Chasing Sunsets: Adventures on my sister Sara's ranch

Saturday we spent the morning on my sister Sara's ranch for a branding. This was Simret's 1st branding...my first as well. I am quite sure that this made Simret's top 5 for favorite events in her lifetime. When we pulled up to the site, we were greeted by Cattle "mooing". In return, Simret gave a proper "mooooo" to each and every cow she saw. Then came the "horsies". She wanted to meet each one with a pat on the head and then proceeded to identify that they had each and every body part. "Eye" and then she would point to the horse's "eye". "Mouth" and point to the mouth. This was done with each and every horse in a methodical manner. She loved their "soft noses" as well. But, her absolute favorite part of the morning, is when she got to ride a horse. She was a bit reluctant at first and would not ride with anyone, but "Mommy", who really didn't want to ride herself (that is until I was riding and realized how much fun it was). Together, we herded a small gathering of calf's and she got to yell "Hawwwah" to them-like the cowboys were doing. Even though "Mommy" decided to get off, Simret was not quite ready for this adventure to end...so she ended up riding with a cowboy. She was so proud of herself up on that horse with a cowboy!

I think that Simret is going to be a cowgirl. The reason I say this is that her favorite "moomie" (movie) is based on a farm/ranch. She LOVES country music and does a special dance when she hears it. She loves animals and animal sounds. She loves her "Daddy's" cowboy hat (well it is more of a music festival hat), and will pick "the tractor" at daycare over all of the other outdoor plastic riding vehicles. I was struggling with this at first; as this culture is a bit foreign to me and as much as I wanted her to be a mountain biking hippie, that taught yoga, and was a feminist that went back to her country when she was older to help make a positive change for all women. I now realize after some serious contemplation; I am okay with her being a cowgirl or whatever she wants to be. I would be proud of her, just as I am my little sister, to live a simple life that consisted of hard work and love. I think that it is to our benefit, as parents, for our children to be passionate about something that we have never been exposed to...that is how we grow, we learn, and how we learn to be more accepting of others, to appreciate a talent that we were unable to appreciate before, and learn how to celebrate each and every one of our differences and contributions to this world.