Legacy

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, and no I can't believe it, I thought I would take some time to reflect on the things I am thankful for. I'll start with how thankful I am for the legacy Cory's Pawpaw left. 6 years ago when I became a part of the Ruiz family is about the time Pawpaw was diagnosed with lung cancer, so most of the time I have been in the family he was sick. He had a couple years where he improved, but the majority he didn't feel well. Seeing his loved ones morn made me sad I didn't really get to know him well. What I now know is Pawpaw either continued or started the legacy of loyalty and hard work in the Ruiz family. These two qualities are what I admire most about Cory. As we morned S.C. (Pawpaw) I heard stories of how being sick was frustrating to him, because he had to slow down and couldn't work as hard on the ranch as he wanted. I also heard about how this single dad raised his 3 young children all on his own. He left his home in west Texas and created a life for them in Vidor. He provided for all their needs caring for them as both mother and father. I really can't image how hard that would have been. Bisabuelo (Pawpaw) reminds me that even after we are gone the qualities we instill in our children can be passed on for generations. I was encouraged that parenting is such an important gift and we have the ability to impact this world one child at a time. Whenever, I start to feel discouraged and try to find meaning I will remember watching Caleb's Great Grandpa hold him in his arms with so much pride that the Ruiz name would continue on. Maybe with a much lighter skin tone and lacking the ability to speak Spanish, but Pawpaw's strong work ethic and loyalty will be two qualities that I will instill in Makaylee and Caleb and continue his legacy.

Visit to Gran Pawpaw

We finally made it over to Crockett to visit "Bisabuelito". He has been sick with Lung Cancer for 5 years and just went through another round of Chemo and is doing very well. We are so grateful for that.

Caleb always loves going to visit and seeing the cows. Pawpaw lives on 90 acres and has around 80 head of cattle. There is always lots to do around the place, whether it be fixing fences, haying the field or doctoring the cows. None of these things are really my cup of tea, I did plenty of this growing up on THE PLACE in Montana. Now, I would probably qualify myself as more of a city girl, but Caleb is a country boy tried and true. He loves everything about going to visit his Gran Pawpaw. He loves that "Bisabuelito" wears a cowboy hat, cows “merrr” all around, he gets to ride in Papa’s Big Truck and finally, he can ride his JOHN DEERE Tractor.




He and Sissy had great fun going around and around, until she got dumped out on her head. So sad! We put her back in to try to help her remember how fun it was, but she was done and only wanted to be cuddled and held after this traumatic experience.



PawPaw chased Caleb around on the lawn mower, which really concerned Caleb. At one point I think he started crying. I don't think he has quite figured out the whole teasing thing, yet.

Sleep is always lacking when you are in a house with thin walls and lots of snoring, but besides almost being poisoned by leaking gas fumes, we had lots of fun.