Rustic Weekend

Sometimes I find myself stuck figuring out how to fit two weeks of absolute fun onto one page. A best effort can never go wrong! Aviana is beginning to walk (should I be clapping? because sometimes I do), we're busy making our Pinterest pins come alive all throughout the house, prepping our keiki for Halloween (and eating half our candy bags...awful temptation), planting our vegetable garden pallet style (pallets seems to be our obsession right now), and pretending there are fall colors outside, even though it's still 80º. I might as well begin with the highlight of the past few weeks. I can't possible leave the best part for last. I'll go ahead and dive right into our adventure at the Makawo Rodeo this past weekend. 

Going into the event Tyler had absolutely no clue what to expect, what the rules were, and what he was supposed to do. Luckily, the paniolo's filled him in so he wasn't completely lost during the mugging. Let's begin with the rules of the double mugging event.  There is one roper, who is on horseback, and one mugger, who is on the ground. Once the calf is released into the arena the calf must be roped around the neck. The rope must hold the calf until the mugger has his hands on calf. After roping calf, roper must dismount and can help mugger to throw calf by hand. At this time, the mugger can assist in holding the calf down in a way that the calf is unable to get up.  The roper must then cross and tie any three of the calf’s feet.  If the calf gets up before time is called for, the procedure is repeated with the mugger throwing the calf and holding the foreleg and giving the foreleg to the roper. The tie must hold until passed by the judge, (6) six seconds, and the roper must not touch the calf after giving the finished signal until after the judge has completed his examination.  So, here we go... (after waiting for 4 hours, I was surprised at my excitement and noticed right away my competitive spirit driving in with a huge adrenaline rush). 

     Makawo Rodeo October 11-12,  2013

    Photo By: Leilani Westhoff

If you paid attention to the video, the announcer repeatedly let us know how "unorthodox" Tyler's method was (completely opposite to how you're supposed to mug a calf.... completely). But, it worked!! This is how it's done on the ranch. He knew nothing different! There is actually technique to mugging a calf? You bet. But then again, we live a pretty unorthodox lifestyle :) 

    Photo by: Leinaala Estrella

                                          Photo by: Leinaala Estrella

                                Photo By: Leilani Westhoff

                                          Photo by: Leinaala Estrella

It was worth the wait. Goodness, the crowd was roaring! Tyler was very entertaining and Travis and him make an excellent team. Now, we've just got to get some training under his belt and he'll be the newest YouTube, double mugging sensation! Everybody is going to want him as their partner! (wife pride). 

One year older and wiser too (I hope), Happy Birthday, to me! I've reached the 27th year of my life. I can say I certainly don't feel 27 and often feel I need to be acting like I'm 27. But, how do 27 year-olds act? I figure having a child keeps me mature (maybe) and I can still pretend I'm 21. In the past year I've moved four times - Oklahoma to Utah, Utah to Wyoming, Wyoming to Utah, and Utah to Hawaii. In the end, Hawaii is a pretty legit birthday present. I had a productive year and look forward to another adventurous, productive year. Thank you for all the wonderful gifts and cards from family and friends. Much mahalo. Tyler was a sweet heart, took me out, and we spent some time in Kihei and relaxed. Seeing the the sunset behind Lahaina was stunningly beautiful and we enjoyed some delicious food! Love you Ty. 

Thankfully, we have a wonderful little girl who is so willing to be out and constantly going with us. We're still continuing to LOVE Hawai'i, especially Hana. 

Aloha, Leilani

Pehea Oukou

Aloha Kakahiaka! (good morning). I'm not sure when I'll get used to Hana being our home. We have definitely adjusted, but more than often I find myself feeling I'm on vacation. Reality always sets in, of course, and this past week being  the heat and humidity got the best of us and we fled the insides of our sticky home several times. Hana continues to blow us away with its stunning views and landscapes. 

Fagan's Cross couldn't have presented us with a more beautiful, landscape view of the ranch and cows grazing above the ocean. Absolutely stunning. 

The ocean was completely calm and Aviana enjoyed playing at sea with us. Our beach time doubled this week with relaxing naps, sand hills, and body surfing on occasional waves rolling in. 

Our darling little keiki can't get enough of the water and finds her new kiddy pool quite entertaining... and apparently relaxing. She forgets the sides of the pool can be a bit bouncy and finds herself flipping onto the grass. Hilarious. It looks perfected. 

Tyler was on and off the Ranch this week continuing to look over the land and get used to the terrain. The gardening crew was able to start up a 4 acre section. Very exciting! We hope to have all 300 acres here soon. We're still crossing our fingers for some kind of start on grass management and cows. Patience has definitely been put into practice these past few months. Ty loves the plethora of free range fruits he has to munch on while out riding. He raves about them often!

Hana High School had its first football game this past week as well. We really enjoyed cheering on the team with the entire town, literally, and watching how respectful the players were towards one another  (never saw such team camaraderie between opposing teams). Here in Hana, football is all fun. It's low key. It's about getting together and entertaining in a positive way, not about beating each other up and pounding chests. While at the same time, it's aggressive and hard. I liked it.

Hana No Ka Oi. Truthfully said. Hana Is The Best.