More pics...warning...there are a lot...

Me on Christmas morning...

my Dad and Kylie on Christmas morning...

Awesome picture of the full moon rising over the mountains near Lake Mead. I took it while we were waiting for the tow truck to come get our broken down Suburban over Thanksgiving...fun times...

Kids standing on the hill watching for the tow truck at Lake Mead

Someone "Heart Attacked" me after my mom died. This is the front porch of my house.

Kylie actually taking a good picture...Halloween...

Rhett, crazy hair day at school


A beautiful break in the storm

Rhett at Atlantis for dinner after his baptism

Rhett and Papa before the baptism

Rhett before his baptism

He's ready to get baptized

Kylie eating at the mall

WHAT IS THAT? The boys eating at the mall

Sorry it's blurry, but it really is Stateline, NV when I had to drive up there Friday


My first flower!!!!!



Sorry there are so many, but I kind of wanted to get caught up on pictures from the last 5 months. Between the two cameras, I uploaded like 600 some odd pictures last week, so this really is the tip of the iceburg. It could be worse!!!!!

Daily Spiritual Thought

Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 3:18 & Alma 11:43

Thought:"The assurance of resurrection gives us the strength and perspective to endure the mortal challenges faced by each of us and by those we love. Because of the resurrection, we know that these mortal deficiencies are only temporary!" ~ Dallin H. Oaks

I messed it up...

Somehow, I totally messed up a customer's order here at work. He didn't get the correct product on one item, and not enough product on another item. So, since it was my mistake, I get to drive up to South Lake Tahoe, California tonight.

I couldn't be more excited. It is windy. It's probably snowing up in Tahoe. It's Friday, and I'm tired. And what a great way to blow through a ton of gas because I messed up.

I'm so not happy about now. If I could cry about it, I would, but what good what that do?

I'll make a road trip out of it with the kids, and show them where I use to live, and go to school, and ballet, and they can see the lake. I don't Rhett and Kylie ever have, and Anthony was probably too young to remember it.

Oh, well. Live and learn.

Rhett's getting baptized tomorrow!

The baptism is at 5 pm at our Stake Center. He is SO excited. I didn't think it would actually happen. When he turned 8, we gave him the choice. He chose to wait. He said he need scriptures. We bought him a cheap set of scriptures and a carry case. He said he need to learn the Articles of Faith. He has memorized the first 4. He said he needed to be in charge of Family Home Evening. He has done it a couple of times. He needed a suit. We got him a suit. He said he needed a nice short haircut. He got the cutest spiky short haircut last night. He wants to clip his nails and clean under them tomorrow morning, so his hands are clean. He wanted his Papa to baptize him. He called Papa himself and asked him to do it. Papa said YES! He wanted Grandpa Palmer to confirm him. I called Grandpa Palmer, and Rhett asked him. Grandpa Palmer said YES! He needed to meet with the Bishop. He had his interview about a month ago.

The boy has come a long way in 6 months to prepare for baptism. There is no doubt in my mind that he is ready, and he has a testimony of choosing to be baptized and confirmed. I believe he will only get stronger when he has the help of the Holy Ghost with him every day. He's a great kid.

Jason and I lost 4 babies between Anthony and Rhett, and when Rhett came along,we knew he was a special boy, and we were so excited for him to join our family. Right from the get go he was a strong minded, able-bodied, active boy. He is truly one of the strong ones Heavenly Father saved for the last days. He can be infuriating with his strong and ever active mind, but he'll be able to outsmart the adversary with those qualities he's been blessed with.

I thank Heavenly Father for Rhett everyday and pray He blesses him always.

HE DID IT!!!

Anthony managed to pull his Art grade from the F to a high C. I have faith in the boy that he can get it up to a B by the end of the year so he won't mess up his GPA. He also got his English C grade up to a B. So he has A's & B's in everything but art as of today.

The kid is smart. He hardly ever studies, he breezes through his homework, he gets pretty good grades, considering, he is just lazy, but I think he may finally realize he needs to step up to the plate. I hope. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm praying for it...

Daily Spiritual Thought

Scriptures: D&C 59:9-11 & Mosiah 4:30

Thought: "A great deal has been said about giving your life for the work, not in death but in living day by day. It is so easy sometimes to die; it is hard sometimes to live the principles for which we stand...I believe it is far more important to live for our faith than to die for our faith." ~ Mark E. Petersen

Daily Spiritual Thought

Scriptures: Mosiah 24:15-16 & Helaman 10:4-5

Thought"Faith in God cannot of course be other than personal. It must be yours; it must be mine; and to be effective, must spring from the mind and heart. Every man will do well to pray with Emerson: O God make me willing to do thy will." ~David O. McKay

Rhett's Pinewood Derby

He only won one race, but his car was by far the best looking one there. And he had fun, and that's what counts.

Some Pictures

Sienna & Kodi

Jason & Anthony

Kylie in her Easter dress

Spidey Fish

Cash

Spud Bunny

Anthony with his stiches post surgery

Kylie's b-day party crew

Christy, Dove, Dad, Elaine, after my mom's funeral

THE WOODWARD FAMILY

Did you know?

The Book of Mormon first went on sale today in 1830.

A happy birthday of sorts.

I myself am sure glad we have the Book of Mormon.

If you haven't read it, you should.

It is WINDY!!!

It feels like my building is going to be blown down. I'm on the second floor of a metal warehouse, on the corner where the wind blows directly at me. I'm scared. I hate the wind.

They weather report called for 100 mph gusts. I'm pretty sure that has happened. But, it is 51*, so at least it's not super cold, and since it is so windy, we aren't getting any snow.

Just to cheer myself up about this weather, there are only 87 days until the first day of summer!!! :>)

Daily Spiritual Thought

Scriptures: Matthew 4:3-4 & 1 Nephi 19:23

Thought: "Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands, but like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you chose them as your guide, and following them, you reach your destiny." ~Carl Schurtz

Cardiologist update

I went in for my echo cardiogram this morning. Basically a fancy ultrasound of your heart. I felt like I was seeing my babies for the first time, only it was my own heart. The tech made a video and took about 50 pictures to forward to the doctor to review, and after she does, she is supposed to call me in a couple of days.

I am still taking my Prednisone, and I am still in pain.

We'll have to wait and see.

Useless piece of information

I read on the Internet this morning, that the average American produces over 4 pounds of trash per day. That's a lot of garbage!

Here it is only Tuesday, and I already had to stomp down my work garbage can. And the sad thing is, we re-use all copy paper here in the office, so the trash in the can here is lunch, a plastic bag from Office Depot, used Kleenex, written on used copy paper. So sad.

Anthony gets to go in to school early this week to make up his art projects, and the teacher said he should be able to rescue his grade. All we are asking the kid for is A's and B's. He's smart. He should be fine. He just has to actually do the work, and actually turn the work in after he does it. He has like one missing assignment in each class. He "forgets" to turn his work in. He's always had this problem. And what his past teachers and Jason and I can't understand is that he does the work, but just doesn't turn it in. Why even bother doing the work at all if you don't turn it in? What a waste of time. Anyways, I'll keep you posted on this saga.

Jason and Rhett are to the painting point of the pinewood car. It should be ALL done by bedtime tonight. The race is tomorrow.

Daily Spiritual Thought

Scriptures: D & C 39:20-23 & 2 Nephi 31:13

Thought: "The success of our work is determined by the number of true converts we lead into baptism."

I have decided

Next year, I'm not going to color eggs. I always boil them, and get all the coloring supplies out, and everyone bails out on me, and I'm left doing a job I don't really like all by my self. I think my kids are old enough and lacking enough interest to just scrape the whole ordeal.

Other than that, I made Jason hide all the eggs when he got home at 1 am, and put the baskets out that I had put together.

Jason and Anthony got in a big fight on Saturday over his F in art class (that's a whole other story), so Anthony didn't even get out of bed to hunt for eggs, so Rhett and Kylie had fun finding the eggs in a matter of about 2 minutes.

Kylie was more excited about her new dress and shoes than egg hunting. And it was good that it was quick with church starting at 9 this year.

It was a nice quiet day, church was nice, and Jason and I worked together to make dinner. We had bbq ribs, which I boiled, Jason bbq'd, deviled eggs that Jason made, homemade rolls, which I made, baked beans which Jason mixed together and I baked, and a green salad I made. We were going to make homemade ice cream, but we decided we were just too stuffed, and Jason and Rhett are in a mad rush to get the pinewood car done by Wednesday, so they were working on that.

So, yeah, Anthony has an F in art, because he can't follow directions, and does a half-@$$ job on stuff because he thinks the teacher doesn't like his class, so why bother trying...needless to say, him and Jason really got into it, they aren't talking to each other, and Anthony's job and upcoming driving privileges are at stake. I e-mailed the teacher, and he says he will let Anthony make up all the missing work, and low grade work, before and after school and during lunch and should be able to fix his grade by year end. Ugh! Jason wants Anthony to have only A's and B's because he's a smart kid, and to hear Jason go on and on, makes me think about how his parents use to talk about how he was in High School. Apples don't fall from trees, but Jason doesn't seem to remember. I can see this becoming a great debate in our home in the coming weeks...and years....

The weather was great yesterday. I can't remember a nicer Easter in a long time-weather wise. Last year it snowed. After church, I sat on the front porch reading my scriptures, and the front of my legs got burned. Ouch. But, the weather is not to last. They are forecasting rain later in the week. Today it is windy, but, around here, I think when it's not windy, that's a notable moment.

I found out something about why Easter was so early this year. It has to do with when the full moon and the first day of spring happen. Because of this being a leap year, spring was a day earlier than normal, and the fool moon was just a day or two before, so Easter had to be early; or something to that effect. But, worry no more, we won't have another Easter this early again until 2285 or something like that. Interesting piece of info....

Daily Spiritual Thought

Scriptures: Luke 24:39-40 & 3 Nephi 11:14-15

Thought: "We have the witness of the Book of Mormon; we also have the declarations of the Prophet Joseph Smith from his experience that both the Father and the Son have bodies of flesh and bones as tangible as mans." ~ Richard D. Draper

Happy Easter!

a couple of days early, but since I NEVER sit down to my home computer...you get your wishes early. Enjoy them!

I'm hoping the Easter bunny brings lots of chocolate, because I really need it!

Chocolate makes things better!

Daily Spiritual Thought

Scriptures: D & C 38:40-41 & Mosiah 2:17

Thought: "Successful people always do more than they are expected to do."

For me

I can only please one person per day.

Today is not your day.

Tomorrow doesn't look good either.

Health update

I went to the cardiologist on Tuesday. She put me on prednisone, and I go back on this coming Tuesday for an echo cardiogram. Whatever that is, I'm not sure, but we just have to rule out what could be and what isn't. I guess I should be feeling better with the steriods, but I'm not yet, so I hope that tells the doctor more when I see her again. Wait and see.

Last night we had a bbq (in the rain) for Cub Scouts with Rhett. It was a blast. Jason made peach and blackberry cobbler, and it was such a huge hit, we had parents and older youth coming in begging for some. Callen had to leave before it was done, so we dropped some off on the way home. He was so happy. He's started calling me mom 2. He's a funny kid.

Our ward, and 2nd ward, are so small and lacking in children and youth, we combine the scouting programs, which is nice, because we get the chance to mingle with other families in the church we wouldn't otherwise get a chance to. And our boundries are weird, so kids that go to school together, are in differnt wards, yet live almost 2 blocks away, if that.

Next Wednesday is Rhett's Pinewood Derby. Jason and he are hard at work to get it done. Tonight that is all they plan on doing. Rhett even finished his homework last night so he didn't have to do it tonight. I'm going to Relief Society.

Well, I really need to get back to work...

Daily Spiritual Thought

Scriptures: D & C 18:18-19 & 2 Nephi 32:8-9

Thought:"The faithful will exercise faith and pray always for all who are in reach of the Lord, the God." ~Brigham Young

Daily Spiritual Thought

Scriptures: 2 Nephi 28:21-22 & Alma 41:10-11

Thought: "Who are we going to believe in our search for happiness and well-being? Will it be Satan, the author of all lies and deceit, whose single objective is to destroy us? Or are we going to believe a loving Heavenly Father, who is the source of all truth and happiness, whose sole objective is rewarding us with His eternal love and joy?" ~Richard C. Edgley

Have a great day!

About now...

Jason got a really good bike with his Cabela's employee discount over the weekend. We both agreed that riding a bike is so much easier than running, and we enjoy it so much more, too.

So last night, after work, we all went for a ride. We found that Kylie has totally outgrown her bike over the winter, Anthony's bike's brakes don't work, Rhett's needs new tubes, and I need a case of WD40 for mine.

My thighs are very sore (I was already sore from bowling Saturday night), and I need to take it a bit more easy, as my chest was about dead when I got home. (Darn hills I live on)

I go to the cardiologist this afternoon. I'll fill you in tomorrow. I sure hope they find out what's wrong and that I won't have to keep going to more doctors. Jason and I both agreed that if I have a heart condition, we'll just learn to live with it, and go from here. I'd almost rather just have a heart condition and know for sure, and have the meds I'll need, and adjust my life, than not know what is wrong, be in pain, and have to go to more doctors. But, I guess we'll see, and as I said, go from there.

Kylie went to the dentist yesterday. Again, no cavities. She's so good. While she was back in the office, I read my library book, and almost feel asleep.

For "Thanks" Patrick's Day (what Kylie calls it) I made ruben sandwhiches and steamed cabbage. I wore my emeralds since I don't own any green clothing. Rhett wore camo, Anthony and Jason didn't care, and Kylie wore a green shirt, and green socks. Other than that, big deal, or maybe, no big deal.

95 days to summer. Wild Island opens May 17 (weather permiting). Woo HOO!!!!

Daily Spiritual Thought

Scriptures: D & C 112:34 and Alma 11:40

Thought for the day: "The degree of faith possessed by any man depends not upon the extent of his knowledge, but on the certainty of his knowledge, which leads its possessor to works corresponding to his knowledge." ~Joseph Smith

Daily Spiritual Thought

Scriptures: Matthew 23:25-26 and Alma 60:23.
Thought: "We may compare favorably with those who bear obvious signs of sin, because many of our foibles remain private and hidden. Then, following condemnation of the designated villain, we see no need to work on our own imperfections that seem to have diminished into insignificance." Mark D. Chamberlain

Daily Spiritual Thought

Scriptures: Matthew 5:25 and 3 Nephi 11:29
"Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention...Better give your path to a dog than be bitten by him." ~Abraham Lincoln

RS Project - A spiritaul thought a day

This year in our Ward, we are working on "A Degree of Self Reliance" It's kind of like Personal Progress in YM. We are setting goals and at the end of the year, we are going to have a big awards night. There are a ton of areas to focus on, and I am actually excited to be doing a bunch of the things. I feel like I have direction again when it comes to setting and making goals.

Anyways, last month we made "Thought Jars". It is a little thing that can help us achieve one of the goals. Each day, there are new scriptures and thoughts.

I thought I would take my goal of doing it a bit farther and share them with you each day, in hopes of bring you a bit of the Spirit.

Here's today's:

Scriptures: Matthew 7:24-27 and Helaman 5:12
Thought for the day :"If our house is built upon a rock with the brick and mortar of good works, it will withstand the storms and perils of life and preserve us for an eternal inheritance hereafter. If it is built upon the sand of evil with the rusty nails and rotting timber of carnal things, it will be destroyed." -Bruce R. McConkie

I'll post these each week day for you to enjoy.

Love you friends!

Accomplishments

I came home from work yesterday and got the lilly bulbs planted. The weather was so nice. I just had to be outside.

This morning I woke up at 3:30, and couldn't fall back asleep,(couldn't breathe and in pain, laying down hurts more that being up, and even though I sleep with two pillows to kind of keep my at an angle, I still off and end up flat) so I climbed out of bed at 4 (I usually get out of bed at 4:30) and cleaned the bathroom. Then I got ready for work and sat and read my scriptures before getting the kids up and ready. Oh, and I put a load of wash in, and took out the garbage from the laundry room.

The fact I got so much done that early in the morning is kind of scary. And now, my chest is really hurting. I'm about to take number 4, 5, and 6 of today's pain pills so far. I have really been trying to take it easy, just doing a little bit at a time, and then resting, but I had to get the bathroom cleaned. It was gross, and the kids just don't clean it to my specifications. I'm too picky.

Getting my nails done during lunch today. Can't wait. I'm hoping I don't fall asleep while they're getting done. :>)

A nice weekend

I still feel really crapy, my chest is so tight and painful. I called my doctor and he wants to start ruling things out, so next Tuesday I have an appointment with a cardiologist. We go from there working our way down to the least severe possiblities of ailments. Fun times.

I spoke to my dad last night, and found out that his dad had heart disease, and that's what killed him. Here all these years I thought he had black lung from being a dynamite tech in coal mines back in the 20's in Colorado. I was feeling pretty confident that heart disease wouldn't be what I'm dealing with, since it's such a family thing, but now, I may be wrong. I'm trying not to worry about it, take it easy, and wait until my visit next week. However, if that's what it ends up being, it would explain a lot of other things that seem to bother me.

Saturday, Jason, Rhett and Kylie headed to the dump and my father-in-laws house. Rhett had to get his pinewood derby car cut out.

While they were gone doing that, Anthony and I stayed home. I had to wait for Fed-Ex to deliver my shot, and Anthony had slave labor work in the back yard. He actually got out and started destroying a red wood deck that came with the house that was sitting right in the middle of the yard, that we never used and actually hated. Then is friend, Callen came over, and Callen thought destryoing the deck was huge fun.

So we found out what happens when you give 2 15 year old boys, an ax, and 2 hammers. A completely destoyed deck, and half of it loaded in the truck. We took Callen to lunch with us. Went to Home Depot to get stuff to finally texture the living room, and ended up with even more stuff. Since the weather was nice, I talked Jason into getting me some lilly bulbs and a jasmin plant for the front yard.

Rhett had baseball practice. Callen stayed until it was time for dinner.

Sunday I had slept really bad from my pain (did too much Saturday, I think) so I stayed home from stake conference and relaxed. Took a nap, fixed dinner (Callen joined us again) And we made ice cream.

I really enjoyed the weekend and was sad to see it end. The weather was great, we got a lot done around the house and yard, and spring is finally upon us. Only 103 days to summer! What could be better?

Anthony's follow-up

Anthony had a follow-up yesterday for his facial surgery. He is healing well, however, the scar, instead of turning pink or white, is turning brown (the color of his freckles). The doctor said he's heard of this very rare occurrence happening, but he has never seen it personally. It is just Anthony's mutant cells at work again. But since he wants to have a scar, he doesn't care if it matches his freckles.

I'm telling you, my boy is weird.

He didn't need another steroid shot, and we shouldn't need to go back for another 6 months, unless it flares up again.

Anthony was thinking he didn't want to have kids to pass his mutant gene on to, but I told him those genes skip every generation, so his kids would be fine, and it would be his grand kids that would be freaks like him. He laughed at first, then told me I was just plain mean.

Tuesday

Man, 3 more work days left until the weekend. Feels like about forever.

Jason took Rhett to his baseball practice last night, and I took a nap for about half and hour, and then I had to go pick him up at 9 pm because Jason had to work security at 9. It wasn't too bad, and Rhett had a great time, and is really excited to be playing this year. My nap didn't help, however, I still feel crummy.

I can breathe, but I just ache. My whole torso hurts, and I don't know why. If I sleep bad again tonight and feel like this tomorrow, I'll call the doctor and try to get in on Friday or Monday of next week. I'm up to 4 Motrin every 4 hours, and they don't really help. I'm sure I'm killing my kidneys and liver by taking so many pills, but I am drinking plenty of water. Guess I'll get to go through a battery of tests, but as long as they can find out why I'm in so much pain, and can get me better, I'm OK with it.

I forgot to mention that on Friday, when I got home, the kids informed me there was a mouse on the back step. I was ready to freak, and they informed me Kirby had caught it and it was dead. That's my Scottie dog. Such a good girl to kill the mice she finds in the back yard. I am terrified of mice. Now I just wish she wouldn't leave the dead bodies laying there for us. Dead or alive, I am terrified of them.

Speaking of dead animals, yesterday, there were PETA people handing out fliers to the kids as they were leaving school yesterday. Anthony took one and in all seriousness said, "Thank you. I just love animals. They taste delicious." He said the PETA guy was outraged, but Anthony just kept walking. That's our boy.

Don't feel like working,but should be

It is almost 1:30, and I'm tired of working today. So I'll blog for a few, and see if I can overcome it.

The weekend went by way too fast. (Don't they always?) We did some shopping. Jason needed some new jeans, so we went to Kohl's and ended up getting some great deals, because they were having a door buster sale, and we got 2 pairs of jeans at $9 a pair, and an entire suit for $122, and a pair of pj pants for Rhett for $10.

Then we took some old out-grown clothes of Kylie's to Goodwill, got lunch and headed to the mall. As we were walking thru the men's Macy's, we found dress shirts on sale for $10 each. Name brand stuff like Armani, and Ralph Lauren. We got three for Jason. Two will go really well with his new suit.

I had a dinner to go to with my work at Grand Sierra Resort (formerly MGM, Bally's and Hilton). It was a very fancy 6 course meal. It was very yummy and very fun. It was a nice date night for Jason and I, and we didn't have to spend a dime. My boss paid.

Yesterday, Jason had to work, and I took the kids to church. I froze the entire 3hours, and came home and took a nap for 2 hours, then I got up, fixed dinner, watched 2 movies, and went to bed.

I am still feeling crummy. Breathing is still hard, and it seems to get worse at bedtime. I didn't sleep well last night, and I'm so tired today. (Could that be the reason why I don't want to work?) Last night I even had a low fever. So I know I'm still sick, I just have to convince the doctor of that now.

Rhett has baseball practice tonight from 7-9. We are going to have family home evening at the dinner table while we eat tonight.

Looking ahead at the week, it looks like it's not too busy. I sure hope it stays that way. Only thing I see, is baseball practice and Anthony has another doctor appointment to check his face again, which is healing well, and doesn't seem to have anymore bumps on it.

Oh, and my library books are due tomorrow.