Thanks to Melissa, Lance and Evelyn for spending their vacation with us!

Time always goes too fast when you don't want it to. After Melissa started Young Women's it seemed time flew until now. She is a beautiful mom with a funny sweet cute girl and another girl on the way. It is fun to see her take such good care of Evelyn and happy in her life with Lance. I know it is the circle of life but sometimes I miss her as the cute and funny girl who liked me to hold her. I am so grateful that I get to be a part of their life...even though I truely miss them living away. I wish I was a little less busy so that I could spend even more time with them here and there. Evelyn spent her time with us eating tomatoes and cheese and begging for "cookie milk" which is chocolate milk. She talks up a storm and luckily she warmed up to us quick, let me hold her and read her stories, helped me wash the floors and called me "franma". So if they have to grow up I guess it's great that we sometimes get grand-children like Evelyn.

On a side-note, if anyone reads this blog and has recently had a child get a horrible headache with a high fever and figured out what was going on and how long it lasts let me know. Emily has been in bed all day. We called the doctor but they are closed until monday. Is it a flu or what? Seems like she gets sick every weekend. The mysterious, miss Monday at school, illness...but she really gets sick!

Mr. Slidey

So lane told us he was pruning the fruit trees out back....but....when we looked outside this is what we saw. We watched as he did this several times. Aubrey nicknamed him Mr. Slidey. She would yell, "There goes Mr. Slidey again!

Fun arrives in Utah in a tiny package

We are so excited to have Evelyn with us for a while...and oh yeah Melissa too. The house has been a constant buzz of exicement since the arrival. All her aunts and uncle have been vying for her constant attention. They wore her out so much yesterday that she slept for 11 hours straigtht. All is right with the world.

AUBREY TAYLOR TURNS 14

hAPPY 14TH bIRTHDAY!
I cannot believe Aubrey is 14 already. It seems like yesterday when I first held her in my arms. When she was born she had been situated inside so that her face was pressed up against some bone. Her face was very flat and round...I was truely a little startled when I saw her. She has been startling me ever since! Her face rounded out and she developed the fattest checks I ever had seen in a baby (next to emily but she hadn't been born yet). She talked very early and was extremely social (unlike her parents). When Emily was born I once called Emily "doodlebug" much to Aubrey's consternation. She told me in no uncertain terms that "her" name was "Doodlebug" so I could call Emily "worm". She would talk to adults like they were her long-lost friends and relatives. She would ask women in grocery store if they would like to be her grandma (not that she didn't have grandma's already...and not that many of the women were the proper age to be grandma's (like 20-to-30 year olds)). She became obsessed with "Barney" and the "Barney children". She memorized all the songs and the dance moves and then started asking how she could crawl into the TV to be "on" Barney. She made us buy lots of grape juice so she could practice the Welch's grape juice commercial. She would become the characters in movies and act them out constantly. She had along drawn out "Annie" phase in which she "believed" she really was an orphan. She cleaned the house by slopping water around the floors and acting very mistreated. Also as a child, whenever she would get in trouble she would tell me "My other mother wouldn't....make me clean my room....tell me "no"...etc." She had an imaginary "other mother" who was "perfect" and the poor girl was stuck with me. By age 4 she started asking for an "agent" which hasn't stopped even to this day (still doesn't have an agent). She lets us know we are holding her back. From before age one she has been talking on a non-stop basis about every topic that happens to enter her head. When she started nursery and primary I always worried about the "stories" she would tell. I told the teachers I would believe half of what she told me about class if they would believe half of what she told them. One day in nursery they taught that we all have bodies and that even Heavenly Father and Jesus have bodies. Somehow she thought that bodies meant "bottoms". She could not believe they would teach that Jesus had a "bottom". At the store that week...she commented very loudly about a woman getting drink "Boy that lady has a big body!" By age 6 we felt we had to put her singing lessons because she would sing until she would lose her voice. She used to belt out "Natural Woman" like no kid I ever knew until her throat would hurt. We have video of this that we hope will be worth some money some day (at least in blackmail). I never worried about her becoming a teenager because I knew I would know every moment of her life and every thought she had in great detail. Very expressive since birth...and always a performer. She has kept the last 14-years of our lives full of fun and excitement. Never a dull moment. She is the grasshopper to all of us worker ants. Our home is filled with constant singing, comedy routines, strong unyielding emotions, and constant talk . Our home would not ever have been the same without her. She loves being on stage and is so excited to finally "be Annie". We all love her with all our hearts and are blessed she is a part of our family. We hope she has the best day ever.

Spring in the air?

I put up a few Easter decorations today. I may be a little early, but I must say I am aching for Spring. Also Melissa and Evelyn are coming on march 17th...and Melissa always "loves" the chick pictures. She thinks it is funny that in the first picture (if you look really close) the chick is riding in the cart and whipping the boy and in the other picture the boy is riding and the chick is pulling the boy. I know it is pretty weird...thought we would have an early Easter with Evelyn. I also thought I would share a picture of our crocuses from our front yard too. I love to see the flowers coming up...even though we still have snow. I know I am very late with the video's below, but I am not so good at uploading video...but for the relatives here are some portions of the Utah play where Matthew played a "boy".