four years

four years in the books. i always look forward to may 9th and the opportunity i have to reflect on one of the best days of my life. everyday living is crazy and i feel like cade and i are busier than ever. i welcomed the chance we had to take a time out from it all. 

this year was cade's turn to plan the festivities and he didn't disappoint. we started out at happy sumo for some yummy japanese bliss. we exchanged gifts. the 4th year gift is flowers or linen. i got cade some shirts (not quite linen but close enough) and he got me some gorgeous flowers to hang out front.

next, cade and i drove up the canyon to watch the city at sunset. we chatted, watched hikers, found our house, and enjoyed the quiet. then we made out. it was awesome. 

we came back to find these three, pretty ladies waiting for us. 

couldn't love them more. 

cinco de mayo

 we are always looking for a reason to party. i would just like to thank all of mexico for cinco de mayo. we lived it up this year with a great lunch and cornhole tournament at jordan's. 

nothing beats lounging out on the grass on a sunny day with a bunch of people we love. even vi took advantage of the fun and convinced jordan to tickle her back while she tried to nap. 

the party really was fun- even if we didn't excel at cornhole that day. we lost early- sending us to the losers bracket. before we had a chance to redeem ourselves, it was time to go. the day was just getting started!

we dropped the girls off with my parents and headed out with cade's family for another nkaadn (no kids, all adult date night). with 28 grandkids in this fam, we realized that sometimes, we just need to get together and chat sans kids. 

we dined at olive garden and then headed over to gordman's, a new store in the district in south jordan, while the men headed off to a movie. we had no idea what to expect of gordman's, but we all seemed to leave with our arms full. my arms were especially full after cade's sisters broke the news to me that my house was a little on the dark side and needed some lighting. quickly solving the problem, i picked up two lamps and haven't looked back. now for some under-cabinet lighting, new flooring, more lamps, new faucet, etc, etc. the gordman peeps were super nice. we were shopping our hearts out with NO idea that the store had been closed for a while. none of them pressured us or told us they were closing. it wasn't until we were all in line buying our armloads (ALONE) that we realized we were the only ones there and had been for the last half hour or so. good on ya gordman's!

it was late and my babies were ready to go. i rushed to pick them up and planned to meet up with cade later. after driving here and there after such a long and busy day, cade found me looking like this when we finally met up to drive home. 

i was flat pooped. cinco de mayo had worn us all out!

probably one of the best feelings in the world

i don't put this out there to "nanny, nanny poo-poo" anyone else... BUT this was a huge deal to us in the taylor home. as of the end of april, we are DEBT FREE (excluding our mortgage... but who counts that as debt besides dave ramsey?).  we haven't had a car loan in years, we haven't ever had credit card debt, but we have always had the nagging loom of student loans hanging over our heads. i should clarify here that the student loans were all mine. cade is one smart dude and managed to get two bachelor degrees without a spec of debt. i, on the other hand, fell into the idea that i would pay off the pesky loans with all the boat loads of money i would be making post graduation. that idea, btw, is crazy. student loans are the ultimate pits! the interest rates are "low" but they still cost a ton of money! money that you wish was yours! plus, i don't know a lot of people with boat loads of money. i don't even know very many people with boats. i have been paying on these loans for a while now and after finally getting the pay-off record, i can say it again:


probably one of the best feelings in the world.   

well... april flew by

april came and went- SO FAST. months feel like days here in the taylor home. with so much going on, i am really behind on posting to this blog- but as i look through all our pictures, i am glad i can get all of our fun recorded and remembered.

remembering elaine
cade's great aunt elaine passed away this month. she was a kind woman who cared so much for the people and animals around her. many of the stories i have heard about elaine remind me so much of cade. they are both such animal lovers. cade took this picture at elaine's house.

cade remembers parts of her house and even her car having spider webs that she refused to take down. she liked the spiders and didn't want to disturb. last summer, we had wasps nesting all over the outside of our house. cade, like elaine, didn't want to take away what the wasps had created so he didn't take the nests down- and i couldn't convince him otherwise (a neighbor took pity on our waspy house and knocked them all down, thankfully... but that is another story). i got off on a tangent here, but i think it is sweet that the kindness and unconditional love that i value so much in cade is such a defining characteristic of his granny and aunt elaine, who both passed this year. what wonderful women who have influenced my family so much.

 the funeral was beautiful and it was fun to see family. cade and shafer wore matching suits. twinners!

training
cade and i have both been training for races and it has been rough adding such a simple thing into our busy schedules. i have been waking up super early to work a run into my day and cade has been working out with his coworkers over lunch. admittedly, his lunch time work outs are far cooler than mine. they bike up the canyon, trail run and even do really manly things like throw boulders around. i just keep running and running and running.... violet has even caught the bug. she often asks if we can race and joins in whenever we do situps or burpees.






addy's fashion barbie birthday
 addy had a fashion barbie birthday that really took fashion to the next level. the kids got all dressed up and had a fashion show- even owen! he really wishes he had a boy cousin to play with... but he is a good sport to play with the girls. 

 ivy found a great spot to get some lovin from nana and grammy.

 and violet was in princess heaven.... dresses AND heels. she can't get enough! when she dances, she holds her dress out just like a lady would. classy and cute, little vi.

winder is a wonder
since cade loves milk, i got him a winder gift of milk for christmas last year. we have been loving our milk. so much so, in fact, that we really try to butter our delivery man up when we forget to put out our bottles. is this bloggable? hmmm. i have pictures- so it is going on here!

sunday walks
we love the warmer weather and it has led to some fabulous sunday walks. vi is such a fun little person to be around. she has so much to say and to observe. i mean it when i say that i genuinely like spending all my time with her. she is so great. BOTH girls are great. little ivy is constantly getting love- but i am really loving this chatty stage with vi. it makes our walks all the more fun.

p party
my cute nieces are selling paprazzi jewelry to help pay for their dance camps and efy trips this summer. my cute neighbor was selling posh bath products to help another neighbor with an adoption fundraiser. combining these two products, the p party was born.  it was fun to have everyone over to shop and gab. even the teens had fun dressing in some prom dresses that were given to them. how cute, eh?

easter feaster

easter this year was a lot of fun. if you can remember last year, vi was a bit of a diva on easter morn so we were a little bummed out. this year, she made up for it!

the festivities started at the annual egg dye at grammy's house. vi was right in the middle of this action...in nothing but her striped panties, she dyed the eggs, dipped her fingers and painted anything in sight. the one sure way to keep violet busy for more than 5 minutes is to give her an art project involving paint.
*disclaimer: this new blogger uploads my photos funky. i have them turned the right way on my computer but some just will NOT upload the right way. you may just have to tilt your head...

the next morning, nana and gramps hosted an easter egg hunt for all the grandbabies. following the example of her older cousins, vi quickly filled her basket with all sorts of goodies. ivy, on the other hand, was quite content to sit on the grass with her one egg. she smiled on at all the madness.

my mom even made some cute deviled eggs for the brunch with the dyes eggs from the night before. she is a clever one...


when easter morning came around, vi was psyched out of her gourd. the easter bunny had brought her the one thing she always dreamed of: a snow white dress. i wasn't sure if i would ever witness anything cuter than hearing her sing "someday my prince will come" and "i'm wishing" from the snow white movie- but when she got that dress on and started singing, it was cute-overload. that snow white dress is barely off of her and i have had to do extra loads of laundry to keep it clean. between the snow white dress and her grey "princess skirt," this gal looks ready for a ball every day. vi's other favorite find was new chapstick. to say that she loves chapstick is a sore understatement. the last tube she had rarely left her clenched fist. she would apply layer after layer until the reflection off those lips was blinding. new chapstick was a welcome addition!

ivy was thrilled to get a new swimming suit, a sun hat and some sandals. can't you tell by her face?

after inspecting gifts, vi flew around the house finding eggs. without the competition of any other kids, she was sure loving life- and she was sure to point out that ivy hadn't found ANY eggs. ivy just smiled.


church on easter sunday is always especially great. this year, cade and i were asked to speak in sacrament meeting. it was a great opportunity to share our testimonies of the Savior and His Atonement. contrary to popular belief, cade and i don't sit around and bear our testimonies to one another all day, every day. sure, we share our thoughts and feeling with one another but it was nice to hear cade at the pulpit on easter. he is a GOOD man. and i love him to bits.

after church, it was back to grammy's house for easter dinner and another egg hunt. the kiddos were all still gussied up so we thought it would make for a great photo op. too bad they all had other plans... we could not get them to all look up at us. my favorite kids to watch were owen and violet. without any sort of encouragement, they held hands and eventually put their arms around one another. they have a special, little bond.

we also got a few family shots while we were dressed nicely. we needed a family photo update. since ivy was born, i feel like we have been so busy and crazy that i rarely pick up the camera- let alone go out and have our pictures taken. we were all together and no puke or poop was visible- so we will call it a success.

the night at grammy's was great. lots of candy, lots of love, lots of fun. this last picture sums up how great the night really was:

gramps is a good sport!