BEATLES ROCK BAND

Jen and Jon invited the Taylor clan over for an evening of

Beatles Rockband and Pizza!

We had a really good time trying out all the instruments...yes, Laura and I even did the drums and guitar, though she was much better at it than I was...oh, and we got a kick out of trying the vocals...on EASY level you could not go wrong so it was pretty fun.
We learned that we did not really know a lot of what the Beatles were really singing and it was a little interesting singing about knickers and barking like a dog etc.

No, that is not smoke in these pictures, these are cell phone pictures from Jon.

THANKS for a great evening of wonderful company and wonderful food!!

Happy birthday, Bunkerhead Woman

Breanna and a prince-in-waiting

Our favorite youngest daughter ... and only youngest daughter ... turns 20 today.

Since March, she has paid tribute to family members on their birthday with lengthy lists of talents, traits, quirks and favorite memories about that person. See some of her "greatest hits" selections from Jenna, Josh, Scott, Cheryl, Tyrel and Austin listed at the bottom of this post (we can't wait for February to see what she writes about Braden!).

Share two of three of your similar thoughts about Breanna - either as a comment to this post or in an email to Cheryl (taylor_home@comcast.net) or Scott (taylor@desnews.com) and we'll compile them for her.

From “Ode to Jenna”:

• Jenna has tickled a bee — and lived to tell the tale.
• Jenna can make the fish face. Tyrel doesn’t like it. But it’s truly a gift. Jenna can make lots of weird faces actually. It’s a good thing she’s cute.

From: “Some fun facts and favorite things about Josh”:

• He loves to vacuum. ‘Nuff said.
• Josh has spidey-senses. I’ve been on a quest to catch him off-guard and scare him for a while now, but he always seems to know where I’m hiding, or takes alternate routes that foil my plans.

From “some fun facts about my dad:”

• My dad is the master pumpkin carver. Every fall our porch is decorated with his entertaining, random, funny and amazing creations. We’re talking “getting out the jigsaw, thin knives and toothpicks” kind of skills.
• Some of you may know my dad is actually a very creative cook. Brought to you by Chef Scott: Breakfast Nachos, Black Bean and Pineapple Burritos, and Ranch and Pepper Jack Quesadillas, to name a few.

From “My most amazing Mum”:

• My mom still lets me snuggle with her when we meet in the family room for prayers and scriptures. We’re going on 20 years here of her allowing me to wrap myself around her arm like an octopus, put my legs across her lap, or snuggle in and ask for “scratch-a-backs.” I can always tell she’s had enough though when she threatens to lick me. Then I have to snuggle Braden instead.”
• She’s always on the go. I don’t know how she fits it all in, but she does. She’s like the Energizer Bunny.

From “My favorite brother-in-law … and only brother-in-law” [Tyrel]:

• He dresses very nice. He even wears the tie I gave him for Christmas, which I think is very cool, since it has polka dots, and I’m still not sure if he even likes polka dots. But, the point I’m trying to say is that Ty looks classic and professional … except for when he’s wearing his huge, puffy NJ Nets slippers that he got for Christmas this year. Then he looks silly. But it was hilarious to watch him open them and put them on. It was an extra bonus that the cats were terrified of them. Ty chased Mieka around with his slippers for the rest of the day.
• Tyrel says what he thinks. (But not in a socially unacceptable way.) It’s refreshing, and more often than not, hilarious.

From “My favorite older brother … and only older brother” [Austin]:

• When I was about four or five, Austin and Jenna convinced me that “oomaguama” monsters lived in our basement. For the next few weeks, they took turns hiding behind shelves in the storage room or under my bed so they could jump out at me and scare me. One time they even did a “summoning chant” to try and get the monsters to come. I screamed.
• On a similar note, Austin once tried to convince me that he was a vampire, showing me his pointy side teeth. He told me he was waiting until Jenna and I were old enough to turn us into vampires, too.

Our Autumn Ladies Night!

Autumn was the theme for our semi-annual "Ladies Night" get together during General Priesthood Meeting. We started this tradition a couple years ago and have really enjoyed this excuse for getting together with family and friends. Breanna decked out the table with some great berries she found on her way here.
We started the night painting pump-eh-kins...yes, you have to say it that way. The creative juices were really flowing in the kitchen! Laura and I painted some cute "afraid of spiders" pumpkins and Breanna striped hers in all fall colors. Anteres Barton joined us tonight and she painted a very cool Provo High pumpkin for her boys...wow! She thought of them on "Ladies Night!!

Larlee and Nikki came from the dorms and were glad to get away from studying and writing papers! Larlee did a New York Yankees pumpkin and Nikki began the amazing task of putting the entire Wizard Of Oz onto a small pumpkin.
Here we are with our finished products. They all turned out so cute!
I had to take a close-up of Nikki's...and this was before even more finishing touches were added including a yellow brink road that led to New Jersey of course!
We also watched " A Little Princess" while we created some very cute cards. Here are a handful of the creations!!! I guess I better mention that we fondued cheese and chocolate with all sorts of things to dip into them...I totally forgot to put out the veggies and dip...I think it was a subconscious desire to really pig out!

It was a great Ladies Night at the Taylor household...want to join us next time? Just call and then come on over!!

Miracles

How can I tell you what it means to be a grandma?

How does a parent really express the wonderment of being a parent?


I do not know how to describe it other than one word...miracle. It is a miracle given to us by heavenly Father that we have the ability to create bodies for these beautiful spirits. And it is perfect the attachment that we have to one another...forever.


I love all the miracles in my life! Thanks for being you!

Great Horned Owl

Jenna and I went on a long walk the other day around her neighborhood. The fall weather is just beautiful and we have really enjoyed getting out and about with baby Carter. We were walking past some of the huge homes in her area when we noticed a large bird perched on the roof of one. "That looks like a great horned owl" say I...expert on birds that I am...ha, ha.
We were very impressed at our luck when we notice the next house also has an owl on top as well, and then yet another. Wow, this was our lucky day! We discussed our luck and kept walking only to discover upon our return that the amazing owls were still all there, they had not moved a muscle! Well, hard to move a muscle that you don't have. All three were decoys, set there to scare away those pesky smaller birds that poop on expensive rooftops I guess.
We really laughed about our discovery. Now I know the perfect souvenir to bring back from my trip to New Jersey!

We Are GRANDPARENTS

And we can prove it! We have received our first "grandparent-type" gift...from Austin and Laura when they went to St. George on vacation. I Love It!!And I love this little guy in his BYU onesie.
Here is more proof! Just a few pictures of our beautiful grandbaby Carter Tyrel Jensen born August 22, 15 days early at 8.2 and 21". We are so excited to go see him in person! If you want to see more pics, check out Jenna and Ty's blog at: tyrelandjennajensen.blogspot.com

Congratulations Jenna and Ty on a job very well done! He is beautiful!

Braden's Eagle Project is COMPLETE!!

Here is the finished product from several months of work by Braden and yes, his family and a whole bunch of neighbors!

Austin designed the lettering on the stone sign, pretty cool huh?
We cleaned up and dry landscaped two pieces of property in the entrance of our neighborhood. Below is Braden with a YW group that came to landscape fabric the smaller piece of property.
This is the day the sign was delivered. It was something like delivering a baby...we worried and watched as they hauled it out of the truck and worried it would fall or get broken. But the monument company were great to work with, and did a great job!
We had a crew there to place cement all around it...then pose with the sign!
Last night we got the load of red lava rock for both pieces of property. Look how hard Dad Scott is working!!
And how hard scout Braden is working too!
Braden got to be there most days when there was something going on. He got to help brace the sign...
Great work Braden...and a sigh of relief from Mom and Dad that the manual labor stage of this project is done!!! We will love driving into our neighborhood and feel a sense of pride each time we go by this sign...as will all the hundreds of neighbors that logged over 500 hours helping with this amazing project!

First Day of School

I about forgot to post Braden's first day of HIGH SCHOOL!!! And the sad thing is...he looks old enough to go there! No worries about him getting crushed by all the bigger kids...he is one of them!

Our baby is starting high school! We had to go in the first day of school and tweak some classes to get a couple of different teachers, and we think it was worth the huge wait in the counseling center to do it. And we have already had to pull him from class to get his football physical!

Welcome to Provo High Braden!

First Game of the Season

Number 54 in this top picture is our baby boy!!
Braden started off his football season by heading to Springville. He looked pretty sharp in his Provo High green!! And, yes, he is posing here.Braden played all offensive line and some defensive line. The bulldogs played very strong, but ended up losing by just a couple points. There were some really great plays, and it was a fun game to watch.

We had Austin, Laura and Breanna join us at the game so it was really fun to be there as a family...and they all wore green!!

GO BULLDOGS and GO BRADEN!!

A Visit to Missouri

I had so much fun visiting Susan and Jordan in Missouri this August! It made me wonder why I waited so long to get there! Marty and Amanda were still in Japan when I went, so it was mostly Susan and I doing our thing...a lot of walking/running and shopping!!One purchase made us laugh so hard in the store, that we just had to buy it...the strange bird you see Jordan holding. It was worth the 2 bucks it cost for the impact value. Have you ever seen a stranger yard ornament...other than the bird I bought for our yard that is?
Susan and I did not sit around at all!! We took on the project of painting her bathroom. The entire house had been painted an interesting shade of brown before they bought it, so it was in desperate need of some color. Susan chose a beautiful light avacado color that matched her favorite shower curtain. We found some nice flowers to match and she had some gorgeous purple towels, and it really took shape! Hmmmm what can we paint next year?
Susan and I spent the first day together in Kansas City. There was so much to do there!

We found the Nelson-Atkins museum that was really cool...and free!
We loved the City Market area. There were some little shops and fresh veggies for sale really cheap, and we discovered a great little arabic restaurant and market where we went twice!! We stocked up on some spices while we were there too and then tried them out at home. Yum!
We went to a botanical garden for a long time as well, and we found the Lewis and Clark monument and park where the famous group went into the rivers there heading west on their explorations.
It was a great visit with Susan. She is an amazing person, so much energy for a "big sister."

Looking forward to more visits in the future!

Training with Jan

Braden had a unique opportunity to have some personal training with Jan Jorgensen of BYU football. They had about 6 lessons with Braden and a friend. I think it gave him an extra boost for when he started training with the PHS freshmen. How many guys do you know that get to have personal training with college players?
We were really grateful for the chance for Braden to do this. And now we have one more BYU player to watch with interest this year...GO BYU!

Starvation Outing July 24

Dad and Carolyn invited us up to their cabin near Starvation on July 24 so after the 10K race was over and we got cleaned up, we headed there. We had a wonderful day of picnicking and 4-wheeling!! They now have 3 4-wheelers so we a lot of us can get out at the same time!Austin and Laura rode for a while until they had to leave with Scott to cover a soccer game in SLC.
We all looked very tough in our masks and goggles!!
Although some looked more beautifuller than others...I mean Laura of course!!
I ditched my helmet partway through because it was giving me a huge headache, it was so small!
We rode a long way to the pinnacle...it was amazing! Tucked away in the middle of nowhere...and they have a lodge there that you can rent for family reunions! Cool.
This is the group at the reservoir. It was cloudy and a little rainy, but that did not stop us! We had a great time and were grateful for the cooler weather the rain brought.

Thanks Carolyn and Dad for a wonderful day!

NEW PRESCHOOL ROOM

Well!! We have had a summer of redos...first the downstairs bedrooms complete with carpet, then the new shutters and front door, now the completion of the new preschool room! We just love this new look! It is fresh and clean. For complete photos click on the title of this blog or check out my preschool blog at:

http://littlelearnersprovo.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-look.html

Quirky Turkey!!

We have had a lot of fun with the very strange yard decor that I came home from shopping with the other day. Breanna and Josh and I went to get a nice terra cotta pot at Shopko, and this yard bird started nodding at us to get our attention, and before we knew it, he was in our cart wanting to go home with us!!! Honest!As we walked through the store with our quirky turkey, I looked over at Josh and could tell he was really trying hard to compose himself. Then he just could not help himself...he laughed!! Not just a little laugh, but a great big "I can't believe you are going to buy that thing" sort of laugh. I was so entertained that even if I wasn't planning on really buying the bird, I would have. It was worth the laughter and smiles and wonderment that it created...with similar reaction at home.

So, our new friend needs a name. We have had one name suggestion, Larry. Any other ideas?

We figure he is a boy since boy birds are more colorful and beautiful and he is

SO BEAUTIFUL!!
The real inspiration for getting this "bird" was that I had just painted our old white metal table gray hammered metal to match our fairly new chairs...pretty good match huh? They both hang out on the deck together...and they match! A new centerpiece cannot be far behind!