Tuesday, January 20, 2009

2 years

It's hard to believe that 2 years ago today I lost my husband. I'm always looking for reasons and trying to understand why. I know that we don't have all the answers and we are not meant to! So I try to figure out what he wants with my life - what can I do to still glorify him in this process. And here are some things I've learned:
  • God is always faithful to his promises
  • He will provide
  • Loved ones should never be taken for granted
  • Friends are gifts from god
  • He is not done with me yet - I am but clay
  • I have so much to be thankful for and there are people out there with far less than me
  • There was so much more to me - and I'm continually growing and surprising myself
  • I need to live life to it's fullest - never waste a day
  • I've learned to put down my pride and accept help
  • There can be joy in the pain

There is so much more but these are the things that I run across daily. I can honestly say that today I am happy, I have a good life, my kids are healthy and happy, I have a huge loving family and great friends. When life goes on - this is what I have, and I am blessed.


Today my older girls stayed home from school and we just hung out. We had a nice breakfast with my friend Tavia, then we went for a very special walk on the beach with my friend Kelly and her daughter Shelby. We had great conversations and some laughs. Later we met up with the family at the cemetery. I have a journal where I write down things that I want to remember about John - good - bad - funny, and I took this along and read some of the good things I want everyone to remember. Then everyone shared some more fun memories they had of him - I want these to stay alive in my kids hearts. We ended the night with a great dinner with family and friends - just like he would have wanted it.

After he passed away I went to move his car and this was the song that was playing in his cd player. I think it was a message to us from him or just a coincidence, whatever, it's a great song and we like to think it was written for us :)


My Wish
by Rascal Flats

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
and each road leads you where you want to go,
and if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
and if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' 'til you find the window,
if it's cold outside,
show the world the warmth of your smile,
but more than anything, more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,
all the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
and you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
and always give more then you take.

But more than anything, Yeah, and more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.
this is my wish
I hope you know somebody loves you

may all your dreams stay big


It really was a good day, as good as a day like this gets.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Pine Summit or Bust!!

Remember the good ol' days of going to camp???

Sappy Mom's saying good bye..........
The excitement of being with all your best friends for a whole weekend - with NO parents!

The fun van rides up the mountain.............

The fearless leaders :)
The comfy lodging (?)
The great quality photos (100's)
of nature at it's finest!
Ahhh memories to last a lifetime!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

~1st Annual Cheney Olympics~

We had our first official marathon family day! We vowed to be together as a family ALL day on the day after Christmas (this was actually part of our gift to our parents.) Each sibling took a portion of the day and planned events. Warning: you will get tired just reading this!
The day started with all the grandkids making breakfast:
They did a great job - only slight chaos




You have to start any Olympics with a warm up!

Thanks to Daveed for leading stretches:
Now - LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!

2 teams - family rivalry

The first event was bowling - me against sweet Gracie....

With the help of the wind she got them ALL down!!! Ughh - Beat by a 5 year old!
But look at my form.....

Next was a shoot off between Benny and DJ.

Then it was Court against Mandy on the balance beam....

bye bye

A jump off between Ash and Tay-Tay


Then a friendly game of Frisbee golf with Sean and David


I think this was the best event (cuz I didn't have to do it)

Digging for cherry's....
Heath & Jordan - what great sports!

Lily did great (with a little bit of help from Ben)
in a puzzle-off with Mandy


Amber & Tracy finding safety pins in rice - harder then it looks!

Grandpa and Grandma battle their memories in a family trivia game!


Gotta love Pictionary!
(Heath and Linds were the artist)

The next game was a scavenger hunt in the house where we had to find an object for every letter of CHENEY - and we have no pictures of this because I was the scavenger!
This brought us to a tie between team 1 and team 2 (can anyone remember the team names? help me out here)
so we had a little impromptu tie-breaker race.

And YaY!!!! My team won :}

After some relaxing and play time..........


The day was only HALF done

We did some bumper bowling





And by then we were famished - so we hit the nearest pizza parler!

And to end the night we had a quiet, cuddly family movie night
While it was a very long day - it was probably one of the most fun things we've ever done as a family! We are a big, crazy, chaotic, loving, funny, creative & lucky family.