitchen still littered with soup bowls from the day before.
Later that day, the wedding. This was a really special one for many reasons. Another first for me, our cows were part of the decoration….in a distant way. The wedding backdrop was the Souris River Valley. That means that 125 pairs of the Bar MW cattle were grazing in the background.
Sunday morning we headed to the Bengough rodeo. Morg had already been there for a day, he was entered in team roping. Carter Ewart was his partner and Carter’s family gave him a ride and a place to sleep.
I happened to sit beside the woman who raised Morgan’s horse and still is very attached to it. We took a selfie, the mother of the horse and the mother of the rider.
Carter on the roan on the left, Morgan on the buckskin on the right, throwing the rope. Great effort and Russ and I feel so proud.
Morgan’s girlfriend Jordanna is a trick rider, she and her team provided amazing intermission entertainment. Russ and I stood close to film it and we both fought back tears. My picture is fuzzy. It’s not great but you can still see that glowing smile.
Somehow this pic makes the horse invisible. Another girl we love, Gina’s good friend Tenley, is part of the picture. She is support crew for the Truco Trick Riders.

All weekend as things unfolded I was aware life is very good. I also was rather fascinated by the various things happening, and the way my identity was affirmed.

Over the course of a few days I was a cook, that felt pretty normal and I was a ranch wife, pulling on my shitty boots. I was an experienced minister making a rehearsal happen fairly seamlessly. I found the 8 year old girl in me alive and well as I remembered how much fun it was to play with my Barbies. In 1976 I felt so smart when I made a Barbie bed from a Kleenex box. My style of Mom-ing was clearly in play when I just knew that boy of mine must have something fresh and hot to put in his tummy. How would he know I love him if I didn’t give him a boost to start his tricky day and weekend. I was a human wrapped up in beauty, as a thoughtfully planned wedding unfolded, in a raw and achingly beautiful location, in a place where our very own cows were in the distance. I was a wife as I danced with my husband, easy in his arms. I was the Mom of a rodeo contestant, anxious to see him succeed, for his sake more than my own. I was so dang proud of his maturity through all that the day held. I am crazy about that kid. Today I had a new role. I have had a new girl in my world for many months. But today I got to watch her do some of the things that make her pretty amazing. I stood with my heart in my mouth, proud of another woman’s daughter, delighting in her, happy to cheer on a new but important part of our family.

Life is especially good when the days are so vivid. When you get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, you are doing what you are supposed to be doing.

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