‘She’s a little survivor’

LAS VEGAS – Sometimes, fate has a way of bringing people together.

Other times, it’s simply destiny.

For Hobie and Tawni Peterson and their family, it was both.

The couple was living in New Meadows, Idaho, a town of about 500 people in the west-central part of the state, when their lives forever changed in 2016.

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Alicia Peterson (not her given surname) was born on July 1, 2009 in Nevada before she was adopted by her aunt, who brought her to New Meadows.

That was where Tawni, a family practice nurse practitioner, first became aware of Alicia.

“Her aunt was a patient of mine and she died unexpectedly,” Tawni said. “Alicia was seven at the time and she was a rabid child … she literally ran the streets.

“I called Hobie and asked, ‘Can we please keep her?’ He said, ‘No. we’ve raised our kids and we’re not doing this again.’ He said she could come for the weekend. By the end of the weekend he said, ‘Call the lawyer.’”

Recalled Alicia: “I was living with my aunt but she died, so I got to move in with these beautiful, amazing parents that I have.”

The Petersons adopted Alicia and welcomed her to their family, which consisted of three adult sons at the time. Tawni and Hobie, who thought they were done raising kids, instead had to polish up on their parenting skills.

“Her adopted mom didn’t really send her to school,” Tawni recalled, “so when we got her she was in second grade and hadn’t really been to school. She didn’t really know English; she had her own language.”

Those early years on the street – Alicia and her aunt often slept in a car – created a survival instinct in Alicia.

“When we first got her, we would go out to eat and if there was any food left she would hide it underneath her bed because she was afraid she wasn’t going to be able to eat again,” Hobie recalled. “She’s better about it now, but she still saves everything. I’ll open the frig and there will be a glass with just a little milk in it and another with just a little bit of juice.”

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Fast forward to 2024 and Alicia has learned another language, one that consists of horses, barrel racing and pole bending.

The 15-year-old sophomore is competing in both events in the Kelly Kaminski Run for Vegas at this week’s YETI Junior World Finals. She entered Friday second in the average in pole bending and finished in the top 30 in senior barrel racing.

An impressive showing for a girl who had never even been on a horse until four years ago. It turns out wanting a family wasn’t the only thing Alicia desired growing up.

“I have always really wanted a horse, and I kept asking and asking,” Alicia said with a laugh. “I put it on my Christmas list. … I also asked for a unicorn.

“I woke up one day and they took me outside and I saw this horse and I was really excited,” she continued. “I rode for about a year and they put me in a (horsemanship) course so I could learn all different types of events. I started getting in barrels and poles and I’ve been competing since then.”

Turns out Alicia was a natural.

“She took right to riding,” Tawni said. “People tell us all the time it’s like she’s been riding her whole life.”

A girl who had been taken from her mom at birth, who had lived n the streets and slept in a car found peace on the back of Lynx, her barrel horse, and Mirrors, her pole horse.

“Having my horses really helps me,” Alicia said. “Whenever I’m feeling sad I would go to my horses and I would ride and it would make me feel a lot happier. And then I could come back to whatever had been bothering me.”

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The connection between Alicia and her new parents was still in its infancy stages when the Peterson family was dealt a tragic blow.

Rio Peterson was an avid outdoorsman who loved skiing, biking and fishing. On April 16, 2018, Tawni and Hobie’s oldest son was skiing at Squaw Valley (now Palisades Tahoe) in California when he crashed and suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed.

Now 35, Rio is back home with his parents in Sandpoint, Idaho, a small town in the northern part of the state. And he’s got a younger sister he never expected, but one that has been a blessing in disguise.

“He was only 28 when he got paralyzed so he never got to have a family,” Tawni said. “But with Alicia, we feel like we co-parent with him. Part of the reason she does so well in school is that he took it over and he tutors her. He’ll contact the school to see if she has any missing assignments and then he’ll remind her to get her work done.”

Hobie nodded his head in agreement before relating how Alicia rides on Rio’s lap as the two zip around the house in his power chair.

“He and Alicia are the best of friends,” Hobie said as tears welled in his eyes. “She dresses him and she takes care of him. He loves her so much.”

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The Petersons moved to Sandpoint two years ago.

By this time Hobie had quit his job as a metal fabricator to stay at home to take care of Rio. Tawni was, and still is, a nurse practitioner. And Alicia was starting to show promise as a barrel racer and pole bender.

Last year their faith, and their family, was once again tested.

“Our youngest son died from fentanyl a year ago,” Tawni said. “After that, we completely shut down; we couldn’t function.

“But Alicia had to keep rodeoing. She was so traumatized from her life that we thought for her we had to keep going … we didn’t realize it was for our salvation, too.”

Added Hobie: “We would probably be in a bad place if it wasn’t for Alicia.”

Alicia, the 15-year-old with long dark braids and a smile that can light up an arena, is forever grateful to the Petersons for welcoming her to their family. What she might not realize is how much she has given them in return.

“We thought we were giving this sweet little girl a home, but she has given us so much back,” Tawni said. “I don’t know what we would do without her.

“I tell Alicia she was always meant to be with us, she just had to take a different route, and it took her a little bit longer to get here. She’s a little survivor.”