Hello Vegas
About this time of year I'm always a little bit sad. I'm sad because every night at 8 pm (here in Colorado) for the last 10 days I've gotten to witness champions make history on TV. The National Finals Rodeo has got to be the most exciting thing to watch on TV here in the Lostroh household for most of the year. Yes, I love watching my hubby compete at the PBR's and the PBR World finals, but you really can't compare to getting to watch 15 of the top competitors in all 7 rodeo events. I love the drama (is Tuff going to clench it this year?), I love the excitement (Fallon's smile every time she runs for home) and I love the tradition! My life has been completely entrenched in rodeo since I was born and going to Las Vegas for the NFR or even just watching it on TV is a yearly event in our lives. This year, Kody was invited to compete it the Exclusive Genetics Bucking Bull Games. This event was a completely new concept to the world of bullriding and I have to admit I was very confused while watching it in the beginning. It started out with a pool of 20 bullriders that were competing as well as 20 bucking bulls that had qualified for the event. These bulls were competing for a purse of over $100,000 and the riders were competing for a pretty darn good payout as well. The bracket style contest and daily Calcutta put the spectators as the decision makers of which rider got to get on each bull. They would start with a calcutta and the winning bidder would choose a rider and then a bull for him to get on. Some riders would go for $500 and some would go for $14,000. It was crazy! Most of the bidders ended up being the bull owners and so this gave them a chance to choose the rider that got on their bull. The rider/bull team would then compete against the other rider/bull team in their bracket. The twist was that the riders were not being scored... at all! The bucking bull would get a score then however long the rider rode, be it 8 seconds or 3 seconds, that time was then added to the bull's score. For example, if Kody rode his first bull for 7.8 seconds and his bull scored a 86, the final score would be 93.8. Even though the other rider in the bracket rode for 8, if his bull had a lower score, Kody would be the winner and move on. So in a way if the cards fall right a rider could make a ton of money by not even riding his bulls or he could ride them all and end up empty handed. Thankfully, Kody covered almost all of his bulls and ended up the winner this last Saturday. With all of the ups and down's we've had this year with injuries it's always nice to end the year on a high note.
While in Vegas we got to shop a little and go to the rodeo one night to watch our buddy, Josh Koschel ride. I know Josh didn't have the week he would've liked but you gotta give to any of the top 15, if you've made it to Vegas, you've done something!
While I was out there I go to rock some sweet threads thanks to my friend, Megan at Livewire Clothing!
This was also the first time I left my girls for more than one day and they did great with their Grandma and Papa. Aren't grandparent's great? I was so happy to see there little faces when I got back.
Oh, and before I left for Vegas, Kody's family met me and the girls in Denver for Disney On Ice and it was simply awesome. There's nothing better then seeing your little girls' eyes light up when they see Cinderella or Minnie Mouse in real life. I can't wait to take them to Disney World someday!
So that's what we've been up to. Until next December, I guess I'll just have to succumb to watching regular old TV at night.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Cooped Up Cowboy's Wife- Candace