widow maker rides again

December 31, 2009- I guess instead of Widow Maker rides again it should be Pecos rides Widow Maker again. He's been having lots of fun riding his new pony. Today he brought me his chaps, boots, jacket and wild rag and said "I'm ready to ride my roping pony. Let's go pen some cows." The cows are actually our cats- a white one and a black one- which he calls his Charolais cow and his Angus cow.

The sunglasses were a last minute addition to the outfit as we walked out the door. She still looks a little on the heavy side but believe it or not she's lost about 15 pounds since her arrival here at the ranch. Casey says Pecos' riding style is a loose rein and a sharp spur. Pecos has asked to ride with his spurs but I don't think either one of them is ready for that yet.Here's another photo of our Top Hand.

naked cowboy

December 29, 2009- Pecos got a toy guitar from Oma & Opa for Christmas. I needed to vacuum the rug in his room so I set this horse up on his bed to get it out of the way. Next thing I know, Casey had finished giving Pecos his bath and then Pecos ran in the room naked, jumped on the horse and started playing the guitar.

Anyone need a singing naked cowboy for their next party?

christmas 2009

December 25, 2009- We had a great Christmas this year visiting family in Louisiana, then back home for Christmas day and spending the following week home working on all sorts of projects around the house.

Pecos had fun with MiMi and Paw Paw in Louisiana. The shop in the background is not the remnants of a hurricane. It is new construction on a shop for Paw Paw, which Pecos thinks will be his new play space. We'll see.

Pecos made cookies for Santa and insisted that Santa's milk be served in the boot mug from Germany. Santa left his boot prints in the fireplace ashes. Mighty big boots there, Santa.Number one on Pecos' list this year was a roping pony. And Santa delivered. This is the roping pony that Pecos named Widow Maker. This photo was from his first ride on a very cold Christmas day. Santa did good, but the postal service let him down on delivery of tack in time for Christmas. So we had to make due with whatever we could find to fit this pint-sized pony. After this ride Pecos dismounted and declared "I'm the World Champion!!"Then Casey decided since the pony's name is Widow Maker she ought to be ridden like a bronc. Did I marry Casey Tibbs or Casey Worrell? At times like these I'm not sure.Number two on Pecos' list this year was a boot shine machine. He got acquainted with such a machine on our trip to Germany. Two days after our return we took him to see Santa where he announced he wanted one for Christmas. And since Pecos was such a good boy this year he got just what he asked for. I think it is the first request from a 3-year old for a boot shiner that Santa has ever heard.Other Christmas fun was a gingerbread house that Pecos thought served much better as a 24-hour candy buffet than holiday décor.And a Happy Birthday cake for Jesus.We finished the holidays off with Worrell family Christmas on the 30th and Pecos now has enough toys and gear to get him through another year.

adiós tejas, hallo deutschland!

December 2-9, 2009- Our trip to Germany was fantastic and sort of quasi-National Lampoon's European vacation style. The logistics of getting there were challenging with a cancelled flight and a newly renovated Frankfurt airport that has the rental car counters hidden in the depths of an underground abyss. But once we worked through it we were on our way to sausage and sauerkraut.

Here's some highlights from our trip:

Which one is the nutcracker? Pecos enjoyed serving as navigator...good thing we had a GPS.
We were packed like sardines. If our rental car had a luggage rack we would have used it, but instead this is how we loaded up. We had to stop shopping because we were out of room.

We managed to find just barely enough snow to build this tiny snowman. Look very closely and you can see it.

Pecos with Oma and Opa on the train ride to see Neuschwanstein Castle. Riding on a train has been a lifelong dream for Pecos.

A photo of all of us with the castle way in the background. Pecos was sleeping and wouldn't wake up for the photo.

We ran into St. Nicholas at the Christmas Market in Munich. Pecos took the cookies from his angels but wasn't too sure about ole' Saint Nick.

These two were the only cowboys in Germany...go figure!It only took them 20 minutes on our first day to find a cow. Pecos wanted to know if he could rope it.

Since we couldn't get ESPN in Germany to watch the National Finals Rodeo, my two cowboys decided to demonstrate it for the locals. First on a pig.Then on a lion.The national snack of Germany- a pretzel. With a pretzel in one hand and a doughnut in the other Pecos fit right in with the locals.Casey couldn't resist the chance to participate in a local Christmas tradition- Gluhwein, a warm red wine served in a boot mug. It was disgusting and after this photo he tossed it out.

This is how Pecos spent the 10 hour overnight flight to Germany.

And this is how he spent it on the way home...not an overnight flight.