Not your normal Monster Truck Rally

Samuel's cousins love Monster Trucks. We have started a tradition of going to Monster Jam with them every January here in Houston. In January 2008 Ethan, Nate, and Samuel had a great time playing with their own monster trucks, while wearing their protective headgear, and watching all the action. Here is a picture from last January.



Needless to say 2008 was a very difficult year for my sister Elizabeth and her family. Ethan struggled most of the year with cancer and passed away the day after Thanksgiving surrounded by family. This post is an amazing story of this year's Monster Jam in Houston. Let me tell you the story.

As part of the Make a Wish foundation trip during the summer of 2008 Ethan and his family were flown to Phoenix to fulfill Ethan's wish. He wanted to meet Jimmy Creten the driver of his favorite truck Bounty Hunter. Not only did they meet him, they got to sit in his truck, and go to the show there in Phoenix. Ethan, his family, and Jimmy created a bond of friendship. Ethan constantly spoke of his trip and seeing his favorite driver and truck.

So even though Ethan was gone this year we made the trip to the Reliant Stadium to watch Monster Jam. Elizabeth and her family had gone early to use pit passes to get close to trucks and to say hello to Jimmy again. During the one on one they gave Jimmy a little craft Ethan had made for him before he died.

During the competition Bounty Hunter performed well - and even as the night progressed he kept winning and winning. Finally the championship race featured his truck. In a perfect race Jimmy won and celebrated by performing donuts in the dirt. It was wonderful to see my sister and her family cheering him on with their home made sign.

When he got out of the truck the announcer interviewed Jimmy and asked about the race. Jimmy produced the craft Ethan had made for him and told his story. He said he knew Ethan helped him win the race. Everyone in the stadium was cheering and Elizabeth and her family were crying. It was a wonderful time. But there was more.



Following the race part of the event the trucks engage in a freestyle competition. During this part of the contest the goal is to put on a show by jumping, flipping your truck, lighting on fire, etc. As the trucks performed the crowd got more and more excited. When it was Bounty Hunter's turn he performed for the crowd, but his time was more cautious doing a large number of donuts and simple jumps over the cars. He didn't perform as well as the truck that tipped over and lost a wheel, or the truck that got stuck on top of the cars. Stacia and I thought that maybe the truck was damaged or he just lost his pep after his earlier win, but that was not the case.

My sister told us about a week after the show that Ethan's favorite part of the freestyle competition is when the trucks do donuts in the dirt. He also liked it when the trucks finished their show instead of getting damaged during their time and not being able to finish. After winning the race competition Jimmy chose to play it safe during the freestyle, and do a series of donuts, to make sure he was performing the best parts of what Ethan loved to see.

I don't know about you but I have just become a big fan of Bounty Hunter, Jimmy Creten, and Monster Trucks.