Smmer and Fall up till now...

OK so I apologize for my delay in writing anything on my blog lately. Some of the keys on my laptop are broken and I have to find the time to sit on my husband’s computer to write anything....which we all know for me can be hard! ANYWAYSSSSS.... Summer and fall have been a blast for us and have also flown by so fast i can’t even believe Christmas is in 2 months already! WOW! OK so below is just a few things we have been up to in the past few months!

**I FINALLY graduated from the University of Utah!!! GO UTES!!! I got a bachelors in Human Development and Family Studies and Early Childhood Education! yayyy I was so excited to graduate and so proud of myself that I actually finished college. (a lot of people thought I never would hahah who showed up who now haha!)


* At the end of May we went to Yellowstone for a 1 year anniversary. yay we made it! The trip was Maddux's first time and he loved it HOWEVER it was such a cold and wet trip, I don’t know if I can muster up the courage to ever do it again JK! BUT we loved hanging out with our friends the Wilkin’s and catching up on old times! 

**I started my 5th year of teaching at the Montessori at the end of august. Joining Sophie and I this year is our NEW 3rd teacher Janelle! Janelle is a unique add because she is my best friend from before preschool and after years of wishing, her husband and her finally made the move out here to Utah from Boston!! I am so excited and blessed this year to be working with my two best friends and am LOVING every minute of it!!!

**At the beginning of September Joe and I attended the Utah state fair with our good friends Emily and Matt Morris! It was so much fun to spend the evening with them and get to know Emily better! They are truly so much fun to hang out with! Below is a picture of Emily and I about to go on the Farris wheel that Joe and Matt were too scared to go on hahah! It was a lot of fun!

**Joe and I on our way to go on the Giant slide!



 **ALSO at the beginning of September our good friends John and Anna Sullivan got married in the San Diego temple! We were so excited and happy for them to finally tie the knot! We traveled down to San Diego fro like a 24 hour period to attend the wedding and party like rock stars haah JK! It was a fun trip and a beautiful wedding! Congratulations guys!!!!

*** This is Emily, Jane and I at the Salt Lake reception for Mr. & Mrs. Sullivan!

**At the end of September Joe and I attended free museum day! Who doesn’t like free stuff?? Haha We went to the Utah Natural History Museum; it was fun to spend the day together doing something educational and fun! Below is Joe looking at all the different kinds of bees that live in Utah!!!

**Joe looking at a dinosaur head

**Finally last but not least… WE BOUGHT COUCHES!!!!!!! Yayyyy we spend the first 3 months of living in our new home trying to settle in and watching TV on the ground! We were so excited to finally get the couches we had been eyeballing for a long time and complete our new home!

** Some other things that happened over the summer and fall so far that we don’t have pictures of are:
-We got 2 new nephews!! Joe’s sister Cassie and her husband Dave welcomed their new baby Jacob Taylor Larsen into this world in May and we just love this little guy so much!
- Joe’s older brother Cody and his wife Ginger welcomed their new arrival Austin Cody Taylor into this world at the end of August and he is such an adorable bundle of joy!
-We went to Yellowstone again for the Fourth of July weekend with our friends Jessie and Mindy! It was by far the best trip to Yellowstone EVER! We got to stay in a cabin! Who can beat that??
-We moved into our house at the end of June!
-Joe’s cousin Mazie got baptized last Saturday! Congrats Mazie!
-Joes Parents moved to Salt Lake Finally! We are so excited to have them here and more family so close!
-We had several visitors live with us over the summer, including all people who were moving here from varies places! Thomas visiting for 7 weeks from BYU-I , Dorothy and John moving here from San Diego, John Sullivan for 6 weeks because he was getting married and moving back from BYU-I, and my good friends Hoeun and Janelle moving here from Boston! We are so excited to have all of these people living here now and so close to us BUT we are equally excited to have them all out of our house hahahah 
-Maddux is now 8 months old and is loving every minute of having a back yard and his cousin Henry (my sister Ashley’s dog) so close to play with so often!
Well these are some of the things we have been up to and now that I am somewhat caught up maybe It will stay that way…. Hey a girl can dream right?? ;)

Our New House

So this semester has be extremely stressful not only with school BUT we were also in the process of buying a HOUSE!!! Yes, I know...we bought a house in Utah which was never our plan but it is just where we feel we need to be right now in our lives and this new place couldn't be a better fit for us! We have waited to post or talk about anything until it was FINAL because we didn't want to jinx it or something SO... as of last Monday our house has been closed, signed and recorded and officially in our name!!! yayyyyy I'm so excited to move in and start our life in our NEW HOUSE WITH OUR NEW PUPPY!
The house is in North Salt Lake (west of Bountiful) called Foxboro! It is a one story 3 bed and one din (practically a 4th bedroom if we closed off a wall),2 full bathrooms, 2 car garage, beautiful back yard, built in 2006, in a very friendly family neighborhood and just perfect for us!

**Our beautiful house


**Living room


**Living room fireplace


**Din (off of living room)


**Kitchen




**Backyard

Our new puppy Maddux!

We recently (and when I say "recently" I mean last Saturday) got a new addition to our little family! We got a....PUPPY!!!! He name is, MADDUX and he is a Cockapoo which is a half and half-mix between a Cocker Spanial and a Poodle which also means YES he is non shedding and YES he is hypo-allergenic (everyone shout hoorray!!) So anyway he is 8 weeks old as of last Tuesday and weighs in at 4 pounds right now, he is just the cutest! This first week with him has been very fun and exciting. We finally pinned down his exact eating schedule as well as decreased his whining at night so, that is good because it breaks my heart to hear him so sad. :( He LOVES his green ball that makes noise and anything he can get his mouth on to chew on! It absolutely runs Joe's nerves whenever he whines which is an interesting incite to see how Joe will be when we have children in the future and they are crying! haha LOL! He is going potty on a pee pad right now but if taken out side he will go right away too (he does great with both methods). Anyway, Maddux has learned the commands: sit, NO, and come (and yes he is only 8 weeks, he catches on quick) haha. He Loves, loves , loves the cats (Simba and Panther) and the cats just LIKE him and are very intrigued with whatever Maddux does. Simba will sit out side of Maddux's running pin and and just watch him for hours haha! Maddux has gotten his first set of shots and has another 3 weeks to go for the second set! He has already discovered PETCO and LOVES it (maybe a little to much)!His best friends right now are his cousin Henry (cockapoo) and his friend Olly(morkie). So all in all we LOVE our new baby very very much and are just trying to enjoy this extremely fun time with him while he is so young!


**His pictures don't do him justice, he is wayyyyy cuter in person (he looks like a little bear in person) :)


**Our Little Baby MADDUX TAYLOR!!!

week one...

I have lost 4 pounds this week!!! Great start to a fabulous me!

NO News... but its February!!!!!!

So yes its true we have no exciting news however January was an excellent start to the new year and boy did it go so fast! Some things that happened in our lives in January were:
* I started my last and final semester before I graduate YAY
* We decided we are going to hold out to buy our first house till we move to California :)
*Our cats Simba and Panther turned 3 and was also the anniversary of us having them for 3 years now! WOW feels like yesterday that they were teeny tiny!
* I got Strep for the first time in my life
* Joe stayed extremely busy at his job!

I can not believe it is already February 1st but I'm very excited for this short but fun month of love.
Some things I'm excited about for February are:
*VALENTINE"S DAY
*My mom coming to visit
*My grandma and aunt coming to visit
*My Disney day volunteer activity at the living planet aquarium where we will volunteer 3 hours of our time to get 1 free Disney ticket each!
*2 months of school down and only 2 months to go!!!!
*The fact that I started my diet and workout schedule today and my new goal of loosing 5 pounds this month! (I will keep you posted as it all melts off)

Well that's all my thoughts for now...HAPPY FEBRUARY!!!!!

Free give away... Nursing Covers & Baby Cacoons

So my Cute sister in law makes nursing covers and baby warm cacoons!! She is doing a free give away right now on her blog if you are interested or if you would like to order one she is selling them through her blog as well @ http://www.memoriescapturedbyshelly.blogspot.com/

ORDER ONE YOU WILL NEVER REGRET IT!!!! :)

**BABY CACOONS** comes in several colors


**ADORABLE NURSING COVERS*** comes in several patterns

November and December 2009

Ok yes it seems time has flew by and I have not written on my blog in FOREVER so here is a quick catch up on what we were doing in November and December!

NOVEMBER:
November was a eventful month with lots of joys and lots of fun! The first exciting thing that happened to us was In N Out was finally opened in Northern Utah (Draper)which was an awesome experience to bite into one of those amazing hamburgers and have a small taste of California that we both oh so longed for!
Then Thanksgiving came so fast around the corner and this year it was Joe's parents turn to have us all there for thanksgiving. We flew down to San Diego this time, because driving would have wasted to much precious time for such a shot trip. The airport security was so harsh and threw away a bunch of my products (including my expensive Proactive) and it made me so mad because ALL of those things I took with me on my flight to Boston like 3 months before and they didn't have a problem with it but then decided to throw them out this time. Then when we got to the terminal the lady told me I was going to have to check my bag anyway because the plane was to small so in the end they didn't really NEED to throw away my stuff but they did anyway!ya I know kinda annoying! After that we spent some much needed quality time with Joe's family and had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner, played multiple family games (Blockis mostly), went to the movies and shared in a lot of laughter . The next day Joe's youngest brother David got endowed at the San Diego temple, because he was leaving on his mission soon, and since we were all there we were able to enjoy the session with him as a family. All in all thanksgiving was a wonderful and relaxing success and brought a great close to the month of November!

Joe and I at In N Out:


Playing on Thanksgiving day:


Taylor family picture after the temple:


DECEMBER:
December went by so fast it feels like a total burr. At the beginning of the month Joe's brother David left on his mission to Uruguay and we all gave him multiple Hugs and wished him the best of luck for the next two years.
Later that week my work put on their annual holiday party and we all choose white elephant gifts and played the game too. Sophie ended up getting a apron and I, a green glass box. It was a lot of fun to spend some quality time with the ladies at work and eat and drink and be merry for the holidays!
Christmas was an adventure! We drove to San Diego this time because it was a much longer trip and we knew we would need a car while we were down for so long. Christmas this year was spent at my parents house (The Gardner's) and man was it crazy! Christmas eve was filled with a lot of last minute shopping and a fun family night of games and driving around looking at Christmas lights. Christmas morning was a lot of fun and we all got so much stuff. I am very thankful to have a family that is fortunate enough to be able to provide a Christmas for Joe and I and my siblings this way! We all laughed and had a blast on Christmas morning.One of my favorite things I got on Christmas was my Diamond earrings Joe got for me. I had no idea he was even planning that and was so surprised when I opened the box, I still cant believe it to this day but they are my favorite things ever! Joe had a great Christmas too filled with several pieces of much needed clothes! :) Later that day Ashley, Matt, Joe and I decided to go on a run up the mountain behind our neighborhood and somehow I hurt my foot. Im not sure how I did it but the next morning it was all swollen and stuff and I could barely walk on it, however I have been tough and to this day it still hurts but not as bad as it did on the day after Christmas.
The day after Christmas was filled with 12 hours of shopping with the girls and this is where I got majority of my "Christmas loot" but it was so fun to be able to spend a day with just all the girls in the family.
2 days after that we went to Disneyland. The morning started off a little rocky when Ashley decided she was not feeling well and didn't want to go (which is un-heard of in my family) but it all worked out in the end and Jason, Shelly, Mathias, Mom, Joe and I went instead and had so much fun. I was in a wheel chair all day because of my foot, which sucked, but it did allow us to get to the front on all the rides. We never stood in line for more then 20min and it was one of the busiest days of the year where all the normal lines were over an hour long, so that was pretty AWESOME! We meet Micky which Mathias just LOVED and ran right up to him like he had known him forever, it was so cute. We watched the holiday fireworks and saw it snow on main street, it was a great day. Little Mathias FINALLY (at midnight, witch I cant believe he lasted till then)was able to ride the CHOO CHOO he was pointing at all day long. It was a great end to a fabulous day at Disneyland.
The rest of the few days left on our trip was relaxing and calm. We went to a wedding reception for my good friend Jamie Condie. He married a wonderful girl named Sheridan and we wish them all the luck in the world on their marriage. It was really great to see all my old friends and catch up again. After the reception we had a small Christmas with Joe's family and spent a wonderful evening with them to celebrate the holidays.
New years eve was filled with relaxing, doing laundry and watching the ball drop on TV at my parents house. This was a fantastic end to a relaxing, crazy and fun trip with the Gardner Family. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010

David 2 weeks before he left on his mission:


The Montessori Christmas party, Sophie and I:


Sophie picking a White elephant gift:


The girls and our treasured 7 jeans on Christmas morning:


Mathias enjoying his new Car slippers:


Me opening up the surprise Diamond earrings:


Mathias Playing in the end result of a glorious Christmas morning:


Joe sitting with me in the wheel chair made for the largest person ever:


Joe and I with Mickey:


All of us with Mickey:


Everyone in fornt of the Christmas tree in Toon town, Disneyland: