Rodeo

Well, last week we went to the Rodeo too! I haven't been able to upload photos until now, so these will have to do. I actually don't have a ton of photos because everyone knows what cows, etc, look like. Beth, again, had a nice time! She was really intrigued when we were walking around the cattle area. I could tell she was a little nervous to be so close to them! After walking around, we went to our SUITE to watch the rodeo- yes a suite and yes it was totally awesome! My dad's company set us, my parents, and my brothers up! We were on the 8th level- the highest you can get in that stadium- and were totally pampered by the sweetest lady who worked out suite. She made me a yummy drink- cranberry juice and Sprite. Who knew? I wouldn't have even thought of mixing these two drinks but it is my new craving! She called it a "Hannah Montana"- a modern-day Shirley Temple, lol. The concert that night was by Toby Keith, and no offense to his fans but we could have cared less! Neither Ryan nor I are fans of his, so we stayed for 2 songs just to say we saw him then took off. It was probably 10:00 by then anyways so Beth was ready to go! Yes, she stayed up until the moment I put her in her car seat- within 5 seconds of strapping her in (literally!!!) she was asleep! It was crazy, I've never seen her fall asleep so quickly!

In front of some... cows? Beth was pointing at one just a few feet away from her!

Checking out a pig. A huge but good-looking pig.

My serious baby. Not sure what to think about all this!

Ryan and Beth looking at a rabbit. Ryan saw the biggest rabbit he'd ever seen in his life- 18 lbs! And Beth agreed to pet that rabbit that weighed almost as much as her!

The view from our suite!

Chowing down on the fajitas and other yummies provided for us in the suite. L to R: My brother David, brother Alex, cousin Sean, brother Matthew and Ryan. My dad's in the blue shirt up and my brother Michael is conveniently cut off by the window pane.

A couple more thoughts from the other day. Some of you pointed out some really wonderful things, and I wanted to let y'all know that I'm glad you brought that up! God has given us this earth and the plants and animals on it, and we must be good stewards of his gifts! The Vatican has recently pointed out the sinfulness of pollution, but abusing God's gifts to us has always been sinful. It's one of those things that recently has become an issue in the world, so the Church has defined it just to clear up any misunderstandings. Although I don't know who would think that pollution and not being efficient couldn't be bad!

And with my friend dying on Monday, and it being Holy Week and all, death has been on my mind a lot today and yesterday. It's seemed morbid to me to be thinking about it so much, but honestly I've never lost anyone close to me before, so it's sort of a new experience for me. Tonight I prayed for God to help us see His will in light of such a tragic situation, and I felt that for me His answer was to count my blessings. It's really making me cherish every moment. So after nursing Beth tonight, I rocked her a little longer... Listened to her suck her pacifier... Felt her leg twitch as she was falling asleep... Smelled her clean hair... And thanked Him for such a perfect little being that I would give my life for in a heartbeat! And then I thought... This is how much I love Beth. Imagine how much more Christ loves me! He *did* die for me! I'm having a hard time understanding how I will be able to love another child as much as I love Beth. Other moms have told me the love in your heart multiplies over and over again, and I know it'll happen for me too. I already love and pray for that little blob in my belly (that I could swear I've already felt move!) but it's still not really real yet for me!

Anyways, tonight I'd like to encourage everyone to hug their children and spouses a little tighter tonight, and thank God for such wonderful gifts. :'-)