NOVEMBER 2018

Wow!  November was super busy!

We  loved getting some new family pics from Jenna, Ty and the kids including little Cassidy!

THANK YOU!!!

Can you tell how much this little girl adds to this family?  COLOR to name one!

We had several returned missionary events this month including this reception in Provo.  Eric Cassity.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  Our traditional hike was to ROCK CANYON today.  It is a good local hike.

We hiked up past third bridge until we got to some icy areas and turned back.

It was so pretty!  It was cold, but steep enough to keep us warm.


And, we got back down JUST IN TIME because it started to drizzle on our way back and then POURED once we got home!

We love our Thanksgiving traditions that include getting together with family to do a service project for Breanna's school class.
First with JAMES family...

...and then with TAYLOR family.

Everybody chips in and provides the stockings and all the fixings to go inside!

Including BEANIE BABIES this year which we know will be a big hit!

Another tradition is our THANKFUL TREE that we took up to Taylors for the first time in many years.

Lots of years of things we are grateful for!

Cute Lily with the pilgrim and Native American puppets we brought up for her to color.

And, another tradition that weekend is BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING!

Although we do not go out as early...we went Friday night.
Scott found this UGLY sweater!  Abominable!!

We loved having BREANNA and ELLIOT spend the night with us Friday night after our shopping together with BRADEN AND McKENNA.
It just feels good to have kids in the house!
We look forward to every chance we have to be with them all!

Another tradition we have in our family is to make a handprint of each little grandchild at their first Christmas time.


Each one was a different age, and some did foot instead of hand, but we love them so much!

And we will add Cassidy when Jenna sends me back the kit I am sending her to make one for her!











We had a sealing to go to at Mt Timpanogos Temple last weekend and it was just so lovely outside!!!

Another of our great RM friends Joseph Barley.















OK...here is the house progress this month.  It seems like it has been a really really busy house month!

The exterior is finally getting something going.

Here is it all weather-proofed.  Front steps are poured and porch was poured in October.

This was a visiting FLICKER that was trying to get out of the windows even though the opening into the garage through the roof area in the kitchen was still wide open.

We got insulation and then drywall in the upstairs.

And the downstairs was completely framed.

At this point, we decided to complete the basement at the same time as the rest of the house.  I got a permit and we then scheduled it to be completely wired and plumbed.  We had already done all the heating and cooling prep with the rest of the house. Upstairs with drywall going in.

Front sidewalk going down the slope.  We chose to curve the walk and we really like it.

Nice to have walls at the stairs on both sides now.

The roof was completed.

We had been told that Black Friday Month was the best time to buy appliances so we hit up Home Depot one night and camped out until the deed was done!
The cute sales girl worked with us to get the best deal on getting our 8 appliances (2 kitchens) and it was so good to get done!
We thought we would just check on our quartz countertop and found it was the best time to purchase that as well!  3 1/2 hours at Home Depot!!!  Best date night ever???!!!

The next day we went up to IKEA to purchase the kitchen we had designed earlier that month...well, I had been designing for months, but we had come in with the IKEA designer and tweaked to to finalize both kitchens and the laundry room.
(BTW, that is my farmhouse sink I am looking at in the photo)
We do the most fun things for our dates lately!

A couple hours later we had a receipt taller than me and had ordered all 279 boxes of components to make up those 3 rooms in the house.
Yes, it was an IKEA kitchen sale that month and we wanted to get in before it was over!  Super nice people helped us with everything we have had to plan and order.

Scott wanted to prove that we had truly been to NARNIA...so here I am coming out of the wardrobe!  Back to reality.

Some exterior views.  The primed hardiboard is going up all around the house.

Stone work may have to wait a while...it is so cold now.  And, we have to wait to paint until it is warmer as well.
Basement is insulated and getting drywall completed this week!
On to all the finishing touches!!

We do not always work on house stuff...we really enjoyed going to some BYU Women's volley ball games last weekend as well.
Braden and McKenna took us Friday night to see a team from Long Island NY (Stony Brook) and BYU swept the first 3 games for a win!

The next night they had tickets they could not use so we went to see BYU play Utah.

What you may not see in this photo is that BYU had won the first 2 games, and was just starting the third.  They won this game for another sweep and go on to the NCAA sweet 16 this weekend here in Provo against Florida.  Fun outings for a change of pace!  THANKS McKenna and Braden!

Here it is!  All 279 boxes, 3 pallets worth of IKEA product was delivered last Saturday!
It was an inventory paradise all Saturday afternoon!!

Scott took Monday and Tuesday off to work on building cabinet boxes.
I helped a bit in-between meetings and brought him dinner from my Provo Power Board meeting afterwards.  Magelbys chicken cordon bleu a la IKEA.

He rocked it out and got like 18 cabinets done that day...maybe more.

Here is just one view of the cabinets that night.
He completed the rest the next day, all 3 rooms worth!  I was shocked!  I thought it would take us like 2 weeks working every night, so this was awesome!
We start the install tomorrow with our finish carpenter!

Last night we went up to SLC to the annual Deseret Management Corporation Christmas dinner.  Lovely venue in the Joseph Smith building and good friends from Church News and Deseret News joined us.  We meet with many of the General Authorities of the Church who are also invited.

OCTOBER 2018

HELLO FAMILY!  October was a fun and very busy month for the Taylor household!

Much of my time goes to my PRE-K classes...who are pretty darn adorable.  I got a new student at the start of this month and that has been a fun addition to our class!

In my morning class I am teaching the little brother of this cute little girl, Emma...who is currently 14 years old. Her Mom sent me this old photo.

Lori had us over for a PUPPY PAWTY to celebrate her "girls" first birthday!
Best excuse for a party ever!

We ate HOTDOGS and had SCOOBY SNACKS and she and Michelle made the most adorable puppy cookies ever!

DOGGONE FUN!!

Breanna joined me for a BIRTHDAY PLAY at the Hale Theater!  We really enjoyed being together that weekend!

Then, we got the other kiddos together with us to celebrate officially with her official food of choice...NACHOS!
Yummy Yummy!

What made it even more sweet for us was that our server at Los Hermanos was one of our former missionaries from the MTC who served in Italy.  Both Sorella Oveson and Davis are in this picture singing to Breanna for her birthday celebration!  Sweet non-coincidence!!

Breanna with her fried ice cream treat!!!

I think I posted pictures last month of my gel staining project for our bedroom...but this month we pulled it all together!

Carole gave me this chair, which I should have attached the "before" picture.  It was a maple color with dark print fabric seat.
I painted it white, antiqued it and re-covered the seat to match my bedroom set and nightstands.  LOVE IT!!!

Here is the finished room.
Just in time for a small OPEN HOUSE we had this month in anticipation for selling our home in a few months.

It was fun to pull it together and we got some good photos to put online.

I was shocked how good my kitchen looks WITHOUT MY PRESCHOOL TABLECOVERINGS!!!
So sad I have missed out on this clean look.

Every Monday we are joining our YSA for different Family Home Evening activities.
One week it was MINUTE TO WIN-IT games.

Here Scott was getting cookies stacked on his forehead...

Here he was slurping up jell-o...

And watching marshmallows getting tossed into mouths.

We went to a NEIGHBORHOOD HALLOWEEN PARTY dressed as PIRATES!  Thanks to our kids, we have some costumes on hand!

Our home has come along at great speed!  The exterior is ready to have stone and siding in November, and the interior is getting drywall and paint this month as well.
We are busy every day with details on construction!

We had a GIRLS CRAFTERNIGHT early November that I cannot wait to show off!
Simple wood became great SIGNS!!
Breanna freehanded this adorable sign!

We got our Christmas wreath project ready to go...

I got one side of my WELCOME sign done...

And McKenna also free-handed this amazing FALL sign that she will do the other side of for Christmas as well!

We loved getting together the first weekend of November with Megan ( in this photo)...

...with Carole to celebrate hers and Breanna's birthday...

With Lori and Bronson and Conner and Katie and Jessica...

With Jennifer and Mitch and of course, Scott!

Lily with Carole and Breanna...

And Jessica's little girl Gemma with Lily!

(Scott went grocery shopping with me...found the perfect costume for him...
Hope you all had a lovely October!