CHRISTMAS EVE 2011

Christmas Eve in Phoenix was a variety of fun family activities...like going on a walk to see the neighborhood Christmas lights for Carter and Grandpa...even a sometimes grumpy Carter.

Like our family tradition of making pizza on Saturday nights...even on Christmas Eve night.  And master chef Austin leading out in

pizza production...

...And the help of Assistants Elder Henrie and Bird in designing the last pizza.

We even had a special visit by not one, but TWO SANTAS that delighted Carter.  They brought him a toy car, a treat as well as a Restoration DVD and Pass Along Card...Hmmm.  Santa wants to bring the world his truth!

We had story time with Grandma...a cute lift-the-flap book we got in Portland last year that Carter already has memorized...

We had cute Christmas baby clothes to model.

 We had cute Christmas mommies to model... and uncles to model...

We read the story of the birth of Christ from Luke and ended with singing both Silent Night and Jingle Bells...a very good combination.

It was a very special night to celebrate the birth of our Savior with family and close friends.

CHRISTMAS EVE HIKE 2011

 One of the things we really enjoy about our area in Arizona is the 

proximity to some nice hiking areas.  

One of our favorites is the Thunderbird Recreation Area which is only a few miles away and overlooks the site of the future Phoenix Arizona Temple for the Church.

On Christmas Eve, Breanna, Jenna and Bennett joined me in a hike up the east side of Thunderbird.  We found that someone had decorated a shrub on top with Christmas ornaments so that was a fun surprise.  

Bennett was a happy camper...content to snuggle asleep with Mama the whole way!
 This is a Christmas Eve tradition that I would love to keep!

PHOENIX ZOO

 

"We're Goin' to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo; How about you, you, you; You can come too, too, too; 

We're goin' to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo!"

"Grandpa's takin' us to the zoo tomorrow..."
We bought memberships at the zoo in anticipation of the family coming this Christmas and it was well worth it.  We found the Phoenix Zoo to be a really great family place!







It was huge.  There were lots of exhibits and walkways and good animals and places for photos.

We loved being together as a family in a family-oriented place.  Even though the babies were too young to appreciate it, we loved being there with them! 

Picture perfect animal background for a family picture with Austin, Laura and baby Brooklyn.






We had a wonderful time at the zoo!  We look forward to
going back many times while we are here in Phoenix!

Visitors Round Three- Final Round

OK, Round three has some explanation...because it involves Braden and facial hair.  Lets just say that Braden received an interesting white elephant gift of a set of 7 fake mustaches...one for every day of the week...or one for every person in your entryway. This would be Braden, Scott, Elder Henrie and Elder Bird.  OK, Scott grabbed a set of nose and glasses from the garage.

 Braden wore this one all afternoon and evening...and was determined to wear it to the airport.  He thought it was natural looking enough that no one would notice.  Hmmm.

 Lets just say that we entertained a whole crowd of people waiting for the flight from Salt Lake, many of whom may be Mormon and who may have serious doubts about a certain mission president and wife at this point.  We saw several people in hysterics and we think we know why.  

Braden did turn around and hide when the basketball team came by sporting REAL mustaches!  

 Breanna was entertained a little herself when she got off the flight and was met by THIS FACE!

NOW OUR FAMILY WAS COMPLETE! Albeit a little crazy...but complete nonetheless!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE TAYLOR FAMILY IN ARIZONA!

Visitors Round Two

The family came day by day this week.  After Jenna and the boys; came Austin, Laura and baby Brooklyn.  Brooklyn had never met Grandpa Taylor so this was a sweet meeting!  

She looked and looked at him!

 These two new grandbabies are only a month apart and so interactive at 3 months old!  

We get lots of smiles when we talk to them.

 Carter loved watching cartoons on Grandma's bed while she babysat the little ones while the Mommys were away shopping.  See how both tiny ones would focus on the camera and Carter was glued to the TV!  It was so funny!

 We took the kids to a playground...

because you really can do this in December in Arizona...

 and we had a fun time watching Carter play on the slides and run around.

 We also got some pretty cute shots of Mommies and kids!

It was great to get outside and spend time together!

Visitors Round One

We have been counting down the days until our family started arriving for Christmas...and we got the first on Saturday Dec. 17. First to arrive were actually Carole and John Olsen, down in Phoenix on a last minute trip.  We were so excited to have them visit!  Carole went with us to the airport that night to pick up Jenna, Bennett and Carter!  We waited and waited...to see them finally come on a wheelchair to help Jenna with the two boys...who barely made their flight in NYC and came with no luggage!

Carter was just happy to see familiar faces and to have his "Cars" bag of goods.
Bennett was just happy any time anyone would interact with him in any way!  So mellow and happy!
 Grandma was happy to read books in person to Carter and not just over Skype.
Grandpa was just happy to play Grandpa and not Mission President for a few minutes!
And we all were happy to have been together even though Carole and Johns visit was only a few days!Now they know how to get to our house, we expect many more visits over the next couple of years!
THANK YOU FOR COMING JOHN AND CAROLE!

The Man In Red

We had a special visitor this year at our Christmas Zone Conference during lunch time... you'll never guess who!

And our missionaries were delighted to see the "jolly old elf."

There was lots of lap sitting...

quite a few handshakes...

even some piggy back rides...

And a couple of well-deserved hugs! THANKS SANTA for adding a

fun element to our special day!

I'M DREAMING OF A...

So we were driving to church this morning and this is what we saw....

...is this what you think it is??? Yes, and we were not in Utah either. I have to admit, I made us late for church because I just had to get someone to take our picture outside of the building.

What looks like snow to Arizona kids, is actually a build up of hail from a thunderstorm last night, crunchy to walk on, but white and cold nonetheless. We did not have any at our home only a few miles away so that was interesting. Someone at church told us that the last time this happened was sometime in the late 1980's, so we feel blessed to have even this little taste of home. I'M DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS!

IS THIS HEAVEN? NO, IT IS BYU BASKETBALL IN AZ

CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL 15 PHOTOS

We had been looking forward to going up to the BYU- Northern Arizona University Basketball game for about two months and it finally came! And just in time! Seriously, we finished a three-day transfer cycle and were exhausted mentally and just needed to get away from things for a night and this ended up being the perfect thing!

Scott's associates at the BYU sports information hooked him up with free tickets for us, so that was a sweet deal. Braden got to take one of his good friends, Jeremy Hancock, from our ward here and that was sweet.

We got to sit four rows up behind the BYU bench and that was sweet.

Braden asked for a Mormon.org pass along card to hold up and it got him some media attention so that was also sweet.

Then having a Dad that was also a Mission President and stood out like a sore thumb wearing a white shirt and tie, which caught the attention of the camera crew and ended up getting us on TV for the last 30 seconds after the game was also SUPER SWEET.

But the sweetest thing of all was waiting after the game to see some of the players and getting first a photo with Charles Abouo...who was super nice.

And then getting to talk with Brandon Davies who grew up in our stake in Provo and knew Scott as his stake president for that time, was the frosting on the cake. He was the nicest person and took the time to visit with us and hug us and take a photo with us.

The fact that BYU blew away the other team was negligible...it was all about so much more!

Yup, we are good to go for another 5 months here!

Roadrunner the Coyote's After YOU!

I have seen a few interesting things on my runs here in Arizona...mostly things like big bugs or pretty flowers or hot air balloons, or things thrown on the side of the road...but last week was my so-far most interesting one. I was running up next to a busy road north of our neighborhood...keep in mind that we live next to a bunch of un-developed land, all of the desert variety. I saw a dog crossing the busy 6 lane road in front of me...don't like dogs very much when I am out running or walking. Then I recognized from years of going out to Park Valley and Malta that it was not in fact a dog, but a coyote. Cool.As I watched it go down into the brush near the sidewalk I saw three more coyotes waiting for it...yup, a whole pack. Lucky for me there are a lot of cottontails in the area so I did not figure they were hungry for larger game. A little bit creepy. I called Scott to tell him what I saw...and just in case they decided they were in fact hungry.

Now I just need to see the infamous javelina, wild boars, that supposedly roam the deserts as well. Look forward to that post!

HOW MANY DAYS?

For those of you who have not noticed...my daughters are extremely creative.

So it was not a big surprise to find out that Jenna made up this clever idea for a Christmas Countdown...this is how many days until she is coming to see us in Phoenix for Christmas!

This is how we feel about it...YAY! We cannot wait to spend time with family for the holidays and to share with them a little of what we do here in the Mission.

How many days until YOU come and see us?