The Amazing time at the PBR

Gabriel sure loves rodeo!

There are times on our trip that are so amazing it is just plain hard to believe.  This is one of those times. 

Now, I want to warn you, this will be a long story.  I just can't shorten it!  It is too awesome!  So either skim over the whole thing, or go get yourself a drink and snack, sit down and enjoy.

As you might already know, we are country people.  We love horses, cows, and especially rodeo.  My five year old son, Gabriel is all cowboy.  It is in his blood.  It is just the way the good Lord made him!  We have attended numerous county rodeos and have even gone to the big one in Cody, WY! 

A dear friend taught our kids to ride horses and even let Gabriel ride on his tamed Brahma bull.  It was so scary for me to watch, but Gabriel absolutely loved it.  You see, Gabriel loves bull riding.  I don't think he will become one, he saw a tv show one time that had all of the injuries that bull riders get.  But, he loves to watch it.

We love watching the PBR.  We wanted to find a pro bull rider that had good morals and loved the Lord.  If Gabriel was going to be looking up to someone, we wanted him to be a good man.  That is when we came across MIKE LEE!  We did some research and found out that he really is a kind and loving man that loves Jesus and his family.  So, we started rooting for him in all the PBR bull riding competitions.  Gabriel wrote him letters and sent him pictures and even Valentines!  We sent a huge manila envelope with tons of things Gabriel had made for him. In return, we got a signed picture of Mike Lee!

We were staying outside of Phoenix, in Glendale, doing some volunteer work at Harvest Church.  I saw an advertisement on TV for the PBR coming to our city!  We were all so excited!  Just the chance to see Mike Lee ride was like a dream.  Gabriel could hardly wait.  He had his chaps, boots, and hat ready to go days before the PBR was even scheduled to come.  I found out that all the bull riders ride on Saturday night, and only the finalists ride on Sunday.  So, we decided to go Saturday to make sure we would see Mike Lee ride. 

We arrived at the Jobing Arena very early, to allow time to walk around and maybe meet a rider or two. We hiked around and signed up for a credit card so we could get the free t-shirt.  There was a sign for the "PBR Fan club."  After looking into it, we decided to join.  It was around $30.00  It gave us access to the arena before and after the bull riding.  So, we all headed down to the lowest level to go to the arena.  A nice man brought us there and told us that normally only two people can go down there, but he would let us all in!  It was so awesome!  We stood on the side of the arena and got to be on Versus Television.  We stood in the background while they interviewed J.B. Mauney, one of the top bull riders right now.  The lady that interviewed him talked with me after.  During our conversation a man walked up and asked her for her autograph, that is when I realized I must be talking to someone famous!

(Gabriel sure looks good in his chaps and vest!  Check out that look on his face...he is tough!)

Up to our seats we went, way up, to the very top! We are on a budget, so I had to buy the cheapest tickets which were $10 each.  We sat up sooo ridiculously high in the arena.  Josephine cried as we tried to climb down the stairs to our seats.  Gabriel had to scoot down on his bottom.  I told the kids, "NO ONE is going pee until after!"

Our view from the nose bleed section.

The bull riding was excellent.  Usually at the local rodeos, we are thankful if two riders make it 8 seconds, but at this rodeo, many of them made it 8 seconds.  So, the winner was based on points instead of just making it 8 seconds. Gabriel was so patient waiting for Mike Lee's turn.  Well, not really that patient, but he did well.  I was so thankful and shocked that Tytus and Josephine fell asleep during the bull riding.  Shae wasn't with us, so it was a handful for me.

      sleepy little ones

Mike Lee was finally up to ride.  He chose a tough bull, so we knew it was going to be good.  He held on tight, but that nasty bull bucked him off before 8 seconds.  He got up off the ground and then knelt down and thanked God.  That quick and it was over.  We were sad for him and his family.  He has twins and I know that they count on his winning to pay for things, but yet we were still so excited to have just gotten to see him ride even if it was from the very top of the building!

As soon as the bull riding was over, we made the mad dash for the escalators.  Well, a mad dash for us is like moving like molasses.  Tytus and Josephine were still asleep plus we had the diaper bag, camera bag, purse and posters we got for free.  Cody carried sleeping Josie while I carried the baby.  Hanna and Naomi carried the rest while Gabriel stayed close to us.  We finally made it up the stairs to head to the escalators when we saw the huge crowd waiting in line to go down.  I knew we would never make it to the arena to get autographs if we didn't hurry.  So, I saw the stairs and yelled, "Head to the stairs...we can make it!" So there we go, down 6 flights of stairs carrying everything we had so we could hopefully get to meet Mike Lee.  It was a long hike down with everyone and everything, but we made it.  We got to go out in the arena since we were fans of the PBR.  It was so neat to get to walk in the dirt and go up to the different bull riders that were signing autographs.  We began looking for Mike Lee, but didn't see him anywhere.  We passed by all of the other bull riders just trying to find him.....he was no where to be found.  So, we decided to go ahead and meet some of the other riders.  They were all busy signing hats and programs for the fans that were behind the fence around the arena.

In the actual bull riding arena.

Just then, we saw him...Mike Lee.  We just kind of walked behind him for a while.  It was just so exciting to be near him.....Gabriel was about to bust out of his chaps he was so thrilled. 

(Mike Lee signing hats and programs and us following him, soooo exciting!!!!)

We worked our way around to the front of him.  We caught his eye and he reached down and began to sign his name on Gabriel's vest.  I made Gabriel his new vest and chaps last spring for his birthday, with the help of my mother.  He wanted white ones to match Mike Lee's.  Now, he had Mike Lee's signature on his vest!  Wow! 

I said to Mike Lee, "I'm not sure if you remember us, but this is Gabriel Smith.  He sent you Valentines, pictures, and a book he made for you last spring."

"Oh, I remember you.  My kids loved the Valentines!"  Mike replied!

We were so excited he remembered Gabriel!  We thanked him and walked away as he had many more autographs to give.  We stood in the center of the arena, just jumping and squeeling with excitement.  Not only did we get to see Mike Lee ride, but we got to meet him, he signed Gabriels vest, and he remembered him!  Wow!  What a night!

But wait, in the excitement, I didn't think to ask him to sign Gabriel's hat.  We had other bull rider signatures on it, how could we not have Mike Lee's?  So, back we go, to ask for him to sign his hat, which he did very happily.  Oh boy!  What a night!

(Mike Lee signs Gabriel's hat)

YIPPEE!  WHAT A NIGHT!  COULD IT GET ANY BETTER?

BUT WAIT....I LOOKED OVER OUR PICS AND WE DIDN'T HAVE A GOOD ONE OF MIKE LEE AND GABRIEL!  OH NO!

So, back we went, for the posed picture.  All the bull riders were kind enough to pose for people taking pictures, so I knew it wouldn't be a big deal to ask politely.  Mike Lee smiled when he saw us and oh so patiently stood next to Gabriel for a wonderful photo.  We thanked him for letting us take one. 

 I asked him about his wife and twins.  We asked if he would be at the church service at the arena in the morning, which he said yes to.  We thanked him again and let him get back to signing autographs.  The other bull riders signed Gabriel's cowboy hat.  The officials began to empty the arena and we were the last ones to leave.

We headed home so excited and amazed at all the wonderful things that happened to us.  It was so much better than we had even imagined it would be. 

The next morning we all scrambled to get ready for the church service at the arena.  Getting everyone up, dressed, eat, brush teeth, shoes, diaper bag, brush hair, drive and sit down all before the service began was quite difficult but we made it with time to spare.  The service was held right at the arena.  We sat in the stands but much lower than the night before.  I was surprised there weren't more people there.  There was about 30 maybe.  I introduced myself to the musicians and had a nice visit with them.  Gabriel and Tytus had walked with me and we began to head back to our seats when we saw Mike Lee sitting up higher.  We smiled and waved.  He called out, "Do you want to sit by me?"  Well, little did he know that Gabriel had told me that morning that he hoped we could sit by him.  What a blessing.  So Mike climbed down the seat to come sit by us.  He said it would be easier than us coming up around where he was, what a gentleman.  We visited a little and then worshipped the Lord together.  It was such a blessing for Gabriel to get to see one of his heros praising God.  After singing, we sat back down.  Mike asked if he could hold Tytus.  I said sure and just hoped Tytus would be happy.  He was.  He just looked at him and smiled.

Mike got a strange look on his face and began unbuttoning Tytus' shirt!  He said, "It is on crooked."  And he continued to fix the buttons.  Well, it is a good thing I don't get embarrassed easily, but it sure was close.  I cannot believe a world famous bull rider redressed my baby!  We were in such a hurry that one of the kids that dressed Tytus did his buttons wrong on his shirt!  It was hilarious.

Things went well during the service, Tytus was content smiling at all the people around us, Gabriel did not pick his nose at all and Josie didn't notice I was not sitting with them until the end.

We visited with Mike after the service.  He prayed for us and invited us to his Bull Riding School in June.  I hope we can go.

He is a really nice, humble man that was a pleasure to meet.  God blessed us so much that weekend.  It is amazing to see His favor in everything we did.  God cares so much about us and wants to bless us.  We are so thankful for Him.

For more info on Mike Lee's bullriding school go to his website at http://www.mikeleebullrider.com/