it really happened

your ideal new year?

2012-01-15T16:53:00.004-07:00

how did you spend your new year?

here is a hint to how we spent ours:

and here is an even BIGGER hint....

and here is the truth:
we had a great time.

and breakfast the next morning was a great way to start off the next 366...

happy new year from the taylors.

merry christmas!

2012-01-15T16:50:00.002-07:00

christmas 2011

2012-01-15T15:40:00.005-07:00

christmas this year was awesome. we really were spoiled rotten and we loved every second of it. at one point, cade yelled out to a room full of family, "this is the best christmas of my adult life." how is THAT for a great christmas! i am starting this post off telling you how great it is for a reason: we hardly took ANY pictures! you really will have to imagine most of the highlights- but here they are nonetheless...

christmas eve started out a little rough. i had a last minute gift to buy which left me in a bustling target staring at empty shelves while listening to the employees complain to one another about being open on christmas eve. not really a tradition i want to continue next year...
after that, we headed to sandy to meet up with some of my family for a movie and dinner. we saw the adventures of tin tin... owen fell asleep asleep after about 30 minutes and violet spent the duration of the movie rummaging for snacks and moving from lap to lap. maybe it wasn't the best kid movie... we made up for the fun afterward by heading to chilis. i think this is the first christmas eve that i have ever spent out on the town. usually we are at a family member's house eating a home cooked meal (tradition.... TRADITION!!!). this year, nobody wanted to cook but we all wanted to get together. plus, chilis welcomed us with open arms. it really was a relaxing way to end the evening. total number of pictures taken on christmas eve: ZERO. yikes.

after dinner, we headed back home where sleepy babies went to bed and busy santa set out all his goodies. having our little girls around really made the holiday even better. i have been giddily snatching up gifts over the past few months as we prepared for christmas morning. i think i was more excited than violet (who is just barely starting to understand what christmas is all about).i was beyond thrilled at the thought of all of us tearing into gifts the next morning and i could barely sleep.

the next morning, we let violet and ivy sleep in while we got ready for church. having early morning church means a quick christmas morning for us so we tried to make it as smooth as possible by getting ready before the kiddos even opened their eyes. as soon as violet woke up, we led her down the hall so she could see the spoils. after four weeks of me telling vi that she can't touch any of the presents under the tree, she was a little confused when we forced her to open her first gift. luckily, it only took one present for her to get the concept and she soon ripped into the rest with excitement. we opened a few of the presents for her to play with- which she promptly stuffed into her stroller for a walk.

ivy just swam in all the paper.

oddly enough, those are the only two photos we took christmas morning. a little sad, i know... but we do have lots of video footage of violet yelling excitedly about barbies and babies. so all is not lost. it really was a MERRY christmas. even if our two photos don't show that so well.

next was church. it was a great meeting and it reminded me that the whole reason we celebrate christmas is the same reason we go to church every sunday. Christ is our Savior.

post church, we headed to grammy's for brunch and presents. vi was still on cloud nine from her barbies and babies- but the gifts kept rolling in. she was in heaven.

grammy was so generous and really spoiled all of us. violet got a cat book from her aunt mandy that has not left her sight in the three weeks since christmas. it is a well-loved book by this little cat lover as is her new cat piano. ivy's favorite gift was from her cousin addy who gave her a glowing worm that sings her to sleep. what's that? you want photos of the girls in their matching dresses holding up their fabulous gifts? sorry. we were too busy living in the moment to be bothered with such trivialities as taking pictures. just know we had a great time.

after grammy's we headed to my mom and dad's house for more presents and a fabulous dinner. we stuffed ourselves silly with my mom's famous enchiladas before diving into more gifts. here are some of the gifts we got:
heidi knitted this cute poncho for ivy

cade and i got new shirts

and violet posed by her new kitchen pans and food set.

after the kids exchanged presents and were happily playing, my mom unveiled an awesome game she had been preparing for months for the adults to play and win their gifts this year. we all unwrapped a gift from the pile to find AWESOME prize packs. there were gift cards to just about everywhere, sephora makeup kits, car dvd players, a tent, a box containing a bunch of stuff from my dad's junk drawer (which also included an unspecified amount of money), restaurant card and MUCH more. she had put a lot of work into these prize packages. then, for the game, we answered trivia questions that were written about the family members in the room. if you answered correctly, you could steal a prize from someone. the more questions you answered, the more punches you received on your card. if you got enough punches, you would keep the prize you had stolen. make sense? well, even if you are confused, you should know it was a blast. we all walked away with great presents (cade and i won a tent and a dual screen dvd player for the car) and the game was fun for everyone. my mom sure knows how to throw a party!

where has ivy been all night?

sleeping or smiling... just her usual.

needless to say, we all sacked out as soon as we got home. a busy christmas to say the least- but we really did love it all. violet has been so obsessed with santa that she often wakes up, runs down the hall and asks where her presents are. she talks about santa all the time and cade was nice enough to explain that she still has days, weeks, and MONTHS before he comes again. violet and i both wish it would come sooner. i am already giddy thinking about christmas next year.

oh, and trust me, next year will be FILLED with pictures. i learned my lesson...

i love to see the temple

2012-01-15T15:09:00.005-07:00

before christmas rolled around, we made our way to temple square with a few of our closest friends to see the lights. violet has been learning the song "i love to see the temple" at church lately, so she was especially excited to SEE the temple AND to sing her song- which she did a few times while we were there.

first we grubbed.

then we bundled up- because it was beyond cold.

we saw a few sights.

and then we HUSTLED into the nearest open door to get a little warm again. i'll say it again: it was so cold.

it was so nice and warm... that we decided to stay a while.

and finally, we tried (yet again) to pull off the "casual laughing shot." a few years ago, cade took this picture at our annual light-seeing extravaganza.

and since then, we have tried a few times to reenact the shot. this year, the boys' shot was another bust. remember, we were going for "casual."

the girls' shot just shows how witty kylee is...

overall, a great night with fabulous people.

a tribute to the beard

2012-01-09T10:17:00.001-07:00

filming as an extra for the new testament finally came to an end. cade was tempted to keep his facial locks a little longer. but it was time.

bullough family party

2012-01-08T20:25:00.005-07:00

the bullough family party is always a PARTY. every year, my uncle b has all the family over to the school he teaches at where we stick to the traditions that have come to be over the years.

first: we eat and chat. this year cade and i were an hour late to the party. that's right- an hour. the weird thing is we didn't really have much of a reason. we were just late. thus, we skipped over #1 and headed straight into tradition #2...

next, the kids will act out the nativity story. (you will noticed how shocked one of the shepherds is at the appearance of angels... this ain't no amateur production.)

i have always loved to watch this (and participate in it when i was young) but having kids in it lately has really made it great. this year, violet played an angel and ivy played baby jesus #2. there were 2 babies because mary wanted to hold a doll...plus ivy is a little too heavy and floppy for a 5 year old to manage. thus: 2 baby jesuses. ivy didn't mind the straw at all! she didn't make a peep in her manger the whole time!

mary and all the angels couldn't get enough of her.

our little angel was quite content to bring good tidings of great joy to the masses while seated on the other side of the stage with a roll in her mouth.

if that isn't the cutest angel you have ever seen....

next comes the kids' present exchange. all the kiddos under 18 exchange gifts. ivy scored lots of new teething toys and baby toys. she loves them, in case you were wondering.

violet got a cute apron (which is perfect for her kitchen set she has been playing with lately) along with a dress-up bear game.

which she insisted she play with right away.

she also couldn't wait to get her apron on... nor could she wait to get on her new boots and hat from her aunt julie. she is LOVING presents these days and they don't go unappreciated. she puts them right to use. this left violet looking like this for the rest of the night:

she looks a little bit like a bag lady. ok... she looks A LOT like a bag lady- but we couldn't get enough of it.

at one point in the evening, she tripped on a stair and before she had even hit the ground, she was yelling out to nobody around, "i'm ok! i'm ok!" that crazy bag lady had us rolling.

next: santa comes.

vi wasn't too sure about this. she kept looking at santa like he wasn't human. we all know she is used to beards so it was strange to see her put up a fight. ivy, on the other hand, loves santa. have i mentioned that she is the best baby ever? it is worth saying again and again.

tradition #5 white elephant exchange

cade ended up with a lion portrait that looked something like this. he hauled it off to work to hang in his cubicle. win.

cade is such a hunk these days.

finally, we end the night with a pinata. the kids break it open, we gather our spoils and head home.

needless to say, violet was asleep in the car before we got out of the parking lot. and so was i.

cousins christmas

2012-01-08T17:15:00.006-07:00

every year, a small group of cade's cousins get together for a celebration of our own. mike and mieken, who was days away from having her baby, were gracious enough to host. here are some highlights in pictures.

the other highlights NOT pictured are the great food and the musical perfomances from cade, dylan, rudi and colin.

also not pictured- because we had no idea she was so close to coming- was mieken's little baby bea. she came a few days later and was delivered in the car! to read that amazing story, head here.

festival of trees

2012-01-08T16:54:00.004-07:00

with all of violet's christmas excitement, i thought that going to the festival of trees this year was a MUST. if she thought our tree was pretty and that the neighbors have cool lights, she would be psyched out of her gourd to see the lights at the festival, right?

well, she liked the trees just fine- but what she REALLY loved was all the dancing. off to either side of the trees, there were perfomances from local dance groups. as the little girls took stage, violet's eyes lit up. all she wanted to do was dance.

the dancing started as she was sitting on cade's shoulders, but when he finally put her down, she busted out more moves .

this girl loves to dance.

where was ivy? you guessed it... this little lovey sat cozy and happy in her seat. mesmerized by the lights, the music, and her sister's dancing.

christmas prep

2012-01-08T16:32:00.004-07:00

christmas, for as great as it is, climbs to a new level when there are little ones at home. i found that i was forty times more excited for all the fun of the season this year simply because i knew that it was all going to blow violet's mind. i was never disappointed- she loved every minute of it.

it started with decorating the house. as we picked out our tree, set it up, and starting embellishing the rest of the house, violet was on could nine. every morning, she would run from her bedroom to the livingroom and ask me to turn on the lights. she would count to three (oftentimes skipping "2" because of the excitement) and i would watch her smile as i turned the lights on for her. pure bliss.

the excitement continued as we drove around and saw all the lights on the houses. it got to the point that she didn't like going in the car during the day because there were no lights to see. she would demand "lights, please!" from her back seat- so we always did our best to find them for her.

i remember christmas at home was always such a fun time. as a child, i pretty much had butterflies in my stomach from thanksgiving to christmas day. with that in mind, i want to make sure that my home has the same excitement in the air. one tradition that i look to continue is that of the advent calendar. growing up, my mom had a few advent calendars she had made around the house. my older brother and i would always race to be the first one up in order to move all the advents along, bringing us one day closer to christmas. my sister and i decided to make our own first advents together this year.

it was a fun time to get together with family as we ate yummy food and crafted together. cade told us to pose for this picture...

the kiddos loved the opportunity to veg out and watch mickey's christmas shows.

ivy loved the opportunity to get some gramps love.

we all loved the opportunity to get some more christmas spirit. i really do love this time of year!

let the christmas parties begin: granny woolf's party

2012-01-08T16:13:00.005-07:00

the day after thanksgiving is not only dedicated to shopping like crazy (which we did ALL night) but also to granny woolf's christmas party. i am writing this post very late (thanksgiving was a month and a half ago...) but it is very tender to write about this party today. this morning, dear granny woolf passed away and was finally able to be reunited with her beloved husband. she lived a beautiful life and i plan to write a post about the remarkable woman she was. this christmas party was the last time that violet, ivy and i got to be with granny woolf so it has become even more special.

this party is always a fun time to meet together, eat some pizza, exchange some gifts and play warball. a lovely tradition-of-a-night!

violet sure is loving the concept of presents this year... she hovered around this pile all night.

granny woolf had the best seat in the house that night. she was sure to tell us how much she loved all of us and how proud she was of us all. after that, she cozied into the couch and watched the festivities play out.

i am sure she marveled at the sight of her posterity all gathered together that night. i hope she felt how grateful we all are for her example.

Thanksgiving 2011

2012-01-08T15:45:00.004-07:00

thanksgiving was sure not to disappoint this year- we ate and ate and ate and then ate some more. all the while, we were sure to give thanks.

the day started out at grammy's house where we ate a fabulous lunch. i foolishly left the camera in the car. i was so concerned with getting to that table that little else entered my brain. i am obsessed with grammy's stuffing so this is an event i look forward to 364 days a year. i snarf it down, sit back, close my eyes and imagine heaven. the taste is the perfect combination of yummy stuffing goodness and nostalgic childhood memories. i love it. i once asked her to write down her recipe so that i could attempt to recreate it, but after the third or fourth time she said, "a good amount of this and a fair amount of that," i realized that this recipe was all in her head. it wasn't something i could write down. my goal in life is to make this dressing with grammy enough that i have it in my head too... and in my mouth... and in my bellly.

after my stuffing-snarf-fest, we headed to orem to meet up with the taylors. there are so many of us now that the idea of sitting down to a meal in one of our homes is a little much. thus, this year we settled into a church where we all fit just fine. all 42 of us (which only includes cade's siblings and their children... woo hoo!). we were focused on food yet again- so our pictures were hit and miss, but we were sure to get a few shots of the fun.

the kitchen was all a-buzz as we all finished the last minute food preparations. as we were all whizzing around the kitchen setting things up, we started to realize how much food we had all prepared. hoping that all 42 of us were hungry, we sat down to a FEAST. we ate and ate and ate... took a chatting break... and ate some more. despite all our efforts, however, the food table was still bursting with yummy food. i guess our 84 eyes were bigger than our 42 stomachs... it was all superb, however, so it made for a great feast and some fabulous leftovers.

after the meal, the kiddos played and colored while all the adults chatted.

violet is an expert at keeping busy...

and ivy was a peach (i can't say it enough: what a GREAT baby).

it was a great day to give thanks for a family who truly knows how to love. this year we do have so much to be thankful for so i am always glad there is at least one day dedicated to remembering just how good we all have it.

sunday naps

2011-11-20T15:46:00.002-07:00

aren't they the best

ivy's blessing

2011-11-20T14:48:00.009-07:00

we gave ivy a name and a blessing this month- and we were lucky to have lots of family and friends here to celebrate this event with us. here is how we spent the day...

the meeting was awesome. cade gave ivy a fabulous blessing. he blessed her that she would embrace charity and strive to serve those around her. he blessed her to know that what the Lord thinks about her is the most important thing- and to have confidence in His commandments and in herself. he blessed her with health and strength (which is something that this little one especially has needed thus far in life) and for many other important qualities. i truly am thankful to cade for offering such a beautiful blessing.

afterward, we all headed over to our house for food and chatting. each age group found their niche for socializing. the teens found violet's room:

the adults stayed in the main room:

and you better believe the kids found the man cave:

ivy was just a peach this whole time. she snoozed on and off, sometimes waking up to see who was loving on her.

we are so thankful to our family and friends who came to support us. it was fun catching up with everyone and enjoying time together.

cade and i couldn't be more thrilled to have little ivy here with us.

miss vi is growing up... and fast!

2011-11-20T13:40:00.005-07:00

i feel like i haven't updated lately on violet. there are things i want to be sure to get on this blog so i NEVER forget how much i laughed through this stage with vi. really, all day long i just laugh at her (or with her?). anyway, here are a few things that i am loving about this little diva lately.

ACCESSORIES ARE A MUST

violet is obsessed with accessories of all sorts. she is always obsessing over at least one accessory and will demand that she wear it at all times. i am trying not to give in to her divaliciousness every time because i fear that she may turn into a kardashian, but i can't help but love watching her accessorize.

one week, she had to have about 40 necklaces draped around her neck at all times. the next week, she literally had a ring on every finger- and she loved to show them off. right now, she is really into boots. i will put her to bed and every morning, she walks out of bed with boots on over her footed jammies. i don't know when she wakes up and puts them on, but it is awesome. she becomes so attached to these accessories that it often ends up a HUGE meltdown when we have to take them off for some reason. she wore her turquoise ring for so long that i couldn't get it off even if i wanted to! it was stuck on! i have considered getting this girl a bedazzler for christmas- but i think i will hold off until she is at least two...

DANCING QUEEN

violet is really into dancing lately. the other day, she was following me around the house sulking. i asked all sorts of questions to find out why she was sad. she wasn't hungry, she didn't want to sing, and she wasn't tired.... in the end, she looked up at me and in a sad voice said, "wanna dance."

now THAT is a request i can fill! we turned on some tunes and that little girl danced in my bedroom for the next half an hour (and that is NOT an exaggeration). i kept getting things done around the house, but every time i would check in on her, i found her busting a move.

she doesn't much like to dance to any ol' thing- she prefers a good beat. that way, she can REALLY get into her groove. her favorite song to dance to right now is dev's "bass down low" (the clean version, of course). admittedly, this is not the best song for a little girl to dance to- but she LOVES it! if you start to sing, "i like my beats fast..." she will finish the sentence with "bass down low." i think i need to invest in some kids bop cds or something.

in my defense as a mother, her favorite song to sing is "jesus wants me for a sunbeam." i should throw that out there.

HAULING STUFF

for some reason, vi loves to carry anything that is heavy. sometimes, i will hear her in another room struggling with something only to walk in and find her trying to lift a table or carry a chair that is three times her size. i just think she likes the challenge of it or something. when ivy was on oxygen, violet was always trying to carry around the heavy, portable tanks that we kept. i even thought those were too heavy to just heave around the house- but not vi.

this picture is sooo blurry but i couldn't figure out my camera... nor could i get her to stop walking. but you get the point. i love her grunts as she lifts stuff and her determination to move the heavy things from one room to another. makes me laugh every time.

MOMMY'S LITTLE HELPER

i really do have a little shadow all day helping me do things. when i am cleaning, violet needs a rag to wipe down her toys. when i am working, violet is at the desk with me coloring. when i am feeding ivy, violet is there cheering ivy on (sometimes, a little too much... but ivy don't mind). when i am getting ready, violet is right there putting on her "makeup" and getting her dolls ready as well.

with two kids, i find that sometimes i need an extra set of hands- and vi is always there to step in and help. one of her favorite ways to help is to find garbage and throw it away. for a while, cade and i were so impressed with her ability to recognize what was garbage and that she knew where to throw it away. a few days later, i went to wash out the tub in our guest bathroom and found where violet's "garbage can" was. i guess she thought the tub was a good a place as any to throw the trash. ever since then, if you part the curtain in the tub, you are sure to find a collection of wrappers, old papers and maybe a diaper or two that violet has decided to throw away.

TALKING

more and more violet is expressing herself- and it is so fun to be a part of it. she went through a pretty nasty biting stage not too long ago, so we are just glad that she is using her mouth in a much more constructive way. her vocabulary is doubling by the week and it is great to hear her try to put sentences together. now, when we sit down to read her familiar books, she likes to tell me what the story is. i will be honest, sometimes i have NO idea what she is saying but she says it with such enthusiasm that i just go with it. she has the opportunity to play with her neighbor friends quite often and i love to hear them all chatter as they play. again, most of it is long, jibber-filled sentences, but they seem to know what the other is saying.

i think i could go on and on and on about this little girl....

halloween roundup

2011-11-16T07:36:00.009-07:00

this year our halloween consisted of the following:

picking our pumpkins

we ventured out to the local pumpkin patch for some hayrides, animal time and pumpkin picking. violet spent all of her time trying to give all the animals hugs. she managed to wrangle in a few goats- but could never catch the cute, little piglets. she sure does love her animals!

in this picture, violet is "smiling."

carving our pumpkins

violet was a little too young to appreciate this tradition last year, so i was excited to get her into the action this time around. she wasn't really too fond of the pumpkin guts at first. it took some time...but she came around eventually.

ivy was content to get some love from her nana while the carving party raged on.

in the end, we had some great pumpkins!

parties

we had some really fun parties to attend this year as we led up to the big day. the ross family had us over for our annual chili and pumpkin party. violet ran wild with the other little girls while we dined on yummy treats and carved some more.

the neighborhood hosted an awesome trunk or treat. this was vi's first experience trick or treating- and she picked up on it right away. all she needed to do was say, "trick or treat" and "thank you" and she would magically get candy. this. was. heaven. she ran from car to car and timidly asked for her candy. ivy, the fabulous baby that she is, slept through the party all comfy and cozy.

next was the hobbs' party. they had a fabulous spread, a great crowd and some fun prizes.

violet and cade each won "best costume" award for their respective age groups and vi was thrilled to pick her fairy pez prize and candy. admittedly, she is one cute pirate.

facial hair

halloween conveniently fell into cade's shaving schedule as he went from having a full beard and long locks back to his normal self. it really did work out well for his various costumes...

the big day

when halloween finally came, violet was ready! we all got into costume and headed to nana and gramps' house for a fun party.

everyone was in costume- even my dad! that is a rarity, but he didn't want to disappoint the grandkids. if you can't tell from the picture what owen is dressed as, i'll tell you: he is a SHARK VAMPIRE. the kind of shark that "eats blood." he was having a hard time just picking one costume but i think he pulled off the hybrid in the cutest way possible.

before going out for candy, we ate a yummy dinner. violet spent most of her time huddled around the root beer brew. she just kept drinking and drinking and drinking... i thought about stopping this- but it was halloween. you are supposed to get filled up with sugar, right? plus look how cute she is.

i did, however, draw the line when she kept trying to eat the dry ice...

next, we went out to trick or treat. it wasn't as cold as it has been in previous years but i still bundled ivy up before we headed out. her pirate costume wasn't quite warm enough...

but she makes for a pretty cute pumpkin too!

violet was loving life as she literally ran from house to house with her cousins. she was smaller, so she had to run the whole time to keep up- but she didn't seem to mind!

after a while, however, she realized she couldn't keep the pace. she quickly found a solution by holding on to two people and lifting her legs while they carried her. she really needed to conserve that energy. she would lift her legs up until it was time to run to the next porch and then she would hurry and let go and run to the door. quite the system.

ivy, as usual, was perfectly content to watch all the action from the stroller. she didn't make a peep the entire time! love that baby.

after we had gathered as much candy as possible, we headed back so the kids could play and we could all chat together. it really did make for a great halloween.

loving on ivy

finally, i should mention that we sure did spend a lot of our time loving on this baby during halloween. we can't get enough.

this makes me smile

2011-11-14T15:30:00.003-07:00

polar bear lake

2011-11-11T13:21:00.021-07:00

a few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to stay in a fabulous cabin in bear lake with all the taylor crew. and when i say "crew," i mean CREW. there are over 40 of us all together and it is rare that we get the chance to get away like this. we are ALL so glad that we did. it was like the movie "dan in real life" only nobody stole anyone else's date and there was no murdering of love. it was soooo fun. here is a rundown of our time spent there:

thursday

we all met up at the cabin late on thursday night. we pretty much just had enough time to chat, get in jammies and hit the sack- ready to start the fun early the next morning.

friday

i LOVE going somewhere late at night when you can't see enough of your surroundings to really know where you are. i think it makes for the best surprise in the morning. since we got to the cabin so late the night before, i was thrilled to wake up and find myself here

we could see the entire lake from end to end. with all the fall leaves- it was awesome. after gawking at the sights from our windows, we ate breakfast and gathered outside for a little hike.

some of us were a little surprised to see that we had all dressed in the same color scheme....

apparently we were also surprised to see such a bright sun beating into our eyes.

the hike was fun. violet had a blast with her cousins- who she refers to as "cushions." she and ava were pals all weekend long. sweet ava just took her under her wing!

there was plenty to do and much to find on our hike.

you can always count on vi to haul around the biggest stick she can find...

ivy just enjoyed the view. it will be nice to go on our next hike and not have to lug around a tank like we had to here.

as the hike progressed, the men got into a throwing contest to see who could hit a small, metal flag that was attached to a fire hydrant. as they continually threw and missed the mark, more and more people joined in until....

lindsey t finally hit it!

after hiking back to the cabin, we dined on yummy sandwiches and let the kids run wild. there was a swingset, a sand box, a billion toys and lots of "cushions" to play with. the men retreated to the shed where they powered up the polaris ranger and took it out for a spin. soon, the ranger was dripping with kids who wanted to ride- i think we had that engine running for the rest of the day and the kids took turns going on rides.

most of the time, the polaris rides were great- beautiful scenery, screams of joy and fabulous weather. one ride, however, was not so fabulous...

that mud isn't coming out of ANYTHING.

we had a bunch of activities planned, but we realized that the kids just wanted to play together- and on the polaris... so that afternoon, we all took it easy and enjoyed our time to chat, nap and snack. wouldn't have it any other way.

that night, we dined on yummy taco soup- abby was great to open 25 cans of beans in order to get the dinner going. again, we are a CREW. the food was fab and we all ate until we were stuffed full.

we had decided that we were going to have a skit night followed by an open talent show. we lined all forty-two of us up from youngest to oldest (yes, even the kids and babies) and divided into teams. each team had to reenact the story of goldilocks and the three bears according to the theme they picked out of a hat. my group got ACTION and we were sure to add all sorts of ninjas and explosions to the story. abby, sadie and i even used callie, hartman and violet as machine guns at one point. cade was in the COMEDY group where there were plenty of crotch kicks and jokes. it really was fun to see everyone participate and the kids LOVED the skits. after that, the talent show started and we were entertained with singing, dancing, skits and all sorts of fun. i love watching all the nieces perform- they are so creative and so cute. i especially love that even the teenagers get into stuff like this. there is never a moment where somebody is "too cool" to participate- and it makes for a fun time for everyone.

we all enjoyed a gourmet hot chocolate bar before heading to bed.

saturday

as we ate breakfast, it was decided that now was as good a time as any to take a polar bear plunge into the lake. cade had been insisting for a while that this was a must for the trip. the next thing we know, all the vans are loaded and we are heading to the water- ALL of us. for those of you who have been to bear lake, you know that the water is freezing even in the heat of august. october temperatures are frigid. nevertheless, we left the little kiddos on the beach and the rest of us waded into the water and took the plunge. according to cade, you must dunk yourself three times in order to be a true polar bear. so, we all followed. even leslie, cade's mom, dunked under in her nice pants and cute shirt. it was a sight to see us all- unfortunately, we were the only people crazy enough to be there... so nobody saw.

later lindsey g was laughing that all of the older siblings just followed their youngest brother into the icy waters. who would have imagined this happening all those years ago?

that afternoon, the men watched the byu game, the kids ran wild and played and the older nieces gave all the mommas pedicures. it was a relaxing afternoon so i just soaked it all in and enjoyed every second of it. sadie made yummy enchiladas for us all. yes, enchiladas for all 42 of us. as the afternoon went on, we started gearing up for our masquerade ball. everyone made a mask out of a paper plate to wear. abby decorated the place all festive. we were ready to tear it up.

violet's kitty mask didn't fit... so i let her wear mine. i am glad i did because she looked great and you could tell she felt cool with all that wild yarn on her face.

here are granny and grandpa with all the grandkids...

and of course, the taylor fam.

after posing for some pictures, we had quite the dance. we all got into it. there were special dances for the kids, for the dads, for the tweens, for the mommas... and we danced and danced and danced. it was fabulous.

fabulous!

we all sacked out on the floors and couches that night as we fell asleep to movies. the end to a great day.

sunday

at some point in the middle of the night, the fire alarm went off in the house. i was right in the middle of a very scary dream- so this was NOT welcomed by me. my heart was racing when i woke up and i was so confused. the alarm shut off and the house was quiet again. cade and i wondered if anyone else heard it or if it was just in our room. since we didn't hear anyone get up, we decided it was a false alarm and we crashed back into bed. not a minute later, we heard pounding on the front door of the cabin (which was right outside our room). at this point, i really was scared. cade and brent went to investigate. when they finally opened the door, ray, cade's dad, was standing out in the cold. he had heard the alarm and went outside but was locked out. this was all so funny at 3 in the morning so we stood together in the hall and giggled for a while before making our way back to bed.

in the morning, it was time to pack up. admittedly, i was worried about the state of the cabin at this point. we had lived in and loved on that cabin all weekend. as we all got to it, however, it cleaned up quite nicely! we were out of there in no time- even though none of us wanted to leave. it had been SUCH a fun weekend and we didn't want it to end.

the only consolation to all of this was driving through the canyon to logan in the daylight so we could see all the beautiful leaves. i was glued to my window with ooos and ahhhs. we had missed most of the other fall colors, so the entire canyon was full of golden yellow leaves. it was gorgeous. a consolation... but i STILL wish i was back in bear lake living it up with the fam.

happy (late) halloween!!

2011-11-07T07:58:00.004-07:00

every year, we make a movie to celebrate the spooky day. it has become a fun tradition- even when we feel like we are scraping for ideas.

this year, we tried a "talkie" and while we may not be the best actors, i think it turned out alright!

so, enjoy THE CURIOUS CLOAK...

you can also catch up on our previous halloween videos if you would like:

pilfered peanuts (2010)

permanent pumpkins (2009)

freaky frites (2008)

infield inception

2011-11-04T13:04:00.002-06:00

as you can tell, cade and i make a lot of movies. correction: cade makes a lot of movies and i am usually in them. in the past, we have steered clear of any sort of talking in the movies because, despite our middle school drama class experiences, we are not great actors. plus, it is slightly embarrassing to put yourself out there like that.
well, a few months ago, cade had a dream. that dream was inside a dream- a total inception moment. this strange happening led to our first ever "talkie."

yikes.

anyway, we filmed it the first week we were home with ivy and had some fun and some not-so-fun moments making it. in the end, however, i am glad we finished and i am glad that cade is such a creative.

enjoy infield inception!

p.s. our annual halloween movie is up next! we just finished filming and we will get it up here soon!

beautiful ivy

2011-11-03T09:11:00.003-06:00

having ivy in our home the past month and a half has been fabulous. she really is the best baby. she eats well, she sleeps like a champ, and she is so content all day regardless of where she is. violet is in heaven with her- mothering her like she was her own. admittedly, it is a little much sometimes, but ivy never complains. she puts up with it knowing that cade or i will step in any minute to regulate those smothering sister kisses. she is such a good baby, in fact, that it has led to some embarrassing moments for cade and i as parents. the other day, we had a meeting with some leadership in our church. we brought ivy along and left violet with a neighbor. the man we were meeting with was running behind so we sat in the waiting area chatting with one another as usual. when it was finally our turn to go in, cade and i suddenly realized that we had left ivy in the car this WHOLE time! cade rushed out to the car to get her- only to find little ivy happily waiting for her parents to come back for her. it made me feel like the parents in the movie matilda. ivy is just SO quiet and content that we need to pay attention to where she is at all times!

since violet had such a rough start with her illness when she was first born, it has been difficult for me to gauge what is "normal" for an infant this time around. now that ivy has had some problems as well, it has made it even more difficult to determine. luckily, i have decided to throw all the "normal" talk out the window. neither of my babies have had a "normal" start so i am learning to adjust to whatever they are doing and call it normal for them. with ivy on oxygen, she has been a very sleepy baby. normal? i dunno- but that is normal for her. slowly she has been becoming more alert and we are loving the time we get to have together. she is even starting to give big, beautiful smiles and i am loving every second of that.
ivy's oxygen dependency has been an adjustment. she has been hooked up to a main line here at home, and whenever we leave, she would be hooked up to a portable tank. at first i thought we would never leave the house. too much equipment. a few days of being homebound, however, changed my mind and we were off! we learned to just embrace all the equipment- it really wasn't that bad. we spent the first few weeks at home living outside. we went to the park and on walks and on picnics. ANYTHING to get out. it really helped violet and i stay sane and ivy was content no matter where we went. while we were out and about, people would always ask to see her so i would lift her seat cover for them to take a peek. without fail, every person would look at me with a sympathetic expression and say how sorry they were.... like ivy was dying or something. don't let those tubes fool you, people! this is one healthy babe! she is already over 12 pounds and lifting her head! it will be nice to have the tubes gone so people can see ivy for the beautiful baby she is instead of focusing on such a temporary ailment.

this last week or so we have been testing her oxygen levels to see if she can finally get off. we have had THREE overnight tests done- but the first two were done with broken machines. ya, you read that right: broken. it has been quite frustrating but we JUST heard back today that she passed her test! NO MORE OXYGEN! after seven, long weeks of waiting, that really is big news for us.
really, this babe couldn't be more of a blessing to us. already, i can tell that violet is patiently waiting for ivy to be big enough to play. lately, she will run around ivy and i and yell for us to "watch" and then she will pause long enough to run over, kiss ivy's head and say, "hi honey!" violet is teaching ivy all her tricks- and i am sure these sisters will be little play buddies in no time.

TRIPLE baptism

2011-11-03T09:00:00.003-06:00

we love having such a big family. when ivy was born, she became the 28th grandchild for cade's parents. with so many kiddos, we get to celebrate some fun parties. a few weeks ago was one such event.

a TRIPLE baptism! these three, fabulous kids made the decision to be baptized and since their birthdays were so close, they chose to all do it on the same day! it really was a cool event to see. it made for a very proud granny and grandpa. violet seemed so grown up as she walked to the front to get a better view of the action with the other excited cousins. i am grateful for the example her cousins set for her.

here is a picture of the whole gang after the baptism. we are an awesome crowd, eh!?

granny, violet and ivy

2011-10-06T16:46:00.002-06:00

i just love all three of these ladies.

welcoming ivy- in pictures

2011-10-03T12:51:00.013-06:00

here is a compilation of photos from ivy's first few days of life.

thanks to all for your love and support.

help cade win a go pro camera

2011-10-01T20:50:00.003-06:00

we have all watched cade's movies and enjoyed the work he puts into them- now it is time to pay him back! (a little cheesy for an intro, but necessary...)

anyway, cade made a movie for his work's biking team who recently competed in a race from SLC to st. george. because ivy made a special appearance in life, cade had to miss the race but was still able to make the video for the contest. be sure to "like" the video on YouTube and watch it a zillion times to help him get votes. also, if you have facebook, be sure to go to the salt to saint page and like the video there (it is posted on their wall with the other entries entitled "Salt to Saint 2011 - Team Xactware"). trust me, his is the best entry. if cade wins, he will finally get the camera he has been drooling over for quite some time.... thus, you will all get more movies!

win, win.

love you all.

ivy rae taylor

2011-09-22T15:00:00.002-06:00

first things first: here is our debut movie of the cutest baby you'll lay eyes on:

yes, those dance moves really did happen.

we are so thrilled to have her here. luckily, i had quite the photo crew on hand to take photos so i will be sure to upload all the fun ones from the day as soon as i can compile them.

the birth itself went extremely well. the c section had no problems. she was pink, healthy and chubby- just like we wanted. vi was on cloud nine, cade was a proud papa and i was taking in all the little moments to enjoy our meeting as much as possible. we loved it. i know i was worried about having a c section- but things went so well this time and i felt prepared enough to truly relish the moment. when they brought ivy to our room we cuddled as she cooed all her thoughts to us. she was very loved in that room by all of her admirers.

a few hours after ivy was born, however, we learned that all her cooing was actually not a good sign. a nurse decided to take her in to do a few tests. as they wheeled her out of the room in her little crib, i figured she would be back in an hour or so. after three hours passed, we became antsy and cade went to find our little lovey. i was anxious to have her back in my arms! the tests, however, showed that she had a little bit of water on her lungs as a result of the c section and that she was struggling to keep her oxygen saturation up. with these results, they decided to keep her in the NICU. all of this, i figured, would be temporary so we waited to tell family and friends hoping that it would all blow over in a few hours. well... it didn't really "blow over" as planned. we soon learned that little ivy would be in the NICU for at least a few more days. i was crushed.

it took 3 or 4 visits to the NICU before i could finally do it without bawling. it is a tough place to love on your baby as the room is full of other babies who are struggling. with all my tubes and all of ivy's tubes, we were constantly tangled into one another when i would go to feed her and cuddle. i hadn't even imagined our hospital cuddle time to take place in the NICU- she seemed so healthy at first! the doctors thought that a baby with her size and health would be off the oxygen in no time so it was all a waiting game to see when ivy would finally adjust to life outside the womb.

we tried about a dozen times to take her off oxygen before they finally decided that she would just need to have it on for a while. i was anxious to get out of the NICU mostly because vi wasn't allowed in to visit. she would look through a window at ivy and would cry to see her sister. so tender- and so sad. after five, long days in the NICU, they agreed to send ivy home on oxygen and on a monitor. we readily agreed- i was so excited to FINALLY spend time with her and for vi to get some ivy time in as well.

we had the oxygen all set up at home and were ready to follow the doctor's orders. we thought we were set- and then suddenly, everything changed AGAIN. for starters, i got a TERRIBLE engorgement fever that left me all but useless for the first little while at home. i was looking forward to finally spending time with violet and ivy together but found that i could barely get out of bed. as soon as i started feeling better, ivy unexpectedly developed a fever as well. i was worried i had passed something to her- but my fever had come and gone with the engorgement issues. anyway, at 11 at night on tuesday, we spoke with a doctor who advised us to go to the ER immediately. we packed her up and headed out- again, thinking that we would go in, get treated and come home. wrong again! it became clear that as soon as we walked in, the gravity of the situation was truly felt. a fever in a newborn is a big deal- and they don't take that lightly. the doctors and nurses started all sorts of tests on her to find the problem. i know they needed to do the tests but i can honestly say that watching your child get hurt is one of the worst feelings in the entire world. i was a bawl baby. everything on that poor baby was sucked clean, poked, prodded and drained. i tried to be strong but when they said they needed a spinal tap, i had to take a walk and let cade handle that one alone. so sad.

after hours of gathering samples, they admitted ivy and i back into the hospital where we learned that we would be in the pediatric ward for the remainder or the week. so after just a short stint at home, ivy and i were back at the hospital hooked up to a zillion machines as they tried to find the source of the problems. we found out quickly that the fever had nothing to do with my fever from earlier. it seems that she was having other problems and it would just take time for all the cultures to come back. it was devastating to watch little ivy get treated- even if they did put her in the cutest little hospital gown you'd ever see. her situation seemed pretty bad at one point- they tried to administer a muscle test and little ivy didn't even have the strength to form a fist. so, we just kept pumping in antibiotics and relied on prayers to sort this thing out.

i am sure you can imagine the emotional wreck i was at this point. i missed violet terribly and we all just felt so useless! they had mentioned that ivy may have a rare virus but were still growing some cultures. upon hearing that, i began to worry that my house is full of some baby-hating viruses or something (remember violet's big scare?). they ran more tests and finally found out that she had rhino virus. all of this scare had nothing to do with her oxygen. it was just a strand of the cold that she probably caught in the hospital and couldn't fight off on her own. antibiotics, rest and time would cure this little one. and they did! she started to be more alert and stronger. we finally caught the fever and once it had been 24 hours since her last feverish temperature was taken, they released us!

i practically skipped out of the hospital with the wee one in my arms. sure, she is still on oxygen and will be for at least another month- but i had learned quickly that there are worse things that can happen to a baby. the oxygen suddenly didn't seem so bad! we can handle it! life at home is all-the-better after our extended hospital stays. ivy and violet are adjusting well. vi vacillates between extreme love and extreme jealousy on a moments notice- but overall i think she is handling all the change quite well. she is sure to check on baby "ibeeeee" all day and tell her "it's ok ibeee" whenever she starts to cry. i am already so excited for these sisters to have pals.

thanks to all who lent us their thoughts and prayers through all of these scares with ivy. throughout all of this, cade and i have been so touched by the generosity and love of good friends and family. truly, we love you.

and we love our little ibeeeee.

here comes the babe

2011-09-11T16:28:00.002-06:00

this pregnancy has been great. i really am blessed to have pretty easy pregnancies- i rarely get sick, i feel good most days and i am able to keep up with my 18 month old pretty well. my doctor is always commenting that i have fabulous pregnancies. the deliveries, however, are a whole other story.

with violet, we were advised that we would need to do a cesarean because i have a condition called cephalopelvic disproportion. the ultrasound was showing a very large head and my physical exams were proving my pelvis was too small for her to safely come. i didn't like the cesarean- honestly, i felt as though it distanced me from my baby for a moment. they pulled her from me and showed me her amazing little body, but it didn't sink in as reality for a few hours. it was a strange feeling. after the c section, the doctor told me that he believed i would never have a baby traditionally and that all my deliveries would be cesareans. that news was a blow to me. i had a desire to have children the way women have been having children since the beginning of time! why would i be such an exception- especially after having such easy pregnancies?

so, i changed doctors this pregnancy in hopes that the results would be different. at first, the ultrasounds were showing i had a 50% chance of being able to deliver. a few short weeks later, however, we learned that those chances were diminishing and that only a physical examination could prove it possible. some tests were done, ultrasounds were given and the results weren't good. another big baby- and still my small, angled pelvis. my new doctor, who is awesome, explained very gently to me that i am one of those lucky women to be born in this era. without cesareans, it is most likely true that i would not make it through the labor process. that both my babies and i would die were it not for a c section. he challenged me to look at a cesarean as a tool for me to have children- and not to discount this process in the least.

this news, as you can imagine, was not what i was wanting to hear- but it did bring peace. i get to have children! why would i ever be sad about how they come into my life? it is silly. i was feeling pity that i will probably never feel what a contraction feels like or experience that sensation of working so hard to push a child and have the reward placed in my sweaty arms. people think i am crazy for wanting that- but i looked at it as a rite of passage for me as a woman.

i no longer worry about the delivery. i am at peace with a cesarean and i know that this time i have prepared for it much better than i did last time. i don't anticipate the odd disconnect i felt last time at the delivery. with so many of my friends and family struggling with infertility issues, i realized that i am truly blessed to still be able to have my children.

so, with that said, we are headed into the hospital this thursday to meet our new, little girl and i honestly can't be more thrilled about it. i cannot wait to meet her after all this time we have spent together these last 9 months. wish us luck and we will keep you posted!

violet's summer

2011-09-11T15:35:00.002-06:00

now that i am all caught up on our summer goings and comings, i think it is time to give an update on violet. here are a few things worth noting:

energizer bunny:

she has had quite the summer! she really is a ball of energy that is never ending. during the day, she will often put on a hat, grab her baby and run around the house shouting "go-go-go-go!" we spent the days we were home playing at the park, going on walks, playing with the neighbors and exploring nature. she and i have had such a great time together- we really are best buds.

whenever i would have to work or i would be tired or sore from pregnancy, vi would be bummed that we couldn't play like usual. sometimes she would bring me her shoes, sit on my lap and simply say, "go side" meaning she was ready to get outside and play.

chatty kathy:

she is quite the chatter box lately. saying more and more words everyday. cade and i are always surprised when she will all of a sudden call something by its name or ask for something using words we never knew she knew! she will tell me what she wants for breakfast (which is usually cereal or yogurt... she is working on the other words). she is always saying "shoot" when she drops something and "oh my gosh" when something is new- which aren't the best words for an 18 monther to know, but i guess i say them often enough for her to pick up on it. she expresses when she wants something and she'll ask to "see this." the other day, we could hear thunder outside and i was explaining that the clouds in the sky would crash together and make rain. she immediately found a box to stand on, scooted it to the window, looked out and while pointing said, "oh my gosh- i see it!"
i am always excited to hear what comes out of her mouth next. she is growing up way too fast!

sleep and "my bed":

she is still a fabulous sleeper. we put her down between 8 and 9 and she sleeps until 9 or 9:30 the next morning. i LOVE that she sleeps in. we have been trying to cut down on all the changes that are inevitable with a new baby by introducing some changes now. we decided to put her into a twin bed in another room so she can get used to a new space. she has really taken to her new bed. she will often gather her sippy and baby and crawl into bed on her own- all the while mumbling under her breath something about "my bed." the other morning, it was 10:00 and i still hadn't heard a peep from the room. i slowly opened the door just to check on her only to find her sitting up in bed reading a book. who knows how long she had been awake but she was content to stay in bed that morning and take it easy.

independence:

violet is loving that she can do things on her own. she no longer wants ANY help when she eats nor does she really want to eat anything at all. that is shaping up to be a great combo. she is always trying to do things on her own- like put on her shoes and put away her toys. now that she has her own room, she will often go in there to play and close the door. if i go to check on her, she quickly runs to the door to shut it in my face. this is HER space, i guess. no mommies allowed. i would be sad about all this independence, but there are too many treasured times where she will sink into my lap and want to cuddle. those times i remember that she is still my girl.

nursery!

18 months also brought on nursery at church. now, she is finally old enough to go and play with the kids during church instead of being confined to our laps for three hours. she LOVES it. call me crazy, but when i drop her off somewhere new or leave her with people she doesn't know very well, i sometimes want her to be a little sad that i am leaving. but, no. she runs into nursery and doesn't look back.

that hair:

violet has always sported this awesome shag 'do. i think it is the cutest thing around- but sometimes, admittedly, it does leave her looking like an orphan. if we style it, the hair manages to stay cute but oftentimes vi will pull out the bows and ribbons and let it run wild.

favorites:

some of her other loves right now are reading book after book after book, elmo, pretending to talk and text on the phone, taking care of babies, splashing, wrestling, and swinging on the swings. i love watching her take care of her babies. she will line them up on the couch and feed them all a bottle. then she will tickle their tummies while telling them to "sh-sh." she is going to be a great big sister.

big sister:

it is crazy to think that in a few short days, our life and relationship will change. it will no longer be just she and i at home and we won't have all our time together- just us. i have heard that a lot of women struggle with this feeling when they have their second child and i understand why. it is hard to imagine all the love you have for someone being divided and split. going from marriage to a baby is different in that your love for your children is a new love. my mom explained for me that there is always enough love for all your children- even though you think it can't grow, it does. it is truly a hard concept to imagine as i look at violet and feel SO much love for her. how could there possibly be MORE? i have faith that there is and i am thrilled to welcome a new little one into our home. i am also anxious to see our little baby turn into a big sister.

sanboynortay and our lil' cowgirl

2011-09-11T12:59:00.006-06:00

every year, we try to go camping with the four boy besties (who call themselves "dawgs for life' or something like that....). anyway, for the past two years, our camping trips have turned into sleepovers instead- the boys aren't as excited about camping as the girls, i think. it is still a great time to get together for the sleepover and violet loves the company. we ate some dinner, chatted until 3 in the morning and giggled our way to bed. it was nice to get together- especially since jason is moving to peru for a while and we wanted to spend some time with him.

the boys decided they wanted to sleep in cade's man cave which left the gals cuddled all comfy in the bed.

the next morning, we headed to grantsville. allie has been inviting us out to her family ranch for MONTHS with promises that violet would be in heaven. we were all excited to finally make it happen and take a day trip.

allie turned out to be spot on when she said that violet would be in heaven. she loved every second of the ranch. first, she didn't hesitate to jump on "best friend," the miniature horse, and ride around all by herself. she didn't want any help and it quickly became apparent that she didn't need it. she would hold onto the saddle and bounce along like she had been born to do this. she even started to be brave enough to wave everytime she would pass by the group.

we took her off the horse a few times- but she insisted she get back on. i worry we have created a pony-craving monster. she is obsessed.

the andersons were so nice to let her ride all around. i think it was too cute for any of us to object.
the adults got a chance on the horses as well.

not me of course. not while i am looking like this...

after some horse time, the men jumped on the atvs and took off.

while we stayed back to chat and gab with allie's grandma- the owner of the ranch. she is a cutie.

violet loved this time to explore. she was rolling in the gravel, splashing in puddles and eating as many vanilla wafers as kylee would offer her. she only paused for a second (pictured above) to get some comfort after knocking her head pretty hard. she LOVED that ranch. she was even more excited when daddy came back and gave her a ride on the four wheeler.

she is waving at me here and telling me "bye"....she was ready to drive off with her daddy.

after the fun at the ranch, we feasted like kings with the andersons and headed home. it was a great way to spend labor day.

swiss misses

2011-09-11T12:47:00.002-06:00

last weekend, my mom, my sister and i decided to head out to park city and heber for the weekend in order to shop a little and go to swiss days. it was a blast. so much so, in fact, that the only picture i ended up taking was this cute one of violet and owen in bed reading.

we hit the outlets on friday where the deals were fabulous. we shopped and shopped until finally the stores were closed and our bellies were rumbling. we headed to maxwells for dinner and feasted on some super yummy pizza. by this point, it was pretty late at night and we were sleepily headed back to out hotel.
the kiddos were tired but found the excitement of a new sleeping arrangement too much to handle. they perked up immediately and were wound up in no time. they would run around the room squealing for hours- seriously. it took a bit to wind them down and get them into bed, but they managed.
violet slept in a bed with mandy and owen. at one point in the night, she woke up and was trying to figure out where she was. she reached over to my sister and felt her belly and asked, "mama?" when she realized that there was no belly, she immediately felt her hands to my sister's face and asked, "dada?" it was at that point she realized that she was not where she thought she was.
that poor girl knows her parents with a big belly and a beard- which are both temporary! things are really going to change for her this fall!
the next day, we hit swiss days in full force. we found all sorts of deals as we weaved through the massive crowd and we walked away with some treasures. the ride home was pretty rocky- but in the end, the trip was successful. we loved it!

quadruple feature

2011-09-09T08:56:00.003-06:00

cade has been busy making videos of all our summer adventures and i just haven't been able to keep up on posting them. so, grab your popcorn and settle in for four of cade's fabulous videos.

first, you may remember this video cade made during violet's pregnancy. he always wanted to do a second episode, so he got his chance 15 months later. we have been out of town so much this summer that our yard has really suffered. 3 or 4 times we would come home from a vacation and find our front yard looking beautiful and manicured- only to find out that one of our many cute neighbors saw how busy we were and wanted to do some service. i love our neighborhood.

our backyard, however, was a totally different story. it was often found in a jungle state. thus: this video.

next, cade and some work friends heard about a place in park city that let's you run a bike course for FREE. they had a great time and made this video.

our third feature today shows a common lunchtime activity for cade while he is at work. his company is located at the mouth of provo canyon and since he and his co workers love biking so much, they take the opportunity to combine a great summer activity with some lunchtime exercise.
enjoy!

our final movie for the day is one of cade's best. this is a movie that cade thought up a while ago when he realized that on days that we follow a routine, we often start and end the same. if you were to bend your day in the middle, it would appear symmetrical.
thus, i believe in symmetry.

hope you like them! there are more to come....

freedom festival video

2011-09-09T08:37:00.002-06:00

there was a contest in utah county to make a short video on the theme of

American Values: Family, Freedom, God and Country

cade entered and won an honorable mention! here is the video:

bloom fundraiser

2011-09-08T11:37:00.004-06:00

head start had another fundraiser this fall and needed some volunteers. cade was commissioned this time to do all their videography work and he is in the process of making a great video for them. we will be sure to post it when he is done.

i helped out with decor and the step and repeat (the press area where the guests get photos taken before going to the actual event). it was quite the hoity toity event with all sorts of politicians and utah "celebrities" attending. they auctioned off a variety of things ranging from a luxury cabin retreat for thirty people to a little puppy. there was also a silent auction for items donated by local vendors. my friend, becky, works with shirley j and they donated a GREAT basket. cade was also asked to donate a family tree which got a bunch of bids and sold for a great price!

i was absolutely POOPED by the end of a 13 hour day on my feet- but it was so fun i would do it again.

you say tomato...

2011-09-08T11:35:00.003-06:00

our garden has really taken some steroids or something. in a two week span, i think we collected over 200 tomatoes!

we have been busy making salsa and scrounging up any recipe we can that asks for a tomato.

my movie star hubby

2011-09-08T11:31:00.003-06:00

cade has been busy filming with the church for an upcoming movie on the new testament.

i don't really know what we are allowed to post or write about it all so i will be brief.

he is loving the opportunity to reenact moments of our Savior's life that are so impactful. it has been a spiritual experience to be a part of something that depicts the sacred.

he is also loving the garb he gets to wear. it may be a little hot for turbans, scarves and floor length robes- but he is pulling it off! we hardly recognize the dirty man with scummy teeth when he gets home at the end of a filming day!

bright eyes

2011-09-07T15:42:00.002-06:00

cade and i were able to sneak away for a night out to see bright eyes in concert. this is one of my favorite bands and they are cade's all time favorite band- so it really was a must see.

it is funny that usually in utah, a large, pregnant woman doesn't get a second look while cade's big beard attracts stares wherever we go. at the concert, where the crowd is a little different, cade was in the norm and i was getting all sorts of attention.

admittedly i was worried about standing on my swollen trunks for that long in a large crowd of potheads... but- the concert was great! no problems! they played all our favorites and my body held out well.

thanks, conor!

last minute getaway!

2011-09-07T15:41:00.005-06:00

as summer began to wind down, we took another little vacation to st. george with the fam and had a grand ol' time. my parents rented out a condo that had something to offer everyone. the kids loved the pool and playground. i loved the leather recliner. cade loved the close golf course. it really was ideal.
here are the highlights:

swimming!

we lounged, played sharks and minnows, had a diving contest and enjoyed the luxury of having absolutely nowhere to be. i loved it. plus, we nearly had the entire pool to ourselves!

i probably shouldn't post a picture where i look this large, but i feel it needs to be documented.

h&m

i looooooove h&m. especially since i have two little girls to dress. the kids clothes are so fabulous and so cheap. we really were a little out of control here.

my dad, bless him, is always a good sport when it comes to shopping with the gals. he always offers to hold everything.... and we let him. there was a point when he had clothes hanging from all belt loops and stacked as high as his head on both shoulders. needless to say, we had to sort through our finds to get the best deals. it was GREAT. i am excited (and nervous) for h&m to come to slc soon!

the lake

we took off for an afternoon at the lake. sand hollow is an awesome spot in st. george that we had never experienced. it really is worth the trip!

isn't cade's beard awesome these days?

little mermaid

we went to see the little mermaid at the tuacahn theater. little vi wasn't old enough for the show so cade gladly volunteered to stay back with some other daddies at the condo. it was a great show- mostly i loved seeing the look on owen's face the whole time. he got so into it all and has since been chatting about ursula, ariel and the whole crew ever since. he even wants my sister to dye her hair red- and he is getting pretty adamant with his request.

relaxing

we loved to take the opportunity to just hang out for a bit. st. george is a place that will always remind us all of my grandpa blaino who passed away over ten years ago. it was fun to think back to memories we had with him while we were there and to marvel at the amazing man he was. i love family time and this was absolutely perfect.

i sure hope this becomes a tradition.. wink wink.

latest art project

2011-09-07T15:37:00.002-06:00

a while ago, cade saw a picture of some aspen wall paper that really got him thinking. well, after mulling it over for a bit, he decided he could really pull this look off on one of our walls but using paint instead of paper.

at first i was worried it was going to look a little circusy.... BUT

it actually turned out FABULOUS.

i love it. the PERFECT addition to our living room. i am always impressed by cade's talents and i'm glad i get to benefit so much!

xw party

2011-09-07T15:34:00.003-06:00

we had cade's work party at seven peaks this year. they rented out the entire park and let us go hog wild! well... most of us. they actually wouldn't let me do anything- even the relaxing tube rides! it was a bummer but i made up for it by eating a butt load of dippin dots.
it is was fun watching this water baby love life.

she has no fear on the rides. she sits on her daddy's lap for all the water slides and walks away like it ain't no thing. i am always a little shocked that she doesn't have more of a fear impulse.

anyway, it was a great day to spend with friends and co workers.

cade won the "biggest air" competition on the rope swing and snagged us some prizes. he's a catch, this one.

baby valentine

2011-09-07T15:32:00.002-06:00

my little brother and his wife had a little baby while we were away in new mexico so we took the first chance we could get to steal away to logan to see her.

introducing valentine sophia

it was fun taking pictures of this little one and all her chubby rolls. it made me really excited to meet my peanut so soon. the only worry i had about the entire situation was violet. normally, that girl couldn't hit the broad side of a barn when she throws things at home. well, she sure was able to pick up a cup and wing it right at little valentines face. awesome. are we ready for another baby at the taylor home?

anyway, i love this picture of my mom. she is in her zone when it comes to babies. this is what she loves the most and you can tell by the look on her face.

love that little baby!

the land of enchantment

2011-09-07T08:42:00.012-06:00

summer rolled on... and so did we. as july kicked off, we headed south to the land of enchantment for some r&r at the circle a ranch in new mexico. cade's cousin was getting married there and we were thrilled to go and celebrate with the family.

the circle a ranch has been a part of cade for as long as he can remember. it is a ranch owned by his great aunts (and other family) who bought the old hunting lodge and land and initially turned it into a girls summer camp. cade's mother spent her summers there when she was young as a counselor and she tells great stories of her time at circle a. after some time, the ranch transitioned from a girls camp to more of a hostel or wooded retreat area. located in the mountains near cuba, new mexico, it has been a place where cade spent a lot of time playing with his cousins as he grew up. i have heard so many stories of this place so i was so excited to spend some time there.

the road trip south was, again, a worry with a little one to entertain- but.. she surprised us once more! oddly, we did go through three pairs of shorts for her during the ride. i think it was because i just kept handing her snacks and juice boxes to keep her occupied. every once in a while, i would look back to see this face

and i would know it was time to take a running stop. other than that, she was great! cade and i enjoyed the time to chat and relax. life seems so busy lately so i really just crave the time cade and i have to talk about whatever floats to the tops of our heads. this picture actually looks like we aren't speaking about anything at all... but it documents the hours we spent on the road.

we arrived at the ranch late at night and by then violet was dying to get out and stretch her legs. despite the late hour, she immediately set out to explore all that she could. i was a little more pooped than she apparently was so i just spent my time trying to keep up while also catching up with the family and wedding guests. after some chatting and gabbing, we all retired to our beds. violet is a great sleeper so when cade's cousin ane was making sleeping arrangements, i told her to stick us anywhere that worked for the wedding party. i didn't even bat an eye when she asked if we would be ok in the large bunk room with 8 or so other people. sure!
well, violet didn't really live up to the sleeper i talked her up to be. at about 6 am the next morning, i hear a little voice calling for "ash." i sat up in my bunk to see violet standing in her pack and play with longing eyes pointing right at her "ash." she was ready to explore some more- and the rest of us were not. i picked her up and we sleepily headed out of the room to let the others sleep. it was an early start!
our first day there was the actual wedding day. we spent the morning making love birds to hang from the branches of the trees while we got to know the other guests who hailed from all over the country.
that morning, ane had asked cade, dylan and rudi to write a song that they could sing as she came down the aisle. she wanted something off the cuff and improvisational so they sat down with a guitar a few minutes before everything got started and began singing whatever came to their mind. soon, they had a small crowd listening in and laughing hysterically as the three of them came up with some GREAT lyrics. i love when cade is with his cousins. he is so close to them and you can see such a history. in this case, it made for a hilarious time.

meanwhile, as they practiced, violet had hit a wall. that early morning had finally caught up with her so she took a snoozer before the wedding.

i love that cade is really getting into the music here as i twirl my fingers in delight. this is pretty spot on in describing the song-writing-scene.
so as the wedding started, the boys took their seats and sang their hearts out. it turned out great.

ane and che looked SO dapper.

the ceremony was beautiful and you could tell that these two have a real love and respect for one another. it truly was a sweet ceremony. after the ceremony, cade's cousin, dylan, sang a song that he wrote about the ranch. this group of cousins is so close and the song is about all of the experiences they had at circle a. it was a nice touch to the event.
after the song, we all gathered in a cirlce on the lawn and those closest to the couple shared their thoughts and congratulatory wishes. as the sharing circle was going on, the sun was getting hotter and my pregnant feet were not having it. i looked down to see my skin literally busting out of my shoes. cade ran and got me a chair and i gladly took a break.
afterward, we feasted and danced the night away. ane and che had a great band come in to play. we all stuck on some mustaches and let the good time roll.

even vi got a stache.

violet also took this opportunity to explore some more around the ranch.

and she even convinced mike to help her do some sidewalk art. there were very few children there so she was basking in all the attention.

it really was a fun wedding. we spent the evening playing games, chatting and dancing.
the next day, cade and some other family members took off on a hike to the top of the mountain. i GLADLY stayed home. after my exploding feet incident from the day before, i looked forward to taking it easy that day. cade had a great time hiking without me...

while cade was away, some of the girls took the opportunity to sneak away to the house of an old woman who sells turquoise jewelry in cuba. i have always LOVED turquoise anything- maybe it is my indian blood. i have distinct memories of my great grandparents wearing it... the indian and non-indian alike, so maybe it is nostalgic. i also remember a ring my sister had as a baby that was turquoise that i envied. i always thought it would be great to find a baby ring like that for my girls. as we walked into her little shop, lo and behold, one of the first things i spot is a tray of baby rings. who'd a thought!? so this shopping trip was a highlight for me. we loaded up on some handmade goods and headed back.
later that day, after everyone was back, we decided to head over to the clay flats.

the clay flats are a HUGE expanse of clay that has been eroding over time. as the rain slowly washes away the clay, petrified wood and other treasures begin to surface. we hiked around, gathered cool wood pieces as souvenirs and marveled for a bit.

this place was heaven for violet.

we headed back to the ranch for games and gabbing into the night.

by the next day, much of the wedding party had left which made things a little more lonely but a little calmer as well. by now, violet thought she owned the ranch. she could be caught splashing in the stream, wrestling with the dogs and smelling flowers. she really was a wild child. i was even a little afraid of the dogs (they liked to gnaw and nip), but she would walk right over to them and let them nip on her as they played.
we spent that morning leisurely relaxing at the lake with the crawdads.

and we said hello to the horses

later, cade wanted to take us to see the other sights at the ranch. our first stop was alice's grave. alice was one of the original aunts who really embodied what the ranch was all about. she loved life at circle a and spent much of her time there. many of the stories from cade's mom, aunts and cousins center around alice. she died a while back and was buried right there on the ranch. her grave was an eclectic homage where visitors had hung trinkets in trees, sprinkled ornaments on the ground and left little notes for her. a sweet memorial.
after that, it was off to fairyland. when cade's mom and sisters were counselors for the camp, they used to take the girls to fairyland to explore and make flower rings and such. we spent our time walking through at dusk, which made it even more fairy-esque.

we hiked on a little more to "mini grand canyon" which is just as it sounds. we didn't stay long- it started getting pretty dark and i am not much of a hiker these days with my big, old belly.
it was our last night on the ranch and we really just took our time enjoying everything. we loved the company of family and the great time spent with them. i loved hearing all the folklore about the ranch (like how it was a hunting lodge in the early 1900s where they imported real lions from africa to release into the wilderness to hunt) and meeting people i had only heard about. i really do look forward to visits to the ranch- especially as our children get older. to say it is a beautiful place just isn't enough.
on our ride home, we detoured and headed to four corners for some running time and navajo tacos. we look pretty grubby but it was a great stop.

in the end, i can honestly say we were enchanted by the land that claims to do so.
we'll be back!

independence weekend

2011-09-07T08:08:00.005-06:00

i love when independence day falls on a weekend. it is the best excuse to stretch the celebrations out as long as possible.

this year, we followed tradition by spending the day with cade's cousins at spring lake. i was hot, sweaty and large with child so i wasn't too keen on jumping into the lake this year. so, i left the fun to cade and vi.

plus, this gave me some time to spend with these cute lil' nubbins.

after the lake, we went to granny's for yummy food, family and fireworks.

granny lives so close to byu's stadium that we get the whole experience without paying a bunch o' money or sifting through crowds. we just lay out our blankies, snuggle into the ones we love and enjoy. it is always a highlight of the summer for me.

granny, who is cade's grandmother, is a woman i admire immensely. she has such a love for her family and for the Lord. honestly, i want to be like her in so many ways and i have absolutely cherished the time i have had to get to know her. she loves life and that passion is so contagious!

for the celebrations this year, she gussied up the yard, prepared food and then watched as her family played on her lawn all night long. we love life too, granny.

the celebrations continued as we headed to my parent's house for more celebrations. again, great food, family and fireworks were shared. i swear we brought our camera but now i cannot find ONE picture from that night! i am so sad about it.

violet loves to play in the backyard at nana's. instead of eating, all she wanted to do was climb the giant ladder and go down the slide (that is triple her size) all by herself. she probably repeated this for a good hour or so. she is a wild one.

for fireworks, we all gathered on the back lawn and watched some pretty cool displays. since the arial ban was lifted this year, it felt like the whole world was doing a FABULOUS job celebrating america. grammy wanted to give the best firework dhow possible so she asked the salesman to give her their best firework they had. we saved it for the finale- and i am glad we did. as the "whoa daddy" started, it literally felt like we were inside of a the firework. we were ALL screaming with delight. seriously. we have a video of it all and all you can hear is my sister and i screaming our lungs out as the firework exploded. if that doesn't say, "go usa," i don't know WHAT does.

finally, for monday's day off, we ran the freedom run again. this is a fun tradition for us to do- and it is always nice that cade's work sponsors all of us to go. i am not one for running these days so i walked it with some of my very favorite friends in the whole world. it was perfect. i must have looked fatigued- or extra large- that day because all along the route people would yell out encouragements to me and say they were happy to see a pregnant woman in the race. great times...

our weekend was PACKED with celebrations and it was great. the perfect ode to summer.

rancho cherpablo 2011

2011-09-06T16:28:00.007-06:00

another fun time at cherpablo this year. it was even better having miss vi prancing around the place like she owned the entire outdoors. my dad has always said (even when she was a baby) that he thinks violet is going to be an adventure seeker- especially when it comes to the outdoors. she consistently proves him right by hiking, climbing and finding adventure everywhere. thus, cherpablo was a dream for this little one.

she got to swing...

and then insisted she swing by herself.

she rode the three wheeler

and the four wheeler. basically any time an engine started, she thought she had to go on a ride.

she would swing in the hammock

and play for hours in the dirt

she is also really into playing pretend- especially when it comes to lotion and babies. anyway, this is a picture of her pretending to wash her hair. yes, she was using dirt as the shampoo.

she really spent the entire time squealing with joy. she loved the stars, the fire and sleeping in the tent with mommy and daddy. what a difference a year makes! i remember going with her as a baby last year and she was too little to really enjoy all that there is to do. she sure made up for that this year- much to gramps' delight.

meanwhile, there was much do to for everyone! we found an abandoned bus- which was entertaining and nasty all at the same time.

we played games and snacked like royalty.

we had a luau- complete with hula lessons

we ate good food

we danced

we frolicked

we played our annual horseshoe tournament

and we giggled.

we always have a great time at cherpablo.

go owlz

2011-09-06T16:22:00.003-06:00

the man trip

2011-09-06T14:19:00.001-06:00

cade and some friends decided that this year, all they wanted for father's day was a weekend of manly time hiking in southern utah. i can just picture all the burping and scratching that came along with all that testosterone.

the women gladly bid adieu and had a great weekend ourselves at the farmers market!

here, to show the manliness in its best, is a video cade put together.

well hello there, bono.

2011-09-06T14:08:00.002-06:00

i had heard U2 was coming to town- but we didn't have tickets. sure, i was bummed- i think U2 is one of those bucketlist bands that everyone should see at least once. but, again, no tickets. no plans to go.

well, you can imagine my surprise when i get a call on the morning of the concert asking me if i could volunteer to help out at the show. FOR FREE. i seriously could not have been more thrilled. so, for this blog post, i found my sister-in-law lindsey's post was detailed enough to copy and paste here. plus, i am trying to catch up on 4 months of activities... lindsey won't mind, right?

so, in lindsey's words, here is the AWESOME account of the experience we had:

The day of was a busy one for me, and I had not heard a time we needed to be there. (I wasn't even sure where there was.) When I finally checked email, I read we needed to be at Rice Eccles at 4:30 to check in and get our assignments. I looked at the clock. It was 4:10. Gulp. I quickly called Ashley, who was taking Rachel's spot because she'd gotten in a car accident and wasn't up to a loud, crazy evening. We decided we had to press on and get there ASAP! I called Jon to tell him to drop what he was doing and git.
To save every precious minute, Ashley would be at In-n-Out by the freeway. Traffic was horrible, and I missed the exit. By the time I got to her I was so mad at myself and really feeling like the evening was hopeless. Would they really still let us in???
It wasn't too crowded when we got to the U, we weren't sure where to go, so we ran to the nearest gate. A woman was there checking tickets and as soon as we approached her telling her we were volunteers, she asked if we were Linda's nieces, let us know we were late, and that Ashley's zipper was down. Phew! We were in! I cannot tell you how great it felt to enter those gates. We were inside the U2 concert! For FREE! We'd made it! We found the office to sign in, and put on our bright green vests. We couldn't get a hold of or find Abby, and went off to our assignments. It appeared every "station" was covered, so we walked around quite a bit. This was good, because we were able to get our bearings, and figure out the seating. We were finally assigned at a gate to check peoples belongings in. Ashley was behind me in charge of crowd control, to make sure everyone used the crosswalk and not dart out in front of Trax and get killed. (this kept her quiet busy, I tell you!) I had my first "customer", a girl who set her backback in front of me. I started unzipping pockets and pulling things out, moving things around etc. when the "man in charge" informed me I must never put my hands inside the bags. What if there was a needle??? Oh. Good to know. I kept learning items they could not bring in as I went. It started getting quite busy and time flew by. I could hear the opening band playing and end. I was getting nervous Ashley and I were going to be stuck out there when U2 came on and began scheming a way to ditch this post. These vests were getting stashed in a ficus if it came down to it. Luckily the "man in charge" told us he only needed two people to stay, the others needed to go inside for new assignments. The other people were apparently getting paid and had strict orders to stay put, so Ashley and I were on our way again. It always threw us off when someone would stop us to ask us questions, "Where is the fastest way to find my seat? Where is Will-Call? Where is the entrance to the suits? Where is the beer? Where can I smoke?" We did not know the answers to any of these, but did our best to point them in the right direction. Just goes to show. Those people in the vests don't know nuthin'.
We meandered ourselves down to the stage area, because that was the most exciting area. As we approached the barricade, a security guy saw us coming and started moving the barricade! Unbelievable what these vests will do! We were really wanting to find Abby because we knew U2 would be coming on soon. As soon as we looked down by the stage, we saw her walking up! Joyous moment!!! We got as close as we could to the stage, chatting, looking around at everything, when a security man came up behind us, "Spread out!" What??? We can stay here??? Yes, through the entire concert we were as close to the stage as could be. Such energy as the band took the stage, belting out all the favorites. At one point Bono was walking down the bridge right towards me. It was hard not to scream, jump up and down, clap and sing along. But I felt funny doing this in a "professional vest". I mean, I've never seen the staff act this way, have you? By the end I'd totally forgotten about the vest and was singing right along. It was a chilly night and I had not realized we'd be outside and was just in short sleeves. Chilly! I had to keep moving around to stay warm. At one point some people pointed out that a guy nearby was smoking, was he allowed to do this? Stop him! Uhhhh...... I don't like confrontations.... Oh, look, he's putting it out, no worries.
U2 does not disappoint, and this 360 Tour was the best yet. They sang all my favorites and then some. They played for over two hours! While singing their last song, "With or Without You" a security guy approached us, saying, "You three, follow me". We danced and sang behind him. He led us up the ramp near the gates to the outside road where several nice SUV's were parked. "You guys stay here and make sure no one crosses over to these cars". Uh. Ok. Then he pulled Abby up a little ways to the first car. I was noticing how nice the cars were, and the men surrounding the cars in long coats and earpieces. These cars were ready, pulled up to the gates for a quick get-away. These were the bands get-away cars! The surrounding crowd was not as dense as I, and suddenly there was Bono, right in front of us, waving and climbing into the first car. I looked up to see Abby ignoring the mob, jumping up and down, blowing kisses. Then came The Edge into the next car, waving away, then Larry Mullen, then Adam Clayton. Unbelievable! What are the odds we would get to be up so close??? I tell you, the rush has still not worn off!

Afterwards we realized how starving we all were and went to Village Inn where Linda met up with us and we told her the story of our evening. By now it was after one, but we were still so pumped! I ended not even crawling into bed until after 3. What a night! Whahoooooo!

california love

2011-09-06T10:34:00.010-06:00

to kick off the summer months, we decided it was time to introduce violet to the beach. we called our friends russ and katie to see if we could come visit, gathered a few other friends and headed west in a stuffed minivan.

life is good.

we rode with the mitchells- little ben and violet are close in age so we were excited for them to spend some quality time together in the van. honestly, we were a little worried about how they would react to the idea of driving to california in one day but they shocked us all as they chatted and giggled (almost) the whole way. the minivan was littered with snacks and toys that had been thrown and half eaten, but overall, we couldn't have been more pleased!

whenever i would find a sticky piece of red vine mashed into the seat, i would thankfully remind myself that the van was only a rental. they had their work cut out for themselves cleaning up this town and country!

we arrived in california just in time for dinner with friends. we all gathered at a mexican restaurant near russ and katie's where the food was delicious. with all our kids so close in age, we truly were quite the spectacle. russ and katie have little lucy, who is a few months younger than ben and vi. mike and carly have two lovies who are a little older and a little younger. and on top of all of this, there were two of us who were clearly showing our pregnancy bulges. as we were walking out of the restaurant, i heard a man say to his wife, "i sure hope we didn't order what they had. there must be something in their water!"

for sleeping arrangements, it was perfect that russ and katie and mike and carly live just a few apartments away from each other. that way, we were all able to sleep in comfort while still being so close. mike and carly were SOOO generous to let us stay with them. in fact, they even gave us their bedroom to use and they slept on the couches! i promise i tried to talk them out of this extreme generosity but they insisted so we slept like royalty.

our first day, we hit the beach.

vi wasn't so thrilled to be there at first.

but the rest of us sure were!

it really took her a long time to warm up to the idea...

but eventually she came around.

we lounged, played paddleball, played with the skim board, ate, chatted, dug in the sand, and threw the babies.

it was a GREAT day at the beach. that left us with some tuckered out chillins.

that night, we decide to take a trip to downtown disney to eat at the espn zone for the men and get some delicious beignets for the ladies. we also shopped around and watched the fireworks with the kiddos. i love disneyland- and even though we didn't go inside the park, it was fun to have violet there with all the excitement. her face doesn't really show that excitement in the picture below... but trust me, it was there.

the next day, we were trying to decide what we wanted to do and as we went around throwing out ideas, we decided that the beach was really the highlight of the trip. so, we loaded up and hit the sands again- this time with a larger group. by now, vi had finally made up her mind that the beach was actually fun. hallelujah.

she loved walking in the uneven sand, picking up shells and seaweed, sticking everything in her mouth and she even liked dipping in the water a bit. it made for a great time.

that night, katie and carly had arranged for a group date for all of us by hiring some babysitters from church. it. was. awesome. don't get me wrong, i love violet and i love spending time with her... BUT i also love getting some one on one with cade every once in a while. so with babysitters a-plenty, we headed off to an angels game on our date.

sunday, we headed to church where katie had volunteered us to be on a missionary panel so the youth could ask us questions about serving a mission. it was fun to think about the time i spent as a missionary and all the ups and downs that came along. looking back, it all seems like ups but i still remember the time an old lady asked if my acne was a whole bunch of cockroach bites.... that was a down i can't forget. ahhhh, the mission. overall though, it is always fun to go to church in a new state. same church, different saints.

later, we had a birthday bash for mike complete with great food, fun games and yummy dessert. after the party, following california tradition, we had a root beer tasting party that ended with cade jumping in the pool while still in his sunday garb. never a dull moment and a perfect ending to the trip.

the next day, we were off early. the kiddos had anther fabulous drive home. we were so sad to go but we know that we will be back! we LOVE our california friends.

r.i.p. aztek.... r.i.p.

2011-09-06T09:50:00.007-06:00

in 2007, i had just returned from my mission and was in need of some wheels to take me back to school. my dad took me over to the auto auction in salt lake where i was hoping to buy the subaru wrx they had up for bid that day. instead, i came home with this beauty.

it wasn't ever what i thought i would buy but i got it for a STEAL and happily drove it back up to logan. well, for those of you who know the story of how cade and i came to be, you know that i pretty much met him the first day i moved back to school. thus, this car became OUR car right away. it is our love mobile, so to speak.

we have had some great times in this car. some of our early dates, vegas trips, driving home to tell our families we were engaged, camping trips, sunday afternoon car rides just to spend time together. we once fit 17 people inside for a late night food run.

we drove away to our honeymoon in a decorated version of the aztek and had confetti spitting out of the a/c vents for months.

we took long road trips after we were married and relied on this beast to move us all over the world- literally. then, we used this car to take our baby home from the hospital. after that, the car turned into the family car where we sang itsy bitsy spider at the top of our lungs or turned the radio off in hopes to lull a tired babe back to sleep.

sure... i am making a MUCH bigger deal out of selling a car than i should. i guess i am just trying to make myself feel better about lil' goldie being turned over to this affliction-t-shirt-wearing-dude.

oddly enough, we bought ANOTHER gold car. this time, something smaller. an elantra hatch back. we are loving it... but we still think about our aztek whenever we wish we had a cooler in the console.

threads

2011-09-06T09:34:00.004-06:00

to kick off warmer weather, cade and i volunteered to help out with head start's spring fundraising event, threads. at first i thought we would just be helping with serving appetizers or something- but the next thing i know, i am on the planning board for the event and cade and i are knee deep in responsibilities. luckily, the event was a blast so the work was fun and the company stellar.

we asked all our friends to volunteer with us and i must say that i was overwhelmed with the support we received. over 20 people stepped in and made the event awesome.

cade made a great video for the event- BUT it was taken off of youtube due to copyrights on the music. i would upload it here using blogger- BUT it was filmed in hd and would take a good week to upload. so, just know it was a great event that raised a bunch of money for a great cause.

let the updates begin

2011-09-06T09:32:00.002-06:00

summer is winding down.

my maternity leave has started.

baby isn't here quite yet.

update overload is headed your way.

Five Months & Counting:

2011-08-22T16:01:00.006-06:00

Click the picture to see the progression...

a summer break, i guess...

2011-07-21T15:32:00.002-06:00

this is just a little note to remind you that we are still here.

we are just REALLY enjoying our summer.
updates (with way too much detail, i am sure) to come soon. but for now- the sun is out!

violet: an update on the little lovey.

2011-05-15T14:57:00.006-06:00

violet has been growing up so fast lately. since she started to walk, she has transformed from a baby to a full-blown toddler. i love it- and i hate it. i love it because it is the most rewarding feeling to see her learn something new and to explore the world. i hate it because i feel like she is moving too fast! she is still my baby (even if i have another baby on deck) and i don't know how to look at her any differently! such a strange mix of emotions- but this truly is a fun time to be a mom. here is a sample of what violet is up to...

she is quite the talker. her vocabulary doubles weekly, i swear. at first it was simple: "no" "dada" and "be soft" were her favorite first words. "be soft" really isn't that simple of a first word, but she sure knows how to say it and is sure to say it repeatedly as she rips the cats' fur out. she says the word, but the meaning is still setting in. now she has amped up: asking for juice, a banana or a baba, telling us where her eyes and nose are as she says them, finally saying "yes" instead of constantly saying "no." i love taking her to the store where she waves and says "hi" to just about everybody. when she's not saying words we understand, she is speaking full blown jibberish into her cell phone or a mirror.
one of my love/hate talking milestones of hers is that she started calling me ash. when i go into her room some mornings, she happily greets me by saying, "hi, ash!" it is so cute- but so strange to hear my little baby call me such a grown up name. i guess it just shows she is picking up on what is going on around her. in fact, just the other day, cade and i were praying over dinner and as i peeked over at violet i saw that she had stopped playing with her toys, folded her arms and bowed her head. we didn't even teach her that! little sponge, that one.

she loves animals. i know i pointed this out in an earlier post but it is something i love about her. violet isn't afraid of big dogs, new cats or any geese. she LOVES reading books about animals and is sure to tell us what all the animals say. my favorite animal noise she does is a butterfly- she'll flap her arms and blow out wind. i just about bawl, it's so dang cute.

she loves being outside. most of her morning is spent staring out the window pointing to everything going on. now that the weather is nicer, it is great to be out more regularly. she especially loves the park... love is an understatement. she climbs on everything, squeals on the swings as she gets higher and higher, and even goes on the slides by herself. she climbs to the top and bravely walks to the edge. she hasn't quite learned how to sit down in order to go, so usually she just walks until she falls down and slides down the rest of the way with a huge grin on her face. i know this makes me sound like a shotty parent- but i swear she wouldn't have it any other way. needless to day, we are excited for summer!

she loves sid the science kid. i don't know what it is about this show, but she is glued to the tv whenever i put it on. it seems to save me whenever i am trying to make dinner and cade isn't home. sid chats with violet until i can come back to entertain.

she loves playing games. hide and seek, can't catch me, high fives, etc. her recent favorites are playing catch and timber. when she plays catch, she will bring you a ball and then run away so you will throw it somewhere in the room. after that, grabs the ball and brings it back. this game sounds a lot like playing "fetch" with a dog- but i refuse to call it that. in timber, violet stands tall like a tree and waits for you to yell, "tiiiiiiiiimber!" at which point she collapses. we have recently learned that she will do this just about anywhere so it is best to only yell timber when she is on the couch or bed- otherwise she is free falling straight to the ground.

now that you know some of her loves, it may be best to give a shout out to all she hates. violet hates baths. she prefers the shower. odd, but i let it happen. she also hates hairbows. no matter what i do with her hair, she really prefers it to be loose and blowing in the wind. she hates feeling like she's missing something, tuna fish, and being treated like a baby. not too many hates, but she'll let you know when she isn't liking something.

she is getting so grown up- and i wonder how it will be with two little ones around the house. we have been trying to get violet used to the idea of a baby by giving her a little baby to play with. she kisses and hugs the baby... but she also throws the baby across the room. we still have some work to do. she does, however, recognize that there is a little baby in mommy's tummy and she is sure to give my tummy a kiss whenever we bring it up. again, enough to make you wanna bawl.

one thing is for sure, she is certainly gearing up to be a big sister!

old friends. good friends.

2011-05-15T14:46:00.003-06:00

a few weekends ago, cade and i went to a baby shower for cade's childhood friend, kristine. the gildea family moved in next to cade when he was about 3 and from the beginning, he became friends with all five of the girls. i love hearing stories about cade skipping down the street to buy their donuts or bringing a goose to their house that was twice his size. he has a special place in his heart for the gildeas and i can tell that they love him right back.

i, too, have come to love these beautiful gals. i know they will always be great friends. it was fun to celebrate this exciting time with them at the shower.

vi loved the shower because auntie kate sure knows how to dish out the treats! she also wears pretty earrings...

EASTER: dyeing, divas and deliciousness

2011-05-15T14:03:00.005-06:00

we were really excited for easter this year. last year, violet was just a little baby. her dress barely fit and she didn't understand any of the events we went to. this year, however, she was an active participant in everything! it is crazy how quickly she has grown up.

we started the celebrations with some egg dyeing. vi wasted no time cracking her egg open and taking big bites full of shell and egg. yummy!

the rest of us dyed all 8 dozen eggs using fun, new techniques. this has always been an enjoyable tradition to look forward to.

as we were gathering up all our eggs after the dyeing was done, i was searching for the dozen eggs we brought so i could pack them up. they were seemingly missing- until we opened the fridge and found that not a single one of them had been dyed. i forgot to put them out when all the fun started! so, in the end, we came with white eggs and left with white eggs... but somewhere in the middle, there was LOTS of color.

next up was easter morning. i was excited because i remember easter mornings growing up. we would hunt for candy, check out the stash from the easter bunny, snack on egg salad sandwiches for breakfast and then get ALL gussied up for easter pictures outside. i thought that since violet was getting older, this tradition could easily get started this year!

wrong.

violet woke up with this look on her face:

and it NEVER left.

she went to bed the night before an angel- and woke up easter morning a diva. she was mad that she had to get up and see what the easter bunny brought. she was mad that she had to get gussied up. she was especially mad that we wanted to take pictures of it all. diva, diva diva.

at church, whenever someone came to talk to her- even her FAVORITE people- she was quick to put out a hand and say, "no!" later, when we went to cade's sister sadie's house, she kept up the tude by wandering around giving looks and refusing to eat. cade and i didn't let it get us down. we had a great time!

i was hoping a little nap on the way to grammy's would help ease vi's angry spell... but...

no. she wouldn't eat again and was just mad about all the events going on.

my last hope was the egg hunt. violet has been loving playing with all the plastic eggs the season has to offer at home, so i thought she would at least be excited for the egg hunt. turns out- that was the one event she liked! she learned early that if you throw the eggs on the floor, they crack open and are FULL of candy. by this time, we were happy to see her in a better mood so i didn't even flinch when she stuffed her mouth full of jelly beans
and cracked open another egg.

we all love the egg hunt because as we all get older, the eggs become more valuable. this year, there was some cash to be found...

i don't know how cade got grammy to pose for this picture but i have been literally laughing for the past 20 minutes about it. make it rain, grammy!

by the time easter was over, our little diva was done. she was ready for bed! i was really concerned that our easy-going baby had transformed overnight into some new creature. the next morning, however, my worries went away as we found her two top teeth had finally broken through- gleaming white against those swollen gums. our easter diva was simply teething. and she woke up an angel once again.

really though, the day was great. we spent it with our families eating delicious food, chatting and laughing. we really are thankful for such a close and loving family. we are also thankful for the easter season and the chance it gives all of us to reflect on what matters most: the savior.

future besties

2011-05-15T13:56:00.002-06:00

sure, right now violet is a little obsessed with showing us where macy's eyes are or with giving giant, overbearing hugs. sure, macy hates all the poking and prodding. that aside, however, these two are already showing such love to one another. it is sweet to see them light up as they interact.

note: this picture was NOT taken at a rave. i don't know why it appears so...

headstart 5k

2011-05-15T13:38:00.004-06:00

last month, headstart hosted a 5k for all families and employees to run. since my sister, mandy, works there, we decided to run the race together! since this baby made her way into my belly, i haven't been too keen on running- but i sure love to walk! so.... walk i did! it really was a fun race. headstart is such a great community program and i love being involved with their activities.

here we are at the beginning of the race. i really thought my sweatband looked cooler than it actually does. these pictures sure set the record straight... that mistake has been noted. we were all excited to be there- grammy, nana, gramps, mandy, owen, cade, violet, emo, and pete!

as the race got underway, it was fun to get moving!

grammy was a sport to push violet while i snapped some shots.

emo was FAST she took second place for all the women! here she is pointing to the girl ahead of her that she is vowing to catch...

cade got a great run in as well. he was sure to give everyone he passed a high five. living up to the theme of his outfit, he really was captain america that day.

LOVE these ladies...

post race, violet was ready to get OUT of that stroller. she loved playing on the playground and going down the slides all by herself. this baby truly is addicted to adventure!

duck pond

2011-05-15T13:13:00.004-06:00

violet loves animals- just like her daddy. not that i don't love animals, but i have been known to squish a spider and run from a cat when i need to. cade and violet would do neither of those things. they LOVE animals. violet's uncle brad took her to the duck pond with owen the other day and she had a grand old time loving on those ducks.

she also had a great time loving on owen. these two are cute, little besties. owen treats violet like a little sister. he cares for her, helps her and always listens to what she says. i love these two buddies.

HSM- we're all in this together!

2011-05-15T13:00:00.004-06:00

you better believe i jump at any chance to sing along with some high school musical. i jump higher and faster when i get the chance to sing along with my nieces! three of sadie's girls were cast in the sandy city production of the musical and we LOVED watching them in acting action!

i just had to get a shot of raegan with her on-stage beau.

we loved coming to see you romney, raegan and sophie! GREAT JOB!

meanwhile, violet was loving her life at her cousin owen's house. here she is truly embodying the idea to "speak softly and carry a big stick."

boy or girl? watch and see!!!

2011-04-27T07:54:00.002-06:00

we got to see this new little baby in action yesterday. it was so fun- see for yourself!

ps- those killer dance moves were taken straight from milli vanilli's 1990 performance at the grammy's. we are hardcore.

a day at the farm

2011-04-10T16:41:00.009-06:00

violet and owen spent a day at the farm last week. there was plenty to do...

feed the animals...

take a run...

eat some hay...

talk to the animals...

climb on stuff...

and just really enjoy the sun. violet loved all the animals and was insistent on feeding the horses all by herself. i swear she went from being a baby to being a kindergartner in a day.

as of late...

2011-03-31T07:52:00.007-06:00

after realizing that i hadn't updated the blog in a while, i looked through our recent photos to recall what we have been up to. what i found are ten, random pictures that highlight some of our recent highs and lows. here are the gems i found:

photo one: cats rule

after despising one another for months, our two kitties have a new love. when they aren't wrestling with each other, they are cuddling and fur-balling up my white chair or cuddling and fur-balling up the sheets on our bed. ahhhh, the joys of being a cat owner. some people would say photos like this make it all worth it...

people like cade say things like that.

photo two: the apple slug

above is a picture of an apple that i was eating. then, i ran across the apple slug. can you see him? snug as a slug in an apple.... if you don't get the willies looking at this photo, you need to reevaluate your life.

photo three: i'm exhausted!

moving right along in our march slide show, you will find a photo of violet and i zonked out on the norton's couch. questions you may be asking about this photo: where did ashley's chin go? what forsaken hour was this taken at? who ate all the ice cream in the bowl?
the truth is, pregnancy kills me. sure, i don't really get sick or throw up... instead, i just fall asleep EVERYWHERE, eat lots of ice cream and collapse into bed at night fearing another sleepless night. pregnancy and sleep have a serious fight with one another until the baby comes. i remember feeling MORE rested with a newborn in our home than when i was hauling the babe in my belly. you should probably plan on many more photos like this during the next 6 months.

photos four and five: skiing

cade loves to ski but with busy schedules and two pregnant winters, he really only ends up getting to the mountain once a year or so. this year, he spent the day with jason. from the photos, it looks like skiing is similar to riding a bike- it just comes right back to you after a long absence.

photos six and seven: smorgasbord at dickey's

ever heard of dickey's? ever heard of ordering meat by the pound at a restaurant? ever heard of the meat sweats?

boy, we sure have!
the cougar crew went out to eat after watching a disappointing cougar game. to cheer the hearts of the men, we went to a place where the meat pours down like rain in march. we literally took over the entire restaurant but in the end, we all got a taste of dickey's. and we loved it.

photo eight: the ledfords left us

our dear neighbors, the ledfords, decided they were going to move. i teared up. i was in denial. in the end, however, it turns out they were pretty serious about it. within two weeks, the entire house was packed, renters were found and they were loading into cars headed to chatanooga. i miss them terribly. not just because i needed honey yesterday and found that i was plumb out, but also because they had become great friends.

photo nine: a head shot

who doesn't love a good head shot? we hope the people casting extras on the new testament movie do!

photo ten: good friends. good family. good life.

i think this picture is a good representation of how blessed we have been feeling lately to have such good friends and close family. we have had a lot of time to spend with them this month and we have loved every second of it. we didn't photograph the joy on our faces in each individual instance, but we loved all of them nonetheless.

there you have it: ten photos of march.
i feel like violet wasn't accurately represented in the photos- so just know that she is doing great. cruising around like a toddler and climbing all sorts of furniture. cute as a button, that one. i'll get some photos of her on here soon to satisfy your craving.

until then!

big announcements come in small packages

2011-03-15T17:44:00.005-06:00

it may be tough to read that little peanut's shirt...but sure enough, it says BIG SISTER.

cade and i are expecting another baby september 21st. i am 13 weeks along and loving life. we can't wait to welcome this lovey into our home.

for the record... i did not ride the scary rides in disneyland (i know you were all judging).

GOLDEN BIRTHDAY... it's a big deal.

2011-03-15T16:50:00.014-06:00

this year i turned 27 on the 27th. that means, this year i celebrated my one and only golden birthday. i have been looking forward to this moment for 26 years and cade did not disappoint. he surprised me with

A CRUISE.

i love that man.

so, we dropped violet off at my mom's and headed out on an adventure for just the two of us! first, we wanted to see our friends who live in california and spend some time with them. we drove straight through and met up with them in time to spend the weekend with them. it was great to catch up, meet their adorable daughter lucy, and sneak in a few competitive games of wii tetris. my highlight of the first night with them was our root beer tasting party. russ manged to find like 30 different kinds of root beer to try and our goal was to find the best. let's just say there is really tasty root beer out there and there is root beer that is hazardous. it was a fun, creative way to relax and enjoy the company.

the next day (my VERY birthday), we made sure to hit up the beach and the temple with these folks.

the newport temple is gorgeous.... i wish we would have arranged to go inside but it was sunday. maybe next time.

corona del mar was also beautiful. we walked the beach and checked out the tide pools- both awesome sunday activities.

later that night, katie prepared a delicious meal complete with a cake and sparklers. it was a perfect ending to a great day spent with good friends. with adjectives like that, life can't get more positive.

the next day, we were off to the ship- but first, we decided to use russ and katie's disneyland passes for an hour or so before it was time to board. that hour had us hooked- and we decided that we would come back to disneyland again after we got off the boat as well.

let the cruise begin....

as we were boarding the ship, there were massive lines of people being shuffled here and there as we were showing paper and such. in all the madness, cade wondered if we knew anyone in the crowd. this is so typical cade. whenever we walk in to a crowded place, he always assumes we know someone there. truth is, he is usually right... and he was right again this time. from behind us in the line i heard my named and turned to see an old high school friend! what are the chances!? cade is always right! we didn't really end up seeing them much the rest of the trip but it was just a coincidence worth noting.

cade and i were excited to eat, sleep and relax. we did PLENTY of those things and it made the trip excellent. at dinner on our first night, we met our table guests who happened to be a couple from kaysville. we made instant friends and ended up hanging out with them quite often.

our first stop was catalina island. before we could go ashore, cade wanted to compete in the ship's ping pong tournament. while he played, i watched as scores of dolphins played in the bay. everyone marveled at how many dolphins there were- the cruise staff said they had never seen so many. meanwhile, cade handily beat out the other competition and walked away with the trophy.

now we could go on land. once on the island, we went miniature golfing with our new friends.

afterward, we rented a golf cart and explored the entire island. it was awesome! we were able to see all the cool houses, the bay and we even picked up a couple of latinos that looked tired of walking. we loved driving oscar and ruth around as we saw the sights.

the next day, we docked in ensenada. we decided we wanted to see the blowhole so we jumped on a random tour bus and took off. the bus ride itself was worth the money we paid. cade loves talking to interesting people and the crowd on our bus sure fit into that category. we made numerous stops at corona stores so the passengers could get more and more tipsy as cade and I laughed more and more at the craziness.

we made it to la bufadora in time to see it shoot off a few times. after that, we shopped through the stores and made out like bandits. we bought a few adorable dresses for our little vi, a wallet for cade and a pendant for me. here i am looming over a small mexican woman who sold me a dress.

the final full day of the cruise was a day at sea. we spent it poolside with good books and great food. one highlight of the day at sea was watching as a contestant in the "hairy chest competition" slid down the banister right in front of us and broke his leg almost clean off. his ankle was twisted all funky and he was writhing in pain- but cade was sure to let the crowd know that he had indeed broken his leg. they handed him his trophy as they carried him off the deck on a stretcher. an odd highlight but something you don't see everyday.

our rest, relaxation and extreme eating had finally come to a close and the next morning we left the ship and headed to disneyland.

i had not been there for YEARS so it was fun to see all the rides from my past as well as enjoy the new ones. it did, however, make me miss my little girl terribly. i wanted to get home to her more than ever. we still enjoyed the day and saw all the attractions. it was fabulous. i left more tired than i have been in a long time but it was worth it.

that night, as we slept at russ and katie's again, cade and i weighed ourselves to see the effects of our eating. cade gained 9 pounds and i gained a whopping 12 pounds! i hope your mouth is gaping. mine was as i stared at the scale in disgust. luckily, the next morning we had aleardy lost half of the weight. we think we were just swollen with disney love the night before as we stepped on the scales.

finally we rushed home to see little vi who had double ear infections while we were gone. she loved getting spoiled while we were gone and it was quite the transition to get her back on some sort of schedule. i sure did miss her though.

so, in the end- my golden birthday was my best yet. i love cade, i love vi, i love mexico and i love walt disney.

the end.

sk8 4 k8

2011-03-15T16:43:00.005-06:00

our friend kate had a birthday party at classic skating the other day and we had so much fun that i had to post a few pictures on here.

cade still had his groove.

violet loved to be pushed around the rink. she would sing and dance the whole time. it is hard to see through the classic mist- but here she is dancing for lisa and matt.

another reason to love february- happy birthday, kate!

ps. i love vi's face in this photo. two words: brick wall.

more birthday celebrations

2011-03-15T16:37:00.005-06:00

the birthday celebrations just keep coming. since cade, violet and i all have february birthdays, i think by the end of the month everyone is a little sick of us... but we love it!

here are all the february birthdays in the family

violet was feeling a little more ready for chocolate cake at this party

and she was spoiled rotten AGAIN!

we sure do love february.

look whooooo's turning one!

2011-03-15T15:48:00.005-06:00

although cade was quick to point out that violet would never remember any part of her first birthday, i still insisted we have a big ol' bash for the cutie. we invited over all of vi's cousins- all 29 of them- for the party. it was a blast! the only downer for the day was that violet was terribly sick. her nose was a leaky faucet and her eyes were swollen and red. she tried to laugh and play with her cousins but she just wasn't her happy self. so sad- but her cousins sure had a ton of fun! here are the party essentials....

menu:
hot dog bar
finger foods galore
yummy food that all the guests brought (thanks!)
and owl cupcakes - i ran out of brown m&ms but they still turned out cute.

the kiddos were nice to take a hot dog break and pose with one finger up for violet's first birthday.

activities
bounce house for the little tykes
movies in the man cave for the older gals
making owl headbands (you can see mandy's model perched on her head. she was great to organize all this for me- and the kids looked so cute!)

and a pinata

the pinata and i had a love/hate relationship. when i decided to make the pinata instead of buy one- i was imagining how cute and fuzzy i could make it look if i did it all myself. i was in love the idea i had in my head so i eagerly got made the shell and shape. that turned out to be the easy part. next, i cut a zillion purple squares of crepe paper and started "fuzzing." i really wanted the pinata to have dimension and to look fuzzy so i wrapped a square of crepe paper around the end of a marker and glued it onto the shell piece by piece. well... HOURS later cade and i found that we were making little progress. we were ready to be done but we still had a large section of purple and we hadn't even started the yellow or pink sections! after a lackluster pep talk, i convinced cade to help finish fuzzing the purple and then we would find another method for the belly and wings. we slapped pink and yellow paper on and walked away from the project vowing to just buy the dang pinata next time. loved the idea... hated the work.
we stuffed the owl full of all the treasures we could find: candy, pennies, stickers, warm fuzzies and even instant ramen. the kids loved it- even if i shuddered as i watched my hours of manual labor be crushed in minutes.

finally,
cake and presents
being sick, she wasn't all that ready to dive into a slab of chocolate cake- so she tenderly picked at it and sucked the frosting from her dainty fingers. it was a very ladylike approach at devouring a cake.

vi had no shortage of helpers when it came time to open her presents. she was spoiled rotten with all sorts of goodies.... but you only turn one once, so i allowed it!

we had such a fun time and thank all of our guests for coming out to celebrate. violet has been such a joy to cade and i. we sit and laugh at all her personality and spunk while wondering at what life was like without her. we truly are blessed to have such a beautiful, happy baby and we are already starting on the pinata for her second birthday. she deserves it!

what's for dinner?

2011-03-15T15:46:00.001-06:00

Violet: Year One

2011-02-23T10:20:00.000-07:00