Another 4th Goes By

The 4th of July at the Rodeo!

For the past 11 years, my 4th of July is always at the rodeo grounds. Our heritage goes deep in that Brian's family has been working the rodeo for over 35 years. Right before Brian was born, his parents joined the Lion's Club and have worked the rodeo every 4th of July selling hamburgers, hot dogs, nachos, candy and drinks to raise money to help give sight to the children in the community and Christmas to families who need it. Apparently, when I married Brian, this was part of the legacy that I inherited, whether I liked it or not.

361 days of the year, I love being part of an organization that is trying to make a difference in our community. 4 days of the year, I get angry, tired and question why I do this year after year. 4 nights, (3 of them in a row) we start at 5:00 in the evening and go to almost midnight cooking, serving and selling food. It is hard work. We do it because it is a short amount of time that we can raise a lot of money to give to charity. Alas, my 4th of July's are a lot of work. Last night Brian and I did not get into bed until 1:30 am and to say I feel tired is an understatement.

I do not mean to complain about my experience and know that I write this post with a lack of sleep. All in all, I am humbled by the work that I can give and I have no regrets of not having a normal 4th of July weekend. I love to live a life of service and this is a true test of faith for me.

Shaeler is getting older now that she can hang out a little more at the rodeo grounds and she won this hat and a CD while walking around with cousins and grandma as mom and dad were busting our rears in the stands. I cannot wait for her to be old enough to work side by side with me. One day! One day!

It has been years since I have seen fireworks. I like to take a snap shot of my point of view every year, so you may get a glimpse what I look at for 4 days straight.


Yup, I am the Treasurer of the club and handle all the money. Something about honesty and trust, blah blah blah. It's a pain and I cannot go anywhere because of it. Luckily I have trustworthy friends who can babysit the till while I go on break.

Shae loves that we work the rodeo because she gets endless supplies of candy, snowcones and candy. She can eat 3 snowcones in one night. She went through 3 water bottles last night and I followed her to see how she could be consuming so much water and she was making designs in the dirt with the bottled water. BUSTED!!

One thing that I can say that makes my 4 days worth it is the companionship of dear friends who volunteer their time with us. Without them, I think I would have given up long ago. We are so lucky to have dear friends like Chad and Ann, Robert and Becky and the Young Women who give of their time and service with a smile on their face. Amazing people who sacrifice their time and made me laugh and made me feel glad to be there. We are truly surrounded by AMAZING people. One of the nights, Robert brought a blender and made us his Brazilian Lemonade. He had given it to Brian the Sunday before when Brian was not feeling well, and it did wonders for him. So that night, Robert made us a sweet treat and Ann said I better post it on my blog or else she would. Below is the recipe for this delicious delight. I HIGHLY recommend this one!

INGREDIENTS
2 limes
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
3 cups water
ice

DIRECTIONS
Wash limes thoroughly. Cut off the ends and slice into eight wedges. Place limes in a blender with the sugar, sweetened condensed milk, water, and ice.
Blend in an electric blender, pulsing 7 times. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove rinds. Serve over ice.

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!