I Need To Stay In Touch

When I got a facebook account I stopped using my blog. A year ago I deleted my fb account. I recently joined instagram, you can see what we're up to through snapshots if you want. The username is auderfly. It's funny to read posts I wrote 4 years ago when my oldest child was in first grade. He'll be in middle school next year. We've had two more kids since I last posted. I thought I would come back on so I could read about people I care about and stay more updated. Blogs are much more personal than fb. I don't know what to say about our family. We are having a humble Christmas this year. I'm rusty at decorating my background but I'm glad to be here anyway :)

These are the two youngest, Rebecca and Adam. We need to get a new family pic.

Welcome Me Back

I plan on getting on here more often. Tee Hee, I really do!

Baby Taylor

We are having another baby and just found out today it is a girl!!

Summer Vacations =)

Before I forget, I just have to write down what Rachel called Utah when we were on our way there to visit my parents in Logan this summer. She said, "Are we in Tootie Tah yet?" And Tiffany was insisting that I do "Blinkos" on her nails. I couldn't figure it out and then realized she was asking for sprinkles, or sparkles. =) So cute!
We took three vacations this summer. Our kick-off was the Taylor Family Reunion which was held in Las Vegas this year. I love how these annual get-togethers not only keep our families unified but strengthens our bonds each year. We went to Arizona for the 4th of July weekend and it was the most fun I've ever had there. Uncle Kim has been working on the house which runs from a generator so everything was usable, water, lights, propane. I got to cook =) We had Mama Sandra there and Aunt Robyn. Kim and Liz came over. We had friends from the nearby town, Woodruff, come for dinner. Games for the kids in town, a rodeo at night, and of course testimony meeting on Sunday with all the townspeople that helped my father with me when I was a little girl just after my parents divorce. I had a lot of fun on that vacation!! Then we went to Logan UT to visit my Noorda parents. They have a fun small house right across the street from the temple. They took us on a hike to the head of the Cub River where if you go to the end of the trail, you can see water coming right out of the mountain to form a stream that goes down the way you come up. Then we stopped and had ice cream on our way to the Logan Zoo. The kids were so tired and fighting with each other in the car. (Kids get so offended and are so much more dramatic when they are exhausted, I think for an adult you would call it delirious.) But grandma didn't want to waste a big chink of the day fighting to get kids to take a nap, she insisted that we go to the zoo. Followed by the park. She cooked a nice pork roast for dinner and the kids went to bed quite easily. The next day we drove around trying to find a sacrament meeting. Grandma and grandpa were thinking of their ward meeting time from St. George, so we where never at a chapel at the right time and ended up going back to my parents house to do a sacrament meeting. We were very blessed to have grandma sing primary songs with the kids and to hear grandpa's testimony. We had a wonderful time. Our last vacation was to Disneyland. Our kids have never been before! =) We had a nice hotel that was walking distance from the Park. We had a packed day and rode all the rides we wanted to the first day. We even bought the girls a baby Minnie and a baby Tinkerbell. Elijah just grabbed some doll so he could get something too. I said, "wouldn't you rather have a shirt or something?" He said, "Yeah", and tossed that thing back. He picked out a nice blue t -shirt that had a picture of Disneyland on the front. It coast just as much as those dolls. We saved probably $50 by packing lunches instead of buying them there! It was so convenient to have prepared snacks and food and water in our backpack. We could eat in line for rides. The lines weren't too bad either because they kept moving. The only line that was over an hour was the line to take a picture with Mickey Mouse, and Tiffany buried her face on my shoulder refusing to look at the camera, haha! The next day we went to California Adventures and just took it easy. We'd never been there before so we didn't have a mental list of rides or any expectations. It was quite relaxing. :) We went to church the next day, very nice ward. The building smelled old and moldy. Of course California is a more humid climate, churches don't ever smell that way in Las Vegas. It's just a special CA treat!
Being back home feels good. We are really ready to get back into a routine. I'm excited that Elijah is a big kid now and is going into 1st grade! I get to keep Rachel for one more year and I've got to make this good because it's that last time in her life that she'll be home full-time! I'm excited to pick up the social life with friends again. I really wish we had a once a week playgroup in our ward. Ashley Merback told me today that there is a lady in her ward who has a pool that she opens up on Wednesdays from noon to whenever for the moms and kids. I thought that would be fun. Shoot we still have two more good swimmin' months here!
Anyway, I'm thankful for my family. The hardest part id fighting kids! I'm thankful for my home and am looking forward to reclaiming it once school is in session, haha! I'm thankful for friends and good health, cooler weather, makeup, and on and on.

Summer Fun I

The Mello girls came over along with my little sister Emily (who was born when I was 20 yrs old.)

We had so much fun that the girls were exhausted before dinner.

No television today was the consequence of bickering children, so we had to get out the big gun, or water gun, and slip'n'slide!!






"Handprints on the Wall"

"Six Pack"

"Ringlets"
I smooshed a pincher bug and Elijah asked me why Heavenly Father makes things that can hurt us. My answer was, "We don't live in the Garden of Eden here! We have to learn to stay away from certain things." It turned into a game of "Pinchyer Bum", very fun =)

Sis. Knipple gave me a book of file folder games to make. I worked on this for two days and was very pleased at how it turned out as I never give myself credit for beingn artistic and creative.

So much fun in such little time. I love my life and family.

Father's Day

My dear family and friends, I have not written in two months and I just learned how to get the pics from my camera onto the computer!! So I hope to write more often. (I used to use my phone to take pics.)
My husband was gone to church for 11 hours out of our Father's Day! We missed him a lot and he did get home in time for baths, but this is what we accomplished in the meantime. Rachel made friends with Joe and Betty Mello's three daughters at church (they are new in our ward, we were once in the Crestwood Ward together back in 2001). She was really enthusiastic as she needs some girlfriends to play with.

We got home and ate lunch. My children had delicious tuna fish sandwiches for the first time in their lives. We packed lunch for Ben and then waited in the hot LV heat for Rachel (who was refusing) to get her seat belt on. Tiff fell asleep on the way to the church, Ray fell asleep on the way back. So Elijah and I cuddled up on the couch to watch Rigoletto. I slept and Elijah woke me gently with a Nutrigrain Bar. He covered me back up and said, "I love you." After all were up from nap time/quiet time, we went outside with Elijah to play a fun little game he made up called "Ice Cars". He greased and filled a large bowl with water and put some cars in it then stuck it in the freezer before church. Then he got a hammer and we all took turns whacking the ice block to get the cars out. He said that whoever got the most cars won. The girls didn't care about winning, they just liked hitting the ice with a hammer. So, Elijah won YAY!

The kids played for a little bit, Elijah and Rachel in the backyard with a hose. Tiff painted inside at the counter. She looked like a camouflaged soldier by the time I took the paints back.

I went grocery shopping yesterday to pick up a few special things to eat for Father's Day. Ben loves cinnamon rolls so we had them for breakfast. Tonight I BBQ'd steaks and cut up watermelon. For dessert we had ice cream sandwiches.

The kids were just getting into the bath when daddy came through the door (and had to eat by himself :( it was after 7.)

After baths we all sat down to present daddy with his card which everyone signed. This is the first time Elijah has aver written a note!! And then we gave him the story of George Washington praying at Valley Forge. I ordered the picture and it will be here in a week. Ben found a huge picture frame at Deseret Industries a long time ago and it's actually been hanging above the mantle in the formal living room pictureless. He said he wanted to get that picture to put in the frame. So here it comes! We love Ben so much and we had a really good day together. Rachel came and gave me a hug and said, "I love you". Tiffany reached up with her ice cream-covered hand and pat my head. This is me at the end of the day and I couldn't be more satisfied!

Welcome Fishy!

Elijah recieved a free ticket to the indoor swap meet from school. (I know, yipee.) The funny thing is that kids 10 and under are free anyway! So we went this Saturday. I don't know what was more interesting, the contents of the booths or the patrons attending. So we stopped back by the pet shop booth and wrestled with the idea of getting a beta fish. We can't have pets because Rachel is severely allergic to furry animals and the last bunch of goldfish we had died the next day. Stiiiinky, yuck :[ But I always see beta fish just sitting in a cup so I thought that perhaps it would be low maintanence, which is what the Taylor family needs. So we paid our $2 and brought him home. "Fishy" is what Elijah decided to call him. Super-cool, huh? Especially after the other names he had come up with such as "Water-Drinker" and "Red Blue Fish". We all love this little fish! This morning Rachel woke up early to feed him and dumped a bunch of food in the tank. It started to cloud up pretty fast so I changed his water. "Thank you, I can breath now!", I knew he was saying. A few hours later I'm on the couch and I hear clanking in the kitchen. I knew Rachel was in there doing something Fishy. So I sent Elijah in to check on her. A lot of help he was; walked right through the kitchen without even looking up. (I can kind of see the kitchen from the reflection on the glass door to the backyard, visible from where I was sitting in the living room. But I couldn't see Rachel. So I went in there myself and the water is twirling around like a whirlpool with Rachel standing there armed with a butter knife! I said, "What are you doing to Fishy?! You're gonna kill him!" "But why?" Rachel started crying. "You may as well have put him in a blender, Rachel! You keep things out of the fish tank!" "But I love him!" she cries, "let's get him out." "No, you can't take the fish out of the water, he has to stay IN the water!" "Let's put him in the pool." "Rachel, there are chemicals in the pool. Fishy needs to stay in his tank and you do not put anything in his tank!"
So we said a prayer for Fishy. I suggested that we make chocolate chip cookies for him. (Now you know where Rachel gets all of her experimental thinking from.) No, not for him to eat because Fishy can't eat cookies, only fish food. But he would be happy at the idea we had to make them in his honor. Honorable, yes he's an honorable fish. He survived Hurricane Rachel. Also because that's one of our favorite family pastimes is to make chocolate chip cookies together. When we are unified and working together, Fishy will be happy. I don't know what fish can hear or smell or even recognize by sight, but I swear he enjoyed sitting on the kitchen counter with us making cookies because he began to perk up.
Most times when families get a pet they have to learn to take care of them. In our family we learn how to save their lives. I mean, this is an improvement from the goldfish, we've lasted another day! Stay tuned for exciting upcoming events, they are sure to come! :>