Clark Family Reunion

Ryan and I were in Utah 3 weeks ago. We were able to go to 2 of my family reunions. The first reunion we went to was the Clark Family Reunion (my mom's side). My Grandma Clark has 10 children, 44 grandchildren (51 if you count the 'married-into' minority), and 3 great-grandchildren. Of course not everyone made it, but there were a lot that did and it was a blast.
Every year the reunion is held in Wellsville at my uncle's sod farm. We camp out, play games, water slide, swing, and have a family program. Here are just a few of the pictures of some of the activites we did!

Swinging! Carissa just couldn't get enough. She just always wanted to go more and when I tried to tell her just one more time, she'd say 'No, lots more times!'

And Ryan loved the 'big swing,' that is once he got up enough courage to actually jump:)

We also went boating! It has been so long since I've been able to do that, it was so awesome. Isn't Ryan a cute flag holder?

We went out on the tube and since at the Clark Family Christmas party we were voted 'Most Lovey-Dovey Couple' we wanted to show the Clark's that we still have it! Of course, Jason-the-boat-driver didn't put up with that for long and took us on a ride that had us holding on for dear life.

Here you can clearly see who is stonger and more agile! (What happened to Ryan?)

I was also able to go wake boarding and brush up on my skills...

oh wait, I don't have any!

And of course, like any family knows, BOYS WILL BE BOYS!

Last Rodeo Queen Post

In case you're wondering while I've been posting about events that happened 2 years ago or longer, it's because I get rather sentimental this time of year. I spent a large part of my life involved in rodeos and being a rodeo queen, so give me a break! I spent 4-5 years in preparation and trying out for Miss Rodeo Utah. This contest is held every year during the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo over the week of the 24th of July. If you're not from Utah, you may not know that the 24th of July is a big holiday there because that's when the pioneers arrived in Utah. July is also considered 'Cowboy Christmas' because there are so many rodeos that cowboys and cowgirls can go to and hopefully get large paychecks.

I'm sure some of you will be relieved to hear the Miss Rodeo Utah 2008 Pageant is over so this will be my last rodeo post! The new Miss Rodeo Utah is....

Renae Cowely

Her job is to represent Utah at PRCA rodeos all over the country and to compete in the Miss Rodeo America pageant in December during the Wrangle National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. She'll have one busy year of traveling and representing.

Yes, once upon a time it was my dream to be Miss Rodeo Utah and do exactly that. Though I didn't win the title, I made some great friends, learned how to be poised and polished, got amazing interviewing skills and gained confidence in myself and my abilities. I wouldn't trade my experiences for anything. So I just wanted to tip my hat to all Rodeo Queens, old or new! As for the rest of you- Cowgirl Up!

Memory Tag

Just for fun...

I've seen this on quite a few people's blog lately and thought it might be fun to re-live some memories, so give it a try and see what you can remember about me and you!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together (whether it's Ryan, Melanie, or both of us). It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is actually pretty fun to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I will assume you are playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or you don't have a blog, I will leave my memory about you in my comments.

Marital Test

122 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Ryan passed! This test was pretty funny. It dates back to the 1930's!
If you'd like to test yourself or your spouse go to:
http://www.magatsu.net/maritaltest/

From Misty to Top Gun

I wouldn't have made a very good rodeo queen without my horse! Since horsemanship is a third of what rodeo queens are judged on, I wanted to post some pictures of the amazing horses that taught me to ride and helped me win.

Misty was my first horse. She was an old, arthritic mare that was really easy going. It took me a while to become a good rider and Misty was gentle and patient enough to put up with me. Notice my sister on the black pony. She named her Black Beauty and she was another awesome horse we owned, though I never competed on her.

After Misty there were many horses, such as Lady, Sonic, SisCat and Prince, but one of my all time favorites was C.C. She's the beautiful horse above. She was sooo big too. She was the perfect horse for me, unfortunately she wasn't quite cut out for a reigning horse. Her size that I loved, just wouldn't allow her to make the perfect slide stops I needed to win.

This is Peaches, she belonged to a friend of mine who let me ride her during some of the many rodeos I attended. It was always nice to give my horse a break whenever I could.

And this is Top Gun! He's another favorite. He's my current horse, though he's for sale. I wish I had somewhere in Chicago to keep him. He is the reigning horse I needed and had to trade C.C. in for. Top Gun has some real talent and is an amazing reining horse who can slide stop like nobody's business. He is a really beautiful animal. He is quick, agile and has attitude- I love him.

The horses of the Queening World!

'Ode to Mom

My previous few posts will have given you a little bit of an idea of what I looked like as a rodeo queen. Yes, those are real leather dresses! I found that what I wore was half or more of my preformance. Luckily, I have an amazing mother who can sew with the best of them. So over the years we perfected the art of making and designing rodeo queen clothing and here are some of my favorites that my mom made for me.


Along with the clothing, I had to perfect my hair style too. And if you know me, you know my hair is straight as a stick! Rodeo queens have big, curly hair, so I had to use lots of hot curlers early every morning and LOTS and LOTS of hairspray:)

Thanks mom and dad for your amazing talents and support!

Childhood Dreams

Okay, so I found some pictures of what inspired my Rodeo Queen aspirations and why I spent so much time and effort preparing and competing in Miss Rodeo Utah, and why I still miss it at times.

My little sister, Leslie and me after we lost another contest. Don't we look happy?

The whole gang (our 4-H club) during another contest.

This is the first time I ever won!!! I was 14 and my hair was horrible.

The entire Morgan County Royalty the year I won.

At 16 or 17, I became the Morgala Days Queen for Morgan. This helped fuel my desire to keep competing and I went on to compete at many different contests all over Utah, getting a few more titles under my belt.

More Pictures

Miss Rodeo Ogden is one of the contests I tried out for in preparation for Miss Rodeo Utah. Here are a few pictures of the Miss Rodeo Ogden 2006 contest.

We're some tough cowgirls!(I'm 3rd from the right)

All the contestants on stage waiting for the Coronation Ceremony.

(I'm 3rd from the left)

I won 1st Attendant! I also won the appearance category.

The Ogden Royalty.

For those of you who have no clue what a Rodeo Queen contests consists of, I'll explain over the next few posts. To start, we are judged on 3 different categories: Horsemanship, Personality and Appearance. The categories are judged throughout the contest where we participate in interviews, speeches, impromptu questions, judging activities, horsemanship patterns, modeling and overall interaction with each other and the judges through the entire contest. The Miss Rodeo Ogden contest is held over 2 days, while the Miss Rodeo Utah constest is a full week long.

Utah Vacation

Ryan and I fly to Utah tonight! We will be going to 2 family reunions (both with my family: one with the Haddock's and one with the Clark's), meeting and catching up with friends, and going to part of the Miss Rodeo Utah Pageant and Pioneer Days Rodeo. Sometimes I wonder if we are really going on vacation. We always have more to do when we're on vacation than at home. But no matter, we are both excited for the break and to see family and friends. I'm also very excited to be able to go to the horsemanship portion of the Miss Rodeo Utah Pageant. We won't get to see anything else since we have to come back to Chicago, but it will be fun to watch that and go to the rodeo. This time of year is really hard to be in Chicago. Not because Chicago isn't a fun, happening place, but because I miss rodeos and queen contest. I don't think it's something I'll ever outgrow either!

My last year competing in the Miss Rodeo Utah Pageant/ MRU 2006

(Just in case you can't tell- I'm the brunette in a white dress with turquoise flowers)

Just a heads up: expect more of my Miss Rodeo Utah Pictures this month!

4th of July- Activities

Ryan and I had a great 4th of July! My sister and her husband, Leslie and Brandon, came and visited us. We took them all over Chicago. First we had to go shopping for Leslie. She's currently at a training camp in Missouri and has no where to shop. I don't think the boys got much enjoyment out of that, other than of course getting to be with their great wives!

At Navy Pier! It was way too crowded to ride any of the rides, but Leslie did build-a-bear and she and Brandon got their caricatures drawn. Ryan and I went through the Navy Pier Kid's Maze. It was fun. The mirror section was crazy playing eye tricks and Ryan's favorite was the twirly hall. You know where they have a circular hall that rotates and you have to cross the bridge. We had to do it twice and watch everyone else cross it, too:)

Ryan, Brandon & Leslie in front of the Carousel at Navy Pier

We also went to China Town. It was fun to walk through all the little trinket stores they have. I found the bag I want for a Diaper bag (when we get around to having kids, we'll see how good Ryan is at remembering;) We also got fruit smoothies.

Brandon & Leslie at China Town

We walked around downtown and through the malls. Here we are at Lego Land where Brandon had the misfortune of running into T-Rex. We also got a chance to show them where some of Batman was filmed (though we didn't get a chance to show them Wayne Tower. I guess they'll have to wait for the movie).

Leslie & Brandon at lego Land

We also went on the Architectural Cruise. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it. It was a great way to spend an hour and also show Leslie and Brandon a lot of Chicago in a short amount of time. We learned a little about Chicago's history too.

Ryan cruisin' on the River during the tour

The Cruise was a great way to see some of the sites and we had some great photo opportunities. If you want to see more of the actual buildings and architecture then visit our Chicago Blog (the link is in the right column of our blog)

4th fo July- Food!

We started the weekend out with lunch at our place. Ryan helped me prepare hot dogs and corn on the cob (we had to stick with the traditional 4th of July meal!). We also had fun making fruit skewers and a patriotic dessert!

Ready to dig in!

Fruit Skewers........................ Patriotic Dessert

For dinner on the 4th we went the the Taste of Chicago. It was crazy crowded, but was fun and we got some really good food. I think my favorite was the apple pie!

Brandon eating a Turkey Leg. They were HUGE.

Here is Leslie finishing off the Turkey leg. Need a napkin?







I'm digging into some Orange Chicken. It's was really good! In fact, I'm craving some right now.

We of course had to finish our weekend off with Chicago style deep dish pizza from Giordano's!

Mmmmm!