The Prodigal Son

The prodigal son is an account of a father and two sons. The younger son gathered all that his father gave him and proceeded to waste his substance with riotous living. A famine arose in the land and he began to be in want, so much so that he desired after a meal meant for swine. The son returned home to ask forgiveness and plead for an opportunity to be a servant in his father's house, but instead is welcomed home with open arms and a fatted calf by a father who dearly loved and missed his son.

There is a modern day story that closely resembles this parable of the bible, Tiger Woods. Tiger was a son of Earl, blessed with extraordinary golf talent and spent much of his life in riotous living. Two years ago he was on top of the world, winner of 14 major championships, countless other tournaments and the first billion dollar athlete. Then in Thanksgiving of 2009 it all came crashing to a halt on a fire hydrant outside his mansion. The coming months brought out more and more details of his riotous ways and led to the squandering of about one quarter of a billion dollars in a divorce settlement. He spent the next two years trying to rebound from the disaster that was his life. He played golf poorly, lost sponsorships and most importantly lost his family. He clawed and climbed back hoping to one day regain the life of luxury he once knew. There were many bumps and bruises along the way but at long last the journey is over.

After over two years Tiger found himself in a familiar place, the 18th green holding a trophy. "For he was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found."

Welcome back Tiger!

Finally Christmas!

I have been looking forward to Christmas since September (Tyler has delayed the Christmas music until November) and have been anxious to set up a little tree in our front room/kitchen/dining area to fill our 475 square feet with the smell of fresh pine! Now it is so hard to leave the cozy confines of our little apartment, as we speak I have not left the side of our tree for the past 16 hours. We picked up the tree on Monday for family night at Smith's. I thought that Tyler could muscle the tree the 6 blocks to our apartment but I forgot that the tree was taller than him and probably rivaled him in weight as well. Luckily for us there was a tree still wrapped and so we tossed it in the back of Tyler's car    and with the top sticking out the back window we headed home.

March Madness!

Can you imagine a sporting event any better than the NCAA basketball tournament? I can't. The all day affair of college basketball games just brings a smile to my face to even think about. I can vividly remember coming home from school as a young man (and even an adult coming home from college) and running to the basement to sit and watch game after game, all without ever taking off my backpack. My dear sweet mother would usually make sure I was properly nourished during these times and my dad and brothers would watch by my side (though in recent years my mother has become quite the sports fan). I can remember my dad waking me up one night from my sleep to watch Chris Webber call a timeout he did not have in a championship game,  Homer Drew setting up a game winning shot for his son Bryce during a Valpo game, who can forget Northwestern State hitting a three from the corner to beat Iowa, and The Jimmer (no need to say any more). The only way to describe this is pure madness and I love it.


This year there will be a new reason why March is the most wonderful time of the year, I am going to be a DAD! Yes that is right the madness that is March is going to take on a whole new meaning this year. I do not know what to expect but I do have the benefit of observing many wonderful parents in my life. I am reading parenting books, studying the scriptures to try and find ways to be a good parent and mostly I just watch in awe at the strength of my wonderful wife. She gets up every morning (except Wednesday because we sleep in that day) at 5:30 to go to an exercise class, she comes home and gets ready to march off to school to spend the entire day with 20 second graders and she does not complain. I am lucky that she is the women carrying my baby boy and I am sure he will be blessed because of her physical strength but more importantly her spiritual strength. Many people have asked me if I am worried about being a dad, I always respond that I am not because I am married to Ashley. She is so skilled with children and I just have to follow her lead. Ashley will deliver in March, take her maternity leave and I will be in charge of sole care of baby boy Standifird when she returns after my graduation. I am excited for this time and hope we can find a jogger stroller for the little fella so I can hit the provo trails in April! We are so excited to be parents and hope we can follow in the footsteps of our amazing brother and sisters and parents, we are only worried about where he will fit in our 500 square foot apartment, its a good thing he has small parents!

Lockout Anyone?

Lockouts are the top story of the sporting news this summer. The NFL is inching closer to a deal to ensure no games are missed this season while the NBA is working through a new collective bargaining agreement in hopes to avoid any missed games for the coming season. Though both are important a lockout of a different kind hit close to our home last night.

After spending much of the week in Highland with family we returned home in anticipation of a relaxing evening at home accompanied by an early bedtime. After a fabulous dinner created by Ash, we departed our separate ways. Ashley had a visiting teaching appointment while I chose to go for a bike ride. We met back up around 8:00 at the apartment and headed to the door eagerly awaiting our long anticipated rest and relaxation. As Ashley reached for her purse she realized that she did not have her keys with her, I also did not pack a key with me as to avoid being slowed by the added weight (I will take full responsibility for the keys not being in Ash's purse as I was the one who did not return them to their proper location). After laughing for a few minutes we called our landlord who was not available and proceeded to call two locksmiths priced at 55 and 45 dollars. Luckily we were able to get an additional number to a landlord after 20 minutes of debating the best course of action and this landlord answered with key in hand. Next problem was quickly averted as father Guymon required Ash to have a spare key in a magnetic box under her car, this provided the transportation to the key in north Provo. (Thank you father Guymon)

The evening was not quite as quiet as we hoped and bedtime was pushed back until after 10 due to the travel time to return the spare key after our apartment was unlocked. In the end we learned a few things 1) Put Ashley's keys back where they belong, because she always has them in the same location and 2) try not to get locked out of the apartment in full biking spandex attire because it sure makes things awkward while you are trying to get help from neighbors and landlords.

One year down with one million ahead!

One year ago today a wedding was held, two people were joined together and a little love seed was planted. Since that time this couple have enjoyed a year that most couple could only dream of enjoying! Every stop was filled with fun, laughter and wonderful memories!

 Concerts? Yes!

Laundry? Lots!

Hawaii? Oh ya!

 Disneyworld? Why not!

 Running? Miles galore!

Just a few of the adventures that we have enjoyed together throughout the last year. All the blogs in the world could not contain all the thrills of the past year! Thanks to families who have made fun-filled trips, as well as fabulous Sunday afternoons, possible! Thanks to good friends and married siblings who have participated in a myriad of dates not limited to: Brad Paisley, Cafe Rio, bowling, Tuesday dinner nights, movies, Park City, and of course running running and more running! Love you so much my sweet little Ash! Can't wait to see what the next year brings.