A Post from Cade

Ashley and I have been playing faithfully on our ward softball team (only missing one week the whole summer). Last night's game was probably a pinnacle in my top-ten greatest sports moments of my life. Our ward has gone undefeated the whole summer. Last night were matched up against a good team with only one loss. They take it very seriously. They were by far the best competition we've had. Due to a tied game we had to go into an extra inning. They were up to bat and miraculously scored four runs. We hadn't scored more than three runs in a single inning. Now it was our turn to bat. The pitching was horrible, all pitches were over the head. Our players kept swinging anyway. By the time I got up to bat we already had two outs. Talk about pressure. There were runners on first and second. Even more pressure. Due to the big holes in right field (and the fact that they were usually staffed by unconfident girls) I had been hitting opposite my previous two hits (with a single and a double to right field, mind you). The pitching continued to be horrible. No joke I seriously let at least 20 pitches sail over my head, directly at me, or so far out you would think the pitcher was throwing the ball to first base (not quite that far, but you get the idea). With our Stake rules, there are no walks. I wasn't going to let my swinging at a bad pitch lose the game for us. Finally on about the 25th pitch, with nerves tense and pressure on, there was one low enough I could swing at and - crack! Never have I hit a ball so far (I have never been a power hitter). It felt so good to see the guy in Right-Center (they had now moved over much farther to the right remembering my previous two hits) run up, and then stumble backwards realizing the ball was sailing over his head. It was no home run, but the best triple I've ever hit - probably the only triple I've ever hit. The rest was history as the kid after me belted a home run tying the game at ten runs a piece. Unfortunately the next guy up swung at another pitch to his head and the fly ball was caught. Too much time had expired and the game was called at a tie. Surely it would have been better if we'd won - but by not losing we still go undefeated.

slow down summer- you're moving too fast

july has been a crazy whirlwind...and it is quickly coming to an end. this post is dedicated to our busy schedule. the craziness started with our ward campout (which- lucky for you- yields no pictures). after the campout, we raced back for the oak meadows pool party i had to plan. my favorite moment is pictured above. cade and i opened the volleyball net we bought for the full sized pool. clearly, this package lied. nowhere on the package did we read, 'bathtub size'. the party went well and the craziness continued.

next up: our adventure at LD's restaurant. this gem located in richmond, ut has always been a source of intrigue after my brother and his wife moved out there. it is shocking to see the huge sign on the outer wall that reads LDS Bar and Restaurant. only in richmond will you find an lds bar. anyway, cade's friend, jason, was kind enough to get him a gift certificate for one sirloin steak and a coke at LD's probably laughing to himself thinking we would never get out there to use it. well, checkmate jason! we went with fellow richmondites jeff and heather. cade got his sirloin steak, i got an odd chicken and ham slab combo, heather got something that actually looked good, but finally, jeff ordered a chili burger. please see photo below.

somewhere in this burger lies buns and a meat patty. unfortunately, you have to use your imagination to understand how jeff ate it.

next up: lagoon. my work gave us free food, parking and passes so we joined the tattooed masses in line at wicked. this time i didn't lose my camera or my cell phone on any ride. progress! the day turned out to be a blast. above, you'll see a picture of some co-workers and some boys who cade befriended in line...something i am growing accustomed to. and below- leslie and austin.

the fun at lagoon was cut short as cade and i sped down for a concert that same night in salt lake. one of our favorites, andrew bird, was playing in the twilight concert series at the gallivan center. *note- nothing about the twilight concert series relates in any way to the popular book series that every thirteen year old girl totes around. it is simply a concert series that happens, coincidentally, at twilight. it was so so so so good. andrew bird was fabulous. he played a bunch of new songs and some of our favorites and we left that night full after a long feast of succulent tunes. josh ritter played that night- also a great artist. that shouldn't go unmentioned. a big thanks to the summer concert series for bringing these great artists for us to see for free.

finally, this picture graphically depicts the side effects of a good concert. grady unfortunately got gum stuck in his armpit. but did i mention how great the concert was?

we didn't start the fire...

so this last weekend, we had the babies and some friends over to the clubhouse here to swim and play games and such. we decided to do burgers for dinner, so cade and i thought it would be fun to use the tiny bbq grill thing eddie and kylee keep out on their balcony. we figured that since we live here now- everything is free game. so we stole their charcol and brought the bbq down to the clubhouse for some serious grilling. it took the boys a good hour to get the thing hot enough to cook on- but finally we were enjoying some tasty food and having a great time.


being addicted to the game splash, the fun lasted until 12:30 in the morning. as we were packing up, cade discovered that the briquets had cooled and he could carry the grill back to the apartment without burning himself one bit. i headed up to the apartment to work on my relief society lesson- which was less than 8 hours away-as cade took the trash to the dumpster.
we were quite pleasant in our cozy apartment for about 20 minutes until all hell broke loose outside. i heard sirens and worried that since i was the only on-site manager i would have to go help. i asked cade if the sirens were here or at the property next door. cade suddenly went a sickly, white color and just ran outside without saying anything. weird, i thought, but it's cade. he comes BUSTING back in the door and frantically starts turning out all of our lights, all the while screaming- 'it's us! it's us! we started the fire!'


i run to the window to see what is going on, only to see residents running around everywhere and the fire department dousing the dumpster. it was then i put it all together. we had, in all actuality, started the fire. the briquets must not have been as cool as we once thought. so immediately i get a call from my manager who is out of town. she said a resident called her in tears claiming that the fire was spreading and about to burn the trees or perhaps the building. i calmed her down and told her it was all taken care of. the authorities had arrived. meanwhile cade and i hid in our pitch black apartment.


honestly- the damage was minimal. we did come clean and admit that we were the instigators- and it seems as though we have avoided any charges or fees. but i included some pictures for your enjoyment.



the lid to the dumpster melted...but nobody likes lifting those disease infested lids to toss their trash anyway, right?



i include this picture to show you the small burn mark and how ridiculously far away the 'endangered' tree and building are from our fire. i think our neighbor downstairs needs a little more excitement in her life. this was nothing to cry about, dear janice.

read this post while you can- we may have to delete it if some sort of investigation flares up again- and if that happens, you'll find us sneaking around a dark apartment.

hobbies and hopes crushed

Growing up I got tired of hearing how domestically-challenged I was. It seemed that my brothers could always cook better than I could and were insanely crafty. The persecution continued when my 300 pound, football star brother started cutting and highlighting hair for all the neighborhood kids in my mom’s salon whenever she was gone -just so he could make a few extra bucks. At this point in life, I couldn’t even do my own hair., let alone cut and highlight someone else’s.

Well- due to the fact that cade and I are “freakishly tall” (a direct quote from my grammy) I considered taking up sewing to alter some of our odd fitting clothes and to start making purses…..oh how I love purses. Just when I thought my domesticity was on an upward slope, my dear brother one upped me again.

Yes, what you are seeing is an actual camouflage sleeping bag for his 2 ½ month old daughter, addy. I can’t beat that. This belongs in Martha Stewart’s outdoor magazine or something.

Wish me luck on finding a new hobby.

*disclaimer- you may be wondering why jeff didn't make this bag in pink with small embroidered daisies on it, considering addy is a girl. please know it is camouflage because we grew up with the notion that everything you take camping must either be camo or hunter orange . we are not white trash, just well educated.

island park for life

summer so far has been pretty busy for cade and i, but just recently we were able to take off to the annual family vacation. this year we headed up to island park. i had heard we had rented a nice cabin in the woods that would be perfect for all 22 of us headed out there. to my surprise, we showed up to find our "cabin" was really just a huge room with 15 beds, a fridge, an oven and a table. yes- all in one giant room. what a great welcome for cade to the family. he was so great to be just fine with grandpa's sleep apnea and aunt lynette's snoring- not to mention the two new babies. despite the FLDS-esque housing, we still had a great time.


after seeing this picture, i feared being the last ones to wake up.

yes cade actually did drive this close to a buffalo. yes i did fear for my life.

the real adventure started when we took the atvs out for the day.

this is cade on speed. seriously, he was a mad man on the four wheelers.

grammy gets pretty rowdy late at night.



while the rest of the world may not like my singing, my little nephew, owen, loves it. he just goes into a trance as i quietly sing cold war kids into his little ears.

our trip finally brought us to beautiful bear lake.
cute little addy. we stayed in logan on sunday for her baby blessing.

we really did have a great time. i loved every second of it...pretty much. cade was such a champ. hopefully with a little coaxing, i'll convince him to go again next year.

le jadin- le wedding reception...oo la la

again.... sorry about how late these pictures are hitting the press... but they just take forever to upload. our reception was great. so fun and so fast. i can't believe how quickly the whole day went by. but here is a brief picture tour of the night.



the dapper groom looking ever-so-natural...

a
the family cade inherits is quite smaller than the...

TAYLOR CLAN. seriously look at this picture. i love it.



the ol' bouqet toss led to a few pulled hamstrings and my twelve year old cousin dreaming of sam boyle for the rest of the night. quite the catch.

after climbing on a strong set of shoulders, jason snagged the prize away from the rest of the boys... who's the lucky girl, jazzy?

then came the tunes. and we danced.

and danced...

and danced.

and finally, thanks to all of those who participated in turning the aztec into a complete honeymoon mobile. what would we have done without the hundreds of condoms and insane amount of dinner mints. i think our air conditioning just recently stopped spitting out small bride and groom confetti.

pictures prove it all

so i realize that it has tken me a lengthy amount of time to get some pictures on here... but cade and i have been pretty busy as of late. so here are some of my favorite pictures... and i'll post some reception pictures later.

here is dear dad looking so stoic.



even though the temple staff wasn't exactly happy about the "who let the dogs out" cheer, we love you guys