We are SOOOO proud of you Auntie B!!!

The past few days we have spent some wonderful memories in Salinas. This was the California Ro-DAY-o Salinas weekend and that means it is time to crown a new Queen. Blake's sister, Blair, has been the Queen over this past year and this week was definitely a bittersweet experience. On one hand we all felt like the veterans knowing the routine of what happens, knowing the who's who of the Rodeo and just feeling comfortable and confident. It was so nice going into this week with absolutely no stress...just being able to soak it all up. The contestants were probably freaked out of their mind and Blair just got to smile and lead the way for all the girls. On the other hand, it is bittersweet. Another Rodeo meant there needed to be a new queen crowned for 2009. There were 8 contestants. All of them did an amazing job. They are judged on horsemanship (40%), personality (30%), appearance (20%) and scholarship (10%). It is DEFINITELY no walk in the park. It is so intense! Brittany Slaton, from Hollister, who happens to be Miss CLOVIS Rodeo, won the title for 2009 Miss California Rodeo Salinas. What an honor. It has truly been an honor for Blair as well. Blair did a phenomenal job, not only this entire past year at every appearance she was a part of, but especially this week at the Rodeo. Blair definitely did the California Rodeo Salinas proud. Even more importantly, we are SOOOOO very proud of our Auntie B!! Way to go Blair!!


This was Wednesday night. They have a dinner together with all the contestants and then we go into an auditorium to hear the interviews. There were HARD questions this year! Everything from Rodeo questions to political to personal...all across the board.

Uncle Gary, Bradley and Blake

Some of the contestants with our Queen Blair

Here are all of the contestants with Blair leading the way. The girl that won is the 4th girl from the right. So it goes Blair, then 2 girls in pretty red dresses and then Brittany Slaton who won.

Per contract Blair had to make a scrapbook of all of her memories from this past year. Her and I spent countless hours at my dining room table finishing the book. It turned out so cute!! Lots of people asked if she had a professional complete it for her! HaHa!! Yes, Blair and I are professionals! We had such a good time doing it together.

Here is Miss California Rodeo Salinas 2008 Blair Smittcamp. They asked her some fun questions about what her year was like. She thanked so many people. Blair is made for public speaking. She speaks so well! Good thing she is majoring in Mass Communication and Journalism.

Below is a picture of our little rodeo princess. The interviews STARTED at 8pm, which is bedtime for Aubrey Rose. Aubrey held out as long as she could going up and down the stairs, up and down, up and down, but then she fell on one step and we were done. We couldn't distract her any longer, so we missed the last contestants interview.

The next morning, the contestants had their horsemanship competition.

Here are some of the girls.

Us in the stands...Uncle Gary, Blair's queen coach Pam, Bradley, Linda and Aubrey Rose

Uncle Gary was so wonderful to Aubrey Rose! He followed her EVERYWHERE!!

Auntie B and Aubrey Rose
The girls in the "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" attire. Blair is to the right of gentleman. The 2009 winner is standing to the right of Blair.
Linda, Aubrey Rose and Blair
Uncle Brad was so great with Aubrey Rose. He stood with her watching the horses go by. She was LOVING the horses!! She kept saying, "NEIGH, NEIGH!"

This is us waiting to hear who was going to be crowned the next Queen

Our crew...even MomMom and PopPop (Linda's parents) made the trek over to watch their granddaughter make them proud too. It was so cute when Blair came out, PopPop leaned over to the stranger next to him and said "That's my granddaughter." We are all proud of Blair!

There she is!!!

Brandon is a friend of Blair's

PopPop, MomMom, Uncle Gary and Blair

At the end of each night the girls get to be apart of the autograph party. People line up to get their autograph. Blair has fancy pictures of herself that she signs to the fans. Next year Brittany with have the fancy pictures. Here is the 2008 Queen Blair (on the left) and the new 2009 Queen Brittany (on the right). Well done girls!!

Below is the line of people waiting to get their autograph. This is the biggest Rodeo in California. Look how big the stands are in the background! And that is just half of it!

Below is the Autograph table with the Queens and the other professionals. When the autograph session began, the announcer said, "There ain't no party like an AUTOGRAPH party."

We are definitely proud to be apart of the memories. We are sooooo very proud of you Auntie Blair!