Thanksgiving 2013

Turkey Day...

...just wouldn't be complete for our family without traveling to Tucson to visit our good friends and share a traditional (and delicious) meal with them.  Thank you so much J & C for a wonderful holiday!

 





A November Storm

When it rains...

...the Pinks just can't resist playing in the mud.

 

 

 

It's all fun and games until someone gets water in their rain boots.

 

 



Halloween 2013

Happy Haunting!

from the Witch, the Peacock, and the Ladybug

 

 

 

This year, Mommy and Daddy got dressed up too for a neighborhood Halloween party.  I borrowed P.'s Peacock costume while J. dressed up like our favorite character from the comedy show Studio C--the Awkward Avoidance Viking.

 

An Exciting Announcement

It's time to let everyone know our good news!

 

Taylor baby #4 is on it's way!  Due May 2014.



School Fund Raiser

The 2nd Annual Apex Fun Run...

...was held on Halloween Day.  Both A. and P. participated this year.  Many thanks to all of their sponsors who encouraged Pinks 1 & 2 to do their best and helped them raise fund for their school!

 

 

P. ran 29 laps!  (maximum was 36)

 

A. ran all 36 laps plus 2 more.  Just for fun.



Fall Break

It's October.  The Kids are out of school...

...for 2 1/2 weeks and the temperatures are still in the high 90s.  What do you do?  Drive to Utah, of course.  Many thanks to Grandpa G. for accompanying the Pinks on their 2nd road trip of the year.

 

 

MAPLETON

 

Riding the ATVs with Grandpa S.



 Making Halloween cookies with Grandma M.

 

 Picking out this year's pumpkins.

 

SPRING CITY

Listening to General Conference.  (Wait--they're never this still listening to General Conference.  I must have snapped this shot while they were watching a cartoon.)

SALT LAKE CITY

 

Visiting the witches at Gardner Village.  The Pinks were very patient while I shopped for the perfect Halloween wreath for our front door back home.

Hiking around Crystal Springs with Grandma D and the Strong cousins.  Beautiful!!

A sort-of illegal picnic lunch on the trail.  But hey, the government was shut down that day.  If there is no government, is there law?



 

 Strong sisters craft night.  I never could find the perfect Halloween wreath so my sisters helped me make one instead.  I love it!!

 

 

 

Pinks 1 & 2 and I also had a fabulous afternoon out with Great Grandma S.  We had lunch together and then played one of my favorite games, Enchanted Forest.  It was so much fun. I wish I had remembered to bring my camera.  Thanks so much, Mama S!

Uprooted Tree

During a recent monsoon storm...

...one of our sissoo trees completely uprooted.  Our mesquite tree broke in half too, but that tree always seems to grow back as long as the trunk remains.  I'm upset about that sissoo, though.  It was a good 40' high and provided valuable shade and privacy from the development being built behind our house.  Sigh.  At least P. had a good time helping her daddy haul away the branches.

 

Stuff We Like

For me, this blog...
...is one part vehicle for easily sharing photos with others (although Instagram has started to take over serving that particular purpose) and one part Taylor family journal.  Today I'm going to focus more on the journal side of things by documenting random stuff our family currently finds interesting. 

 

Studio C

Good clean fun (and short, too.  Perfect for a good laugh right before going to bed)!  J. and I have become addicted to this comedy sketch show.  He quite likes the skit where Darth Sidius is a college roommate and I like all the Awkward Avoidance Viking scenes. 

http://www.byutv.org/show/c68c4e4f-6322-4a23-8b8e-a5be75b70635/studio-c

 

 

Lord of the Lightsaber.com
Your one-stop-spot for all things scifi and fantasy.  (And who couldn't be bigger fans of all things scifi and fantasy than me and J?)  This website was started by our nephew A. Hastings and two of his co-workers.

http://www.lordofthelightsaber.com/


Cardigan Empire.com
Finally!  A website for the fashionably challenged!  A grad of BYU's Marriot School of Management and a former fashion consultant for Anthropologie, Reachel Bagley and her Cardigan Empire blog explain the science of style in step by step instructions and videos.  My self confidence in the dressing room has increased 100 fold since starting to read this blog.  Be sure to check out her posts on body types and best colors.
 http://www.cardiganempire.com/


Millennial Choirs and Orchestras
In 2007, two musically talented LDS brothers, Brandon and Brett Stewart, formed an all-volunteer choir and orchestra to teach and promote the values of classical and sacred music.  True to their motto of "All Ages, All Faiths, One Voice", their choirs (which are now located in Orange County CA, East Valley AZ, Utah Valley UT, and Dallas TX) include 5 choruses:  Young Singers (preschoolers), Children's Chorus (grades 2-6), Youth Chorus (Jr. High), Concert Choir (High School) and the Grand Chorus (adults).  P. participated in the Young Singers' Chorus back in April and loved it.  J recently auditioned for the Grand Chorus and was accepted so we now have two members of our family singing with the EVMCO (East Valley Millennial Choir and Orchestra).  We're all looking forward to their Christmas Concert in December.  Check out how these amazing choirs sound by clicking on the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf0oHBLUPq4#t=51



Doerfler Family Reunion

Bear Lake, UT

My grandparents, Carl and Dorothy Doerfler, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year and to honor this occasion, their descendants gathered together for a reunion.  While only Au. and I were able to attend (A. and P. both started school that same week and J. stayed home with them), we had a wonderful time catching up with relatives and Au. clearly had a great time playing with Grandpa G at the lake.

 

First Day of School 2013

It's time for school again at the Taylor household!

 

This year A. is heading off to 2nd grade while P. will be starting kindergarten.  I was in Utah (again) for the Doerfler family reunion so J. got to handle all the "first-day-of-school" rites of passage this time around.  He reported that everything went off without a hitch and that not a tear was shed (although he himself got a bit weepy eyed as he watched his little girls walk into their classrooms).

 

 

Summer Vacation

 Road Trip to Utah

Newly equipped with a mini-van, there was nothing to stop us this year from extending our annual pilgrimage to a full three weeks. 

The Drive

Choosing to break up the northern trek into a two-day stint, we stayed over at a hotel in St. George where the three Pinks had to snuggle up under one set of covers for the night. 

 

Since Zion National Park isn't too far off the beaten track, we decided to drive through it on our way north.  J and I have both hiked and camped there before (it's one of our favorite parks) but this was the first time our kids had seen it. 



Spring City

After delivering me and the Pinks safely to Salt Lake City, J flew back to AZ to work (somebody's got to pay those air conditioning bills) while I took the kids to my parents' home in Spring City for a Moms-and-Kids-only reunion.

We hiked in Maple Canyon.

We bowled in Ephraim.

 And ran crazy around the yard in Spring City.

 

 

 

With eight kids in total, four of which are currently two years and under, we also failed to get any sleep.  Oh well.  We had fun anyway.

Mapleton

Who needs Disneyland when you can go to Grandma M's house!

We got to take a trips around the homestead on Grandpa S's ATV.

 

Grandma M treated us to a morning of making cookies and bracelets.  (We were too busy eating the cookies to actually take any pictures of them.)

 

Then the Pinks ran amok at nearby Springville's splash park.

 



Slip n' Slides are tons of fun when positioned on the downward slope of the drainage ditch.

 

But perhaps the most popular activity was feeding the neighbor's mules.

 

Thanks so much for everything, Grandma M. & Grandpa S.!  We had a great time!

 

 

Salt Lake City

We headed north again to spend more time with aunts and uncles and cousins.  Oh my!!

 

First thing on the Pink's agenda was to take a test run in Grandma D's new jetted bathtub.  They gave it six bubbly thumbs up!

 

 No, we didn't adopt a dinosaur, but we did go to the Utah Museum of Natural History with Aunt Amy and cousin S.

 

A. has really been into painting nails recently.

 

She gave Grandma D. a manicure.

 

She even painted Grandpa G's nails!

 

And no trip to Utah would be complete without a day spent getting beautiful at Salon de Aunt Shellie.

 

 



 

 

4th of July

We don't get to spend many holidays with extended family so it was a real treat for us to be in SLC for Independence Day this year.  The festivities kicked-off with a little Guitar Hero in the basement.

 

 

 Aunt Stacy brought fun things too like 4th of July Tattoos, Patriotic sidewalk chalk and glow-in-the-dark bracelets.

 

 

 

After eating Aunt Shellie's divine homemade lemon ice cream, the brothers-in-law all converged on the lawn to "watch" the kiddos while the Strong sisters helped clean up.

 

And of course, there were lots of fireworks.  Thank you everyone for a fantastic Fourth and an all-round great trip!