What a Life!

Man this cat has the life. Our stray kitty Funny Bunny likes to hang out draped over the top of this chair while I do homework during the day. She seems to miss the noise and kids during the day when they are at school so she follows me around the house. Most of the time this is where you can find the two of us, sitting in this chair in front of the computer, only I have to do homework and she gets to be lazy. Ty and I think it would be great to come back one day and live life like a cat, eat, sleep and get fat.

Jayden's room

Jayden's room is done at last. I have been painting rooms since March of last year. I painted one of my walls in the master bedroom a rusty red in March, I love it. The next room was Halen's pirate room it got painted a two tone ocean blue in April and just in time for Sadie's birthday I finished her room she wanted purple with cute Bratt doll decals. In May the day after preschool ended, you guessed it the room that need paint the most my formal preschool room became an office and was painted a old yellow color. Then came Aubrie's room in July it was painted pink and decorated with Hannah Montana stuff. Poor Jayden has been patiently waiting and finally during Christmas break I decided to tackle his room. His room was the hardest because I had to paint the top half white wait a week before painting the bottom Green Bay Packer green and then a few more days to paint the yellow stripes. Jayden had gotten a Fathead football player for his birthday in August and after reading the directions found that he had to wait 30 days before putting up the Fathead on newly painted walls. Yesterday was the big day and it is finally finished. I wish I could say that I am totally finished painting but I still have Dallin's room to do next. Oh man! Where am I going to find time to do that?

Jayden and Dallin

Last week Jayden and Dallin had the opportunity to do baptisms for the dead at the Provo temple with the young men's group. What a neat opportunity, they said that it was cool and that the names that they were doing were from the 1400's. I am so glad that they have this opportunity.

One of my favorite recipes

I thought I would share one of my favorite recipes. Sorry, you can't eat this one!
This is a money saver, I have been using this for over a month now. I spray this on my shower walls and glass doors when I am done showering and I let it sit all day. Rinse it off the next time you shower. I have not had to scrub my shower for over a month now! I love it. Hope this helps anyone who is on a quest to save money and time.

Shower Cleaner

3 cups of hot water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 TBS dish detergent
1 TBS borax

Dump these ingredients into a spray bottle and shake a little to mix. The water is hot only to dissolve the borax (it obviously is not going to stay hot). One batch has lasted me a month. The dish soap is the liqued like Dawn or whatever brand you buy. Borax can be found in the laundry aisle, I found it at Wallmart. This recipe is also better for your lungs and the environment than regular cleaners. Happy cleaning!

I will post another favorite recipe later.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday buddy. Ty's Birthday is January 28th. Where to begin....there is a lot to say but I will keep it short. I love this man, he is everything to me. Everyone who knows his sweet personality, knows that he finds the good in everyone. He is the best person I have ever met. His parents also know that he is a special one and I can't help but think that they certainly reflect on his birthday as a little miracle. He truly was a miracle, he was born a little too early and his mom was in an extreme emergency situation during his birth, lets just keep it short by saying that they were both thankfully allowed to stay here on this earth. I love that Ty fills our house with music and laughter. We have so much fun together, he has always been my best friend.

Funny grandparents

I love these pictures and I couldn't resist putting them on our website. Every year Grandma and Grandpa Gerber host a Christmas party and Grandpa Clause comes to visit. Over the years Grandpa has grown out of his Santa suit so he has creatively come up with a different Christmas suits each year. We alway crack up laughing when we see what he has picked out. This year's suit was a Christmas fairy of some sort. A few years back it was a japanese robed santa. Thank goodness for Ty's grandparents, they are great!

Sledding

The kids had a lot of fun sledding, we took the dog with us and he loved chasing the kids down the hill. We went to the Spanish Fork golf course and the hills are so much fun. They had a 125 yard sign at the bottom so that you could see how far you could go. The kids actually ended up slamming into it a couple of times. Aubrie and Sadie sat on my lap and we went past the mark.

Rock climbing in St. George

Skip
Ty

Aubrie, Halen, Wyatt, Dallin, Jayden and Cameron and Sadie are hidden

Here are some of the pictures from the rock park we went to in St George. These pictures are of the slot canyon that we found and it was barely wide enough to walk sideways. The kids enjoyed it and Ty and Skip helped all seven of the kids go through it, not once but twice. Grandma, Grandpa, Barb and I decided not to go through this narrow opening.

Draper Temple Open House

We had a busy but great weekend. Jayden and Dallin went on the Klondike camp out on Friday night with the ward scout group. I think they nearly froze since the night was probably around 20 degrees or lower. They had a blast sledding and drinking hot chocolate. They barely got home Saturday afternoon just in time for their basketball game and they only had enough time to scarf down a sandwich before the game. After the game our family got ready to go with our ward to the Draper temple open house. The temple was absolutely beautiful and I was amazed at how they had the tour set up. The tour started at a chapel right off the Draper exit where we waited for a short film with information about the temple, then we were shuttled up to the temple grounds in a bus. When we arrived they had tent hallways set up leading all the way to the temple doors, the tents were heated to keep us warm. My kids were amazed at the beautiful chandeliers inside the temple. Afterwards we were directed to another nearby chapel building all while being sheltered by tent hallways where we were served refreshments while we waited for the bus to take us back to our cars. It was a super neat trip, it took a lot of patience from my kids who were so tired by the time we were finished we left at 6:15 pm and arrived home at 11:00 pm. Way too late! My Aubrie declares it was all worth it! This picture is not my photography and I wish I had the opportunity to take a picture of it all lit up at night time but we were sheltered from the cold the entire time.

Sunday morning came fast after the late evening and we had another event to get to. Jayden accepted his first calling as 2nd counselor in the Deacon quorum. We are so proud of him being willing to serve.

Some favorite old pictures

Oh man, How time fly's. I have been scanning some of my older pictures that were not digital. I love these pictures and they bring back old memories. Good memories, of a simpler time, a crazy busy time. If I only knew back then what I know now, that time goes by way to quickly. I had five kids under five years old, and I thought life was never going to get easier, and boy was I right. Life is never easy, now I know that, you just enjoy the crazy busy times because they never go away they just change.

Afraid of Snowmen?

Have you ever heard of a dog who is afraid of snowmen. I took Titan for a walk yesterday and we passed two snowmen with hats and scarves but no faces. Titan immediately went crazy the moment he saw them. He barked and growled and did not want to pass them. For a hundred pound pup who has not been afraid of anything before, I thought this was kind of funny. We have nicknamed him polar bear. His big black nose and eyes remind me of a polar bear and he loves to go sledding. He even slides down the hill on his belly. I don't know if this nickname can stick if he is afraid of snowmen!

Basketball Season is here!

Basketball season started for Jayden and Dallin and this is their 4th year playing. I think that it is becoming their favorite sport to play. Football is still one of their favorite sports to watch. The one thing that I noticed this year was that they were not the shortest on the team. Last year there were kids their same height but this year there are actually kids who are shorter than them and they are in the medium catagory. Yeah! There is hope for them that they will get some of my families height. We can hope anyway. Ty and I love to watch the boys play any sport and it is something we look forward to. (Looks like in this picture that Jayden has about an inch on Dallin, this changes all the time though). In August at their 12 year check up they both measured the same height 5 ft even and even weighed in within a couple of ounces from each other. I took both the boys this weeked to buy some basketball shoes. In September I bought them school shoes but they were not quite what they needed for basketball and of course the tread was a little worn down. What an eye opener on how much they are growing, I bought them a size 6 1/2 for Dallin and a 7 for Jayden back in September. This weekend we tried on shoes and they both went with a Men's 8. Holy cow! They are getting close to their dad's shoe size! They are such great kids, I am so proud of them. Their math teacher commented to me "These young men are definately cream of the crop." Now this is one of the times that you feel like you have done something right when it comes to parenting.

More Christmas?

Our family went to celebrate Christmas and New Years in St. George. Ty's parents live there, and every year we camp out at their house to celebrate Christmas with the Taylor clan. We have so much fun, the kids get to play with their cousins and Grandma and Grandpa Taylor. Of course the weather is always so great and it is a good time to get away from the snow in Spanish Fork. This year we opened gifts, had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Jensen, enjoyed Grandma's christmas candy, and celebrated New Years Eve together. Ty and I contributed to the cooking with some outdoor barbequing. We barbequed pizza on the grill for the whole crew, it was so great to be able to do it outside without freezing to death. Here is a bunch of pictures.

Grandma Taylor handing out gifts for everyone.

Grandpa Taylor, just happy that he is surounded by all the family.

Skip, Wendy, Tamsen, Ty
Ty's brother and sisters , minus one more brother (we missed Shane this year)

Lots of cousins, Skips kids are the youngest - Cameron and Wyatt

Tamsen's kids are Britt, Mkaul, Peyton
the rest belong to me and Ty.

Peyton & Aubrie - 9 yrs.

Aubrie and Peyton have this unique bond as best of friends and cousins. They were both born the same day and they are only a couple of hours apart. We joke that they are twin cousins. Peyton lives in Arizona and they do not get to see each other very often, but they amazingly pickup their friendship just like they have never been apart.

Grandma and Grandpa Jensen, we love having them come to visit, they are so much fun. They host a Christmas dinner every year for all of those who can make it, and they shop all year round for Christmas gifts for all the kids, grandkids, great grand kids. I can't remember how many they said they have now but it is impressive. They make the trip to St. George every year to celebrate with us. Grandpa is just amazing he turned 91 in October and is still running, I mean that literally, he "runs" races like the Turkey Trot in November.


Snow at our house, I have to admit it is beautiful when you are looking at it from inside your warm house, otherwise it is yuck!



Jayden and Dallin

Sadie and her new doll house.

Mkaul and Aunt Tamsen
Jason and Tamsen
Mkaul- 13 had lots of fun putting make up on all the girls. She has some talent! They were gorgeous. Thanks Mkaul!
Aunt Wendy

Life is never dull when Wendy is around. She is just one of the kids, and I caught her licking the beaters. (At least it wasn't the serrated knife this time.)

Elk

Ty and I like to watch for the elk that come down the mountain every winter. Sometimes we take a short drive and leave the kids home to watch a movie while we have a short break of peace and quiet. We have seen 3 bull elk come down to the farmers fields behind our neighborhood and they seem to return each winter. This year we happened to see the 3 bull elk plus some. There were about 15 bulls that we could count and some cows. This is the largest herd I have seen in long time. We enjoyed watching them and we were wow'd by their size and beauty. These pictures hardly do them justice, but Ty went to some trouble to take them. I felt bad that the kids had missed out and took them the very next day for the short drive to see them but they had returned to higher ground.