Hailee & Hannah

Hailee (17) & Hannah (17)

Syracuse, Utah 

“Rodeo Queens”

In the small suburban town of Syracuse, Utah live a very special and very unique pair of sisters. They are the sweetest, kindest and closest girls around, but that’s not what makes them stick out. Hailee and Hannah were adopted at birth by their parents, Robin and Todd Smith who always wanted to, but were never able to naturally have children of their own. When other parents were averse to taking on two girls, one of which had Gastroschisis (a condition where intestines grow on the outside of the body) Robin didn’t back away. She knew that God sent her Hailee and Hannah to raise on her own. Robin and Todd consider themselves an ordinary, All-American Caucasian family, but they just so happen to have adopted four black children. It’s not lost on them that their children are the only people of color for miles around and it’s even more unusual to have twins….and even more unusual to have sisters who are so involved in the rural lifestyle that is the norm of the area. But that’s just who Hailee and Hannah are!

The sisters are used to being different and understand why people are so curious and why heads turn so often. The girls have grown accustomed to being the only people that look like them around.  When they visit places like California that are more "diverse," they catch themselves staring at all of the people of varying shapes, sizes and colors. They have their own version of culture shock! Hailee and Hannah love their country outdoorsy roots and they’re not afraid to say it! They love Reba McEntire, hunting, fishing and cowboy hats! They don’t know any differently because they were not taught to see themselves as different.

Hailee and Hannah's biological mother, Nicky, was involved in their life when they were young, but the relationship fizzled out and they haven't had contact with her since. The sisters are unsure if they want to reunite with her at this point in their lives or not. It seems to them that life is working so well, why introduce someone else into the picture? Hannah and Hailee consider Robin and Todd to be their parents and they are happy with their family. The girls describe their mom, Robin, as a "wiry redhead" and their dad, Todd, as " calm, quiet and funny." The Smith family adopted two other children, Peyton (19) and Bracken (11) who are also black. Besides a family of size, there’s a whole menagerie of animals just outside the doors! They have 8 horses, a miniature donkey, 2 micro-pigs, 2 dogs and 2 cats!

Hailee and Hannah are typical teenagers in every way possible. They love to talk about boys, gossip, go shopping together and talk in their "twin language." The sisters have the emotional ups and downs that teenagers experience with fluctuating hormones. Ultimately, they are best friends but they admit that they bicker a lot. Hannah and Hailee each have their own bedrooms but will drag their mattress into each other's so they can sleep in the same room, especially if they have watched a scary movie together! The sisters find comfort in being close and they like to be near each other. If one twin is acting "off", the other twin will steal the other's phone and use the "Face ID" feature to unlock the phone and start reading through text messages and emails to figure out what's going on with their sister. Neither of them has ever had a boyfriend, they aren’t opposed to the idea, but they think guys their age are immature.

To know Hannah and Hailee is to know their biggest passion in life is horses and rodeo. They’re country through-and-through! The girls started their rodeo careers when they were eight-years-old through their mother. Their lives are consumed by their rodeo competitions. In the fall and spring months, they spend every weekend traveling to rodeos to compete in barrel race, pole tie and goat tying competitions. That’s right! These gals jump off of horses and wrestle goats for fun! In the high school rodeo arena, Hannah and Hailee are known by everyone! They are competitive with each other and like to see which sister can do better than the other. The sisters like to compete together because they feel like they can turn to each other if they have an "off day" and they are able to console each other.  Rodeo isn't all fun and games. There is a lot of work they have to do at home to take care of all of the animals and training for their competitions together. The girls spend most of their day together doing chores around the farm and taking care of the animals.

The next year is going to bring a lot of change for the sisters. Hannah and Hailee are seniors in high school and they are starting to make plans for what they want to do after graduation. Both sisters want to attend the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Hailee is eager to move out of the house and into the dorms to kick off her freshman year in college. Hannah feels like she is "stuck" because she isn't sure she is ready to move out of her parents' house and leave life on the farm behind. Hannah wants to continue competing in the rodeo while she is in college and needs to be near her horse so she can train and maintain "connected" to her horse so they can compete better together. The family home is forty-five minutes away from campus, so Hannah is considering staying home and commuting to school. Hannah is torn because she doesn't want to get a case of "FOMO" when Hailee moves into the dorms and Hannah will be missing out on fun with her twin. If Hannah does move to campus with Hailee, they will live together in the dorms, which the girls say would be fun but also frustrating since they don't have the same definition of "clean"! Hannah is not as neat as Hailee and it drives Hailee crazy! Either way whatever comes next will be a wild time with these fun and lovable sisters.