Friday, July 31, 2009

Whats really important

My friend Emily posted this on her blog. It is an article in the Deseret news. I could really relate to it. I hope you enjoy.


What's Really Important

Take Stock of What is Important Early in Your LifeBy John Florez

How quickly our lives can change. We take so much for granted — our comfortable day-to-day routine, our family, friends, neighbors, sunrises, sunsets, the air we breathe and the communities in which we live — all the things that give us meaning in our lives. Sound trite? It's often only when we face a tragedy that we are reminded of our frailty as human beings and realize what really matters.How many people do you know who never seem to enjoy life, what they have or what they do? They complain about how hard they work, wishing they could be doing something else. They are always saying "someday" they will do things they really would like to do, but they never get around to it."Someday" they want to retire and spend time with their family; "someday" they are going to take a vacation with their family; "someday" they are going to take care of their health and lose weight and use the treadmill that still needs to be assembled; "someday" they are going to visit Dad at the rest home; "someday" they want to volunteer at their kid's grade school; and on and on.If that day ever arrives, some find that the big family home they built is empty; junior is now 25 and has been living out of the house for the past five years; arthritis has set in; there are heart problems; travel is limited; father passed away without their visiting him for two years; and their elementary-school daughter is now in high school and doesn't want them there.They have climbed the "mountain to success," 30 pounds overweight, working 16 hours a day, stressed out, not sleeping, self-medicating, with high blood pressure. They get to the top, if they are still alive, but they find no one there. They are alone, and they are lonely.Some are lucky enough to take stock of what is important early in their lives. They realize that the real things are not things. However, some never do, even when faced with a tragedy in their lives. Some will see this as an end of their lives, complain about their losses and ask, "Why me?" and wait for things to happen to them.Then there are those who see "the hidden gift" when tragedy strikes. They see it as a second chance to take stock of the real things that are important in life. They rediscover that which they took for granted and begin relishing every moment as though it is their last, because, in fact, it could be just that.They hug their children more, in awe of the beauty within them, and the joy they bring to their lives. They are more aware and appreciative of their senses — smells, sounds and the touch of their loved ones. They find that one of the greatest gifts you can give to someone is your time. They are grateful that they are part of something beyond themselves, which gives greater meaning to their lives.Those who have learned the "hidden gift" in tragedy see those who are waiting for the "someday" when they can enjoy the gift of life, without the tragedy. They wish they could tell them to take the time to appreciate what they have now, because there may not be a "someday." There is only today.There is the urge to tell them to hug their kids more, celebrate the morning and evening clouds, enjoy the wonder of Mother Nature's different seasons; allow themselves to be vulnerable and have faith. Or, maybe they resist the urge and let them discover, or not, the meaning of life on their own.In the end, we realize that living is about what we learned to value, and that being a part of something is more important than trying to be somebody. It is not about material things, rather how we share, love and look after each other in the short time we are on this earth.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Our Big Weekend

WOO HOO PAGIE!!!!!!! Page placed 4th overall in Utah State High School Rodeo in the goat tying which means she gets to go to Farmington, New Mexico for National's. WOO HOO! I am so excited and proud of her!! Her goal all year was to make it to Nationals and she did it. She did great at state. She drew tough goats and did the absolute best with what she had.
She placed 3rd in the final go around and won a beautiful buckle for her headstall. Look at all the queenies. I have told Page over and over how grateful I am that she does not queen. It's too much work. (McKenzie looks beautiful tho Mindi, we were so proud of her too!)
I am so excited to go to National's with Page we are going to have so much fun and I know she will do great! Mom is very proud, in case you could not tell!
And now onto Cassidy, who also had a great weekend. Cassidy was in a play called "The Place Called Home". It was written by my cousin Karen Beckstead about her poineer ancestors. Cassidy played Maude, the granddaughter to the main character's. She did so great. Her lines were perfect and I was so proud of her too!

Grandma Woodward helped Cassidy make her pioneer outfit. She was the best looking girl on stage.


I tried to get her to put the bonnet on so we could get the full effect, but she would not do it. She was worried it would mess up her hair. What a cute girl. Mom is very proud of Cassidy too!
I think I have said proud too many times in this post, but sometimes you just have to. I am blessed with two great girls. They are so important to me. My heart is full of love for them.



Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Our Working Girl

Cassidy got her first job (that isn't babysitting) this spring. She is working at the park by our house in the concession stand during baseball games. It is the perfect job for Cassidy. Two of her favorite things are talking, especially to boys and eating. So here she gets to hang with all those cute baseball players (she likes the tight pants they wear) and eat. The girl has had more hot dogs than I can count.
Here is a copy of her first check, $184.12. Little miss money bags. She has already spent most of her money, we need to get her a bank account so she saves a little something. But sometimes, a girl just has to hit the mall and buy a pair of shoes or two. They are very cute shoes by the way!
Several people have told us what a hard worker she is. We are very proud of her!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Cassidy's Obsession!


Its official, Cassidy is addicted to guitar hero. I woke up in the middle of the night the other night and could hear this bang bang bang, when I went to investigate, it was Cass downstairs playing the drums. She couldn't sleep, well with all that noise neither could I!
She is getting very good and play's most songs on hard. I am still on easy, or super easy.
Now she wants to take drum lessons.
Help me!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Yay Pagie!!


Page had her best barrel run at a High School Rodeo today in Tooele. She got 3rd place. Yippee! We are so excited! She also had a great pole run and caught her calf in break-away. Goats was another story, but she did great in goats last week.
Good Job Page! We are so proud of you!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Page and Cascade

Go to my blog list and check out Kara Layne Photography. She took some awesome pictures of Page and Cascade while we were in Phoenix.
Thanks so much Kara, we LOVE them!!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Jr. Prom

Page had Jr. Prom this weekend. She had so much fun. She went with Chandler Miller, a boy that she High School Rodeo's with. I thought she looked beautiful. Thanks to our friend Lindy who came over with three sets of hot rollers and helped fix Page's hair. The girl has a lot of hair, it took three of us to get the look. But it was well worth it in the end.
Page and Chandler. He told Roddy that his favorite team is the Dallas Cowboys, so Rod let him take Page. (I think he only said the Cowboys because Rod had a Dallas Cowboys cap on.)

Cheyenne, Page and Allie.


The group, Cody, Cheyenne, Page, Chandler, Allie and Booger. (Yes, Booger, I don't know the kids real name, they always call him Booger, or Boogie.)



Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Cassidy's medical drama

If you look very close at this photo, you will see three very small stitches. Cassidy's first stitches. She was so excited because she had never had stitches before and all her friends have had them. She had a very funky rash on her ankle (be grateful I took the photo after the rash had gone away thanks to good medicine.) The doctor did a biopsy of the rash, ( I felt a little woosy and needed a pepsi to recover from her procedure, but that is another story) hence the need for stitches. At first, they only put one stitch in her foot. She was a little disappointed, not much bragging with only one stitch, but as we were leaving it started bleeding all over, they rushed her back to the doctor where he gave her two more stitches. She was very excited. We go back to the doctor tomorrow to get the stitches out and to see what the biopsy results were.


We will keep you posted on the mystery rash

Saturday, February 28, 2009

We have twins!

Its a boy and a girl. They are so cute. Cassidy named them Annabelle and Wilber. The white one is Annabelle. Her momma is not so fond of her. We have to go hold the momma every four hours so Annabelle can eat. What a pain! The momma likes Wilber just fine.


Wilber loves Annabelle though. They are always together. It is so cute.
The black and white baby from my other post still does not have a name. We need suggestions!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Family Fun


I was looking at thru my pictures tonight and came across this one. I love it. Its of Tammy, Marilyn, Ginny, Cassidy and Page. This picture reminds me of a fun night with some of my favorite people!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentines Day


As usual, Roddy is 3000 miles away on Valentines day. But he did sent me these beautiful roses. He knows I LOVE getting roses. And he does not really like to buy me flowers, so it is extra special that he sent them to me. I have the greatest husband ever! I love you baby!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Baby Goat

Page got quite a surprise last night when she went to catch her horses, and discovered a baby goat. We were not expecting the baby's until next month. This one snuck out early. He is so cute. We had to hurry to the store and buy a heat lamp, its so cold outside. He was shivering.
He does not have a name yet. Any suggestions??

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Dog Barf

Yesterday at about 3:30 a.m. I heard a lot of commotion going on in Cassidy's room. After I told her to be quiet and go back to bed, she informed me that Roxy (her dog) had barfed in her room. YUCK! She put Roxy outside and was in the process of cleaning her room. (If you know Cassidy, you know that this was not an easy feat, the girls room should be condemned.) We decided it was best to leave Roxy outside, get the room picked up, clean up as much of the barf as we could, and go back to sleep. I told Cass to sleep in, as this process had taken quite a while, and I would take her to school a little late, and then clean her carpet. We fell back to sleep and the next thing I remember is Page waking up Cass telling her she would be late. Cassidy told Page about the barfing incident and that we were sleeping in. When I woke up an hour later, Page had gone to school and had let Roxy back in the house. I almost have to stop and count to ten before I tell you what I next discovered. Lets just say I stopped counting when I had found 7 more piles of DOG BARF! Page is lucky she was at school and has lots of hard college classes. I wanted to go to the school and drag her home and rub her nose in the mess!!! I do happen to own a very nice professional carpet cleaning machine, and I had already planned on cleaning Cassidy's room, but not the living room and hallway. It was GROSS! I gagged the whole time! Have I mentioned how gross it was?? So here is my tip to all my friends out there, tell your teenagers who should know better, that if the dog has already barfed once, leave them outside for a few more hours!!!
I know you were all hoping for a picture, I was gagging too much to take one!

Monday, January 19, 2009

For Fahsh....

Ok, so my friend Amy is complaining about the picture of my little one eyed Mosquito on my blog. She said it was time for an update. I decided to begin my update with the cutest girl I know. My niece Kadence. Everyone just take a moment and look at how dang cute she is. LOVE HER!!! Oh my heck, she is so much fun!
Here she is again in her princess tent. She is having a little brother in a few months, so she will always be the princess. Somehow Page got into the princess tent. Princess Page.....I don't think so!

Since the day we got our Wii, Page has been practicing guitar hero, so that the next time we went to Phoenix, she could take Jake on. As, I sit here writing this, I can't remember who won the battle. I am thinking it might have been Jake. Page keep practicing!


Amanda, Cassidy and Rod watching the entertainment. I am not sure who they were cheering for, Page or Jake.



Here is a picture of everyone at dinner. Rod just reminded me that this is not everyone. It was all who had dinner with us. Ginny, we hope you feel better! We had so much fun with everyone this weekend. The weather was beautiful. It was nice to get out of the Utah smog and see some Arizona sunshine.




Friday, January 9, 2009

Mesquito

Mesquito got his stitches out yesterday. An experience he did NOT enjoy. It was not that bad, but he was scared and shook the entire time. He is doing much better, it is not sore and he is learning to get around with only one eye. He has run into a few walls...but not too many. He is still our baby and we love him even more. Everyone is telling us we need to get him an eye patch. That would be too funny! Then we would have to call him Captain Mesquito! My father-in-law thinks he needs a wooden leg too, I think thats going to far!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 brought many great memories, and some sad ones as you will see. Our Christmas holiday always starts with our neighbor's live nativity pageant. It is one of our favorite holiday traditions. The three nights before Christmas they put on a live nativity for everyone. It helps bring the true meaning of Christmas to our family. We LOVE being part of it each year. It is the only time you will see Roddy as a wise man and the girls as angels. I did not get a picture of Cassidy as an angel, but she was one, the first night. I was on the crew this year, I almost froze my toes off, but it was so worth it, we can't wait til next year!!
Roddy and the girls, what a great shot...thanks Tiffany! (I forgot my camera, so Tiff saved the day!)


Here we are on Christmas morning. I had to include this shot. Take a close look at Mosquito...my baby sitting on Rod's lap. More to come on that in a later photo.

Rod, notice the Dallas Cowboy theme, as usual. We hope he always loves the Cowboys, so we always know what to get for him. Nice boxers baby!!!



I got lots of jewelry, one of my favorite things!! Rod also got me a new camera, good boy!! Now I don't have any excuses not to post great photo's of my family!




Page got lots of clothes and horse items.





Finally Cassidy with a horse theme. Maybe a little wild with the Zebra, but she is our wild child!!







Here is my family playing the best gift we could have gotten. A Wii with guitar hero. This game saved the day! We usually go skiing on Christmas, it is something we really look forward to. But this year, not only was the weather terrible, but we had a little dog drama. As I was fixing breakfast, Mesquito and Dally got into a little tiff, and the photo below is the result of the tiff. It is not for the weak. It was very traumatic. Luckly there is a vet ER not far from our house that was open. Mesquito had to have surgery, we all cried. It was not a good way to spend Christmas, but worse things could have happened. He will be ok, and so will we!
( Roddy and Cassidy both had blisters on their fingers from playing the Wii, Rod's shoulder was sore, and Page spent most of the day screaming because she kept getting BOO'd off the stage!!! What a great game!)






Our poor baby!!! Refer to the first photo to see his last photo with both eyes. SAD! But we still love him!