Epilogue

Well, I'm sure nobody will read this now but in a desperate attempt to reconcile my guilty consciousness I shall post this last post.

As we are all aware, I posted approximately 0 times while we where on our trip. The only possible excuse for this (although it is quite lame) is that we had an absolutely fabulously time.


It was a trip of firsts for me. (because I'm lazy they are not in any specific order)
First time on an airplane
First time in a taxi
First time in a glass elevator (very cool)
First time in Colorado
First time in a train/subway/thing
First time at a NBA game (or any sport game other than homeschool)
First national competition
First indoor rodeo
Plus a lot of others that I won't mention.

Instead of try in to tell you about all the cool stuff we did I will insert some pictures. Courtesy of others since I didn't actually take any.
For photos off the official Roundup website click here.

                  Denver Stock Show rodeo

        "Loon Calling" at the formal banquet

 

           Waiting outside of Olive Garden

            The glass elevator in our hotel

                 At the Stock Show parade

           Outside of an old train station

                          Group selfie

                        On the airplane

As far as how our teams did, I'm super proud of all of us and how much we have learned.

Parli Pro won third out of the three teams competing. That's not something to be ashamed of either. They beat every single team that didn't have the guts, dedication, or talent to make it to nationals.

Out of the ten teams competing in Hippology, the Montana Team ranked nineth in stations and written exam, seventh in judging, fourth in team problem, and eightth  overall. I'm really proud of us too.

To sum it up, we had an amazing trip, but I know it wouldn't have been possible without our two amazing chaperones, the Extension, or our generous donors. Thank you all again.

We have arrived in Denver

Ready....Set....

This morning was interesting.
   I had gotten most of everything packed last night and I was just throwing in a few extra things this morning, but when I went to zip up one of my bags, the zipper broke.
I had to unpack everthing, take out the old zipper, and sew a new one in.
  It wasn't that much work but it did take a lot of time out of my last day home.

  Then, when my sister called to see if the teams sweaters we had ordered where ready to pick up the company informed her that they wouldn't be ready today, like they had planned, and that we would have to come pick them up tomarrow. We are all keeping our fingers crossed. :)

 Now that I finally got everything packed, the reality that we leave in less than 24 hours is starting to sink in.....really sink in.

  Since August we have been preparing for this trip and now it's here. I'm still not sure if I'm nervous, excited, or if I'm actually ready for this.
 
Looking at the schedule and pictures on the Roundup website has gotten me pretty hyped up, but it has also reminded me that we won't have oodles of extra time, so I'm not sure how often posts will be getting put up. ( I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that too.) 

Ravalli Teams - ARE YOU READY???

I am very proud of the 10 people on these teams!  You guys rock!  You are ready!  Looking forward to seeing all your exciting faces on Tuesday!

Denver Here We Come!

Back in July of 2014, two Ravalli County teams went to compete at the 4-H  state competition in Bozeman. The two teams were the Parliamentary Procedure team and the Hippology team.
    As a first for Ravalli County, both of the teams won their competitions and earned the right to compete at the Western National Roundup in Denver, Colorado.



Parli Pro Team
Sabrina, Sarah, Marie, Genesis, Emily, Aaron  









Hippology Team
John, Elisa, Hannah E, Shanae, Hannah







Hi, my name is Shanae, and I'm one of the members of the Hippology team. I thought it would be neat to start a blog so that any of our family and friends could see what, and how, we are doing.

  This trip is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all of us. Not only will we be competing at the Roundup, but we will also get the chance to meet other 4-Hers from all over the western United States, participate in workshops, and attend the Denver Stock Show. 

   For some of us, it will be our first time flying. For others, the first time traveling out of state. (Proof that we really are small town teens, I guess.)

The actual Roundup will be January 8th-11th but we will be leaving on the 6th, driving to Bozeman (it was the closest place flying out to Denver), and spending the night in a hotel there. Then early in the morning we will catch a flight to Denver, and because it is only an hour and a half flight we will have the whole day to settle in to our hotel and maybe do some sight-seeing . After spending three days at the Roundup, we will fly out Sunday evening and spend the night at the hotel in Bozeman again before starting the drive home.

I think I speak for all of us when I say we are all super excited about this trip and honored to represent Montana and Ravalli County at the national level.