Growin up to be like Grandpa

So it was spirit week at the intermediate school this week, and one of the dress up days was career day. The kids all dress up in an outfit that represents what they want to be when they grow up. Most of Austen's friends were going to wear their football jerseys. Austen didn't want to do that because he thought "how likely is it that they will be pro football players"? After a few ideas tossed around, someone said how about a rancher. This was it! Austen loves to go the ranch with Grandpa Beatty. He looks forward to round ups and just hanging around all those great cowboys! So we started putting together a costume. He had the boots (Grandpa had just given them to him), he had the levis, belt and felt cowboy hat. The look was complete! The next morning Austen came downstairs all decked out in his costume looking pretty proud of his choice of careers. I kept hearing this jingling sound. I finally noticed a big set of keys fastened to Austen beltloop. I asked him about it and he said... "Grandpa always has a big set of keys fastened to his belt and they clink when he walks." Austen had even gone to the trouble of putting them on a fastner like Grandpa so he could mimick the way he takes his keys off to open a gate or door.

Ain't nothing better than being like your Grandpa... a true american rancher!